Aiming for Progress in Reading: Book 2

194745 For Level 1 7547531Aiming READING Book 42 Reading_FM.indd title.indd 1

16/01/2014 18/12/2013 17:02 11:12

Contents Chapter 1 Understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to texts 5 1

Use skimming and scanning skills to locate information in a text

6

2

Support your ideas with detail from the text

8

3

Find quotations to support your ideas

10

4

Select and compare points from different texts

12

5

Summarise information from a text

16

Check your progress

18

Chapter 2 Deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts

19

1

Make inferences from what you read

20

2

Make sense of information from different points in the text

22

3

Make deductions about themes, characters and events (Part 1)

24

4

Make deductions about themes, characters and events (Part 2)

26

5

Infer viewpoint from a non-fiction text

28

Check your progress

30

Chapter 3 Identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts

31

1

Understand the organisation of different texts

32

2

Understand how a text is structured and organised

34

3

Understand the use of headings and bullet points

36

4

Understand the structure of stories

38

5

Comment on the form of a poem

42

Check your progress

44

Chapter 4 Explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level 45 1

Understand writers’ word choices

46

2

Comment on similes

48

3

Understand how writers use sentences

50

4

Understand how writers use dialogue

52

5

Identify different tenses

54

Check your progress

56

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_FM.indd 3

16/01/2014 17:03

Chapter 5 Identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader

57

1

Write and talk about the purpose of a text

58

2

Write and talk about the viewpoint of the writer

60

3

Use your understanding of viewpoint in your own writing

62

4

Write and talk about the effect of a text on the reader

64

5

Write and talk about the effect of a writer’s choices of words and grammar

66

Check your progress

68

Chapter 6 Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical traditions

69

1

Identify different times, places and social settings in texts

70

2

Identify character and setting in texts

72

3

Recognise texts from the same genre

74

4

Identify character and setting in texts from different times

76

Check your progress

78

Chapter 7 Longer texts and reading activities

79

1

VW campervan hire website

80

2

England’s most-capped player

81

3

Scary play by Judith Johnson

84

4

The Dark Woods – A Travel Guide

86

5

Forest of Doom by Jennie Walters

88

Teacher Guide

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_FM.indd 4

89

16/01/2014 17:03

Chapter 6 . Topic 1

Identify different times, places and social settings in texts

Learning objective • spot the times and places of different texts.

Books are set in different times, places and societies. These settings can be real or imaginary.

Getting you thinking Cindy adds the last biscuit, secures the pack, adds the pack to the box and begins assembling another. Some firms do this by machine now but Wally Pratt’s is a family firm and does everything in the family way. Cindy fastens the box neatly with masking tape. Tea break soon. One more box and she can start on the tins. Thank God it’s Friday.

Tea break soon. Friday afternoon ticks by as slow and deadly as the clocking in machine. Cindy once lost an hour’s pay through being fifteen minutes late. She sighs.

The big wireless is turned on for the news, its core valves getting hot and bothered under the oak cabinet… Cindy pauses over her last box of biscuits as the BBC voice gathers power. And then suddenly – .

President Kennedy has been shot!

It Was 50 Years Ago Today by Gareth Calway

1

What words make you think that this story is set in the past rather than today? Try to find at least three words or details.

Now you try it 2

70

Using your list, write three sentences explaining how we know that this story is set in the past.

Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical traditions

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_CH6.indd 70

15/01/2014 14:30

6 .1

Start:

The story is set in the past. We can tell this because …

Another thing that tells us this is …

Apply your skills Read this extract from a different novel.

When he drove away in the wagon that morning, he told Ma not to expect him for dinner. He had a ten mile drive to make, on top of the time spent at the meeting.

It was supper time when he came driving to the stable. He unhitched and came hurrying to the house so quickly that he met Carrie and Grace running out.

“Girls! Caroline!” he called. “Guess what I’ve brought you!” His hand was in his pocket and his eyes were twinkling.

“Candy!” Carrie and Grace answered together.

“Better than that!” said Pa… […]

Laura was watching Pa’s pocket. She was certain that something, not Pa’s hand, was moving inside it.

“Let Mary see it first,” Pa warned the others. He took his hand from his pocket. There on his palm lay a tiny blue and white kitten.

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Glossary wagon: a large vehicle with four wheels that is pulled along by horses Check your progress

3

4

What evidence is there that this text takes place in a different place and time? Make a note of any words, phrases or details that tell you this.

Now, write a paragraph explaining your ideas.

Put any evidence (in the form of words or phrases from the text) in speech marks. Begin in this way:

It is clear from the text that ….

Some progress

❯

I can sometimes spot time and place in texts.

Good progress

❯❯

I can spot previous times and places in texts.

Excellent progress

❯❯❯

I can identify how a text relates to its time and place.

Identify different times, places and social settings in texts

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_CH6.indd 71

71

15/01/2014 14:30

Chapter 6 . Topic 2

Identify character and setting in texts

Learning objective • spot character and setting in a detective story.

People in a story are called characters. Where a story happens is called the setting.

Getting you thinking Look at this opening p g of an Agatha g Christie detective novel.

In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news of The Times. He laid the paper down and glanced out of the window. They were running now through Somerset. He glanced at his watch – another two hours to go.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

1

Do you think this is set nearer a) 2013

c) 1933

b) 1066?

2

Where do you think this story is set?

3

What do we learn about the character?

4

What punctuation suggests a slower world than ours?

5

Which word do you think best sums up the mood of this first paragraph?

• funny

•

tense

• cosy

•

old-fashioned

• scary

Glossary from the bench: from being a judge

How does it work?

This opening is only four sentences, but it tells us a lot about the character, setting and mood of the story.

72

Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical traditions

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_CH6.indd 72

15/01/2014 14:30

6 .2

Now you try it Here is the opening g of another Agatha g Christie novel: Mrs Ferrars died on the night of the 16th–17th September – a Thursday. I was sent for at eight o’clock on the morning of Friday 17th. There was nothing to be done. She had been dead some hours.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

6

Hear the passage read aloud and then discuss the questions below. a) Two characters are introduced here. Who are they? What are we told about them? b) What do you think the person telling the story does for a living? c) Are we told anything about the time or place in which the story is set?

Apply your skills Here is part of the second paragraph of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, set in a doorway an hour later.

It was just a few minutes after nine when I reached home once more. I opened the front door with my latchkey. To tell the truth, I was considerably upset and worried. I am not going to pretend that at that moment I foresaw the events of the next few weeks. But my instinct told me there were stirring times ahead.

Glossary foresaw: knew in advance what would happen instinct: gut feeling stirring: exciting Check your progress

7

In pairs, focus on the character who speaks in the extract. What is he feeling? Why might a character in a detective novel have these feelings?

Some progress

❯

I can talk and write about a character.

Then write three sentences beginning: Good progress

❯❯

I can recognise a detective story character.

We learn he is feeling …

He might have these feelings because . . .

The stirring times ahead might include . . .

Excellent progress

❯❯❯

I can explain typical characters and setting in detective stories.

Identify character and setting in texts

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_CH6.indd 73

73

15/01/2014 14:30

Chapter 6 . Topic 3

Recognise texts from the same genre

Learning objective • recognise pirate stories.

Pirate stories have typical objects, places, clothing, speech, settings and characters in common.

Getting you thinking 1

Look at the picture on the right. a) Do you know who this character is? b) What do you know about him? c) What would you expect to happen in a pirate story or film?

2

Now read aloud this passage from a play version of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Don’t forget to use pirate voices!

Jemmy Rathbone is being chased by pirates around the deck of a ship.

HANDS

Grab ’im

DEATH

’old ’im!

HANDS

Trap ’im between you, ya dogs.

MERRY You miserable dolts! How far can he get?

We’re on a Ship!

BONNY

I got him!

BLACK DOG Got him!

RATHBONE (caught) Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The pirates tackle him and pin his arms behind him.

74

BLACK DOG Bonny, hold him down!

Glossary

Captain James Flint steps out of the fo’c’s’le. He looks evil beyond description. He has a hideous scar on one side of his face. He has a mop of greasy red

fo’c’s’le: forecastle, the front part of the ship where the crew live

Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical traditions

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_CH6.indd 74

15/01/2014 14:30

6 .3

hair sticking out of the sides of his black, tattered hat. He’s missing three fingers from his left hand.

RATHBONE Oh, Cap’n Flint! Thank God above you’s ’ere. They was gonna kill me, Cap’n. Kill me fer nothing!

Israel Hands brings his cutlass down towards Rathbone’s head and Captain Flint parries the blow with a flick of his wrist, saving Rathbone’s life.

Glossary parries: blocks

Treasure Island by Ken Ludwig

3

With a partner, list any pirate words or phrases used in the script and stage directions. Then, discuss what makes each one a pirate word/phrase.

Now you try it Read the following paragraph.

You never forget the first attack. I was cottonmouthed and terrified, standing at the ready, waiting to hear the two ships grind and splinter together. The waiting is the worst of it. I’ve seen strong men turn pale as porridge, and dash to the heads to relieve themselves, or vomit over the side [. . . ].

Glossary

Pirates by Celia Rees

4

What words in the text tell us that this is a pirate story?

cotton-mouthed: dry-mouthed

Check your progress Apply your skills Some progress

5

Write the first scene of a play about pirates. You must include these objects: a locked treasure chest, an eye-patch, a crumpled map.

Imagine the map shows a place where treasure is hidden. In pairs, tell each other a story about the pirates and why they hid the treasure.

Try to use some of the pirate words and phrases that you have learned. You could also add some items of your own– for example, typical clothing.

❯

I can spot some pirate story features.

Good progress

❯❯

I can recognise common features in two pirate stories.

Excellent progress

❯❯❯

I can explain something about the conventions of pirate stories.

Recognise texts from the same genre

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_CH6.indd 75

75

15/01/2014 14:31

Chapter 6 . Topic 4

Identify character and setting in texts from different times

Learning objective • trace how war texts reflect different times.

War settings can be found in the earliest texts ever written. They can also be found today.

Getting you thinking This extract from a text, written in 1854, describes the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.

The Charge of the Light Brigade Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them Volley’d and thunder’d; Storm’d at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came thro’ the jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them, Left of six hundred.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

1

2

What clues can you find in the text to tell you that this is not a modern war?

In groups, read the poem aloud in a dramatic way. You could say a line each but do the ‘cannon’ lines together like a chorus.

What tone of voice will you use? Sad? Stirring?

Proud? Horrified? Will your tone change at any point?

76

Glossary shot: fired at close range, grapeshot turned cannons into giant machine guns shell: bomb-canisters fired at medium range

Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical traditions

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_CH6.indd 76

15/01/2014 14:31

6 .4

Now you try it Here, helicopter pilot Ed Macy describes his experiences of fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

‘Ugly Five Zero, Knight Rider. Intelligence from higher; there are enemy in a compound by the canal two hundred metres north of the original target.’

‘Ugly Five Zero. Running in from the west with Hellfire. Ugly Five One you take that target; I’ve got two buildings to finish off here.’

There was an awful lot of smoke and dust in the air so Carl swung us away and over to the west side of the canal. It gave me a better view . . .

I picked up a series of white shapes on my FLIR and zoomed in .

Apache by Ed Macy

3

Jot down any differences you notice between the two texts. Think about •

words that show how modern or old the text might be

•

the form or type of text (are they the same?)

•

use of speech (if any).

Apply your skills 4

Now write a paragraph comparing the two war texts.

Write at least three sentences. Begin with this sentence:

Glossary intelligence from higher: information from an aircraft above them FLIR: an infra-red device used to provide night vision at long distances Check your progress Some progress

I can spot some historical features in a war text.

Good progress

The first text is clearly written in the past because _______. However, the second text ____.

❯

❯❯

I can identify context (a different time) in a war text.

Excellent progress

❯❯❯

I can explain the context (a different time, a different war) in war texts.

Identify character and setting in texts from different times

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_CH6.indd 77

77

15/01/2014 14:31

Chapter 6

Check your progress

❯

Some progress

■ I can make simple connections between texts.

■ I can identify similarities in character types between texts.

■ I can recognise some time and place settings.

■ I can identify similarities in plot and topic between texts.

❯❯

Good progress

■ I can identify different time, place and social settings in texts.

■ I can identify character and setting in texts from different times and places.

■ I can recognise texts in the same genre.

■ I can recognise settings in texts from different times.

Excellent progress

❯❯❯

■ I can identify narrative (and other) conventions in texts.

■ I can identify texts in context (time, place and social setting).

■ I can compare and contrast narrative (and other) conventions in texts.

■ I can make some explanation of how context

(time, place and social setting) affects the way we read.

■ I can make some explanation of how context affects the way texts are written.

78

Check your progress

194745 Aiming For Level 4 Reading_CH6.indd 78

15/01/2014 14:31