Ready Steady Read Together
Boy in the Tower: Fiction Lesson 2
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?
But I don’t believe in man-eating giants any more. Or beanstalks that grow up and up into the clouds and lead to strange, dangerous lands. I know now that there are things far more terrible. That are far more real.
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)
How does the author create a sense of suspense and mystery in this part of the story?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Follow as I read
Explore
I don’t know when I first properly met Gaia, but I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t there. She didn’t live in my block, though. Her tower sat across the road from mine and we both lived on the seventeenth floor. We liked that.
Our blocks looked almost identical, but not quite. When I was younger I thought that a giant, just like the one in Jack and the Beanstalk, could have come along and plucked both of our blocks from the ground and joined them together as neatly as two pieces of Lego. They just looked like they would fit together.
But I don’t believe in man-eating giants any more. Or beanstalks that grow up and up into the clouds and lead to strange, dangerous lands. I know now that there are things far more terrible. That are far more real.
I put on the news. They were talking about an old abandoned pub that had fallen down. I recognized the pub straight away. It was right by my tower. I walked right past it to go to one of the bigger shops. It was one of those tall, old-fashioned pubs but it had been empty for a while and its windows had been boarded up. Last time I’d walked past I’d noticed that plants had started growing out from in between the bricks. They had grey-green leaves and purple flowers that clumped together to look a bit like an ice-cream cone.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
It was reported as just one of those strange, bizarre happenings that no one could explain. Someone or other was cross because they had just bought it and had big plans for it. And now it was just a pile of rubble.
I looked down on the city below me and found the spot where the old pub had fallen down.
I might only be saying this because I know what’s happened since, but I thought I did notice some things that were a little bit odd about that mound of rubble.
Looking at it from my window, I thought I could see a faint blue tinge in the space where it had once stood. And it was strange that there was so little of it left, too. Not really what you’d expect from a big, tall building.
I remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away. And that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light. I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details.
How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
identical
abandoned
plucked
bizarre
rubble
tinge
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
identical
Explore
Find Read Talk
Her tower sat across the road from mine and we both lived on the seventeenth floor. We liked that. Our blocks looked almost identical, but not quite. When I was younger I thought that a giant, just like the one in Jack and the Beanstalk, could have come along and plucked both of our blocks from the ground and joined them together as neatly as two pieces of Lego. They just looked like they would fit together.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
identical
Your turn
plucked
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
abandoned
bizarre
rubble
tinge
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
I don’t know when I first properly met Gaia, but I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t there. She didn’t live in my block, though. Her tower sat across the road from mine and we both lived on the seventeenth floor. We liked that.
Our blocks looked almost identical, but not quite. When I was younger I thought that a giant, just like the one in Jack and the Beanstalk, could have come along and plucked both of our blocks from the ground and joined them together as neatly as two pieces of Lego. They just looked like they would fit together.
But I don’t believe in man-eating giants any more. Or beanstalks that grow up and up into the clouds and lead to strange, dangerous lands. I know now that there are things far more terrible. That are far more real.
I put on the news. They were talking about an old abandoned pub that had fallen down. I recognized the pub straight away. It was right by my tower. I walked right past it to go to one of the bigger shops. It was one of those tall, old-fashioned pubs but it had been empty for a while and its windows had been boarded up. Last time I’d walked past I’d noticed that plants had started growing out from in between the bricks. They had grey-green leaves and purple flowers that clumped together to look a bit like an ice-cream cone.
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.
It was reported as just one of those strange, bizarre happenings that no one could explain. Someone or other was cross because they had just bought it and had big plans for it. And now it was just a pile of rubble.
I looked down on the city below me and found the spot where the old pub had fallen down.
I might only be saying this because I know what’s happened since, but I thought I did notice some things that were a little bit odd about that mound of rubble.
Looking at it from my window, I thought I could see a faint blue tinge in the space where it had once stood. And it was strange that there was so little of it left, too. Not really what you’d expect from a big, tall building.
I remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away. And that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light. I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details.
How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
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 remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away. And that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light. I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details. How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
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 remember thinking
that someone must have already started clearing it away.
And that the blue tinge
was just a trick of the light.
I didn’t know at the time
that these were all important details.
How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
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 remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away. And that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light. I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details. How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
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
How does the author create a sense of suspense and mystery in this part of the story?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
But I don’t believe in man-eating giants any more. Or beanstalks that grow up and up into the clouds and lead to strange, dangerous lands. I know now that there are things far more terrible. That are far more real.
How does the author create a sense of suspense and mystery in this part of the story?
Reveal Explainer
The author shows that something bad and dangerous is coming which creates suspense because it makes the reader wonder what could be ‘far more terrible’ and ‘real’.
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
How does the author create a sense of suspense and mystery in this part of the story?
Pairedreading first
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Text Mark Evidence just one of those strange, bizarre happenings that no one could explain
uses words to show that whatever is happening is strange and unexplained
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - I might only be saying this because I know what’s happened since - I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details - how was I to know that this was only the beginning
hints that something bad is going to happen
How does the author create a sense of suspense in this part of the story?
Text Mark Evidence - plants had started growing out from in between the bricks - a faint blue tinge in the space where it had once stood…and it was strange that there was so little of it left, too
includes unusual, strange details to make the reader feel uneasy
Text Mark Evidence - I did notice some things that were a little bit odd - I remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away - and that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light
shows Ade’s thoughts of uncertainty
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence how was I to know that this was only the beginning
asks a question
Practise & Apply
Quiz Time
Start
True or False?
Gaia lived in the same tower block as Ade.
True
False
Match Me
Match each word with its definition:
3) plucked
D) identical
1) tinge
2) bizarre
C) a trace of colour
A) strange or unusual
B) the same
D) taken or pulled quickly
Click if correct
Check
Tick Me
What seemed strange about the pub after it had fallen?
Tick all that apply:
A) the rubble seemed to be blue
B) the pile of rubble wasn’t big enough for such a big building
Check
C) a beanstalk grew from it
Click if correct
D) no one could explain why it had fallen
Sequence Me
Put these events in the correct order:
A) Ade thought the rubble looked blue but thought it was a trick of the light.
B) Ade believed a giant could join his and Gaia’s towers together.
C) Ade looked out of his window to see where the pub used to stand.
D) The TV news reported about a pub that had fallen.
Click if correct
Check
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
turn the story into art.
Reveal
Draw scenes or characters from the book.
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 2
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?
But I don’t believe in man-eating giants any more. Or beanstalks that grow up and up into the clouds and lead to strange, dangerous lands. I know now that there are things far more terrible. That are far more real.
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)
How does the author create a sense of suspense and mystery in this part of the story?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Follow as I read
Explore
I don’t know when I first properly met Gaia, but I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t there. She didn’t live in my block, though. Her tower sat across the road from mine and we both lived on the seventeenth floor. We liked that. Our blocks looked almost identical, but not quite. When I was younger I thought that a giant, just like the one in Jack and the Beanstalk, could have come along and plucked both of our blocks from the ground and joined them together as neatly as two pieces of Lego. They just looked like they would fit together. But I don’t believe in man-eating giants any more. Or beanstalks that grow up and up into the clouds and lead to strange, dangerous lands. I know now that there are things far more terrible. That are far more real. I put on the news. They were talking about an old abandoned pub that had fallen down. I recognized the pub straight away. It was right by my tower. I walked right past it to go to one of the bigger shops. It was one of those tall, old-fashioned pubs but it had been empty for a while and its windows had been boarded up. Last time I’d walked past I’d noticed that plants had started growing out from in between the bricks. They had grey-green leaves and purple flowers that clumped together to look a bit like an ice-cream cone.
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
It was reported as just one of those strange, bizarre happenings that no one could explain. Someone or other was cross because they had just bought it and had big plans for it. And now it was just a pile of rubble. I looked down on the city below me and found the spot where the old pub had fallen down. I might only be saying this because I know what’s happened since, but I thought I did notice some things that were a little bit odd about that mound of rubble. Looking at it from my window, I thought I could see a faint blue tinge in the space where it had once stood. And it was strange that there was so little of it left, too. Not really what you’d expect from a big, tall building. I remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away. And that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light. I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details. How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
identical
abandoned
plucked
bizarre
rubble
tinge
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
identical
Explore
Find Read Talk
Her tower sat across the road from mine and we both lived on the seventeenth floor. We liked that. Our blocks looked almost identical, but not quite. When I was younger I thought that a giant, just like the one in Jack and the Beanstalk, could have come along and plucked both of our blocks from the ground and joined them together as neatly as two pieces of Lego. They just looked like they would fit together.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen © 2015. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
identical
Your turn
plucked
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
abandoned
bizarre
rubble
tinge
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
I don’t know when I first properly met Gaia, but I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t there. She didn’t live in my block, though. Her tower sat across the road from mine and we both lived on the seventeenth floor. We liked that. Our blocks looked almost identical, but not quite. When I was younger I thought that a giant, just like the one in Jack and the Beanstalk, could have come along and plucked both of our blocks from the ground and joined them together as neatly as two pieces of Lego. They just looked like they would fit together. But I don’t believe in man-eating giants any more. Or beanstalks that grow up and up into the clouds and lead to strange, dangerous lands. I know now that there are things far more terrible. That are far more real. I put on the news. They were talking about an old abandoned pub that had fallen down. I recognized the pub straight away. It was right by my tower. I walked right past it to go to one of the bigger shops. It was one of those tall, old-fashioned pubs but it had been empty for a while and its windows had been boarded up. Last time I’d walked past I’d noticed that plants had started growing out from in between the bricks. They had grey-green leaves and purple flowers that clumped together to look a bit like an ice-cream cone.
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.
It was reported as just one of those strange, bizarre happenings that no one could explain. Someone or other was cross because they had just bought it and had big plans for it. And now it was just a pile of rubble. I looked down on the city below me and found the spot where the old pub had fallen down. I might only be saying this because I know what’s happened since, but I thought I did notice some things that were a little bit odd about that mound of rubble. Looking at it from my window, I thought I could see a faint blue tinge in the space where it had once stood. And it was strange that there was so little of it left, too. Not really what you’d expect from a big, tall building. I remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away. And that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light. I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details. How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
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 remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away. And that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light. I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details. How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
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 remember thinking
that someone must have already started clearing it away.
And that the blue tinge
was just a trick of the light.
I didn’t know at the time
that these were all important details.
How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
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 remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away. And that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light. I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details. How was I to know that this was only the beginning?
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
How does the author create a sense of suspense and mystery in this part of the story?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
But I don’t believe in man-eating giants any more. Or beanstalks that grow up and up into the clouds and lead to strange, dangerous lands. I know now that there are things far more terrible. That are far more real.
How does the author create a sense of suspense and mystery in this part of the story?
Reveal Explainer
The author shows that something bad and dangerous is coming which creates suspense because it makes the reader wonder what could be ‘far more terrible’ and ‘real’.
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
How does the author create a sense of suspense and mystery in this part of the story?
Pairedreading first
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Text Mark Evidence just one of those strange, bizarre happenings that no one could explain
uses words to show that whatever is happening is strange and unexplained
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - I might only be saying this because I know what’s happened since - I didn’t know at the time that these were all important details - how was I to know that this was only the beginning
hints that something bad is going to happen
How does the author create a sense of suspense in this part of the story?
Text Mark Evidence - plants had started growing out from in between the bricks - a faint blue tinge in the space where it had once stood…and it was strange that there was so little of it left, too
includes unusual, strange details to make the reader feel uneasy
Text Mark Evidence - I did notice some things that were a little bit odd - I remember thinking that someone must have already started clearing it away - and that the blue tinge was just a trick of the light
shows Ade’s thoughts of uncertainty
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence how was I to know that this was only the beginning
asks a question
Practise & Apply
Quiz Time
Start
True or False?
Gaia lived in the same tower block as Ade.
True
False
Match Me
Match each word with its definition:
3) plucked
D) identical
1) tinge
2) bizarre
C) a trace of colour
A) strange or unusual
B) the same
D) taken or pulled quickly
Click if correct
Check
Tick Me
What seemed strange about the pub after it had fallen?
Tick all that apply:
A) the rubble seemed to be blue
B) the pile of rubble wasn’t big enough for such a big building
Check
C) a beanstalk grew from it
Click if correct
D) no one could explain why it had fallen
Sequence Me
Put these events in the correct order:
A) Ade thought the rubble looked blue but thought it was a trick of the light.
B) Ade believed a giant could join his and Gaia’s towers together.
C) Ade looked out of his window to see where the pub used to stand.
D) The TV news reported about a pub that had fallen.
Click if correct
Check
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
turn the story into art.
Reveal
Draw scenes or characters from the book.
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.