Theme Units - Reading Program

Establishing a Reading Program Using Ziptales

Each unit of study exposes students to a variety of texts offered through the Ziptales website. A wide range of both fiction and non-fiction written and spoken texts are available such as: phonics-based rhyming stories (Easy Readers), cartoon/comic style stories (Storytime and Timeless Tales), short stories (Junior Readers, Genre stories & Graphic Classics), chapter books (Advanced Library), plays (Puppet Plays, Happy Schools), instructional texts (Make and Do), poems (Rhyme Time), interactive texts (Choose Your Own Adventure), interactive puzzles (Puzzle Palace) and information texts (Children in History). The texts range in difficulty, from simple storylines to those dealing with more abstract and complex ideas and issues.

Learning Components

Each unit of work also offers additional learning components to complement each story. These activities relate directly to the nominated stories and themes and allow for students to build upon their literacy skills whilst interpreting, analysing and reflecting on various texts.

COMPREHENSION: The activities offered via the Comprehension component are designed to improve and develop inferential comprehension skills such as character study, plot analysis, interpreting subtext and exploring the use of vocabulary in context, including figurative language. Additional Fill the Gaps and Multiple Choice comprehension activities are also provided at the end of each genre story in the Reading Library and Advanced Library.

CONVENTIONS: The Conventions component is specifically designed to build upon the students’ knowledge of the structures and features of written language. Activities include the study of spelling blends, patterns and rules; the correct grammatical structure of written language; and the effective implementation of punctuation.

WRITING: The Writing component allows students the opportunity to plan, compose, edit and publish a wide range of texts in a variety of genre relevant to the corresponding online story or nominated theme. This enables each student to develop written skills through reflecting on personal experience, expressing ideas, issues and opinions, imaginative storytelling and transferring information.

SPEAKING AND LISTENING: The activities offered in the Speaking and Listening component enable students to develop the skills required to effectively present and receive information in both formal and informal situations. Students learn to enjoy and appreciate language use whilst developing their oral language skills through group discussion and collaboration, debates, oral presentations and public speaking.

EXTENSION: Extension activities are offered to assist students further in the development and demonstration of their literacy skills. These activities range from research projects to creating posters related to the story or theme.

Sample Reading Program Planner for a Year 3 Class

Theme: The Ocean

Focus Stories	Lesson 1	Lesson 2	Lesson 3	Lesson 4	Lesson 5
Group 1 Zip Stage 5 The Mermaid (Myths and Legends)	Comprehension: Explain why Joseph’s feelings about living under the sea change.	Speaking & Listening: Group Discussion General Worksheet #2: Fact or Fiction?	Conventions: General Worksheet #1: Can You See a Silent ‘B’?	Writing: General Worksheet #3: Life Under the Sea	Extension: Research facts about King Neptune.
Group 2 Zip Stage 6 The Luckiest Catch (People)	Speaking & Listening: In pairs, brainstorm fun activities involving the ocean.	Conventions: General Worksheet #2: Who Said It?	Writing: General Worksheet #3: Sea Creatures	Comprehension: Find 4 reasons Henry uses at the beginning to try to get out of taking Molly fishing with him.	Extension: General Worksheet #1: Word Brainstorm
Group 3 Zip Stage 6 The Pirates’ Cave (Adventure)	Conventions: General Worksheet #1: Speech Marks Galore!	Writing: General Worksheet #3: Reporter for a Day	Comprehension: Compare how Ginger feels about Bruce at the beginning and end of the story.	Speaking & Listening: Present an oral report about a famous pirate.	Extension: General Worksheet #2: Wanted: Dead or Alive!
Group 4 Zip Stage 7 The Little Mermaid (Fairy Tales)	Writing: General Worksheet #3: Imagine If...	Comprehension: Summarise how the mermaid is feeling on each page of the story.	Speaking & Listening: Partner Activity – General Worksheet #2: Just a Dash	Conventions: General Worksheet #1: Handy Homographs	Extension: Design a brochure about the Great Barrier Reef.
Group 5 Zip Stage 8 The Titanic (True Tales)	Comprehension: General Worksheet #2: Fact or Opinion?	Speaking & Listening: In pairs, research the locations of the seven oceans of the world.	Conventions: General Worksheet #1: Apostrophes of Ownership	Writing: General Worksheet #3: Keeping a Journal.	Extension: General Worksheet #4: Explaining Icebergs
A blank Reading Program Planner is available in .pdf and .doc.

Notes on Sample Reading Program Planner

GROUPINGS:

Students have been divided into five reading groups based on their reading ability.
Each group has been allocated an appropriate level using the Ziptales exclusive ‘Zip Stage’ levelling system.
Stories have been assigned to each group using ‘The Ocean’ unit planner where stories have been listed in their corresponding levels.

FOCUS READING ACTIVITY: Students read the online stories

Students takes turns to read aloud one page of the focus story OR they may silently read or listen to the story individually.
To facilitate on-going assessment records, teachers may choose to sit with individual students whilst they read their allocated story aloud and then complete the Fill the Gaps and Multiple Choice functions available at the completion of each online story (see here for a Ziptales Student Comprehension Results Record Sheet).

LESSONS 1 - 4: Completing related activities

Focus lessons on Reading Comprehension, Conventions, Writing and Speaking & Listening are supplied for teachers to implement over a week or fortnight depending on class timetabling arrangements. Activities are staggered so the teacher is able to assist with group discussions that are planned for many of the speaking and listening activities and/or oversee the individual tasks being completed.

LESSON 5: Completing extension activities

The extension activities cater for a wide range of experiences related to both the story and/or the related theme.
Teachers may also use this day to assess selected students’ reading comprehension ability individually using the Fill the Gaps and Multiple Choice functions available for each online story.

SUBSEQUENT WEEKS: Rotation of Activities

Stories and related activities are then rotated/changed for each group in the subsequent weeks until the completion of the unit. As the planners are thematic based, students can be exposed to other Zip Stage stories outside their allocated reading level.

Reading Program