Guided Reading activities - literacy boost, years 7-11. Includes PPTs, links and recommended novels

This resource aims to provide everything you need to establish a literacy-boosting guided reading programme in your school, for any or all year groups.

This programme aims to improve literacy skills across the secondary school age range, with a recommended library of novels, short stories and skill-boosting tasks/ discussion questions to accompany them; but also to inspire in pupils a love of reading a variety of fictional texts. Everything has been designed to deliver with ease by specialists or non-specialists alike, perhaps in a form time or specified timetable slot.

Chosen novels/ stories have been carefully selected to be both engaging and challenging for all teen readers (the ones chosen were originally selected for year 8 but would be appropriate for any year group).

You can cherry pick whether to use all 3 programmes or just 1 of them - versatility is possible with this resource bundle.

Included:

• 3 comprehensive staff handbooks written for non-specialists, detailing the 3 different strands of the programme (specific year 7 reader with specific tasks; 8 novels with more generic tasks and 21 short stories with specific tasks)
• a full schedule of 21 short stories, 1 per week for the full academic year (sources suggested for newer stories/ those out of copyright are included as PDFs)
• a suggested collection of novels (with reading ages between 11 and 15) to broaden, challenge and stretch with generic tasks and discussion questions
• more specific tasks around the yr 7 novel ‘Can You See Me?’
• thorough vocab activity, suggested discussion questions and tasks to accompany each short story (contained within a series of powerpoints to display to pupils)
• a suggested schedule for reading each novel / story over a period of time
• suggested guidance for establishing a positive reading culture in a ‘non-English’ lesson
• suggested guidance for ‘reading for meaning’ or comprehension strategies that can be used across all years by any member of staff

• *This resource has been written by an experienced English teacher, previously in post as HOD for 5 years and now a school Literacy Lead. Each task and strategy has been based in research around ‘what works’ for building both a love of reading and literacy levels in secondary schools *

Full list of novels and short stories :
Can You See Me? - Libby Scott / Rebecca Westcott (yr 7 reader)
Poisioned - Jennifer Donnelly
Coram Boy - Jamilla Gavin
The Lie Tree - Frances Hardinge
They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera
Woman in Black - Susan Hill
The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris
We Were Liars - E Lockhart