Reviews include:
Primary Writing Book D (Level 2)
The Literacy Box Sample Booklet
The Comprehension Box Sample
English Skills Practice Book F
NZ Curriculum Poetry Book 3 (Years 6-7)
English Skills Practice Book D
There are 6 workbooks in the series for primary school students. The aim of the series is to provide comprehension and daily practice of skills in spelling, word study, punctuation and grammar. These books allow for repeated daily practice and allows for the identification of weaknesses and strengths. There is a workbook available as well as a Teachers Guide.
The workbooks are used by individual students and include record sheets for the children to mark on their scores. The book is broken down into Units, each of which is 10 days. Each day consists of 15 questions of which the children record their score at the bottom of the page, to then transfer to their record sheet. At the back of the book, there are several revision days and also a page to record 'things I need to remember'.
This is a clear to follow programme, if that is what a school is looking for. The tasks appear to be very detailed and comprehensive, and allow for children to cover a range of skills. There would need to be teacher guidance and teaching alongside these books, for example every question 7 is about prefixes, and every question 6 is about antonyms and synonyms. Children would need to be aware of what these terms are. If you are wanting a structured spelling/word study programme, this may well be what you are looking for.
I was recently in a Year 7-8 class and it was great to have this book on hand as I had taught some poetry to this class last year but needed something with substance to build on this. There is a series of these books - Years 1-3, Years 4-5, Years 6-7.
This book is broken down into units and each unit contains - teacher notes, curriculum links, glossary of terms (extremely handy), step-by-step teaching lessons, worksheets, formative assessment, Marking criteria and extra poems to enjoy. It is well set out and has clear, easy fonts.
The poems are humorous and the students appeared to really enjoy them, especially ones that were about gross food.
The teacher notes are clearly laid out and it really is a step by step programme. The focus areas include - Valuing Poetry, Purpose in Poetry (Year 6), Poetry and Prose, Playing with Poetry (Year 7).
This structure allows for the lessons to build upon each other, or they can be used as stand-alone units. This is a really great resource for basing your own unit on, or having a pick up and go resource.
PRIMARY WRITING BOOK D - Read - Analyse - Plan
This resource book is based on the New Zealand Curriculum, and provides opportunities for students to read, examine and write on a variety of text types - narratives, recounts, procedures, reports, explanations and expositions. There are 7 books in this series that are levelled against the NZ Curriculum. Each book contains - teachers notes, curriculum links, writing format information, format checklists, blank writing formats, proofreading and editing checklists, and class recording sheets. The book is themn broken into sections for each text type with 3 examples of each. Each section starts with notes about the structure and language features, with examples from each example, Teacher information and answers to any comprehension questions. There is an example, then a worksheet with questions which are based on the layout of the text type, finally there is a blank planning format for the learner to use. I really liked how there were 3 examples of each text type so you could skip one if you didn't think it was suitable, or it gives you the flexibility to use one as shared class example, one for group example and one for each individual.
In each box there is a teachers guide, 75 four-page literacy cards and 75 answer cards. This is a resource to be used with independent learners and as a child that grew up with a similar resource I was very excited to bring back memories of being "allowed" in the 1980s to mark my own work. Oh that feeling of independence and joy when I got to move from one colour to the next.
Each of the large cards have the reading on the front then 3 activities to follow - comprehension, all about words and grammar. These are bright and colourful, and from the samples that I was sent - a lot more robust than our ones years ago. I used a similar product with independent and strong Year 3 students, and it was often the task that they would ask to carry on with in activity time.
There are suggestions in the teachers guide for additional activities that include viewing; speaking and listening; and writing. The reading activities include Non-Fiction and Fiction.
There are 3 boxes available Ages 5-7, Ages 8-10, Ages 11+ and are at a cost of $495, but they are robust enough that your school would have them for a long time.
These boxes are similar to the Literacy Box (above) and again I had the 1980s flooding back - with joy! These boxes are set out in the same age brackets are the Literacy Box and focus again on capable, independent readers. Each box contains - 150 colourfully illustrated cards that include a vareity of text types; 15 colour-coded sections; 10 cards in each section, questions on each card; answer cards; teachers guide. Each card has the reading on the front, and on the back there is a variety of comprehension questions. The graphics are clear, and the font is easy to read. Each card contains a "Something Extra" task - the Tarantulas (From Ages 5-7, Box 1) Something Extra is - find a picture of another type of spider and then draw and label it. These are appealing to children. I had my 6 year old who is a confident reader have a go at the Tarantula task, he has asked where he can get more and will there be any about sharks or dinosaurs.
The Teachers Guide contains a scope and sequence chart of the tasks, procedures for used of the cards, recording sheets, sample cards and full explanation on how to use the cards. There is an explanation of each comprehension strategy with mini posters, and an explanation of each question type. Priced at $495, but as with the Literacy Box, each card is robust - and the teachers manual does contain full answers to the questions in case an answer card is lost.
