A Guide to Cambridge Reading Adventures

A Guide to ‌

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Welcome to Cambridge Reading Adventures!

This exciting reading scheme has been created in collaboration between Cambridge University Press and the UCL Institute of Education – world leaders in Primary reading. Created to provide more than a series of books, it is designed around a pedagogical approach that is child–centred. As well as high quality, engaging texts for children, the series contains materials for professional development, and suggests structured ways of helping teachers work together and share their practice.

The UCL Institute of Education’s International Literacy Centre (ILC) promotes literacy education from age 3 to 13 (Early Years Foundation Stage to Key Stage 3). As well as providing high quality professional support for teachers and teacher educators, the ILC develop materials and approaches to support teachers of literacy. One of these is Book Banding for guided reading, the definitive system for banding of books to support early Primary reading. Most recently, Book Banding was published in Which Book and Why; Using Book Bands and book levels for guided reading in Key Stage 1 (Bodman and Franklin, 2014). Sue Bodman and Glen Franklin, National Leaders for the ILC, are the Series Editors of Cambridge Reading Adventures.

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Cambridge Reading Adventures consists of 90 books, 2 teacher’s resources and assessment books. The books have been meticulously levelled into ten Book Bands which take a child from being a wholly new reader (whatever their language background) to being fluent and independent readers able to engage with the wider curriculum.

The series includes both fiction and non-fiction topics, covering a wide range of subjects. Stories are set in international contexts including traditional and animal tales, contemporary and historic settings, as well as non-fiction reports and explanations.

Books have links to a multitude of topics and can be used as part of project work to support wider learning in the classroom. Where appropriate, curriculum links are highlighted within the teacher notes and include curricular links to Cambridge Primary, IB PYP, IPC and YLE examinations as administered by Cambridge English Language Assessment. Every book within the overall series has links to at least 2 Cambridge International Examinations syllabus requirements and all books include details of word count and interest words, as well as the foundation level bands including details of high frequency words.

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Cambridge University Press, in collaboration with the UCL Institute of Education, have created a Primary guided reading series called Cambridge Reading Adventures, designed for young children learning to read in English in countries all over the world!

The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) works across 100 countries and is judged to be the world’s leading centre for education and related areas of social science. Through an international approach, their research, consultancy and collaborative partnerships shape policies in every continent and they are committed to research that has a global perspective focused on reducing inequality across the world through education.

The UCL Institute of Education’s International Literacy Centre (ILC) promotes literacy education from age 3 to 13 (Early Years Foundation Stage to Key Stage 3). As well as providing high quality professional support for teachers and teacher educators, the ILC develop materials and approaches to support teachers of literacy. One of these is Book Banding for guided reading, the definitive system for banding of books to support early Primary reading.

This collaboration has brought together literacy learning experts and a worldrenowned publisher. The work has resulted in texts designed specifically for guided reading. This will contribute to effective literacy teaching in locations across the world.

The UCL Institute of Education is proud to be involved in a venture that seeks to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

Professor Chris Husbands, Director of UCL Institute of Education and Professor of Education Policy.

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Authors All of the authors involved in the scheme have been carefully selected due to their expertise and experience in children’s education and teaching. Our contributors have been selected from across the world and include award-winning writers as well as renowned photographers and illustrators.

Lauri Kubuitsile has published books and short stories across the world.

She has won numerous prizes including twice winning the Pan-African prize for children’s stories, The Golden Baobab Prize and she was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize.

Ian Whybrow is a prolific writer of children’s books which have been translated into many languages and published worldwide. He is probably best known for the million-selling series about Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, which has been adapted into an animated television series.

Claire Llewellyn has written titles across the whole Cambridge Reading Adventures series, and was an editor of children’s non-fiction for over ten years before becoming an award-winning writer. Claire won the Times Education Supplement Award as well as the English 4-11 Book Award and was short-listed for the Royal Society Science Prize.

Jonathan and Angela Scott have won many awards such as the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and they have been named as Canon Ambassadors in recognition of their photographic expertise.

Their titles and photographs feature in the Gold Band.

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Why choose Cambridge Reading Adventures?

•

It contains internationally relevant content which ties in with international curricula (IPC, PYP and Cambridge) and relates directly to the experience of the child and teacher users.

•

Top quality writing, illustration and design from outstanding authors, illustrators and photographers from around the world.

•

Impeccable and rigorous pedagogy from the International Literacy Centre at the IOE.

•

It is a highly effective guided reading management and assessment programme, through texts benchmarked to Book Bands and supporting resources.

•

Benchmarked titles can be found in each level to help assess students’ progress and ability.

•

Book Banding is provided by the UCL Institute of Education. It is the most effective way for learners to progress their reading, by the foremost institution in primary reading.

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Book Banding Following the International Literacy Centre’s Book Band framework, Cambridge Reading Adventures guides young readers on their reading journey through different colour bands of reading. There are 10 coloured book bands in total with benchmark titles included within to help assess students’ progress and allow them to move up within the colour bands.

The flexible approach focuses on the individual child and texts within a band do not need to be read in a particular order nor do all books need to be read in order for a child to progress to the next colour band. Teachers can adjust the focus of lessons to meet the needs of a variety of oral language competence.

Colour Band

No. of titles

Pink A

9

Pink B

9

Red

10

Yellow

8

Blue

9

Green

8

Orange

8

Turquoise

8

Purple

7

Gold

7

White

7

Features of the Colour Bands

§ The Pink-Green bands specify high frequency words. § All books include a word count and interest words. § Resources within each book band will include specific links to CIE, IPC, PYP – detailed within the teacher notes found in the back of each book. § Every book, as a minimum, includes coverage of 2 CIE syllabus requirements. § Other books within the individual bands, where not directly applicable to other syllabuses, will support students’ wider learning in other primary subjects.

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Pink A and Pink B Band Pink A and Pink B books include careful design to support a child learning how to use a book. They use colourful illustrations to support the reader and include highly predictable text of about 30-60 words.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the Pink Band.

Pink Band Titles

ISBN

Word Count

Pink A Fiction Jamila Finds a Friend

978-1-107-54963-0

28

a

Pink B Leela Can Skate

978-1-107-57582-0

38

I, can, put, on, my, up, help

Pink B Fiction The Last Lemon

978-1-107-54909-8

77

Said, the, I, get, can, can’t you, your, last, help, back

High Frequency Words

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Red Band At Red Band, the sense of story begins to be developed. Illustrations remain supportive but the text demands close visual attention to print detail.

The Red Band features: §

More complex sentence structures with less repetition.

§

Non-fiction texts reinforce familiar language patterns through themes appropriate to the interests and understanding of young children.

§

The texts are slightly longer, so that children can extend their high frequency word knowledge.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the Red Band.

Red Band Titles

ISBN

Red Look! It’s Baby Duck

978-1-107-54957-9

Red The Enormous Watermelon

Red Omar can Help

978-1-107-54924-1

978-1-107-57572-1

Word Count

66

High Frequency Words said, can, look, he, the, it’s, too, at, now, help

107

and, his, of, they, an, too, the, I, do, he, said, can, mum, could, but, then, what, saw

114

a, and, at, can, do, down, for, get, had, he, help, here, house, is, it, me, no, oh, one, said, the, they, this, time, to, up, was, we, went, were, what, you

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Yellow Band The Yellow Band develops longer story plots to support developing inferential skills.

The Yellow Band features: §

Longer sentences with a wider range of vocabulary.

§

More emphasis on students’ understanding through reading rather than relying on illustrations to convey meaning.

§

Repetition used as a dramatic device rather than a support for building high frequency vocabulary knowledge.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the Yellow Band.

Yellow Band Titles Yellow Fiction Little Tiger Hu Can Roar

Yellow Fiction Diego Fandango

Yellow Fiction Oh Bella!

ISBN

978-1-107-54996-8

978-1-107-55021-6

978-1-107-55070-4

Word Count

High Frequency Words

177

was, I, can, it, a, and, he, said, saw, the, into, little, very, big, went, one, help, you, are, not, if, they, have, we

156

a, all, and, be, big, but, came, can, go, got, he, here, I, in, it, like, look, made, my, no, now, oh, on, one, out, put, said, the, then, to, too, we, will, you

164

me, help, you, said, the, on, her, it, too, oh, was, out, can, I, asked, don’t, no, into, he, out, of, look, not, go, and, one, saw, day, that, will, this, are, a

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Blue Band Blue Band stories involve several characters and episodes within one story to support the development of comprehension skills.

The Blue Band features: §

The greater variation in sentence patterns supports meaning, helping students to self-correct independently.

§

Vocabulary becomes more technically specific.

§

Less commonly used words are well supported by illustrations, giving good opportunities to build word-reading power and knowledge of spelling patterns in English.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the Blue Band.

Blue Band Titles

Blue Fiction My First Train Trip

Blue Non-fiction Making a Car

ISBN

978-1-107-57594-3

978-1-107-57597-4

Word Count

High Frequency Words

235

a, and, are, as, at, be, big, by, can, do, down, for, from, get, go, have, here, I, in, is, it, it’s, look, mum, my, no, now, of, oh, on, out, people, see, some, the, there, this, to, very, we, will, you, your

320

A, and, are, be, big, by , called, can, go, help, here, in, into, it, look, made, make, now, of, on, out, people, so, that, the, them, then, to, up, very, when, will

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Green Band In fiction texts at Green Band, the longer sentence structures make the use of punctuation a focus in order to get the precise message. Stories usually have several characters and story events are more developed, often lasting several pages.

The Green Band features: §

Longer and more complex words require pupils to apply word-solving skills flexibly.

§

More non-fiction titles than featured in previous bands.

§

Whilst topic-specific vocabulary is used, there is moderate support from the illustrations and novel words are often repeated.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the Green Band.

Green Band Titles

Green Fiction The Lion and the Mouse

Green Fiction Turtle is a Hero

Green Fiction Hide and Seek

ISBN

978-1-107-55038-4

978-1-107-55046-9

978-1-107-57599-8

Word Count

High Frequency Words

274

a, all, and, at, be, but, can, could, day, don’t, down, for, go, got, have, he, help, her, his, I, I’m, if, in, it, it’s, little, looked, me, mym, oh, one, out, said, see, she, so,, that, the, then, there, time, to, very, was, went, what, will, you, your

302

day, in, the, he, to, and, at, of, one, all, day, was, very, made, then, his, said, a, on, little, can, are, you, no, but, your, don’t, have, too, us, be, not, I’m, help, it, look, an, old, like, for, come, with, went, his, me, was, on, is, so, that

170

the, she, to, up, their, and, them, one, said, day, was, is, we, have, her, all, children, help, look, on, as, get, out, can, a, there, back, from, of

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Orange Band At Orange Band, stories are longer than before at between 250-300 words, and feature more events and promote a greater complexity.

There are 9 titles in this band.

The Orange Band features: ยง

Illustrations offer support for just one aspect of the story meaning for that page.

ยง

More space is given to text on a page.

ยง

A high percentage of high frequency words are now established to help students become fluent and develop their understanding.

ยง

More complex sentence structures than previously seen, with some use of the conditional tense.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the Orange Band.

Orange Band Titles

ISBN

Word Count

Orange Fiction The Best Little Bullfrog

978-1-107-56018-5

651

n/a only on pink-green bands

Orange Fiction For Today, For Tomorrow

978-1-107-55081-0

373

n/a only on pink-green bands

High Frequency Words

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Turquoise Band At the Turquoise Band, descriptions of places and people begin to extend, offering challenges to reading with phrasing and expression when reading literary phrases and expressions.

The Turquoise Band features: ยง

Vocabulary across both fiction and non-fiction texts is less common and requires the reader to use their knowledge or spelling patterns.

ยง

Maps, charts and diagrams begin to be used in non-fiction texts at this band.

ยง

There are opportunities to learn to navigate information presented alphabetically in glossaries and indexes.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the Turquoise Band.

Turquoise Band Titles

ISBN

Word Count

Turquoise Fiction Sang Kancil and the Tiger

978-1-107-55092-6

569

n/a only on pink-green bands

Turquoise Fiction The Great Jewelled Egg Mystery

978-1-107-57614-8

440

n/a only on pink-green bands

Turquoise Non-fiction How Chocolate is Made

978-1-107-57616-2

650

n/a only on pink-green bands

High Frequency Words

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Purple Band The Purple Band includes storylines which often reflect character and/or author viewpoint. This offers opportunities to discuss character motivation and response.

The Purple Band features: §

Story language is developed with many occurrences of phrases found in traditional tales and story-telling: “Long, long ago” and “Once upon a time” for example.

§

There are some simple chapter books in this band.

§

Non-fiction texts offer more in-depth information and more technical vocabulary than found in previous bands.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the Purple Band.

Purple Band Titles

ISBN

Word Count

Purple Non-fiction Pterosaur!

978-1-107-55108-4

575

n/a only on pink-green bands

Purple Fiction King Fox

978-1-107-56215-8

628

n/a only on pink-green bands

Purple Fiction Sandstorm!

9781107576070

640

n/a only on pink-green bands

High Frequency Words

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Gold Band Gold Band readers are designed for children who are approaching independence in predicting and evaluating the story development.

The Gold Band features: §

Longer texts to match the growing “reading stamina” of the young reader.

§

Chapter books build tension, giving the opportunity for more sustained reading and complex storylines.

§

Illustrations now only offer general support to the story line.

§

More complex language structures.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the Gold Band.

Gold Band Titles

ISBN

Word Count

Gold fiction Yu and the Floodwaters

978-1-107-56225-7

984

n/a only on pink-green bands

Gold non-fiction Animals of the Ice Age

978-1-107-55162-6

1060

n/a only on pink-green bands

Gold non-fiction Giants of the Ocean

978-1-107-55165-7

976

n/a only on pink-green bands

High Frequency Words

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White Band White Band readers match children’s growing maturity as readers. §

Stories provide opportunities to explore “why” when responding to texts.

§

Sentences of several clauses show a wide range of conjunctions.

§

Elisions such as “we’re” and “they’re” are introduced here requiring efficient use of print information.

Please see below for a selection of titles from the White Band.

White Band Titles

ISBN

Word Count

High Frequency Words

White fiction The Silk Road

978-1-107-56232-5

1249

n/a only on pink-green bands

White Fiction The Great Escape

978-1-107-55158-9

770

n/a only on pink-green bands

White Non-Fiction The Great Migration

978-1-107-56065-9

1318

n/a only on pink-green bands

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Cambridge Reading Adventures – teaching support Teaching and Assessment The series includes two comprehensive Teaching and Assessment Guides which provide guidance and tools to manage the assessment and progression of reading in the classroom.

These contain: §

Full practical guidance on how to successfully teach reading, including classroom organisation.

§

Detailed descriptors for each Book Band, including learning focus.

§

Full guidance for successful assessment and management of every child’s progress in reading.

§

Book by book overview of the series, including teaching guidance, learning objectives, curriculum links, content description and supporting activities for every book.

§

Benchmark running record assessment sheets for pupils and teachers to help correctly place every child at the right band.

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Reading Notes Inside the back of every book, there are extensive teacher guidance notes.

These explain how best to use the book for guided reading in class, including: §

Ways of introducing the text.

§

Opportunities for learning grammar.

§

Phonics.

§

Spelling and comprehension points.

§

Potential follow-up activities.

In addition, a panel is provided which contains the reader’s key facts – such as cross-curricular links, key and high frequency words and word count.

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