Penguin Young Readers
A Practical
Teacher’s Guide
Melanie Williams and Annie Hughes
Penguin
Young
Readers
Stories Children
Love!
www.penguinreaders.com
The Penguin Young Reader’s Practical Teacher’s Guide will help you make the
best use of all the books in the Penguin Young Readers series. It is full of ideas
for classroom activities and full of practical materials too.
Take a look at Part One to find out how the Penguin Young Readers series is
organized. Charts and information show how the series is graded by Level and
Age and a table shows the classroom topics that the series covers.
Part One: Introduction to the Penguin Young Readers series
A. Choosing Penguin Young Readers, page 2
B. The advantages of using Penguin Young Readers, page 4
C. Integrating Penguin Young Readers into teaching, page 5
D. Topics and themes, page 7
E. Cambridge Young Learner English Tests and
Trinity Spoken English examinations, page 7
Take a look at Part Two to find out about all the supplementary materials
that are available with the Readers. Many of them, like this Guide, are free!
Part Two: The Penguin Young Reader Teacher’s materials
A. Factsheets, page 10
B. Audio, chants and video, page 11
C. Big Books, page 13
D. Teacher’s Guides, page 14
In Part Three there are detailed plans for eighteen classroom activities
using the Readers.
Part Three: Activities with Penguin Young Readers
A. Activities for 5–7 year olds, page 15
B. Activities for 7–9 year olds, page 17
C. Activities for 9–11 year olds, page 20
In Part Four there are eight photocopiable Worksheets.
Part Four: Penguin Young Readers Photocopiable
Worksheets
A. Our Class Reading Chart, page 23
B. My Factsheet Activity Record, page 24
C. Comparing Stories, page 25
D. What’s the Story? page 26
E. Word Families, page 27
F. Matching Game, page 28
G. The Amazing Universe Reading Race, page 29
H. Make your own Wordsearch, page 30
Part Five: Some Practical Questions Answered, page 31
p
1 Introduction
Part One: Introduction to the Penguin Young Readers series
A Choosing Penguin Young Readers
AGE 5–7 years
It’s easy to choose which Penguin Young Readers
will suit your needs and those of your pupils:
Answer these three questions.
LARGE SIZE
(297 x 210mm)
1. How old are your pupils?
Penguin Young Readers are divided into three age
groups:
1. 5–7 year olds
2. 7–9 year olds
3. 9–11 year olds
AGE 9–11 years
AGE 7–9 years
How can you tell which Penguin Young
Reader to choose for your class?
By the size of the book:
For 5-7 years, there are large size books
For 7-9 years, there are medium size books
For 9-11 years, there are small size books
SMALL SIZE
(198 x129mm)
MEDIUM SIZE
(246 x189mm)
2. For how many hours have your pupils studied English?
The Penguin Young Readers series has four levels of difficulty, from Level 1, for the
beginner, to Level 4 for those who have studied up to 400 hours of English.
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 4
AGE
years
Up to
100 hours
of English
Up to
200 hours
of English
Up to
300 hours
of English
Up to
400 hours
of English
Large
5–7
✓
✓
✓
✓
Medium
7–9
✓
✓
✓
✓
Small
9–11
✓
✓
✓
✓
BOOK SIZE
The Penguin Young Readers series provides suitable books for a whole
range of ages and abilities. The Penguin Young Readers series is a very
flexible series.
Examples:
1. You have a class of 8-year-olds who have studied for 200 hours.
You will look at the medium size books, at Level 2.
2. You have a class of 11-year-olds, who have studied for about 100 hours of English.
You will choose from the smallest size books at Level 1.
The wide choice of books gives you, the teacher, the opportunity to find the best book
for every class or pupil, whatever their needs or the needs of the particular lesson.
2
1 Introduction
3. What do you and your pupils like reading?
Examples of original fiction written exclusively for
Penguin Young Readers are: Danny Morton and
the Eyes of Morn, The Best Christmas, The School
Bus, Happy Granny and The Wood Circle, The
Ghost House, Tom’s Cake and Kate’s Lunch, Eddie
and the Magic Potion.
You can choose from three genres: contemporary,
classics and originals.
Contemporary: These include adaptations of
popular modern stories and films, for example:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Chicken Run,
The Mummy: Against the Elements, The Hundred
and One Dalmatians.
The Penguin Young Readers series
includes a wide range of non-fiction titles
on different topics.
Classics: These include adaptations of classic fairy
stories, for example: Pinocchio, Sindbad the
Sailor, Stories from the Odyssey, Peter and the
Wolf, The Jungle Book, A Christmas Carol, The
Velveteen Rabbit.
Examples of original non-fiction written
exclusively for Penguin Young Readers are: The
Amazing Universe, Colors, Families, Ancient
Egypt, Halloween, Animals, Ghosts, Seasons,
Shapes, Food.
Originals: These are all original titles and include
fiction and non-fiction.
The information to help you choose is on the back of the Readers
Here is an example from the Penguin Young Reader Town and Country Mouse.
1. It is easy to identify the level from the
back of the Reader.
Level 1 books are green
Level 2 books are blue
Level 3 books are pink
Level 4 books are yellow
Town Mouse and Country Mouse is green.
2. Here is a quick guide to the level of
the book.
Number of hours of English
Level
0–100 hours of English
1
10–200 hours of English
2
20–300 hours of English
3
300–400 hours of English
4
Town Mouse and Country Mouse is
intended for those with up to
100 hours of English.
3. There are three types of Penguin
Young Reader. Town Mouse and
Country Mouse is a Classic.
4. Books (and cassettes) are published in either
American English or British English. Town Mouse
and Country Mouse is in American English.
3
1 Introduction
B The advantages of using Penguin Young Readers
Penguin Young Readers:
• are graded for language level and age
• have contemporary, classic and original titles – these include films too!
• have activities at the back of each book
• have supplementary activity materials
• have accompanying cassettes for each title
• have chants for each title
• can be used in mixed ability classes
• can supplement any course book
• have some titles available as Big Books
• have British English and American English titles
• are colourful, attractive and brighten up every classroom
Penguin Young Readers have something for everyone!
Children learn from picture books
The pictures help pupils guess the words they do not know, they reinforce the
words that the pupils think they know and, very importantly, they support the
overall concept and meaning of the new language, English.
Some activities that take pupils from reading pictures to words are:
• pupils predict key parts of the story and the characters from the picture on
the cover;
• pupils predict ‘what might happen next’ before you turn over a page;
• pupils look only at the pictures the first few times they hear the story;
• pupils retell the story using the pictures as prompts;
• pupils match key phrases and sentences to the correct picture: first as a
listening activity, then as a silent reading activity.
The full-colour pictures in every Penguin Young Reader help your
pupils start and develop their reading.
Penguin Young Readers are real books
Children like books and like to be able to escape into the world of a book. They
like turning the pages and finding out what each new page reveals.
Children also love being read to and of course they have their favourite
stories that they want to hear again and again!
The Penguin Young Readers series has different types of story
and sizes of books to suit every child. They include stories which
are familiar to children as well as new stories which contain
familiar elements.
Every Penguin Young Reader is recorded on cassette
Pupils can listen whenever and wherever they like. They hear English spoken
correctly and in a voice that is different from that of the teacher.
4
1 Introduction
C Integrating Penguin Young Readers into teaching
Before-, While- and After-reading
activities
Here are some suggestions for ‘Before you read’
activities. Choose the activities which are
appropriate for your lessons and for your pupils.
• Do the ‘Before you read’ activity from the back
of the Reader with pupils;
• Use the cover of the book or a picture from
the inside to encourage pupils to talk about
what they can see and to predict what the
Reader is about. You can do this as a whole
class or a small group activity. When pupils
hear or read the Reader they can find out if
their predictions were right or not;
• Elicit some key words using the cover of the
Reader or a picture from inside the book;
• Pre-teach some key words which are central to
the pupils’ understanding of the Reader;
• If it is a fiction Reader, tell the story to the
pupils and encourage them to participate with
words or actions as they listen;
• Show the pictures in the book as the pupils
listen to the Reader on audio cassette;
• Teach one of the chants from the Reader to
the pupils.
In the back of the Readers there are ‘Before you
Read’ and ‘After you Read’ activities. When using
reading activities in the classroom with pupils it
is helpful to use this same pattern and you can
introduce ‘While you read’ activities as well.
The ‘Before you read’ and ‘After you read’
activities in the Readers are written for pupils
reading on their own or in small groups. You can
also use them with the whole class.
‘Before you read’ activities
They:
• make pupils interested in the Reader
• help pupils with key vocabulary
• give pupils a reason for reading
• encourage pupils to read for ‘gist’, catching
the general idea, (see the example below)
• encourage pupils to predict what they are
going to read
• activate what pupils already know about what
they are going to read
‘While you read’ activities
Here is an example of a ‘Before you read’
activity from Eddie and the Magic Potion:
They:
• help pupils with their reading
• encourage pupils to keep on reading
• help pupils develop different kinds of reading
skills
• enable pupils to confirm their predictions
Pupils need to be set a clear task, which gives
them a purpose for reading. This will focus their
reading, for example on characters in a story
Reader or on information in a non-fiction Reader.
Here are some suggestions for ‘while you read’
activities. Choose the ones which are appropriate
for your lessons and for your pupils.
Look through the book and tick the best
answer:
The magic happened when Eddie:
• went to sleep.
• laughed.
• started running.
To answer the question, pupils do not need
to understand every word of the Reader,
they only need to understand the general
idea the first time they read.
‘Before you read’ activities may also include:
• the teacher reading the Reader to pupils before
they read it themselves
• pupils seeing the video or hearing the audio
cassette before they read the Reader
themselves.
Pupils:
• listen to the audio cassette as they follow the
text in the Reader;
• quickly read a section of text – perhaps one or
two pages – to find out the answer to a
specific question;
• quickly read the last pages or pages of the
Reader to find out if they were right about the
ending they predicted;
5
1 Introduction
• talk about the Reader in groups, saying which
• read sections or pages of the Reader, ordering
pictures as they read which mirror the events
in the book;
• read sections or pages of the Reader to find
out if their predictions from the pre-reading
activity were right;
• read the text to find certain key words or
language items.
After pupils have done an activity, they can check
their answers together in pairs or small groups
before there is a whole-class activity check. This
will make them feel more confident to answer
when you check answers with the whole class –
and also allows them to quickly check again if
they have a different answer from their partner.
•
•
•
their favourite section or character is, which
the best picture is, and so on. Groups then
make posters showing this information;
draw a picture of their favourite part of the
Reader and label it. The pictures are then
displayed on the classroom wall;
write ‘new’ words from the Reader in their
personal or class dictionary and illustrate
them;
complete a reading record (see Worksheet A);
Pupils:
• make their own mini-books, drawing pictures
and labelling them;
• write their own version of the story, changing
elements in the story, making it more modern
or more appropriate to their local context for
example;
• act out the story as they listen to the audio
cassette;
• improvise their own words for the story, and
perform mini role-plays for the class;
• dramatize a story. For more suggestions on
this see Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s
Guide to Dramatizing Stories
You will have noticed that in the ‘Before you read’
and ‘After you read’ activities pupils are doing
lots of talking! Using Readers in your classroom
gives pupils lots of opportunities to talk and lots
of reasons for talking.
Pupils enjoy doing the ‘After you read’
activities and these activities will develop their
spoken English and their reading skills at the
same time.
‘After you read’ activities
They:
• develop pupils’ ability to read for more
information
• focus on key vocabulary or structure in the
Reader.
Pupils will find it easier to do the ‘After you read’
activities when they have read the Reader two or
three times.
Here are some suggestions for ‘After you read’
activities. Choose the ones which are appropriate
for your lessons and for your pupils.
Pupils:
• do the ‘After you read’ activities in the Reader;
• work in small groups, and each pupil reads a
different section of the Reader, then they share
information and tell the others in their group
about what they have read in their section of
the Reader;
• talk about the Reader in groups, ordering
pictures to match the sequence of events in
the book;
Make an ‘activity bank’ in your classroom!
You can do this quickly and easily by:
• photocopying each activity;
• laminating it (cover it in plastic) so it becomes an activity card;
• putting the activity cards into a display box or display boxes by level or topic – pupils can make
these boxes as a classroom project!
You can also photocopy the answers to the activities and put these in a separate box. Then pupils
can check the answers themselves!
Your activity bank is now ready for use.
• Pupils who finish their classroom work quickly can chose an activity from the bank.
• Pupils can chose activities from the bank for homework.
• Pupils can complete individual record cards to show which activities they have done.
• Your bank will last a long time and will become a useful school resource.
6
1 Introduction
D Topics and themes
Penguin Young Readers can be used in any lesson at any time or they can be
introduced as part of a topic or theme. The topic plan (pages 8-9) links
Penguin Young Reader titles to common classroom topics and themes for
pupils aged 5–11 years.
In the plan, the titles of the Readers are grouped by Level and within each
Level they are grouped by age. For example, if you are doing the Topic
‘Animals’, with a class of 7-year-old pupils in their first year of English, you
can immediately see that the following Readers will be useful:
Animals, Colors, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Musicians of Bremen.
In this selection, you have two non-fiction Readers and two fiction
Readers. Two of these Readers are available as Big Books.
For more ideas on how to integrate Readers into Topics see Penguin Young
Readers Teacher’s Guide to Using Topics.
E Cambridge Young Learner English Tests
and Trinity Spoken English Examinations
Penguin Young Readers can help you and your pupils prepare for the Cambridge
Young Learner English Tests and the Trinity Spoken English examinations. The
three levels of the Young Learner English Tests, Starters, Movers and Flyers,
match Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the Penguin Young Readers and Trinity Grade
Examinations 1-5 match levels 1-4 of the Penguin Young Readers,
Penguin Young Readers
Cambridge English for
Speakers of other Languages
Trinity Spoken
English Examinations
Common European
Framework
Level 1
YLE: Starters
Grades 1–2
A1 Breakthrough
Level 2
YLE: Movers
Grades 2–3
A1 Breakthrough
Level 3
YLE: Flyers
Grades 3–4
A2 Waystage
Level 4
KET
Grades 4–5
A2 Waystage
7
Animals
Body
Buildings
Celebrations
Clothes
Colours
The Country
Family
Film/Media/TV
Food
Friendships
The Future
Health
Hobbies
Holidays
Homes
Jobs
Magic
Maths
Monsters
Music
Nature
School
Senses/Feelings
Size
Space
Sports
Time
Towns
Toys
Travel
Weather/Seasons
World/Environment
Animals
Colors
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The Musicians of Bremen
Sleeping Beauty
Tom’s Cake and Kate’s Lunch
Families
The Little Mermaid
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Town Mouse and Country Mouse
Dick Whittington
The Elves and the Shoemaker
The Ghost House
Aesop’s Fables
Poppet
Puss-in-Boots
Seasons
Story Shop:The Present
Tom Thumb
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Best Christmas
Chicken Run
Cinderella
Eddie and the Magic Potion
Halloween
The Jungle Book
Little Red Riding Hood
My Home
The Tinderbox
The Wizard of Oz
Aladdin and the Lamp
Ghosts
The Golden Goose
The Mummy:Against the Elements
The Selfish Giant
Snow White and Rose Red
Topics
Animals
Colors
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The Musicians of Bremen
Sleeping Beauty
Tom’s Cake and Kate’s Lunch
Families
The Little Mermaid
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Town Mouse and Country Mouse
Dick Whittington
The Elves and the Shoemaker
The Ghost House
Aesop’s Fables
Poppet
Puss-in-Boots
Seasons
Story Shop:The Present
Tom Thumb
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Best Christmas
Chicken Run
Cinderella
Eddie and the Magic Potion
Halloween
The Jungle Book
Little Red Riding Hood
My Home
The Tinderbox
The Wizard of Oz
Aladdin and the Lamp
Ghosts
The Golden Goose
The Mummy:Against the Elements
The Selfish Giant
Snow White and Rose Red
Penguin Young Readers TOPIC PLAN
LEVEL 1
Age
5-7
● ●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
7-9
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
photoc
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
opiable
●
LEVEL 2
9-11
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
5-7
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
● ● ●
●
●
●
●
●
● ● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
8
● ●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
7-9
● ● ●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
9-11
●
● ●
●
●
● ●
●
●
● ●
●
●
● ● ●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
The Topic Plan is an easy way of matching Penguin Young Readers with the
coursebook you use.There are several books within each topic area, providing
choice for both age and level. Each book features more than one topic.
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ● ●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
● ● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ● ●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ● ●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
● ●
●
● ●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
9
●
● ●
●
●
●
● ●
● ●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
● ●
● ●
● ● ●
● ● ●
●
E.T. The Book of the Green Planet
A Monkey’s Tale
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Rapunzel
A Christmas Carol
The Crane’s Gift
Danny Morton and the Eyes of Morn
The Emperor and the Nightingale
The Road to El Dorado
Rumpelstiltskin
The Snow Queen
Story Shop: Grounded
The Swiss Family Robinson
A Thief in the Village and Other Stories
Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Food
Pinocchio
The Toy Soldier
The Amazing Universe
Ancient Egypt
Woody Woodpecker:Whistle Stop Woody
5-7
E.T. The Book of the Green Planet
A Monkey’s Tale
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Rapunzel
A Christmas Carol
The Crane’s Gift
Danny Morton and the Eyes of Morn
The Emperor and the Nightingale
The Road to El Dorado
Rumpelstiltskin
The Snow Queen
Story Shop: Grounded
The Swiss Family Robinson
A Thief in the Village and Other Stories
●
●
9-11
Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
●
7-9
Food
Pinocchio
The Toy Soldier
The Amazing Universe
Ancient Egypt
The Hundred and One Dalmatians
Jack and the Beanstalk
Peter Pan
The Princess and the Frog
Sindbad the Sailor
The Ugly Duckling
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Hansel and Gretel
The New Adventures of Tom Thumb
Peter and the Wolf
The School Bus
Shapes
Sitting Ducks: Bill Hatches an Egg
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Story Shop: Winners and Losers
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Beauty and the Beast
Famous Sports
Happy Granny and The Wood Circle
Stories from the Odyssey
The Waters of Life
Woody Woodpecker: Beach Nuts
5-7
Woody Woodpecker:Whistle Stop Woody
The Hundred and One Dalmatians
Jack and the Beanstalk
Peter Pan
The Princess and the Frog
Sindbad the Sailor
The Ugly Duckling
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Hansel and Gretel
The New Adventures of Tom Thumb
Peter and the Wolf
The School Bus
Shapes
Sitting Ducks: Bill Hatches an Egg
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Story Shop: Winners and Losers
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Beauty and the Beast
Famous Sports
Happy Granny and The Wood Circle
Stories from the Odyssey
The Waters of Life
Woody Woodpecker: Beach Nuts
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 4
7-9
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
© Pearson Education 2003
9-11
Age
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
● ● ●
●
●
●
● ●
●
● ●
●
● ●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
● ●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
● ●
●
www.penguinreaders.com
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
● ●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
2 Teacher’s materials
Part Two: The Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s Materials
A Factsheets
There is a factsheet for every Penguin Young Reader. They are free from the Penguin website on
www.penguinreaders.com and from your local Pearson Education office.
Each four-page factsheet has two pages of teacher’s notes with useful information and practical ideas
for classroom activities, and two pages of photocopiable activity pages for pupils.
page 1
• Pages One and Two of the
factsheet for The School Bus have:
A summary of
the story for
you, the teacher
Ideas for different
topics to use
with the story
Activities to do
in the class
page 2
Ideas for using the
audio cassette
Ideas for using the chants,
which are in the back of
the Reader. Many chants
are also on cassette.
Useful information on the
activities for the teacher are on
page 2 because pages 3 and 4 are
photocopiable for the pupil.
Pages Three and Four of the factsheet have
four activities.
• The language in the activities matches the
level and age groups of the Reader
• The language in the activities consolidates
the language in the Reader
• The activities help the pupils’ reading skills.
• The activities complement the activities in
the back of the Readers
• Pupils can do these activities on their own
or in groups.
Answers to the activities in the Reader and
the Factsheet. Pupils do not have access to
the answers, unless you want them to.
10
2 Teacher’s materials
B Audio, chants and video
downloaded free of charge from the website,
www.penguinreaders.com.
Audio and video cassettes provide variety for you
and for the pupils, exposing them to other voices
and allowing you to manage other activities
while the cassette is playing. The following ideas
are examples of how you can use cassettes in the
classroom. You would probably use only one or
two in any one lesson.
Chants are a wonderful teaching resource
because:
• they include natural repetition of language
• they make the rhythm of English easy
• they reinforce the language in the Reader
• they are short and easy to remember
Audio cassettes
Here is one of the chants from Town and
Country Mouse.
What’s this?
It’s a cow
What’s this?
It’s an apple tree
Penguin Young Readers are available in audio
packs – the book and the cassette packaged
together – for every title. Readers which are
written in American English are read by an
American actor. Readers which are in British
English are read by a British actor.
Pupils listen to the cassette:
• and physically respond to what they hear by
putting up their hands or showing a flashcard
when they hear a certain word or phrase.
Different groups of pupils can listen and
respond to different words or phrases;
• while you show them the pictures in the Reader;
• and repeat parts of the Reader together with
the cassette;
• in sections to find out certain information;
• while they silently follow the text in the book;
• in pairs or groups and order pictures from the
Reader as they listen;
• whilst some pupils act out parts of the Reader
or they all act out in groups.
Milk and cheese are from…
The cow
Apples are from…
The trees
What’s this?
It’s a cow
What’s this?
It’s an apple tree
Here is an idea of how you can use this chant in
the classroom.
You will need to have pages 3, 4 and 6 of the
Reader ready to show to the pupils.
• Say: ‘Listen to the chant and look at the
pictures’
• Play the audio cassette of the first verse of the
chant. For each question and answer, point to
the correct part of the page in the Reader to
help pupils understand.
• Say: ‘Listen again’ and repeat the first verse
with or without the audio cassette.
• Say: ‘Now you’ and encourage pupils to join
in when you repeat the first verse. Make sure
the pupils say it quite fast to keep the rhythm!
• Repeat the procedure for the second verse.
• Say: ‘Now listen to the whole chant’.
• Play the audio cassette of the whole chant.
• Say: ‘Let’s try and do it together’.
• Play the audio cassette again. Encourage
pupils to join in with the chant. Point at the
pictures in the book to help them.
• Repeat.
• Say: ‘Everyone stand up. Let’s clap as we say
the chant this time.’
• Repeat the chant together. Encourage pupils
to move to the rhythm of the chant.
One of the advantages of an audio cassette is
that each time pupils listen, the reading will be
the same. In addition, if they have their own
cassette player or if there is a self-access centre
in the school, they can listen as many times as
they want to. They can even listen in the car or
on the bus on the way to school, or even in bed
before they go to sleep!
Audio CDs
The Penguin Young Readers classic fairy tales are
also available as CDs. There are 4 CDs, one for
each level for British English titles, and 2 CDs,
with American English titles (levels 1 and 2, and
3 and 4).
Chants
There are specially written chants for every
Reader in the back of the book or in the
factsheet. They are recorded on the book’s audio
cassette, following the story. The chants can be
11
2 Teacher’s materials
Videos
Here are a few ideas for using some of these
videos:
• Show pupils the beginning or part of a video
such as Sitting Ducks: Bill Hatches an Egg.
Ask them to guess what happens next, or
what happened before the section you showed
them. Give groups of pupils a copy of the
Reader and ask them to check if they are right.
• Show pupils the whole of a video, such as
Chicken Run, Woody Woodpecker: Beach
Nuts, Woody Woodpecker: Whistle Stop
Woody or The Mummy: Against the Elements.
Talk about the story with the pupils to check
they have understood. Give groups of pupils a
copy of the Reader and tell them to read it
together and find differences between the
Reader and the video.
• Read one of the Readers over a number of
lessons with the whole class, for example The
Jungle Book, The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella,
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The
Hundred and One Dalmatians. Show them the
film in 20 or 30 minute sections over the next
six lessons. Talk with the pupils about the film
after viewing each section and encourage
them to refer to the book and the pictures as
they are talking. After pupils have read the
book and seen the whole film, ask them to tell
you which is their favourite bit of the book
and which is their favourite bit of the film.
Video offers you an opportunity of introducing
your pupils to Readers.
The thirty classic Penguin Young Readers fairy
stories are available in American English or British
English.
Here are some ideas for using the Penguin
Young Readers video cassettes:
Pupils watch:
• the video of the story as their first
introduction to the Reader
• without the sound, following the pictures
which make up the story. After this pupils can
talk about what they have seen and then
watch the video with sound to check if they
were right;
• the beginning only and talk about what might
come next. They then see if they are right;
• a story after they have read it. They are then
likely to join in when the actor is speaking;
• and choose their favourite bit. This might be a
piece of the story, an illustration, or a gesture
or facial expression of the actor’s;
• with their eyes closed (or with the screen
covered) and just listen to the story, imagining
the pictures in their heads;
• and you stop the video at dramatic bits in the
story. Pupils can try and guess what is going
to happen next.
Film and Television Materials
Some Readers in the Penguin Young Readers
series are linked to films or television
programmes:
Chicken Run
Cinderella
The Jungle Book
The Wizard of Oz
The Mummy: Against the Elements
The Hundred and One Dalmatians
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Sitting Ducks: Bill Hatches an Egg
Woody Woodpecker: Beach Nuts
Woody Woodpecker: Whistle Stop Woody
Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
E.T. The Book of the Green Planet
A Monkey’s Tale
The Road to El Dorado
12
2 Teacher’s materials
C Big Books
Six titles in the Penguin Young Readers series are
available as Big Books:
Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Hundred
and One Dalmatians, Little Red Riding Hood,
The Musicians of Bremen, Poppet, Tom Thumb
Big Books are an excellent way of introducing a
story to pupils. They are big enough for the
whole class to be able to see the pictures clearly.
It is even better if pupils can come and sit on the
floor around you when you tell them the story.
In the back of every Big Book, there
is a lesson plan and photocopiable
ready-to-use activity material.
13
2 Teacher’s materials
D Teacher’s Guides
There are two other Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s Guides which are full of practical and useful ideas
and materials for the classroom. The Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s Guide to Using Topics and the
Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s Guide to Dramatizing Stories are free from the Penguin readers website
on www.penguinreaders.com or from your local Pearson Education office.
Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s
Guide to Using Topics
Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s
Guide to Dramatizing Stories
This Guide has sections on:
• Integrating Penguin Young Readers into Topic
Work
• Suggestions for Planning Units of Work
• Organizing the Classroom for Topic Work
• Evaluation of Topic Work
PLUS
• Detailed Plans for Three Topics: Food, The
Country, Magic
• Ten Photocopiable Pages
The detailed topic plans contain step-by-step
guidelines for activities and list new vocabulary,
structure and language skills for each activity.
They also tell you which Penguin Young Readers
can be used to support the topic and to support
each activity.
Photocopiable material includes:
• A game for practising classroom instructions
• A worksheet for making a Topic Train as part of
a word wall
• A worksheet for a Dominoes Game.
This Guide has sections on:
• Drama Techniques
• Exploring the Story
• Making a Story Real
• Drama Productions
• Drama and your Pupils
PLUS
• Fifteen Photocopiable Worksheets
The sections in the Guide give examples of
different types of drama activity. The activities are
staged and sequenced to help pupils develop the
range of skills and the confidence to take part in
a Drama production. There are activities that
focus on mime and sounds, activities that show
pupils how to make and use puppets and masks
and activities that help pupils to set up and stage
their own drama production. There is even a full
script for a play at the back of the Guide.
Photocopiable material includes worksheets for:
• Practising sounds
• Practising mime
• Setting up an interview
• Role Play
• Making a stick puppet
• Making a finger puppet
• Making hand puppets
• Making headbands and masks
14
3 Activities
Part Three: Activities with Penguin Young Readers
Here are some activities for you to try out in your classrooms. These activities are organized by age and level
to make it easier for you to find the best ones for your pupils. Remember to look at the activities for other
levels and ages as well – you will find good ideas there too which you can adapt for your own classes.
A Activities for 5–7 year olds
1. Look, listen and say
2. Listen, say and do
Telling a story using a Level 1 Big Book.
Time: 20–30 minutes
Materials: Penguin Young Reader: Poppet
Big Book.
(a) Cover the title of the book with a piece of
paper.
(b) Say ‘Children, come and sit around me in a
circle’. Pupils move their chairs or sit on the
floor in a circle around you.
(c) Hold up the Big Book. Show the cover so that
everyone can see. Say ‘What can you see?’
Give pupils time to answer. Possible answers:
an elephant, a mouse, flowers, leaves, trees.
Some pupils may answer in the mother
tongue. If they do, say their answers back to
the class in English.
(d) Say ‘Yes, we can see an elephant, a mouse,
some leaves and some flowers’. Point to the
picture as you say the words. Ask ‘Do you
know this story?’ If pupils say ‘yes’, then say
‘good’. Don’t ask them to tell you the story.
(e) Say ‘Let’s read the story together.’
(f) Read the story to the pupils. Turn each page
and show it to the pupils before you read the
text. Use your voice to make the story
interesting. Use different voices for the
different characters.
(g) When you have finished the story, close the
book. Show the front cover of the book again.
(h) Say ‘Can you guess the title of this story?’
Point to the title of the book which is still
covered with a piece of paper. Listen to the
pupils’ answers. Accept any answers that are
logical and congratulate the pupils.
(i) Say ‘Let’s find out.’ Take the piece of paper off
the title and read the title.
(j) Say ‘Let’s read the story again.’ Read the
story again, starting with the title. Encourage
pupils to come up to the book and point to
Poppet and Momo and the other animals as
you read it. Encourage them to join in the
telling when there are repetitive phrases, for
example ‘Are you a mouse?’ ‘No, I’m a …’
Using a chant to introduce a Level 1 Reader.
Time: 20 minutes
Materials: Chant 1 on audio cassette of Penguin
Young Reader: Seasons, one copy of the Penguin
Young Reader: Seasons for the teacher.
(a) Say ‘What’s the weather like today?’ Point
out of the window or, if you have one, point
at the weather chart in the classroom or on
the blackboard. Confirm pupils’ responses and
say ‘Yes, it’s (hot, cold, raining, cloudy). It’s
(winter, spring, summer, fall)’.
(b) Hold up your copy of the Reader open at page
1. Show it to the pupils. Point to the picture
of the season you said in (a) above and say
‘It’s (winter, spring, summer etc). Can you
tell me the names of the other seasons?’
Point to the other pictures and help the
pupils remember the names by saying the
beginning of the words.
(c) Say the names of the four seasons again.
Pupils repeat after you.
(d) Say ‘Who can tell me the season when it’s
cold?’ Mime cold for the pupils. Pupils will
give you different answers. Praise the answers
that are correct for the region you live in.
(e) Say ‘Who can tell me when it’s windy?’ Mime
windy for the pupils. Pupils will give you
different answers. Praise the correct answers.
(f) Say ‘Who can tell me when it’s hot?’ Mime
hot for the pupils. Pupils will give you
different answers. Praise the correct answers.
(g) Say ‘Now listen and look at the pictures.’
Play the audio cassette of Chant 1, point to
the pictures of the different seasons and
mime cold, windy, hot.
(h) Say ‘Listen again and try to help me.
Everyone stand up.’ Play the audio cassette
again, stopping after the end of the first
verse. Repeat the verse again with the pupils
without using the audio cassette.
(i) Repeat as in (h) for verses two and three.
(j) Play the whole chant on the audio cassette
again, encouraging pupils to join in with the
words and the actions.
15
3 Activities
3. Listen and do
(e) Monitor the groups as they work. Remind
them when they have one minute left and
when they have 30 seconds left. Say ‘Stop’ at
the end of the two minutes.
(f) Say ‘Now swap your piece of paper and your
notes with the group next to you.’ Make sure
that groups change pieces of paper and notes.
(g) Hand out the Readers to the groups. Say ‘Find
the section which is written on the piece of
paper. Read it quickly and find out if what the
other group has written is right! You have five
minutes.’
(h) Monitor the groups as they work. Say ‘Stop’
at the end of the five minutes.
(i) Say ‘Did you find anything that was very
different? Tell the other group.’
(j) Take feedback from some of the groups.
(k) Pupils complete Worksheet E in groups, using
the words they have learnt about food.
Pupils mime and act with a Level 1 audio tape.
Time: 15 minutes
Materials: A copy of the audio cassette for
Penguin Young Reader: Goldilocks and the Three
Bears.
You can do this activity after pupils have read
the story or after you have told them the story
using the Big Book.
(a) Say ‘Now we are going to listen to the story
together.’
(b) Play the tape. As the pupils listen, mime the
actions in the story or use gestures to help
pupils remember and understand.
(c) Stop the tape at the end of the story.
(d) Say ‘Now who can help me. Put up your
hands.’
(e) Choose two or three pupils and bring them
to the front of the class.
(f) Say ‘Let’s do the actions together. Let’s all be
Goldilocks.’ Play the tape again.
(g) Stop the tape at the end of the story. Say
‘Well done, thank you. You can sit down.’
(h) Repeat from (d) only this time choose more
pupils. Some pupils will be Goldilocks and
other pupils will be the bears.
5. Read and write
Using a factsheet activity after reading a Level 3
Reader.
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: one copy of Penguin Young Reader:
The Princess and the Frog for each pupil in the
class. One photocopy of Factsheet Activity 4 for
each pupil.
You should do this activity after pupils have read
the story.
(a) Write ‘caehtre’ on the board. Say ‘Who can
tell me what this says?’ If pupils cannot tell
you, write ‘t - - - - - -‘ underneath it. As they
guess, complete the word so it reads
‘teacher’.
(b) Say ‘You are going to do some word puzzles
like this’.
(c) Hand out the photocopies of Factsheet
activity 4 to each pupil.
(d) Say ‘Can you find out what these words are?
Look in the Reader if you can’t remember’.
Hold up your copy of The Princess and the
Frog as you say this.
(e) When all the pupils have finished, say ‘Check
your answers with your partner.’
(f) Check the answers with the class if necessary.
(g) Say ‘Now, find three words from the story
and write them like this.’ Point at ‘caehtre’ on
the board.
(h) When all the pupils have found and written
their three words say ‘Who wants to come to
the board and write one of their words?’
Invite one of the pupils who puts up their
4. Say, read and find
Introducing a Level 4 non-fiction Reader using
the contents page.
Time: 20 minutes
Materials: 20 copies of Penguin Young Reader:
Food – one for each group of pupils, one copy of
the Reader for the teacher, 20 strips of paper,
each with one line of the Contents (for example
‘Food for Life’) written on it but no page number,
one copy of Worksheet E for each pupil.
(a) Copy the Contents page of the Reader on to
the board BUT do not write the page
numbers and do not write the contents in
order.
(b) Say ‘These are all sections of our new Reader.
What do you think the topic of the Reader
is?’ Encourage pupils to answer and praise all
answers which are on the theme of food. Tell
pupils the title of the Reader.
(c) Divide the pupils into pairs or small groups.
You need twenty pairs or groups.
(d) Give each group one of the strips of paper.
Say ‘Now, you’ve got two minutes to write
down what you think this section of the
Reader is about.’
16
3 Activities
hand. They write the word on the board and
the other pupils guess. If there is a dispute,
then the pupil at the board must tell the
class on which page in the Reader the
word is.
(b) Say ‘Now watch the video and see if it is the
story you remember.’
(c) Play the video through to the end without
stopping.
(d) Divide pupils into pairs and say ‘Tell each
other what you remember about the story.
Use the words on the board to help you.’
(e) Monitor the pairs as pupils talk about the
story.
(f) After about three or four minutes, hand out
the books to the pairs. Don’t stop them
working, but say to each pair ‘Use this book
to help you remember the story.’
(g) Continue to monitor the pairs, guiding them
to parts of the book which might help them.
(h) After about ten minutes say ‘Stop.’
(i) Either watch the video again with the pupils
as they follow the story in the book or pupils
can retell parts of the story using the book.
6. Watch, guess and read
Using a Level 4 video to motivate pupils to read.
Time: 30 minutes
Materials: Penguin Young Reader Video:
Pinocchio. Copies of the Penguin Young Reader:
Pinocchio for every pair of pupils in the class.
(a) Say ‘Today we are going to watch the story
of Pinocchio. Has anyone heard of this story?’
Let pupils tell you what they know about the
story for two or three minutes. Make a few
notes on the blackboard of the main points
the pupils remember about the story. Make
sure the following words are on the board:
carpenter, puppet, nose, to tell lies.
B Activities for 7–9 year olds
1. Listen and show/match
(c) Stick the cards on the board. Point to each
one and say the word, together with the
pupils.
(d) Stick the word cards on the board. Don’t stick
them next to the right picture!
(e) Point to the picture of the apples. Say ‘which
word says apples? Can anyone help me?’
Point to each word in turn and say ‘Is it this
one?’ Pupils reply ‘No’ until you are pointing
at the word ‘apples.’ Then they chorus ‘Yes.’
(f) Stick the word under the picture. Repeat for
each word.
(g) Hand out the word and picture cards so that
each pupil has a card.
(h) Say ‘Listen to the story about a Town Mouse
and Country Mouse.’ Point to the cover of
the Reader as you say this. ‘When you hear
your word, hold up your card like this.’
Demonstrate holding up a card to the pupils.
(i) Say ‘Are you ready?’
(j) Play the tape. Hold up the Reader and turn
the pages as they listen.
Using a Level 1 audio cassette to
check understanding of key words.
Time: 20–30 minutes
Materials: the audio cassette of the
Penguin Young Reader: Town and Country
Mouse, one copy of the Penguin Young
Reader: Town and Country Mouse, one set of
cards from Worksheet F for the teacher and one
card for every pupil in the class. (You will need to
prepare word and picture cards from the
worksheet for this activity. Make enough copies
so that you can give a word or a picture card to
every pupil.)
You can introduce the Reader to pupils with this
activity.
(a) Hold up one of the picture cards. Say ‘Do you
know what this is?’ Praise any pupil who
says the word and then say the word clearly
so that all the class can hear. The class
repeats after you.
(b) Do this for the remaining 6 picture cards.
17
3 Activities
2. Listen and read
(b) Say ‘What happened at the end of the story?’
Pupils will tell you that Cinderella got
married. Say ‘And she invited all her friends to
another ball.’
(c) Say ‘In groups you are going to make some
posters telling people about this ball’. Hold
up a copy of the invitation from Factsheet
activity 3. Say ‘Use these to help you.’ Point
to Name, Start Time and so on. Say ‘Make
sure you have these on your poster. When
you have finished we will put your posters on
the wall and decide whose is the best.’
(d) Divide the class into groups. Give each group
a copy of Factsheet, Activity 3, a copy of the
Reader, a large piece of poster paper and some
colours.
(e) Monitor the groups as they work, giving them
ideas and help if needed. You can point to
pictures in the book to help them. Remind
them to include the words from the Invitation
on their poster (or they can stick the
Invitation in the middle of their posters)
(f) Stop the activity after about 20 minutes.
(g) Pupils put up their posters on the walls and
the class decides whose is the best.
Using a Level 2 audio cassette for simultaneous
reading and listening.
Time: 20 minutes
Materials: one copy of the audio cassette for
Penguin Young Reader: Eddie and the Magic
Potion, one copy of Penguin Young Reader: Eddie
and the Magic Potion for each pair of pupils, one
copy of the Reader for the teacher.
You can introduce the Reader to pupils with this
activity.
(a) Hand out a copy of the Reader to each pair of
pupils.
(b) Hold up your copy of the Reader so that
pupils can see the cover. Say ‘This story is
called Eddie and the Magic Potion. It’s about
a boy and his granny’. Point at the title and
the picture on the cover.
(c) Say ‘Let’s listen to the story. You can look at
the pictures and read silently as we listen.
Open your books.’
(d) Open your book at page one and hold it up
for the pupils to see. Say ‘Like this. Are you
ready? Now listen and look at your books.’
(e) Play the tape. Look to make sure pupils are all
looking at page one.
(f) When the ‘ping’ sounds to turn the page,
stop the tape.
(g) Hold up your book and turn the page, saying
‘Turn the page like this.’
(h) Continue with the tape.
(i) Walk around the class and make sure the
pupils are looking at the right pages as they
listen and read.
(j) Stop the tape at the end of the story. Ask
pupils to tell you what the story is about.
4. Say, guess and read
Using a non-fiction Level 3 Reader for prediction.
Time: 20–30 minutes
Materials: one copy of the Penguin Young Reader:
Shapes for each pair of pupils and one copy for
the teacher, the following objects: a cone, a cube,
a triangle.
(a) Place the three objects on your desk in a
place where pupils can see them. Ask pupils
to tell you what they are. Write the words on
the blackboard.
Elicit from the pupils any other shapes that
they know. They can tell you in the mother
tongue and draw a picture of the shape on
the board. Make sure you include the
following shapes: pyramid, sphere, rectangle
and write the words on the blackboard.
(c) Divide the pupils into pairs. Give each pair a
copy of the Reader. Say ‘Look through the
book and find the pages where they tell you
about these shapes. You’ve got three
minutes.’
(d) After three minutes say ‘Stop’. Check the
page numbers with the pupils. They are:
pyramid, pages 24 and 25, cone, pages 26
and 27, cube, page 18, 19 and 27, triangle,
pages 22 and 23, sphere, pages 10, 11, 12
and 13, rectangle, page 16 and 17. If pupils
3. Read and make
Using factsheet activities after reading a Level 2
Reader to produce posters.
Time: 40 minutes
Materials: one copy of the Penguin Young Reader:
Cinderella for each group of pupils, one copy of
Factsheet Activity 3, one large piece of poster
paper and colours for each group of pupils.
You should do this activity after pupils have read
the book.
(a) Write the word ‘Ball’ in large letters in the
centre of the blackboard. Say ‘Cinderella went
to the ball. What can you tell me about the
ball?’ Brainstorm the topic with the class and
create a mind map on the board. Likely words
are: palace, prince, clothes, dress, shoes,
music, food, drink.
18
3 Activities
6. Read, watch and say
have drawn other shapes on the board which
are in the book, then check they have the
right pages for these too.
(e) Give each pair of pupils one of the six shapes
(pyramid etc). Say ‘Read the page(s) in the
book which tell you about your shape. Write
down those objects which the book says are
that shape. Now find other things of the
same shape in the classroom.’
(f) After about ten minutes stop the activity.
(g) Take feedback on each shape from the pairs.
Using a Level 2 video to motivate pupils to speak.
Time: 20 minutes
Materials: one copy of the Penguin Young Reader:
Little Red Riding Hood, one copy of the Penguin
Young Reader: Little Red Riding Hood Big Book
for the teacher.
You should do this activity with the pupils after
you have read the Big Book to the pupils.
(a) Say ‘Let’s watch the story of Little Red Riding
Hood.’ Hold up the Big Book to remind the
pupils of the story.
(b) Sit the pupils so that they can all see the
video clearly and easily. Start the video.
(c) Stop the video after ‘… Mothers!’ (page 3 of
the Reader). Say ‘What happens next?’ Listen
to the pupils’ answers and praise those who
give you the right answers (wolf, hiding,
watching).
(d) Say ‘Let’s see if you are right.’ Restart the
video, nod and smile to the pupils to confirm
their predictions.
(e) Stop the video after‘… Mmmmm’ he said!’
(page 7 of the Reader). Say ‘What happens
next?’ Listen to the pupils’ answers and
praise those who give you the right answers
(wolf, hiding, in bed, granny’s clothes).
(f) Say ‘Let’s see if you are right.’ Restart the
video, nod and smile to the pupils to confirm
their predictions.
(g) Stop the video after ‘… Why are your teeth
so big?’ (the middle of page 11 of the Reader).
Say ‘What happens next?’ Listen to the
pupils’ answers and praise those who give
you the right answers (jumps out of bed,
wants to eat her, woodcutter, axe).
(h) Say ‘Let’s see if you are right.’ Restart the
video, nod and smile to the pupils to confirm
their predictions.
(i) Play the video to the end.
(j) Say ‘What’s your favourite bit of the story?’
Listen to pupils’ answers, showing the
relevant picture from the Big Book.
5. Read, find and answer
Using a Level 4 non-fiction Reader for a reading
race.
Time: 30 minutes
Materials: one copy of the Penguin Young Reader:
The Amazing Universe for each pair of pupils,
one copy of Worksheet G for each pair.
(a) Divide the class into pairs. Give each group a
copy of the questions and give them a few
minutes to read them through. Check that
there are no vocabulary problems.
(b) Say ‘You are going to do a reading race. I’ll
give you a copy of the Reader where you can
find the answers to the questions. Find the
answers as fast as you can and write them on
your worksheet. Remember to write the page
number too.’
(c) Hand out the copies of the Readers to each
group. Tell them not to start yet.
(d) When each pair has a copy of the worksheet
and the Reader say ‘Ready, steady, go’.
(e) Monitor to check pupils know what they have
to do. Help any pairs who are having
difficulty.
(f) When all the pairs have finished say ‘swap
your answer sheet with the group next to
you and let’s check the answers together.’
(g) Check the answers with the class. The
answers are: (1) 9 (2) 294,400 kilometres a
second (3) Earth (4) Red (5) H. G. Wells (6)
1930 (7) Comets (8) The Milky Way (9)
telescope (10) bigger.
(h) Pairs take their answers back. Congratulate all
the pupils, in particular those who got all the
answers right.
19
3 Activities
C Activities for 9–11 year olds
1. Listen, read and compare
2. Read, say and write
Using a Level 2 audio cassette and Reader
for story completion.
Time: 30 minutes
Materials: one copy of the Penguin Young
Reader: The Selfish Giant for half the class,
one copy of the Penguin Young Reader:
The Selfish Giant for the teacher, one copy
of Worksheet D for each pupil, one copy of
the audio cassette of the Penguin Young Reader:
The Selfish Giant set to begin playing from
page 8.
You will need to have access to another
classroom for this activity.
(a) Hand out a copy of the Worksheet to every
pupil. Divide the class in half. Call the groups
Group A and Group B.
(b) Take Group A into another room. Appoint
one pupil as monitor. This pupil will be in
charge of playing the tape. Tell him / her to
play the tape from the place it is set to the
end (make sure you set the counter on the
tape machine to 00). The tape can be played
as many times as the other pupils want but
each time the tape must be played from 00
on the machine and not from the beginning.
Say ‘Listen to the tape, make notes about the
end of the story and decide together what
happened at the beginning of the story. Write
the beginning of the story in pairs. You have
10 minutes.’
(c) Go back into your classroom. Hand out the
readers to Group B and say ‘Read pages one
to seven and make notes about the story. Talk
to your partner and decide together what you
think happens at the end of the story. Write
the end of the story. You have 10 minutes.
(d) Monitor the pupils working in both rooms.
(e) After 10 minutes bring Group A back into
your classroom. Pair the pupils so that a pupil
from Group A is working with a pupil from
Group B. Say ‘Tell each other about your part
of the story and what you think happened at
the beginning or the end. Compare your
stories. Are they the same?’
(f) Monitor the pupils as they work.
(g) After about 10 minutes stop the activity.
Pupils can talk about their stories to the class
or they can be displayed on the wall.
Using a Level 2 Reader to motivate pupils to
write their own chants.
Time: 20 minutes
Materials: one copy of the Penguin Young Reader:
The Mummy: Against the Elements for each pupil,
one copy of the Reader for the teacher.
You should do this activity after pupils have read
the story and after you have taught them the
chants in the Reader.
(a) Say ‘Which is your favourite chant.’ Ask
pupils to come to the front of the class and
say their favourite chant in groups. Repeat for
all three chants.
(b) Say to the class ‘Now you can try and write a
chant for the story. Start with your favourite
chant and change one or two of the lines.’
(c) Divide pupils into pairs or groups. Group
pupils by their choice of favourite chant for
(a) above.
(d) Monitor pupils as they work and give them
ideas as well as correcting any language they
are using.
(e) After about 10 minutes stop the activity and
ask groups to come to the front and perform
their new chants.
(f) Repeat for several of the groups.
3. Watch, discuss and read
Pupils watch part of the video of the film title.
Time: 30 minutes
Materials: one copy of the Penguin Young Reader:
Woody Woodpecker Beach Nuts for each pupil,
one copy of a video or DVD of Beach Nuts.
For this activity you will need a video or DVD
copy of the TV programme.
(a) Say ‘Today we’re going to watch a funny
video. Has anyone heard of Woody
Woodpecker? Do you know what sound he
makes?’ Make the Woody Woodpecker sound
for the pupils! Give pupils time to tell you if
they have heard of Woody and if they have
seen any of the cartoons.
(b) Sit the pupils so that they can all see the video.
(c) Say ‘Watch this story. We’ll talk about the
story at the end.’
(d) Play the video through to the end.
(e) Divide the pupils into pairs. Say ‘Now tell
your partner your favourite part of the
cartoon and the funniest part of the cartoon.’
(f) After a few minutes take feedback from the
20
3 Activities
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
class. Write notes on the board under the
headings, ‘The Funniest Parts’ and ‘Our
Favourite Parts’.
Hand out copies of the Readers to the pupils.
Say ‘Find ‘The Funniest Parts’ (point to the
notes on the board) in your books, read each
one and decide in your pairs which you think
is THE funniest. Do the same for ‘Our
Favourite Parts.’
Monitor the pupils as they read. Make sure
they are doing the task.
After 10 to 15 minutes say ‘Stop. Now we
are going to take a class vote.’ Point to each
of The Funniest Parts on the board in turn
saying ‘Who thinks this is the funniest?
Hands up.’ Count the hands and write the
number next to it. Do the same for all the
Funniest Parts and all the Favourite Parts.
Underline one Funniest Part and one
Favourite Part on the board – the ones which
have the most numbers against them. Say
‘The class votes this the Funniest Part and
the class votes this our Favourite Part.’
(d) Monitor the pupils as they work. Help them
with questions if necessary.
(e) After 15 minutes stop the activity. Take
feedback from the pupils on each of the
sections in the Worksheet, making sure you
ask pupils who have not read that Reader
but who found out about that Reader from
their partner.
5. Read, discuss and write
Pupils write their own endings for the story, or
their own story.
Time: 40 minutes
Materials: sufficient copies of the following
Penguin Young Readers: The Waters of Life,
Stories from the Odyssey, A Thief in the Village
so that each pupil can have one Reader, one
copy of each Reader for the teacher, an audio
cassette or CD of restful music, computer
terminals.
(a) Introduce the three Readers to the pupils by
topic: The Waters of Life has traditional
stories from China, north America and India,
Stories from the Odyssey has stories from
Ancient Greece and A Thief in the Village
has stories from the Caribbean.
(b) Let pupils choose which Reader they would
like to read. Hand out a Reader to each pupil.
(c) Say ‘Choose one of the stories from your
book and read it silently.’ Play a cassette or
CD of restful music as they read. It is a good
idea for you to read at the same time as
they do.
(d) Stop the activity and the cassette after about
15 minutes, or when you can see pupils have
finished. Divide the pupils into groups of four.
(e) Say ‘Tell the others in your group about your
story. It does not matter if you read the
same story.’
(f) Monitor the groups as they work. Encourage
them to tell a summary of the story, not to
tell everything that happened in the story
in detail.
(g) When all four pupils have told their stories
(about 10 minutes) say * ‘Choose one of the
stories from your group and decide which
parts you would like to change. Together
write your new story. (* At this stage each
pupil could write their own new story: it
would depend on the level of the group).
(h) Pupils write the new stories as a group,
using computers if they are available.
(i) Display the stories on the classroom walls
when everyone has finished.
4. Read, discuss and complete
Pupils read stories on a theme and discuss plot
and characters.
Time: 40 minutes
Materials: one copy of Penguin Young Reader:
Danny Morton and the Eyes of Morn for half the
pupils in the class and one copy of Penguin
Young Reader: The Road to El Dorado for the
remaining half of the class, one copy of
Worksheet C for all the pupils in the class.
Half of the class need to have read one of the
Readers before this lesson and the remaining half
of the class the other Reader.
(a) Pair the pupils so that in each pair both
pupils have read the same Reader. Hand out
a copy of the worksheet to each pupil. Say
‘Talk about your story with your partner and
complete the sections in Part A of the
worksheet together. You have 15 minutes.’
(b) Monitor the pupils as they work, giving
guidance where necessary. Remind both
pupils in each pair to complete their
worksheets.
(c) After 15 minutes stop the activity. Regroup
the pupils so that in each pair one pupil has
read one Reader and the other pupil the
other Reader. Say ‘Now you are going to find
out about your friend’s book. Ask them
questions and then write notes in Part B of
your worksheet. You have 15 minutes.’
21
4 Photocopiable worksheets
6. Choose, read, do and check
from the activity bank and go back to their
seats.
(c) Say ‘Do the activity you have chosen. You will
find your Reader there (point to the display) if
you need it.’
(d) Monitor the pupils. As individual pupils finish
show them where the answer sheets are so
they can check their answers. Pupils who
finish quickly can go and choose another
activity.
(e) Hold up a copy of Worksheet B and show
pupils where to write down the details of the
activity they have done. Remind them to do it
each time they use the Self Access materials.
Hand out a copy of Worksheet B to each
pupil for them to fill in. Worksheets should
then be collected and be kept in a folder with
the Self Access materials.
Using factsheet activities: introducing pupils to
self-access materials.
Time: 5–15 minutes
Materials: Activity Bank of Penguin Young Reader
Factsheet Activities as described on page 6 of
this Guide including Answers to Factsheet
Activities in a separate box, one copy of each
Penguin Young Reader on a display to accompany
materials in the Activity Bank, a copy of
Worksheet B for each pupil.
(a) Say ‘Look. I’ve put all the Readers we have
read over there. In the (blue) boxes next to
them, there are different activities and in the
(red) box you can find the answers to the
activities.’ Point to the materials on display.
(b) Divide the class into groups of six. Groups go
up in turn and choose one of the Activities
Part Four: Penguin Young Readers Photocopiable
worksheets
Worksheet A: Our Class Reading Chart
Worksheet F: Matching Game
Make a large photocopy of this worksheet, which
is for classrooms with the youngest age groups.
Put it on the classroom wall. Discuss each Reader
you read as a class with the pupils, or they can
discuss it in groups.
Ask one of the pupils to complete the chart for
the class, drawing a smiley face if they liked it
and a sad face if they didn’t.
Repeat for each class Reader.
See Part Three B, Activity 1 for instructions.
Worksheet G: The Amazing Universe
Reading Race
See Part Three B, Activity 5 for instructions.
Worksheet H: Make Your Own Wordsearch
Make photocopies of this worksheet.
At the end of a Unit of the text book, hand out
one photocopy to each pupil.
Tell pupils to look back at the new words from
the Unit and to make a Wordsearch including
between 6 and 10 of the new words. They should
write the Unit number at the top of the page.
Pupils can finish their Wordsearches at home.
Either:
In the next lesson, pupils swap wordsearches and
find the words their partner has hidden.
Or:
Collect the wordsearches after each Unit and
when you have completed five or six Units of the
text book, hand the wordsearches out at random
to pairs of pupils and use them as a vocabulary
revision activity.
Worksheet B: My Factsheet Activity
Record
See Part Three C, Activity 6 for instructions.
Worksheet C: Comparing Stories
See Part Three C, Activity 4 for instructions.
Worksheet D: What’s the Story?
See Part Three C, Activity 1 for instructions.
Worksheet E: Word Families
To be used with Part Three A, Activity 4.
This template can also be used to encourage
pupils to develop other word family maps.
You will need to adapt it to suit other word
families.
22
A. Our Class Reading Chart
Class:
Dates: from
Pupil’s name
Title of the Reader
© Pearson Education 2003
opiab
photoc
to
le
23
www.penguinreaders.com
photoc
opiable
© Pearson Education 2003
24
www.penguinreaders.com
Title of the Reader
Pupil’s name
Factsheet Activity
B. My Factsheet Activity Record
Date
C. Comparing Stories
Pupil’s name
A
Your story
B
Your partner’s story
Title of the Reader
Characters
Who are the main
characters in the story?
Who are the other
characters in the story?
Story
What happens:
At the beginning
In the middle
At the end
Character
Which is your favourite
character in the story?
Why?
Story
Which is your favourite
part of the story?
Why?
© Pearson Education 2003
opiab
photoc
le
25
www.penguinreaders.com
D. What’s the Story?
Pupil’s name
Title of the Reader
gi
The be nn in g
The e nd
photoc
opiable
© Pearson Education 2003
26
www.penguinreaders.com
E. Word Families
Pupil’s name
© Pearson Education 2003
opiab
photoc
le
27
www.penguinreaders.com
mouse
bus
tree
cow
apples
cheese
milk
F. Matching Game
photoc
opiable
© Pearson Education 2003
28
www.penguinreaders.com
G. The Amazing Universe Reading Race
Name
Find the answers to these questions in your copy of Penguin
Young Reader The Amazing Universe. Write your answers
and the page where you found the information.
1. How many planets are there in our solar system?
2. What is the speed of light?
3. Which is the third planet from the Sun?
4. Mars is often called ‘The
Planet.’
5. Who wrote The War of the Worlds?
6. When was Pluto discovered?
7. Which have long tails, comets or asteroids?
8. What is the name of our galaxy?
9. Hubble is the name of a famous
10. Is the universe getting bigger or smaller?
© Pearson Education 2003
opiab
photoc
le
29
www.penguinreaders.com
H. Make Your Own Wordsearch
Pupil’s name
Write here the words for your partner to find:
photoc
opiable
© Pearson Education 2003
30
www.penguinreaders.com
5 Some of your questions answered
Part Five; Some practical questions answered
A. What advantages does the Penguin Young
Readers series have over other Readers?
Penguin Young Readers are the only series of Readers
which are graded by both age and language level, so
there is something for every pupil, however old (or
young) they are and whatever their language level. The
wide choice of books gives you, the teacher, the
opportunity to find the best book for every class or
pupil whatever their needs or the needs of a particular
lesson. For example, for your class of 8-year-old pupils,
you can choose from a range of medium size books
and within this you have four levels of language to
choose from.
B. I have a group of 5-year-olds. What are
the best books for them to read?
the language, it can be a good time to practise some
reading aloud. You might find the cassette gives useful
practice for this as well.
F. Sometimes the Readers use grammar and
vocabulary that we have not yet covered.
What is the best way to approach this?
Remember that these books are designed to develop
extensive reading and that to understand the main
ideas from a text it is not necessary to understand
every word. You’ll be surprised how much of a story
pupils can understand even when there are words and
grammar that are new. If, after they’ve read a story,
pupils ask you a question about the language, that’s
probably the best time to focus on it and talk about it.
G. My class of 10-year-olds has never done
factsheets before. Can they do them on
their own?
The best books are the large size books because the
content and concepts are designed for this age group.
They are available in language levels 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Choose the levels that are suitable for the pupils in
your class. There are Big Books too.
C. What is the difference between level 1
books for 5–7 year olds, 7–9 year olds
and 9–11 year olds?
All level 1 books are for beginners and use basic
vocabulary and structures. Books for 5–7-year olds
have fewer words per page than those for 7–9 year
olds and books for 7–9 year olds have fewer words per
page than those for 9–11 year olds. In addition, topics
and concepts are chosen to be of interest and
relevance to each age group and to be within their
cognitive and conceptual ability.
D. Why do the books come in three sizes?
That’s because children come in different sizes too!
The Readers come in three sizes, each size broadly
matching with the following age groups: large size
books for 5–7s, medium size books for 7–9s and small
size books for 9–11s. What is interesting and relevant
for a child of 5 or 6 years old is not going to be
motivating for a child of 10!
E. The only reading we do in my class is
reading aloud. Can I use the Readers for
this?
Yes you can, but remember that the Readers are
designed for extensive reading, (reading for
understanding) not reading aloud for pronunciation. I
agree that many pupils love reading aloud and we
don’t want to discourage them. However, reading
aloud should be a final activity; make sure your pupils
have read the Reader first, have understood it and
have had a chance to talk about it and to do some of
the activities in the back of the Reader and on the
factsheets. Once they are familiar with the Reader and
Yes, the factsheets are designed to be self-study and
self-access. But, if your pupils are not used to doing
these types of activities in your classroom, then
introduce them slowly. Why not do the first one as a
class activity and after that pupils can work on
factsheets in groups or pairs and only after that do
them as an individual activity.
H. How do I choose a class Reader?
There are three questions you will need to ask yourself:
How old are my pupils? How long have they been
learning English? What topic or type of story will they
be interested in? The answer to the first question will
tell you which size of books to choose: see Question D.
The answer to the second question will tell you which
level you need. It’s likely that your class is mixed
ability (children’s classes nearly always are!). So make
sure you choose a book which is pitched in the middle
of the ability range. For example, if your pupils have
been learning English for two years, then you will
probably want to choose a Level 2 book. It might be a
little easy for some of the pupils, but it should be
accessible to everyone. The answer to the third
question depends on the topic in your course book
and the individual interests of the pupils in your class.
Have a look at the topic plan on pages 8–9 and you’re
sure to find something suitable.
I. My class of 5-year-olds is working on the
topic of Food this term. How can I use the
Food Reader with them?
This Reader is divided into different sections and so is
great for supporting topic work in the classroom.
Remember not every pupil has to read all of the Reader
from start to finish. You can have different groups of
pupils working on different pages. When you
introduce vocabulary about different kinds of food you
31
can use one or two pages of the Reader each time to
help the pupils understand the meaning of the new
words. Pupils can reread these pages on their own and
you can make quizzes and games to help with
revision, for example Part 3A. Activity 4 and like the
Amazing Universe reading race on page 19 of this
Guide. Pupils can copy the pictures in the Reader
when they make their own picture dictionaries too.
But, the Reader can support more than vocabulary
work. There are stories in the Reader which you can
read to the class, or which they can read themselves.
Pupils particularly love the story of the Little Red Hen.
You can tell the story to the class and then pupils can
act it out as they listen to the cassette. They can even
make masks and puppets to help them with the telling
of the story and dramatize it for parents and other
pupils in the school.
K. Should I give a Reader as homework?
There’s no reason why not as long as you give pupils a
task to do as well. ‘Read four pages’ does not involve
a task and does not give pupils a purpose for reading.
‘Read four pages and find out what the giant’s
favourite food is?’ (Jack and the Beanstalk) is a
meaningful task and gives the pupils a clear purpose
for reading. Pupils like reading aloud to their parents
too! If they are going to do this, make sure they have
had a chance to read aloud to you in class first.
Reading aloud is very different from reading for
understanding – it’s possible to read aloud and
understand very little!
L. How can I use Readers in my mixed
ability classes?
Easily! All classes of children are mixed ability in fact.
Choose books which are suitable for the age and
language levels in your class. Encourage pupils to
choose books which interest them, though you may
want to advise them of which titles would be more
appropriate. Pupils can read on their own or in pairs or
groups. Buddy reading is particularly useful in a mixed
ability class. This is where pupils of either similar
abilities read together, or pupils of differing abilities
read together. Try these techniques out! They work
really well.
J. How often should I use Readers with my
class?
This will depend on the age of the class, how much
time you have, the length of your course book and so
on. Readers make a welcome change from a course
book and can motivate pupils to want to learn. They
do not always need to be read from start to finish. You
can set aside 10 minutes at the end of a lesson as a
quiet time for pupils to read their books individually.
Alternatively you can tell them a story from a Reader
at the start or end of a lesson as a change of activity,
for example the Little Red Hen from the Food Reader.
You’ll find in the next lesson they’ll want to look at
the Reader and find something else which is
interesting to read.
32
Other resource materials available for teachers:
Penguin Young Readers Factsheets
Each Factsheet is based on one Reader and consists of:
• a summary of the book
• information about the story and its author/background
• lively, photocopiable activities.
Penguin Young Readers Factsheets are free to download from our website
www.penguinreaders.com
Other Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s Guides
Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s Guide to Dramatizing Stories
Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s Guide to Using Topics
Penguin Young Readers Teacher’s Guides are free to download from our
website www.penguinreaders.com
For a full list of Readers in the Penguin Young Readers series, and copies
of the Penguin Readers catalogue, please contact your local Pearson
Education offices or:
Customer Services Department
Pearson Education
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow
Essex CM20 2JE
UK
Tel: +44(0)1279 623623
e-mail: [email protected]
Pearson Education Limited
Edinburgh Gate, Harlow
Essex CM20 2JE, England
and Associated Companies throughout the world.
Pearson Education Ltd © 2003
New Edition of the Penguin Young Reader's Teacher's Guide to Using Stories
in Class by Annie Hughes and Melanie Williams
Design by Wendi Watson
Illustrations by Bridget Dowty/G-CI
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the Publishers.
Published by Pearson Education Limited in association with Penguin Books
Ltd., both companies being subsidiaries of Pearson Plc
Penguin Young Readers
A Practical
Teacher’s Guide
Penguin Young Readers A Practical Teacher’s Guide offers teachers practical
advice on how to use Penguin Young Readers in the classroom.
Penguin Young Readers A Practical Teacher’s Guide includes:
• an introduction to the Penguin Young Readers series
• useful advice for integrating Readers into teaching
• a selection of activities at each language level to match the age level of
your class
Penguin Young Readers A Practical Teacher’s Guide also includes the following
photocopiable activities:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Our Class Reading Chart
My Factsheet Activity Record
Comparing Stories
What’s the Story?
Word Families
Matching Game
The Amazing Universe Reading Race
Make your own Wordsearch
All Teacher’s Guide and Penguin Young Readers
Factsheets can be downloaded from www.penguinreaders.com
Published and distributed by Pearson Education Limited