Skills Section Guide

Read Aloud to Students

Students of all levels should be read aloud to. This serves to broaden vocabulary and expose
students to the pronunciation of words.

Teachers are also encouraged to provide the following opportunities to promote active reading:

• choral reading a page together

• paired reading
• jump-ins – join-in reading, one person begins reading; another jumps in and
takes over at any time
• whisper reading
• rap reading
• read a part of the story out loud to students, and have them finish the rest
• skimming and scanning – students circle important words in the story

Skills Section Guide

The pages in the Skills Section have been provided as a guide only and do not have to be used
in their entirety.

Each group of students is different and as a teacher it’s important to continuously monitor your
student’s interest level and pace of learning. Not all activities needed to be completed nor all
questions in an activity.

This guide has been broken down into the various skill areas you will encounter in the Graphic
Readers

You have also been provided with the Skills Section complete with answers in a which you can
use to check the answers with your students.

Interactive White Board (IWB) activities have been provided. Please refer to the IWB Guide for
more interactive options.
BEFORE YOU READ

Preview the Front Cover

Level 0 Level 1 Level 3 Level 5

This is a simple activity that helps build higher level prediction skills. When teaching lower level
students you will need to guide the preview a little more than with you will with higher levels.

When previewing the book with lower level students have them look at the cover. Have them
tell you what they think the title of the book is. Some students may find this challenging so it
may be necessary to guide them to the correct answer. One way to guide them is to write
options to choose from on the board.

Have more confident students read the options out loud and run your finger under the words
as they are read. Have the rest of the class choose the correct title.

Have them write the title in the space provided on the first page of the Skills Section.

Refer the students to the picture on the cover. Have the students tell you what they can see.
Ask them who they think the characters on the cover are. Have them tell you where they think
the characters are and what they are doing. Write all their responses (words only). If the
students are lower level, have volunteers read the words, while the rest of the class points to
the item/character in the picture. Depending on the level of the students, divide the class into
pairs or groups of three and have them work together to make sentences using the words
you’ve written on the board. Have them write the sentences or the words (depending on their
level of ability) in the place provided in their books.

Ask the students if they are able to tell you what they think the story is about. Record notes on
the board. Have the students copy the notes into their books, or record their own notes. The
aim of the activity is to have the students use their imagination to talk about what may happen.

Look at the picture and answer the questions

Level 0 Level 1 Level 3 Level 5 Level 7

Use the IWB materials provided and guide the students through the different activities.

You do not have to use every activity on the page. Use the questions which you feel your
students will be able to follow and comprehend. If your students are of a slightly higher level,
you may want to set some of the questions for homework.
Learn New Names

Level 1

Introduce the characters and have students repeat their names after you. Have the students
unscramble the letters to find the correct names. If necessary, underline the first letter of the
word on the IWB and make sure the students know that they should write the first letter in
upper case, followed by lower case for the rest of the letters.

Learn New Words

Level 0 Level 1 Level 3 Level 5 Level 7

If possible use flashcards or realia to introduce and drill the vocabulary you want the students
to learn.

Using the IWB, have the students unscramble the letters to complete the missing words. If they
are able have them copy the words into the sentences in their Graphic Readers.

Have confident volunteers read the sentences out loud while the rest of the class follows in
their Graphic Readers.

If the students are of a lower level, explain the meanings of the sentences to them. If they are
more confident, have them work in groups to guess the meanings.

As an alternative, have them make up their own sentences using the vocabulary.

You could also set these pages as homework.

True or False

Level 0 Level 3 Level 5 Level 7

Lower level students will require more guidance to be able to complete this section. Use
graphics to explain the meaning of the sentences to the students. When you are sure they can
comprehend the meaning, have them work in pairs to answer ‘T’ or ‘F’.

Have the pairs work together to change the false sentences to make them true. Circulate,
monitor and assist where necessary.

For higher level students, have them work in small groups to guess the meanings of the
sentences and complete the ‘T’ or ‘F’ answers.
What’s the answer?

Level 3 Level 5 Level 7

The number of questions you have your students answer will depend on their level and ability,
as well as the time available to you. If you feel your students need more practice, have them
complete some of the for homework.

Have volunteers read out the questions one by one, and have the rest of the class try to
answer without looking at the scrambled words.

Write the scrambled sentence on the board, and have volunteers come to the front of the class
and try to unscramble them to make a correct sentence. If they are struggling give them clues,
by adding capital letters and punctuation, or telling them which word comes first and last in the
sentence.

Have them work in pairs to complete the sentences.

WHILE YOU READ

Who is it?

Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7 Level

8

Have the students brainstorm all the characters they have come across in the book so far and
write the names on the board. Depending on the book you are teaching, you may need to
include pets and secondary characters. Prompt students with clues if they are having difficulty
remembering.

Read, or have a volunteer read the questions out loud, and have students guess the answers
to the questions. Have them write the answers in the space provided.

Again, it is not expected that the students answer all the questions, and some questions may
be given for homework.

What happens next?

Level 0 Level 1 Level 3 Level 5 Level 7

Write the sentence ‘What happens next?’ on the board. Give students an example sentence
based on something that happened during your class, e.g., The teacher walks into the
classroom. Have the students tell you what happens after that. Give other examples if
necessary.
Have volunteers read out the sentences. Refer the students to the appropriate page in the
book for visual prompts. Have them talk about what happens after the first event.

Write the scrambled sentence on the board and have volunteers come to the front and
unscramble the words to make a correct sentence. If students are struggling to complete the
sentences, give clues such as giving them the first and last word in the sentence, or by writing
the capital letter in the first word of the sentence, and inserting punctuation.

If students are of a slightly higher level, have them work in small groups to complete the
sentences.

Alternatively, type a copy of the mixed up sentences, using capital letters and punctuation
where appropriate. Make a copy and cut them up. Give each pair or small group of students a
set of the sentences. They can then try and put the words in the correct order.

Where are they?

Level 0 Level 1 Level 3 Level 5 Level 7

Have the students tell you about all the different places/settings they have read about in the
story. Write the settings on the board.

Refer the students to the questions and have volunteers read them out aloud. Have the rest of
the class race to answer.

Have students work in pairs to read the questions, turn to the pages referred to and answer the
questions. You could also set unanswered questions for homework, depending on the level of
your class.

To make this more challenging for higher level students, set a time limit and use a stop watch
to monitor. The pair which has the most correct answers is the winner.

Answer the questions.

Level 0 Level 2 Level 4 Level 6 Level 8

To make this activity more fun, play ‘Question Race’. Have the students put both their hands
on their heads and keep their books closed.

Ask the first question and make sure students understand the meaning. Say the page number
and have them race to open to the correct page and find the answer to the question. When the
question has been answered, have them place their hands on their heads again, and continue
in the same way.
Have volunteers come to the front of the class and write their answers on the board. Make sure
the answers are correct and give them enough time to copy them into their books.

Alternatively, set the questions for homework.

What happened?

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 5 Level 8

Write the sentence ‘What happened?’ on the board. Have volunteers read out the sentences.
Refer the students to the appropriate page in the book for visual prompts. Have them talk
about what happened after the first event.

Write the scrambled sentence on the board and have volunteers come to the front and
unscramble the words to make a correct sentence. If students are struggling to complete the
sentences, give clues such as giving them the first and last word in the sentence, or by writing
the capital letter in the first word of the sentence, and inserting punctuation.

If students are of a slightly higher level, have them work in small groups to complete the
sentences.

Alternatively, type a copy of the mixed up sentences, using capital letters and punctuation
where appropriate. Make a copy and cut them up. Give each pair or small group of students a
set of the sentences. They can then try and put the words in the correct order.

Complete the story.

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7 Level

8

Photocopy the page and make enough for every pair of students in your class to have a copy.
Cut out each word in the word bank separately and place the pieces in an envelope. Give each
pair a copy of the text and an envelope containing the cut up words.

Have the pairs race to put the words into the correct place in the text. Allow them to refer to
the story to help them. Have them copy the answers into their books, or set this for homework.

How are they the same?

Level 2

Have the students look at a picture of Dr. Lunar and Kai standing together. Draw two columns
on the board and write Dr. Lunar at the top of the first column, and Kai at the top of the second
column. Have them say as much as they can about Dr. Lunar and write key words under his
name. If they find it difficult to think of things to think about, prompt them with questions, e.g.,
‘What is Dr. Lunar wearing? What does he look like?’ etc. Repeat the procedure for Kai. Have
students look at both the columns and find things that the two have in common. In this
instance the answer to the question is ‘They both wear glasses.’

Divide the class into pairs and give each pair a piece of paper. Have them create columns for
1. Lily and Ruby, 2. The Star Shark and Zpot, 3. Lily and Dr. Lunar, 4. Dr. Lunar, Zpot and Prog.

If the students are a lower level guide them in the same way you did for the first question,
leading them to the answer that you are looking for.

If they are a higher level class, have them work together to write as many things they can think
of about each person/animal. When they have done this, have them open their books and try
and answer the questions accordingly.

Compare and contrast.

Level 6 Level 8

Draw a Venn diagram on the board, and write one character in one circle, and the other in the
second circle.

Ask the students questions based on the phrases in the word bank and have the class answer.
Have volunteers write an appropriate phrase in the correct spaces. When the have done this,
ask the students to tell you what is the same about the two characters, and what is different.

As a follow up for higher level students have them choose a classmate or friend, and create a
Venn diagram to show how they are the same, and how they are different.

What’s the main idea?

Level 7

Photocopy the page and make enough for every pair of students in your class to have a copy.
Cut out each sentence in the box at the bottom of the page separately and place the
sentences in an envelope. Give each pair a copy of the text and an envelope containing the cut
up words.

Have the pairs race to put the words into the correct place in the text. Allow them to refer to
the story to help them.

If students are able, have them work in pairs to choose another main idea from the story and
add supporting ideas. Have them present as a class.
Who have you helped?

Level 7

This is a writing activity, and should be set for homework.

If you feel the students need some guidance, have them make key notes about someone they
have helped during class time and tell you the story orally.

They can then complete the writing activity at home and present to the class during the next
lesson.

AFTER YOU READ

What’s the order?

Level 0 Level 2 Level 4

Prepare a simple question for each of the sentences on the page, e.g., For Level 0, ‘Where did
Roddy and his parents go?’

Ask the students what happened next. If they struggle to find the correct answer, prompt them
with the questions you have prepared. Continue in this way until they have sequenced the
sentences correctly.

For slightly higher levels, photocopy the page and cut up the sentences. Give each pair a set of
sentences and have them put them in order.

Complete the story.

Level 0

Photocopy the page and make enough for every pair of students in your class to have a copy.
Cut out each word in the word bank separately and place the pieces in an envelope. Give each
pair a copy of the text and an envelope containing the cut up words.

Read the story to the students, stopping where there are gaps and having the students find the
missing words. Prompt with clues if necessary. When you have completed the activity, you
may have volunteers read the story out loud.
Write a different ending to the story.

Level 0 Level 2 Level 4 Level 6 Level 8

This activity need not be completed in writing, especially for lower level students.

Play story chain with the students. Start the story with a sentence to indicate where the
students should begin, e.g., for Level 0, you might say, ‘Roddy found a treasure chest.’ Have
the students say one sentence at a time. The sentences must follow on from one another and
should contain one of the words from the word box.

Make sure that the students know the story should be different to the one in the book.

Higher level students may enjoy writing a different ending for the story for homework.