Reading for Pleasure Year 3

Reading for Pleasure Year 4

Reading for Pleasure Year 5

Reading for Pleasure Year 6

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

Poetry - The Listeners by Walter de la Mare

The Suitcase Kid by Jacqueline Wilson

Holes by Louis Sachar

Hansel and Gretel by Anthony Browne

Greenling by Levi Pinfold

Mulan by Michaela Morgan

There's A Boy In The Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar

History VIP: Mary Anning by Kay Barnham

Walter Tull's Scrapbook by Michaela Morgan

Demon Dentist by David Walliams

London is the Place for Me by Lord Kitchener

I Was a Rat! by Phillip Pullman

Hidden Depths: Exploring the Deep by Chloe Rodes

A Career in Computer Games by Anthony Horowitz

A Christmas Carol - by Charles Dickens

The British by Benjamin Zephaniah

The Giant's Necklace by Michael Morpurgo

Mirror by Jeannie Baker

Into the Forest by Anthony Browne

The Firework Maker's Daughter by Phillip Pullman

The Blitz Survivor Stories

Grammar Practice

Street Child by Berlie Doherty

King of the Sky by Nicola Davies

English Reading for Pleasure

Y6 English Reading for Pleasure

Key Stage 2

Year 6

Reading

THEME

Rushing Rivers by Kingfisher

UNIT

In this lesson, we will explore examples of genre in literature and consider how reading helps build empathy.  We will explore the different kinds of reading we do each day and create a 24-hour reading log.

To develop reading for pleasure through personal reflection

﻿Good morning, everyone, my name is Ms. Madden. I'm so excited to do today's lesson with you because it's all about reading. And I love reading, I really, really do. In fact, one of my favourite things to do in life, is talk with people and young people about their reading, about the books that they enjoy, so that's what today's lesson is all about. So let's get started. In today's lesson, we will start off by thinking about what is reading for pleasure? And we're going to have an opportunity for some self-reflections that's you thinking about your own reading experiences, what you like to read? Then, we're going to consider what genre is, what we know about that. We'll move up into thinking about what is empathy, and then you will have an opportunity to create a 24 hour reading log. Now, I don't know if you don't know what that means, I'll be teaching you in this lesson. Let's get started. In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or some paper to write on ,a pencil or a pen, and of course, your brain for thinking, and in particular, remembering, you're going to be using your memory to think about previous reading experiences, and also what you've read today. Can you pause the video, and go and get the things you need right now? Well done. I hope you're in somewhere in a quiet space, ready to concentrate. So we're going to start off by thinking about reading for pleasure. So what is reading for pleasure? Have you ever heard someone talk about it, heard that phrase? Sometimes we talk about reading for information, that might be when you're going to write a report, and you are researching and use books and texts to find information, perhaps you're going on holiday somewhere, and you want to find out more about the place that you're going to visit, that might be reading for information or reading to learn. Sometimes perhaps you read because an adult tells you to, a teacher or a parent or a carer. When we talk about reading for pleasure, we're talking about reading for meeting's sake, for the pure enjoyment of it. And that is really important. So why is reading for pleasure so important? All reading, and beading what we want to, helps us to read more, practise reading, it helps us develop our vocabulary, it feeds our imagination, it makes us feel strong emotions, get excited, feel scared, it helps us to understand how other people live, it can be relaxing. There are so many reasons why reading for pleasure, and for enjoyment are so important, it's so important. Why do you think it's important? Can you say out loud? I think that's a great reading too. So, now's an opportunity to think about what you really enjoy reading. We're going to do some self reflection. So you're going to be thinking about your own choices, your own preferences. Before we think about what you enjoy reading, I'm going to share with you some popular reading choices that might help spark your memory, and help you consider what you like to read. So, perhaps you enjoy meeting novels, such as Phoenix, which is very, very popular and novel that children read by SF Said. You might know his Varjak Paw or The Outlaw Varjak Paw, that he wrote, they're also very popular. There are other novels, such as No Ballet Shoes in Syria by Catherine Bruton. That's a very popular book, it's very moving. Perhaps you enjoy reading comics, comics is a kind of reading, the Phoenix is a really popular, great pop comic. There's also The Simpsons, The Beano, perhaps you have a comic that you really enjoy reading. This is a comic strip called Calvin and Hobbes. This is around when I was young and I still love reading it, as does my son. Perhaps you enjoy reading graphic novels. So graphic novels are a little like a comic, but they're an extended narrative told through pictures or comic strips, but over a whole narrative. So the whole novel is told in graphic form. This is an example of a very popular graphic novel called Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson. I'm really recommend this text. Perhaps you enjoy reading annuals, such as this annual Match Annual 2020, about football. Perhaps you really look forward to getting and reading an annual about your area or hobby of choice. Perhaps you liked reading non-fiction, such as this book about Coding. If you enjoy coding in scratch, for example, you might want to read an instruction book like this, that gives you advice and practical on how to make games. Perhaps says another kind of nonfiction books, such as this animal encyclopaedia that you like to read. My point here, is that there are all sorts of different texts. There's no right or wrong kind of reading. Of these eight texts that I've shown you. Do you think there's one that you might like to read? If you had to choose which one would you? Could you point to it now, please? I think that's a great choice. So now hopefully you're ready to think about your personal reading preferences. Remember, anything goes. What are texts that you've really enjoyed reading in the past? Perhaps you really like graphic novels, but you also like non-fictional books. Can you remember any titles that you've really enjoyed? I want you to then pause video, and write them down now. Well done, what's a list. If you remember more, remember, you can just pause and let them down. What's great about thinking about the text that you like to read, is that you can talk to other people about them, and in doing so, you get more enjoyment, talking about what you've liked to read, but also you're having given reading recommendations to others, and often reading recommendations is a great way to find out something new to read. Okay, now we're going to have to think about genre. So, what is genre? First of all, let's make sure that we can say it. "Genre" again, "Genre." Do you know what's it means? Have you had someone talk about it before? If you think you do, please pause the video and say it out loud now. Fantastic. Perhaps, you said something like this is. Genre style or category of art, music or literature. So today we're thinking about, genres in literature, but you can talk about genres of art, of film, of television or music, is a way of classifying. So if we thinking about books or texts or literature, what genres are there? Hmm, can you think of any? I'd like you to pause and write down as many as you can think of. Okay, well done. Let's have a look at some of my ideas. Here they are. Now this is not an exhaustive list. There are many other genres than those I put here. These are just some ideas, and different people, sometimes categorise literature in different ways. I'm just going to talk you through these. So we have first of all, Biography. Biography is an account of someone's life, written by another person. Not to be confused with Autobiography. Autobiography is written by the person themselves. Often biographies are very inspiring. Then we have Historical Fiction. Historical Fiction is fiction, so it's stories it's made up. It's something that didn't actually happen, but it's often based in a time period or around an event that did happen in history. So people who love history find it really fascinating, often enjoy reading Historical Fiction. Have you read any Historical Fiction? Can you remember what it was called? Tell me now. Hmm. Next, we have Science Fiction. Science Fiction is a genre that involves stories that aren't likely to happen in real life, they're often set in the future, they often involve technology and science. I wonder, have you read any science fiction? Perhaps you've watched some science fiction on Teddy, a TV programme or a film, because often these categories, these genres can relate to both literature, and TV and film. Tell me a title, if you think you know one. I know that Doctor Who is very popular on TV. Then, we have Mystery. Mystery is a genre that we have in literature, as well as film and television, that involves a secret or a crime that has to be solved. And generally this is solved and resolved by the end of the narrative. I'm a real fan of Mystery. Next, we have Poetry. Quite hard to define poetry, there's so many different kinds of poems, but what we could say, is poetry as a form where verses, which don't have to rhyme are written to evoke a feeling. I really enjoy humorous poetry. I really love the patchy written by Michael Rosen, have you heard of him? Next we have Traditional Literature. So Traditional Literature is a genre in which stories are passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes this literature is written and sometimes it's told already, do you know any Traditional Literature? Can you say it now? Okay, next we have Fantasy. Fantasy is a little like science fiction, is a story that's made up. That includes ideas that couldn't in real life, but often these involve magical supernatural elements. And then last in my list, we have Non-fiction. What does Non-fiction mean? Okay, you're right. So Non-fiction is different to Fiction, which is made up. So Non-fiction is about real things. There are lots of different kinds of Non-fiction writing. Often, people enjoy reading information books, perhaps like the ones that we looked at about a hobby, or any interest. So these genres that I've written here, which do you think you most enjoy reading? Perhaps you enjoy one or two. Could you mind them done? Please pause. Fantastic. So we're having an opportunity to reflect now on our own reading preferences. And like now we're thinking about genre. I want to tell you about my reading experiences, about two texts that I read, where I chose to read a new genre. The first text is Cloud Busting by Malorie Blackman. Now I had read some other texts by Malorie Blackman, that I really enjoyed, Knots and Crosses and Series I've read and loved. But this book by Malorie Blackman is actually all written in verse, is written through the form of poetry. And that wasn't really a genre that I knew, and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I had a go and I really loved it. And the same went for this book, Rail Head which is a trilogy by Philip Reeve. Perhaps you've had of Philip Reeve because he wrote the Mortal Engines trilogy, which was recently made into a film. Now Real Head is science fiction, is set in the future. And I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy science fiction, I didn't think it was my type of book. But a friend recommended this book to me. And so I thought I'd give it a try, and you know what? I loved it. So often we might have our own preference for genre that we like, but until you try something you don't really know, sometimes it can be good to broaden your horizons, and read a different kind of bit from that you're used to. I wonder, have you ever tried a book from a different genre to that you're used to? Is there one that perhaps was recommended to you that you really enjoyed? Can you pause and write it down now? Well done. Okay, now, I wanted to talk about Empathy. So, what is empathy? Have you heard of this, can you explain it? First pause and try and say it out loud. Empathy is a noun, it's a thing, it's an abstract idea. Empathy is our ability to understand and share someone else's feelings. So this is really important in books and literature, because books actually help us grow empathy. We don't have a fixed amount of empathy, we grow it. We get better at empathising, and books can help us see things from another person's point of view. Some people say that empathy is made up of three elements, of feelings, where we resonate with other people's emotions. Thinking when we use these and imagination to work out how someone else feels, and acting where we are inspired to help others having experienced what they're they have experienced. So you can see empathy is really important in life. It's important to be a good friend, a good family member, and also a global citizen. And for me, developing empathy is a really important aspect of reading. So I'm going to tell you about some of my reading experiences that have helped me to develop my empathy. And then you can think about, and if you're reading experiences that have helped you. So the first, is an autobiography written by someone called Maya Angelou. This is a book that I read when I was at secondary school, when I was a teenager. And I recommend it to read when you were a little older, it's called, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. For me, this is an incredibly important book, because it showed how the author and poet, Maya Angelou, overcame really significant trauma and racism that she experienced in her life. And that helped me to understand how challenging that was. And I think that she's a very inspiring person, having read this autobiography. The next book that helped me really think about other people's experiences, is El Deafo. This is a graphic novel. I highly recommend this to read. It's a really, really enjoyable read, and this is semi autobiographical. So it's written by Cece Bell, who has written a story about herself growing up and her experiences of going to school, as a deaf person. You can see on the cover, she's drawn herself, she's anthropomorphized a rabbit, so rabbits and the main characters, but it's seriously based on her life. This was so well written. The illustrations were absolutely fantastic and portraying the experience of not being able to hear in school and what that was like. So well, I found this really changed my perspective and my outlook on what the experience of being in school is like for other people. This is a very popular book, Wonder by R. J. Palacio. This again, is about someone's experience of going to school. And the book is told from different characters perspectives. And what I found really interesting about this book, is it tells the story from someone who isn't so nice at the start, and it helps you see that, sometimes we have to give people the benefit of the doubt, and that we don't always know why people are acting in a certain way. It helps to empathise with someone else's feelings and situation. So these are three books that I have loved, that have helped me to develop my empathy. I wonder if you've had a book that's changed your perspective or outlook on life, or helped you really understand what life is like for someone else. Can you pause and write it down now?

Fantastic. Okay, so we had an opportunity to think about our own reading experiences. Hopefully you've enjoyed reflecting on the books that you love to read. Some of the different genres, you've read, some of the bits that have helped you empathise. Now we're going to do a short task, which is called a 24 hour read. Before we start thinking about what we can beat in 24 hours or what we have read in 24 hours, as we need to think about what can you read? What all the different things that you could read? Could you pause and write them down? Okay, I wonder what you've written. You included some of these things, Comics, like we looked at before, Graphic Novels, Instruction Manuals. So for example, if you bought a new appliance, or got a complicated toy, it might come with an instruction manual, you'd have to read that. You might read reviews, I love reading book reviews, my son loves reading reviews of games. You might read novels or recipes, if you love to cook, you might need emails or you might need information on websites. There's so many different things that you could read. In our 24 hour read, we're going to try and write down everything that we've have read in 24 hours. So, 24 hours, you're probably not awake for 24 hours. At least I hope you won't, you're not. It's probably going to be from the time you wake up, till the time you go to bed. And you might think about what you read in the morning, at meal times, perhaps you've read the back of a cereal packet or the ingredients, out of your home, perhaps you need some advertising on a bus stop, when you're outside, or before bed. I want you to be writing down anything that you read at any point in the day. So there's not a right and a wrong with this, and we want to include everything. So I'm just going to remind you of all the things that could be, Fiction Non-fiction, Poems, Comics, Graphic Novels, Newspapers, Magazines, Websites, Ebooks those books online, But of course, it's not just literature, in that sense, it could be manuals, texts messages, emails, blogs, lyrics, perhaps to a favourite song, adverts, instructions, new labels, perhaps the receipts, if you've gone in shopping for the parent or carer and you're seeing how much, what you bought cost. Have you made any of these things today? If you have, press pause and note them down. Fantastic. So now is your opportunity to write down your 24 hour reading log. Of course, the day hasn't finished, so you're just going to write down, what you have read it up to this point, today. From the moment you woke up, all the way to now, you might include what you've read on the screen in front of you. The idea behind this task is to show us all the different kinds of reading that are, because in this lesson, we're trying to develop reading for pleasure, and in order to do that, we have to value all the kinds of reading. So that's what this task is about. There's no right or wrong, just writing down everything that you have read, just to note form, not sentences. Can you do that now? Press pause. Okay, well done. Was that difficult, or was that easy? Now you've got your sheet of paper with all your ideas. Later on today, you could come back to it, and add all your extra ideas. And it would be really great to show that to a parent or a carer or a teacher to say, "Look at all the reading I've done in 24 hours." So in this lesson, we've thought about what is reading for pleasure. I hope I reminded you of how important that is. You've had an opportunity to reflect on your own preferences as a reader, and that is so important. I've shared with you some of my favourite texts, hopefully you might be inspired to read one of them. We've considered what genre is and looked at some different genres. We thought about empathy, and how empathy grows when we read. And lastly, but not least, you have made your own 24 hour reading log, to show yourself, just how much reading you do in a day. Well done. Congratulations, you have completed your lesson. Happy reading.

In this lesson, we will revise the meaning of empathy and genre.  We will share recommended reads and character traits in order to describe a favourite character.

To develop reading for pleasure through discussion of favourite characters

﻿Hello, my name is Ms. Madden, and I'm really looking forward to talking about reading with you today. Let's get started. In this lesson, we will begin by discussing reading for pleasure. Then, we will revise what empathy and genre mean. After that, I will share my recommended reads and you will think of your own. Then we will explore character traits and finally will be an opportunity for you to describe a favourite character. In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or some paper to write on. A pencil or pen, whatever you like to write with. And you'll need your brain for remembering and reflecting about the books that you enjoy. Press pause, and get those things now. Great. So, what is reading for pleasure? If you watched a previous reading for pleasure lesson you might remember what we discussed. Press pause and say what you think it is now. Okay, so reading for pleasure is the reading that we mean when we're reading for the pure enjoyment of it, not reading because a teacher or a parent says you must do this. Or because you've got a set task you have to do to research something in particular. Not great kinds of reading. This is the reading that we do because we want to. Where we choose the books that really appeal to us. Why is this important? It's so important because it helps develop our vocabulary. It helps to develop our imaginations. It helps to develop our empathy. Do you remember what empathy is? Yes. We're going to remind ourselves of what empathy and genres are now. Now, what is empathy? If you think you know, can you press pause and say it aloud now. Empathy is our ability to understand and share someone else's feelings. Is that similar to what you thought? What has empathy got to do with reading? Well, do you remember, that when we read it can really help us to develop our empathy. Often if we're reading fiction about someone else's life we imagine what life must be like for them, and it helps to develop our ability to share someone else's feelings. What is a genre? Can you remember? Press pause and say it aloud now. Yes, genre is a French word that we use to describe a style or category of art, music or literature. So often we talk about genre when we're giving book recommendations because we say this is a mystery story. Or this is a science fiction story. Today, we're going to be focusing on fiction because we're going to be thinking about characters. My favourite time. Time for recommended reads. Here, are three books, and one collection of books. Two books, and one collection of books that I think you will really enjoy. My first recommendation is a new book, a piece of fiction called "Can You See Me?" And it's written by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott. What's really exciting is one of the co-writers is a young person with autism. And she actually included writing based on her own life experiences in this book. And this is a book about a young girl called Tally, who's moving to a new school, and her experiences of trying to fit in to this school when actually she has some thing, some aspects of her autism that make that quite difficult for her. So, it's a really moving story that's about a transition, a life-transition moving from one school to another, that lots of you will be going through at some time. And it really helped me to empathise and imagine what that must've been like for Tally. It's written in a really brilliant and open way. Tally's a really reflective character, who is able to explain what her experiences are like. My next recommendation is a series of graphic novels. The first one is called "Zeus" and these come from the series called "Olympians" by George O'Connor. Now, these are really brilliant and very, very popular. Everyone who I've ever recommended them to loves these books. So perhaps you know about the Greek gods, the mythology of the ancient Greeks and know some of these stories. These are brilliantly retold graphic novels that draw together lots of the key stories related to each one of these gods. There's also really interesting footnotes from the author to explain some of the information behind the stories, as well as an explanation of some of the research that he did at the end. They're fantastic. The other thing I really like about these books is that at the front of the book, it has a fabulous family tree to help you remember how all the gods are related to each other, because it can be quite confusing. So when I'm reading them, I love to go back to that family tree and have a look. Now, my third recommendation is a fabulous book called "Cloud Busting" by Malorie Blackman. This is another brilliant story, and it's a quite big, it's quite unusual, because it's written in the form of verse, through poetry. So I was quite surprised when I first read it. I thought maybe I'd find it difficult to read but I didn't at all, because the subject matter was so interesting. I wonder if you'd like to read any of these books. Can you point to the book that you think you'd most like to read? Fantastic. So, what are your recommended reads? What books would you like to recommend to someone else that you have loved? Can you pause and write them down? Great. Now we're going to think about character traits. What do I mean by the term character traits? Well, when we talk about this, I mean a character trait is describing an aspect of a character's personality, or how they behave. What character traits are there? Well, you might describe a character as kind, or you might describe a character as brave, these kinds of adjectives. Can you think of other ways that you might describe a character? Press pause and write down as many as you can think of. Here, are some of my ideas. A character could be brave. A character could be independent, that means they think for themselves. A character could be gentle or determined. They don't give up. A character could be cautious or defiant. That means they don't necessarily listen to other people. They do what they think. A character could be calm or observant. That might be important in a mystery story where a character needs to notice lots of different things. So these are some character traits. Often, we talk about character traits, these adjectives. You can be brave, it's a describing word. But we can also turn these character traits into their noun form. So someone is brave, but you could talk about there bravery. Someone is independent, but you could talk about there independence. Or character could be determined, but you talk about their determination. So when we're describing characters and using character traits to help us, we might use an adjective form or a noun form. And you might notice that when we turn the adjective into the noun, we often add a suffix. And so that suffix could be -ery or -ness, -ence, or -ation. You might remember that from some of your spelling learning, Okay, now again to have a chance to write about a favourite character in full sentences using our character traits. So think back to those recommendations that you just wrote down. If you didn't have a piece of fiction written there can you think of a piece of fiction with a character that you liked and admired, or perhaps you didn't like that you could write about. Then, I want you to do this. I like the character, whoever you've chosen. August, that's August from "Wonder". I like the character August because he is smart and resilient. So I want you to write a sentence stating your character that you like and describing them with a character trait. I like the character August because he's smart and resilient. Here is another example. I like the character, Alex. This is Alex from the "Alex Rider" novels by Anthony Horowitz. I like the character Alex, because he is daring and defiant. Now it's your turn. Can you write a first sentence about a character using a character trait. Press pause, off you go. Well done. So now we've written the character trait. We need to do a little bit more. We need to explain that character trait. So, with my first example about August, I said he was resilient. Do you remember? He demonstrates this resilience, there's my noun form. He demonstrates this resilience when he perseveres at school despite the knock backs he faces. Here's another example of Alex Rider. He demonstrates this defiance when he chooses to ignore a direct from his superior. So, could you now write your second sentence where you explain that character trait? You show how your character demonstrates this character trait. Press pause, off you go. Okay, now we've warmed ourselves up. We've thought about character traits and we've practised writing two sentences. You are ready to describe a favourite character. Perhaps you will choose the one that you've just written two sentences for, or perhaps you'll choose a new character. I'm going to show you an example of a short character description. This is a character description of our character from the book "Cloud Busting". You can read this first, press pause and read it first, and then I will read it to you. So press pause, off you go. Now I will read it to you. I dislike the character Sam from the book "Cloud Busting". He is both narrow-minded and untrustworthy. He demonstrates this narrow-mindedness as he resists being friends with Davey just because Davey does not have the same interests as the other children. He is untrustworthy because when he finds out that Davey is allergic to peanuts he tells the school bully, who then gives Davey crisps, which have been mixed with peanuts. So you can see here that I've chosen a character that isn't very nice to describe. I want to point out a few things from my description to help you. First of all, can you see that I've used inverted commas around the title of the book "Cloud Busting". That's a convention that we use when we're writing the title of something. We use inverted commas. Next, you can see that I've highlighted the character traits I've used. He is both narrow-minded and untrustworthy. So I've included some character traits. Then, I've shown how he demonstrates these character traits. "He demonstrates this." So that's something that you can include. And finally, I've given another explanation of the character trait, lower down. "He is untrustworthy because." I've extended my sentence with this conjunction "because" to give an explanation. So I've made my point about the character trait. And then I explained it with evidence to make that a richer and more complete character description. So now it's your turn. You can describe a favourite character. It could be a character you admire. It could be a character you love to hate or just hate, perhaps a villain from a story you've read. It could be a character who taught you something. Or it could be a character who makes you laugh. You decide, and then, you might be able to share your character description with someone. So, press pause and write your character description now. Fantastic. In this lesson, we started by thinking about reading for pleasure. We revised those terms empathy and genre. I shared my recommended reads with you. Then we explored what character traits are and how to write about character traits. And finally, you described a favourite character. Well done. Congratulations! You have completed your lesson. Happy reading!

In this lesson, we will develop reading for pleasure through book recommnedations.  We will focus on poetry, picture books and non-fiction.  We will then generate our own recommendations to share with others.

To develop reading for pleasure through book recommendations

﻿Hello everyone, my name is Ms. Madden. I'm really looking forward to sharing book recommendations with you today. Let's get started. In today's lesson we will begin by thinking about why we are recommending books. Why do it at all? Then we will look at some poetry and poets. We will move on to share some recommendations about picture books and think about our favourite illustrators. Then we will share some recommendations about non-fiction texts before finally writing your own book recommendation. In this lesson you will need a book or some paper, something to write with, a pencil or a pen, and it could be helpful to have a sticky note like a Post-it Note. But this isn't essential, so don't worry if you don't have one. Can you press pause and get those things now? Fantastic. Okay, let's start off by thinking about why we're recommending books. Who recommends books to you? Have a think. Who is the last person to suggest a book to you that you read? Has that happened before? Perhaps it was a parent. Perhaps it was a friend. Perhaps it was a librarian. Perhaps it was someone on television or perhaps you read a book review in a comic. Have a think and say it out loud. Okay, well done. Who do you recommend books to? Have you ever recommended a book? Have you ever read a book and thought this is so great, I just know that this person would love it? Can you press pause and say their names aloud? So why is this business of recommending books important? Recommending books is important because it helps build up a culture of talking about books. And the more we talk about books with our friends and our family the more we encourage each other to read great books and do more reading for pleasure. Just like you might talk about games that you love or television that you enjoy watching or films that you've loved, we can do the same about books. And we build up a buzz around books and create excitement about a book that you might want to read. And then if you and another friend or a family member read the same book, you can talk about it together. And that's one of the great things in life to do, is talk about books with people you know. So sometimes we talk about what's trending. Perhaps you've heard that phrase used in relation to television when you might see what's trending on Netflix, for example. So what's trending in the world of books? Is there a book that you know that loads of people are reading and really love at this moment? Perhaps it's something new that's come out or perhaps it's something old that people just rediscovered. Can you pause and say aloud what's trending right now? Fabulous. Perhaps you've got an idea of some books that you think should be trending. If other people knew about them, they'd read them and love them. We want to make book recommendations to help create buzz and excitement about reading, and perhaps you'll start the next trend. Okay, if you've done some of the other reading for pleasure lessons, we'll have done this before. But what is a genre? What is genre, this idea of genre? Can you remember? Press pause and say it aloud now. Genre is a style or category of art, music, or literature. Perhaps you remembered that from before and perhaps you didn't know that in which case that's fine. It's just a term that we use to describe the style of art, music, or literature. And in this context, we're thinking about books. This is important today because when we're thinking about making book recommendations, often it's helpful to talk about the genre of writing that we're promoting, the style of writing or the category. There are so many different genres. Here are just some examples. You could have biographical writing, a biography, historical fiction, science fiction, mystery. Poetry is a genre that we're going to look at today. Traditional literature, fantasy, or non-fiction. And non-fiction is another genre that we're going to look at today. Remember, there are so many different genres, but this can be helpful to categorise when we are making our recommendations. So now we're going to have a little think about some poets and poetry. Do you know any poets? Could you say their names? Can you remember? Perhaps you've studied some poetry in school before. Can you press pause and say the names of all the poets you can think of? Well done. Perhaps you found that quite easy. Perhaps you found it quite difficult. Did you know that many adults including teachers actually find it really, really hard to name a lot of poets? So I wanted to introduce you to some contemporary poets that you might not know. So here are five pictures of some contemporary poets, people who are writing poetry at present day at this time, and these five poets are actually quite famous. I wonder if you recognise any of them. If you do, press pause and say their names aloud now. If you don't, don't worry. Here are their names. Now that you've seen their names, I wonder if you could match their names to any of their pictures, if you think oh, I did know who Michael Rosen was and I think this is his picture. If you think you've got a better idea, press pause and match them up now. Well done. Now perhaps you did know something about them, perhaps you didn't, don't worry. I'm just going to tell you a little bit about each of these poets. First of all, we have Carol Ann Duffy. Now I chose to include Carol Ann Duffy because she was actually the first female Poet Laureate. She's a Scottish poet. So she was the first female poet to be appointed in this prestigious position. Next we have Michael Rosen. Now you may well have heard of Michael Rosen. He's a very, very popular children's poet. He's an author too. And he's also been a Children's Laureate. He writes really funny poetry. Here we have Benjamin Zephaniah, another British poet. I love Benjamin Zephaniah's poem "Talking Turkeys." He's very funny and thought provoking. Now Benjamin Zephaniah says that a lot of his poetry is influenced by the poetry and music of Jamaica. Next we have Kae Tempest. Now Kae Tempest is a very successful performer and poet. And I chose Kae Tempest to show that poets often are writers or playwrights, sometimes singers at the same time. And there's all sorts of different poetry that they write and perform covering all sorts of different things. Finally, I have Jackie Kay who is another very successful Scottish poet. So now you've seen five contemporary poets. Perhaps next time you're in a library or a book shop or a school book corner you might see if you can find any poetry written by one of them. Or you could ask a teacher or an adult do you know any of these poets? Here I have two collections of poetry that I would like to recommend to you. The first is called "A Kid in My Class," and it's poems by Rachel Rooney and illustrations by Chris Riddell. This is a collection of very funny and clever school-themed poems. Or perhaps I should say a collection of pupils in the class because each poem is about different people. These poems are really, really enjoyable and great to dip in and out of. Whenever you have a spare five minutes, you can open it up and read a new poem about a new character. Next I'd like to recommend "Overheard in a Tower Block," poems by Joseph Coelho. Each poem in this collection gives us a glimpse into the life of the main character as he moves from young boy through adolescence into adulthood. This is a really powerful and moving collection. I wonder if you'd like to read one of these. If so, which one? Next, we're going to have a look at another genre, picture books and illustrators. The genre is picture books, but illustrators write our picture books. Who is your favourite illustrator? Do you have one? Perhaps you have a picture book that you'd like to recommend to others. Can you press pause and write down any of your ideas now? Here are two picture books that I would like to recommend to you. The first is a really important book. This book is called "We Are All Born Free" and it's in fact the universal declaration of human rights in pictures. So each human right has been illustrated by a different illustrator. And the the right is explained and portrayed in a different way. I love this book because it's really, really important to think about and remember what our human rights are, but also I love spotting the different illustrators and pouring over the pictures and thinking about them. The next book I'd like to recommend is a picture book called "Varmints." This is a really rich picture book. There's so much to talk about and think about in it. You can see that it's won an award and it's also been turned into a short animation. It explores really important themes to do with the environment. I hope you enjoy one of these. Would you like to read one of them? If so, point to it now. Next, I'd like to think about non-fiction books with you. Perhaps you read a lot of non-fiction already or perhaps you stick to fiction. What are your favourite non-fiction books? Do you have any that you think you'd like to recommend? Press pause and write these down now. Here I have two recommendations for you that I think you'd really enjoy. The first is called "Survivors" and it's actually part of a series of books in the Animal Science series. And these are written by Nicola Davies who you might know has written lots and lots of books about nature and animals and science. And this book is illustrated by someone called Neal Layton and the illustrations bring a lot to this picture book. Well, it's not, it's a non... Here are two non-fiction books that I would like to recommend to you. The first is called "Survivors" and this comes from a series called Animal Science written by Nicola Davies who you may know from writing many other non-fiction books about animals and nature. It's illustrated by Neal Layton. I think the illustrations bring a huge amount to this book. There's lots of humour and sometimes comic strips to explain an idea. The information included in this book is really interesting and funny. Sometimes when I read a non-fiction book about animals, I find that I know a lot of the information already, but that won't be the case when you read this book. There really is lots of fascinating new information that you will find really interesting. The second book I'd like to recommend is "Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls' Rights." Now this is an illustrated adaptation of Malala's memoir. You may have heard of Malala Yousafzai. She's the youngest ever person to win a Nobel Peace Prize. She's really, truly inspirational, and I think that you'll find this a fascinating autobiography to see what she has achieved. Do either of these books look good to you? Would you like to read one of them? So now is your opportunity to plan your recommended reads. Perhaps you've thought of one already or now's an opportunity to think about what you would like to recommend to a friend. Pause and write down all the titles that you think that you could recommend. Fantastic, it's time to get going with our book recommendations. So what makes a good recommendation? Well first and foremost, you need to make sure that you are recommending a text or a book that you actually think is good, is worthwhile recommending. Then we need to think about what forms the written content of the recommendation. You might talk about the genre and start of the book. If it's fiction, you might give some information about the setting and the characters. You can see next that I've crossed out synopsis. This is because a book recommendation is not the time to give a detailed account of what happens in the entire plot if it's fiction. We just need a very small amount of information to give us an outline of what it's about or what could happen. You might want to talk about other similar stories, texts, or authors. If you like this poet, then you might enjoy this book of poetry. If you like these kinds of non-fiction books, then this one will appeal to you. You should definitely include why you liked it because that will encourage someone else to read it. And you may want to include how did it make you feel. These are just some of the ideas of what you could include in your book recommendation. However, it's your recommendation, so you choose what to put in it. I'm going to show you an example now. This is for a book that I love called "Can You See Me?" Here is my recommendation. You can press pause and read this yourself and then I will read it aloud. Press pause and read now. Okay, I'm going to read it aloud to you: I love the novel "Can You See Me?" by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcroft. It's about Tally's experience during her first year at her new school. Tally has autism and feels like she has to act normal. Did you know that it is inspired by co-author Libby Scott's own experiences of autism? It is very moving. If you like stories about real-life experiences such as "Wonder," then this is the book for you. I hope you might like to read this book. I want to point out a few things that I included in my book recommendation. First of all, can you see, I used inverted commas around the book title? That's a convention. We put our inverted comments around the title. Then you can see I very briefly said what the book is about. "It is about." I didn't say loads and loads, but I said it just in one sentence. Then I introduced an interesting fact. Did you know? "Did you know it's inspired by co-author Libby Scott's own experiences of autism?" So there might be something interesting that you could tell about the book you're recommending. Then in my bold in pink, "It is very moving." I've included how the book made me feel. And finally, I've made a recommendation. If you like this, then you'll probably like this book. So I've said, "If you liked stories about real-life experiences such as 'Wonder,'" which is a very popular book that I think lots of people have heard of, "then this is the book for you." So those are some ideas and examples of aspects that you can include in your recommendation. And you don't have to do a long recommendation. If you had some Post-its, you could also do some short recommendations, some sticky note recommendations. And this is just where you write a single sentence or two sentences about a text on a Post-it or you could do it on a slip of paper and pop it inside the front cover so that when someone sees this book they see your Post-it and they think oh, look, Ms. Madden recommended this, and they can read it. For example, with the book "Mic Drop" here, I've said, "I love this book because it's an exciting mystery and also very funny." So there's two kinds of recommendations that you could do. You could do a longer written recommendation and you could also do sticky note recommendations. Perhaps you will write several. The more books you can recommend, the better. Now remember, always write your ideas in full sentences. For example, I love this book because full stop. Or I think you would love it if full stop. Press pause and write your first two sentences down now. Fantastic. So now's your opportunity to complete your recommendations or write a second and a third. You might be recommending to a friend. You might recommend to a family member, parent or carer. You might recommend to a teacher because we want to create as much excitement and anticipation about reading as possible. It's so fun to talk about books. So press pause and write those recommendations. Well done. We've covered a lot in this lesson. We've thought about why recommend books. I've introduced you to some poets and recommended some poetry. We've talked about illustrators and looked at picture books. I've recommended some non-fiction texts to you. And most importantly, you have written your own book recommendation. Congratulations, you have completed your lesson. Happy reading.

Unit Overview: Reading for Pleasure Year 6

Lessons:

To develop reading for pleasure through personal reflection

To develop reading for pleasure through discussion of favourite characters

To develop reading for pleasure through book recommendations