Ready Steady Read Together
Boy in the Tower: Fiction Lesson 1
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
What do you know and think?
When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way.
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
B) ‘And it’s much easier to think about the Before things.’
Why is it easier for Ade to think about Before rather than After?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Follow as I read
Explore
Before
When you wish that a Saturday was actually a Monday, you know there is something seriously wrong.
I look at the ceiling. At the spot of flaky paint and the stain that looks like a wobbly circle, and at the swaying, wispy spider’s web, and I think of all those cold, grey Mondays when I had to make myself get up for school. I would have to force my legs off the mattress and I’d dress in a daze, unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again.
I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that.
Those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here.
When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way.
I guess I was one of the first people to see them. It’s not something I’m proud of. When you know the kind of terrible destruction that just one clump of Bluchers can cause, you wouldn’t want to have been there first either.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I think the reason I knew about them before most other people was because I used to spend a lot of my time sitting on my windowsill, looking down over the world. I could see everything from there: the miniature-looking roads, the roofs of the buildings, the broccoli-tops of the trees. And then, of course, the Bluchers themselves and the devastation that followed in their path. The view has changed so much now that sometimes I wonder if I just made up everything that came before. I have to make myself remember what I used to see: the shops and the bustle, the cars and the people, the red-brick walls of my school and the grey patch of the playground.
Some people say you shouldn’t live in the past. But I can’t stop putting things into two boxes in my head: Before and After. And it’s much easier to think about the Before things.
Before, if there was a day when I didn’t go into school because I was ill or Mum wasn’t well, I used to sit on my windowsill and watch the other children coming out to play. Everyone would rush out of the tiny black door so fast that I wouldn’t be able to tell one little coloured ant from another.
I could always recognise Gaia in the crowd, though. She wore this bright pink coat that stood out a mile.
But like I said, this was all before.
I don’t see any other children any more.
I don’t know where Gaia is.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
wispy
stealthily
daze
destruction
devastation
bustle
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I will model the first.
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
wispy
Explore
Find Read Talk
I look at the ceiling. At the spot of flaky paint and the stain that looks like a wobbly circle, and at the swaying, wispy spider’s web, and I think of all those cold, grey Mondays when I had to make myself get up for school. I would have to force my legs off the mattress and I’d dress in a daze, unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
wispy
Your turn
daze
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
stealthily
destruction
devastation
bustle
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
Before
When you wish that a Saturday was actually a Monday, you know there is something seriously wrong.
I look at the ceiling. At the spot of flaky paint and the stain that looks like a wobbly circle, and at the swaying, wispy spider’s web, and I think of all those cold, grey Mondays when I had to make myself get up for school. I would have to force my legs off the mattress and I’d dress in a daze, unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again.
I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that.
Those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here.
When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way.
I guess I was one of the first people to see them. It’s not something I’m proud of. When you know the kind of terrible destruction that just one clump of Bluchers can cause, you wouldn’t want to have been there first either.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
I think the reason I knew about them before most other people was because I used to spend a lot of my time sitting on my windowsill, looking down over the world. I could see everything from there: the miniature-looking roads, the roofs of the buildings, the broccoli-tops of the trees. And then, of course, the Bluchers themselves and the devastation that followed in their path. The view has changed so much now that sometimes I wonder if I just made up everything that came before. I have to make myself remember what I used to see: the shops and the bustle, the cars and the people, the red-brick walls of my school and the grey patch of the playground.
Some people say you shouldn’t live in the past. But I can’t stop putting things into two boxes in my head: Before and After. And it’s much easier to think about the Before things.
Before, if there was a day when I didn’t go into school because I was ill or Mum wasn’t well, I used to sit on my windowsill and watch the other children coming out to play. Everyone would rush out of the tiny black door so fast that I wouldn’t be able to tell one little coloured ant from another.
I could always recognise Gaia in the crowd, though. She wore this bright pink coat that stood out a mile.
But like I said, this was all before.
I don’t see any other children any more.
I don’t know where Gaia is.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that. Those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here. When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way.
What did you notice?
Volume
Pace
Smoothness
Phrasing
Expression
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
I wish I could wake up
to another Monday like that.
Those days are gone
now that the Bluchers are here.
When they first arrived,
they came quietly and stealthily,
as if they tiptoed silently into the world
when we were all looking the other way.
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that. Those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here. When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way.
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
I look at the ceiling. At the spot of flaky paint and the stain that looks like a wobbly circle, and at the swaying, wispy spider’s web, and I think of all those cold, grey Mondays when I had to make myself get up for school. I would have to force my legs off the mattress and I’d dress in a daze, unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again.
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
Reveal Explainer
Ade said that he had to ‘make’ himself get up for school in the past which shows that he was reluctant and didn’t really want to, which makes me think that he didn’t used to like school.
Teach
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
What else could you use to answer today's question(s)?
Teach
Your Turn
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
B) ‘And it’s much easier to think about the Before things.’
Why is it easier for Ade to think about Before rather than After?
Pairedreading first
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - force my legs off the mattress - I’d dress in a daze - unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again
he did not enjoy school and found it hard to get up
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
Text Mark Evidence - I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that - those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here
he now wishes things were normal again, like before the Bluchers
Text Mark Evidence - I don’t see any other children any more - I don’t know where Gaia is
he wants to see other children again, especially Gaia
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Practise & Apply
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that - those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here
Before was normal and familiar, whereas After has changed everything
B) ‘And it’s much easier to think about the Before things.’
Why is it easier for Ade to think about Before rather than After?
Text Mark Evidence - terrible destruction that just one clump of Bluchers can cause - devastation that followed in their path
After is dangerous and destructive, making it harder to think about
Text Mark Evidence the shops and the bustle, the cars and the people
Before reminds him of busy, everyday life that no longer exists
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence - I don’t see any other children any more - I don’t know where Gaia is
After is lonely, while Before included other people, especially Gaia
Practise & Apply
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘wispy’?
Tick Me
Why does Ade think that he was one of the first to see the Bluchers?
Tick one:
A) because they came so close to him
B) because he often sat on his windowsill, looking down
Check
C) because he made himself go to school
Click if correct
D) because he was good at recognising Gaia in a crowd
Find Me
Find a word which shows that Ade’s neighbourhood used to be busy.
I have to make myself remember what I used to see: the shops and the bustle, the cars and the people, the red-brick walls of my school and the grey patch of the playground.
Discuss then check
bustle
Which One's Right?
Everyone would rush out of the tiny black door so fast that I wouldn’t be able to tell one little coloured ant from another.
The author described the people as ants to:
B) show that they are all different colours
A) show that theyare going fast
D) show that they are busy working together like ants
C) show that they look tiny because Ade is watching from so high up
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
learn new words.
Reveal
Keep a notebook to write down and remember new words.
Copyright Notice
This document has been supplied under a CLA Licence with specific terms of use. It is protected by copyright and, save as may be permitted by law, it may not be further copied, stored, re-copied electronically or otherwise shared, even for internal purposes, without the prior further permission of the Rightsholder. Extracts sourced from: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.
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Transcript
Ready Steady Read Together
Boy in the Tower: Fiction Lesson 1
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
What do you know and think?
When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way.
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
B) ‘And it’s much easier to think about the Before things.’ Why is it easier for Ade to think about Before rather than After?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Follow as I read
Explore
Before
When you wish that a Saturday was actually a Monday, you know there is something seriously wrong. I look at the ceiling. At the spot of flaky paint and the stain that looks like a wobbly circle, and at the swaying, wispy spider’s web, and I think of all those cold, grey Mondays when I had to make myself get up for school. I would have to force my legs off the mattress and I’d dress in a daze, unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again. I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that. Those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here. When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way. I guess I was one of the first people to see them. It’s not something I’m proud of. When you know the kind of terrible destruction that just one clump of Bluchers can cause, you wouldn’t want to have been there first either.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I think the reason I knew about them before most other people was because I used to spend a lot of my time sitting on my windowsill, looking down over the world. I could see everything from there: the miniature-looking roads, the roofs of the buildings, the broccoli-tops of the trees. And then, of course, the Bluchers themselves and the devastation that followed in their path. The view has changed so much now that sometimes I wonder if I just made up everything that came before. I have to make myself remember what I used to see: the shops and the bustle, the cars and the people, the red-brick walls of my school and the grey patch of the playground. Some people say you shouldn’t live in the past. But I can’t stop putting things into two boxes in my head: Before and After. And it’s much easier to think about the Before things. Before, if there was a day when I didn’t go into school because I was ill or Mum wasn’t well, I used to sit on my windowsill and watch the other children coming out to play. Everyone would rush out of the tiny black door so fast that I wouldn’t be able to tell one little coloured ant from another. I could always recognise Gaia in the crowd, though. She wore this bright pink coat that stood out a mile. But like I said, this was all before. I don’t see any other children any more. I don’t know where Gaia is.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
wispy
stealthily
daze
destruction
devastation
bustle
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I will model the first.
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
wispy
Explore
Find Read Talk
I look at the ceiling. At the spot of flaky paint and the stain that looks like a wobbly circle, and at the swaying, wispy spider’s web, and I think of all those cold, grey Mondays when I had to make myself get up for school. I would have to force my legs off the mattress and I’d dress in a daze, unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
wispy
Your turn
daze
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
stealthily
destruction
devastation
bustle
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
Before
When you wish that a Saturday was actually a Monday, you know there is something seriously wrong. I look at the ceiling. At the spot of flaky paint and the stain that looks like a wobbly circle, and at the swaying, wispy spider’s web, and I think of all those cold, grey Mondays when I had to make myself get up for school. I would have to force my legs off the mattress and I’d dress in a daze, unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again. I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that. Those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here. When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way. I guess I was one of the first people to see them. It’s not something I’m proud of. When you know the kind of terrible destruction that just one clump of Bluchers can cause, you wouldn’t want to have been there first either.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
I think the reason I knew about them before most other people was because I used to spend a lot of my time sitting on my windowsill, looking down over the world. I could see everything from there: the miniature-looking roads, the roofs of the buildings, the broccoli-tops of the trees. And then, of course, the Bluchers themselves and the devastation that followed in their path. The view has changed so much now that sometimes I wonder if I just made up everything that came before. I have to make myself remember what I used to see: the shops and the bustle, the cars and the people, the red-brick walls of my school and the grey patch of the playground. Some people say you shouldn’t live in the past. But I can’t stop putting things into two boxes in my head: Before and After. And it’s much easier to think about the Before things. Before, if there was a day when I didn’t go into school because I was ill or Mum wasn’t well, I used to sit on my windowsill and watch the other children coming out to play. Everyone would rush out of the tiny black door so fast that I wouldn’t be able to tell one little coloured ant from another. I could always recognise Gaia in the crowd, though. She wore this bright pink coat that stood out a mile. But like I said, this was all before. I don’t see any other children any more. I don’t know where Gaia is.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that. Those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here. When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way.
What did you notice?
Volume
Pace
Smoothness
Phrasing
Expression
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
I wish I could wake up
to another Monday like that.
Those days are gone
now that the Bluchers are here.
When they first arrived,
they came quietly and stealthily,
as if they tiptoed silently into the world
when we were all looking the other way.
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that. Those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here. When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed silently into the world when we were all looking the other way.
Explore
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
I look at the ceiling. At the spot of flaky paint and the stain that looks like a wobbly circle, and at the swaying, wispy spider’s web, and I think of all those cold, grey Mondays when I had to make myself get up for school. I would have to force my legs off the mattress and I’d dress in a daze, unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again.
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
Reveal Explainer
Ade said that he had to ‘make’ himself get up for school in the past which shows that he was reluctant and didn’t really want to, which makes me think that he didn’t used to like school.
Teach
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
What else could you use to answer today's question(s)?
Teach
Your Turn
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
B) ‘And it’s much easier to think about the Before things.’ Why is it easier for Ade to think about Before rather than After?
Pairedreading first
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - force my legs off the mattress - I’d dress in a daze - unwilling to believe it was time to be upright again
he did not enjoy school and found it hard to get up
A) How do you think Ade used to feel about school, and why might he wish he could go today?
Text Mark Evidence - I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that - those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here
he now wishes things were normal again, like before the Bluchers
Text Mark Evidence - I don’t see any other children any more - I don’t know where Gaia is
he wants to see other children again, especially Gaia
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Practise & Apply
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - I wish I could wake up to another Monday like that - those days are gone now that the Bluchers are here
Before was normal and familiar, whereas After has changed everything
B) ‘And it’s much easier to think about the Before things.’ Why is it easier for Ade to think about Before rather than After?
Text Mark Evidence - terrible destruction that just one clump of Bluchers can cause - devastation that followed in their path
After is dangerous and destructive, making it harder to think about
Text Mark Evidence the shops and the bustle, the cars and the people
Before reminds him of busy, everyday life that no longer exists
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence - I don’t see any other children any more - I don’t know where Gaia is
After is lonely, while Before included other people, especially Gaia
Practise & Apply
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘wispy’?
Tick Me
Why does Ade think that he was one of the first to see the Bluchers?
Tick one:
A) because they came so close to him
B) because he often sat on his windowsill, looking down
Check
C) because he made himself go to school
Click if correct
D) because he was good at recognising Gaia in a crowd
Find Me
Find a word which shows that Ade’s neighbourhood used to be busy.
I have to make myself remember what I used to see: the shops and the bustle, the cars and the people, the red-brick walls of my school and the grey patch of the playground.
Discuss then check
bustle
Which One's Right?
Everyone would rush out of the tiny black door so fast that I wouldn’t be able to tell one little coloured ant from another. The author described the people as ants to:
B) show that they are all different colours
A) show that theyare going fast
D) show that they are busy working together like ants
C) show that they look tiny because Ade is watching from so high up
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
learn new words.
Reveal
Keep a notebook to write down and remember new words.
Copyright Notice
This document has been supplied under a CLA Licence with specific terms of use. It is protected by copyright and, save as may be permitted by law, it may not be further copied, stored, re-copied electronically or otherwise shared, even for internal purposes, without the prior further permission of the Rightsholder. Extracts sourced from: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.