Guided Reading Handbook Purple to Lime

Buzz and Bingo in the Monster Maze Book Band: Purple A humorous story about a boy and his dog as they find their way to a monster party through a maze.

They meet all sorts of friendly monsters on the way.

Skills focus • Draw on knowledge of vocabulary to understand texts • Identify/explain key aspects of fiction and non-fiction texts, e.g. character, events, title

• Make inferences from texts • Read words accurately and fluently

Guided reading session You will need • Multiple copies of Collins Big Cat Buzz and Bingo in the Monster Maze • Resource sheet: Maze • Timer (optional) • Pencils • Mini-whiteboards and pens

Tune in Give the children a copy of Resource sheet: Maze and a pencil. Challenge them to draw a way out of the maze. To make it harder, you could set a time limit using a sand timer. Discuss what children thought of the maze. Allow time to share personal experiences of mazes.

Ask the following questions: • Have you visited a maze before?

• Do you think it would be fun?

• Would you like to explore a maze?

Explain that they are going to read a story about a maze. Introduce the book by exploring the front cover.

Read the title; point out the digraphs ‘zz’ and ‘er’.

Ask the following questions: • Who do you think Buzz and Bingo are? (boy and dog) • Who are the main characters? (Buzz and Bingo) • Why do you think it is called a monster maze? (there are monsters in there) • How do you think the characters are feeling? (Buzz looks like he is having fun, Bingo doesn’t look sure) Turn to the back cover. Model reading the blurb using fluency and accuracy. Explore how commas are used in a list.

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Look at the title page. Reread the title modelling fluency. Discuss the speech bubbles and ask children to practise reading them with expression.

Heads together Read pages 2 and 3, demonstrating fluency and accuracy.

Ask: What is the setting? (a forest) Continue to pages 4 and 5. Discuss the description of the vampire. Can the children point out the speech marks/inverted commas? Ask children to practise reading using expression.

Ask the following questions: • How is Bingo feeling? (nervous) • How is Buzz feeling? (excited) • How would you describe Buzz? (confident) • Why did Bingo shiver? (He is scared of the vampire.)

Read pages 6 to 9 together. Encourage the children to join in, using expression for the speech. Discuss strategies for reading any tricky words, such as checking the text makes sense, decoding and using context clues.

Ask the following questions: • Why has the author used the made-up word ‘fangtastic’ on page 6? (Buzz is making a joke; Dracula has fangs) • What is the matter with Bingo on page 7? Why is he howling? (He is frightened.)

Ask children to work with their Reading Partner to read pages 8 to 21. Remind them of the different strategies that they can use. Can they find out why the wolf is howling? How do they get out of the maze? And how does the story end?

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Big Cat Guided Reading Handbook: Purple to Lime

Wrap up Play a memory game. Complete and continue the sentence stem: In the maze, Buzz and Bingo met…

Each player repeats what the previous player says and adds a character (these can be made up; for example, a skeleton or a ghost). For example: Player 1: In the maze, Buzz and Bingo met a lost vampire.

Player 2: In the maze, Buzz and Bingo met a lost vampire and an unhappy werewolf.

Player 3: In the maze, Buzz and Bingo met a lost vampire, an unhappy werewolf and a very cross troll.

Each player has to remember what the previous player said in the correct order.

Turn to page 5 and reread. Look at the description of the vampire. Ask children to work in pairs to choose a character from the story to describe. Can they write a sentence to describe the character on their whiteboards, using the same format? The… was…, with… and…. (The troll was snotty green, with a long nose and pointy ears.)

Vocabulary boost session You will need • Multiple copies of Collins Big Cat Buzz and Bingo and the Monster Maze

Vocabulary table Focus word Child-friendly explanation

Example sentence

Tell me…

monstrous

If something is monstrous it is huge or gigantic.

I ate a monstrous ice-cream.

Tell me some other words that mean ‘monstrous’.

howling

Howling is a loud whistling noise.

The dog was howling.

Tell me why wolves howl.

maze

A maze is a jumble of paths with no I got lost in the maze. clear way out.

Tune in Explain that in this lesson the children are going to look in more detail at some of the words that the author has used and what those words mean. Write the three focus words clearly for the children to see.

Read the words together. Discuss and explain the child-friendly meaning of each word.

Reread the text.

Challenge children to find the words in the text. (maze, title; howling, page 7; monstrous, page 20)

Heads together Look at the alliteration ‘horrible howling’ on page 7 and ‘Monster Maze’ in the title. Explain that alliteration is when the words begin with the same sound. Can children think of a phrase for their own

Tell me if you have ever been in a maze before.

name using alliteration? For example: Amazing Antony, Lovely Lily, Excited Emily, Hungry Harry.

Provide the children with a list of words/noises (laughing, singing, shouting, talking, giggling, crying, barking, growling) and challenge them to create phrases using alliteration, for example, loud laughing and soft singing.

Look at how the word ‘monstrous’ is used on page 21 and create a list of other words to describe the bone from Bingo’s point of view.

Wrap up Recap the three focus words by discussing the questions in the ‘Tell me’ column of the table above.

Challenge children to think of a sentence using one of the focus words.

Follow-up independent sessions You will need • Resource sheet: Story map for Buzz and Bingo and the Monster Maze • Paints and paper Hand out copies of Resource sheet: Story map for Buzz and Bingo and the Monster Maze. Children talk about what happened at each section of the story and then complete the map. What is the setting?

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Who are the main characters? What is the problem?

How do they solve the problem? How does it end?

The children draw pictures and add labels to identify the main points of the story.

Ask children to paint a picture of a monster of their choice and label it. Extend this activity by asking them to write a detailed description of the monster.

They can look at the description of Dracula on page 5 to help them.

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Fabulous Creatures – Are They Real?

Book Band: Lime An information text about unusual creatures. Some are real such as the Vampire Bat and the Giant Squid and others are from myths or legends such as the Minotaur and the Werewolf.

Skills focus • Draw on knowledge of vocabulary to understand texts • Identify/explain key aspects of fiction and non-fiction texts, e.g. character, events, title

• Predict what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far • Read words accurately and fluently

Guided reading session You will need • Multiple copies of Collins Big Cat Fabulous Creatures – Are They Real?

• Mini-whiteboards and pens

Tune in Introduce the text by looking at the front cover. Read the title together. Point out the ‘ea’ in creatures.

Explain that the title is a question. Discuss the pictures of the creatures on the front cover.

Ask the following questions: • Does anyone recognise any of the creatures?

(Loch Ness Monster, dragon, mermaid, vampire bat, squid, dodo, werewolf, Minotaur, phoenix, sphinx, Yeti, Coelacanth, Cerberus) • Do you know anything about them?

• Which creature do you think is most scary and why?

• Which creature do you like the best and why?

• Which ones do you think could be real?

Turn the book over to explore the blurb on the back cover. Recap that a blurb tells us more about the book. Model reading the blurb and discuss the questions: Do you believe in dragons? Is there such a creature as a giant squid? Have you ever seen a vampire bat?

Ask the following questions: • Why do you think that they are called ‘fabulous’?

• What type of book is this, fiction or non-fiction? (non-fiction) Ask children to find the contents page. Read through the headings together. Identify that these are the creatures in the book. Can children match them to the pictures on the front cover? Can they predict which ones are real and which are not at this stage?

Encourage them to give a reason for their answers.

Discuss and recap strategies for reading that the children can use, such as recognising high frequency

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words, decoding, picture clues, context clues and checking it makes sense.

Heads together Begin by turning to the introduction on page 2. Ask children to work in pairs to skim through the text and find the high frequency words that they recognise (are, ‘those’, ‘you’, ‘about’, ‘in’, ‘and’, ‘some’, ‘of’, ‘these’, ‘don’t’, ‘do’, ‘which’, ‘this’, ‘not’).

Model how to read the introduction on page 2.

Discuss the contraction ‘don’t’ = ‘do not’.

Ask: What are myths and legends? (stories about fabulous creatures and a hero or heroine, they usually include a quest or special mission) Turn to page 3 together. Point out some of the vowel digraphs and practise blending: ‘three’ th-r-ee, ‘heads’ h-ea-d-s and ‘soaked’ s-oa-k-ed, and the split digraphs in ‘spines’, ‘quite’ and ‘cake’. Model reading the text fluently.

Ask: What would you give Cerberus if you met him? (cakes soaked in honey) Discuss the question in bold writing ‘Is this fabulous creature real or not?’ and encourage children to make a prediction and give a reason.

Look at page 4 to see if their predictions were correct. Check that they understand the vocabulary used (‘guardian’, ‘underworld’, ‘spirits’, ‘poisonous’, ‘leash’) by discussing the meaning of each word.

Model writing notes about Cerberus on the board, recording two or three main points. For example: Cerberus is a dog with three heads. It likes honey cake. It is not real.

Turn back to the contents page. In pairs, ask children to select a creature to find out about.

Each pair reads through the text about their chosen creature. Move around the group and listen to each child read. What strategies are they using? Offer support where needed.

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Big Cat Guided Reading Handbook: Purple to Lime Once they have finished reading, ask children to work together to make notes and record three facts about the creature on their whiteboard.

Wrap up Ask each pair to feed back to the whole group about the creature that they have learned about. What three facts did they find out?

Turn to pages 30 and 31. Look at the table that shows if the creatures are real or not. Were the children’s predictions at the beginning correct?

Vocabulary boost session You will need • Multiple copies of Collins Big Cat Fabulous Creatures – Are They Real?

Vocabulary table Focus word Child-friendly explanation

Example sentence

Tell me…

murky

If water is murky, it is unclear or cloudy and difficult to see through.

I had fun jumping in the murky puddles.

Tell me if you would drink murky water.

ocean

An ocean is a very large sea.

We travelled across the ocean on a pirate ship.

Tell me what animals you might find in the ocean.

labyrinth

A labyrinth is a maze.

We got lost in the labyrinth for hours!

Tell me if you have ever been in a maze or labyrinth.

Tune in

Heads together

Explain that in this lesson the children are going to look in more detail at some of the words that the author has chosen and what those words mean.

Write the three focus words clearly for the children to see. Read the words together. Discuss and explain the child-friendly meaning of each word.

Play a game of ‘I say/You say’. Read aloud the child-friendly explanations and ask children to say which focus word it is.

Reread the text on pages 11 and 12 about the Giant Squid and pages 17 and 18 about the Minotaur.

Challenge children to find the focus words in the text (‘murky’, page 11; ‘ocean’, page 6; ‘labyrinth’, page 17).

As a group, or in pairs, write a glossary definition for each of the focus words.

Create a word bank of different words to describe a murky puddle.

Wrap up Recap the three focus words by discussing the questions in the ‘Tell me’ column of the table, above.

Challenge children to think of a sentence using one of the focus words.

Follow-up independent sessions You will need • • • •

Resource sheet: My fabulous creature Coloured pens or pencils Resource sheet: Fact file A selection of books of myths and legends

Give each child a copy of Resource sheet: My fabulous creature. Ask children to design their own fabulous creature. They should draw a picture, label it and then write two or three sentences to describe it, using a range of adjectives.

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Hand out copies of Resource sheet: Fact file, and ask children to complete it with pictures of and facts about some of the fabulous creatures.

Let the children explore a selection of myths and legends. Can they find any of the fabulous creatures from the book? Are there any new fabulous creatures?

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