We’re busy working on a special Teacher Zone for our website, where we’ll have lots of resources including video of our authors, author interviews, classroom guides and more. In the meantime, the links below will take you to a selection of materials we hope you will enjoy using with your students.
Classroom Discussion Guides
8-12s by author
Michael MorpurgoExplore point-of-view, perspective and themes of bullying in Wartman and Who's a Big Bully Then? and point-of-view and expressive writing in Fox Friend, a punchy and moving tale of life on a farm.
Andy StantonExplore the wild and wacky humour of this popular author in friendship tale Sterling and the Canary, and point-of-view and authorial voice in The Story of Matthew Buzzington, a funny and touching tale with themes of bullying.
Kaye UmanskyExplore point of view, structure and comedy in brilliant fractured fairytale The Stepsisters’ Story.
Jeremy StrongExplore the mix of humour and poignancy in Jeremy Strong's Titanic-themed story The Ghost in the Bath – with ideas for cross-curricular work.
Tom PalmerBuild comprehension and other literacy skills with boy-friendly rugby tale Scrum! (with thanks to Tom Palmer). You can also download a novel study pack for Scrum! from the National Literacy Trust.
Karen McCombieExamine point-of-view and characterisation in Running from the Rainbow. Explore themes of friendship and the big issues that small problems can sometimes present.
Teens
Explore the work of brilliant author Bali Rai in our three-title guideExplore recurring elements of the author's craft in our Bali Rai author discussion guide. Novels covered are Shivers, The Gun and Dream On.
Explore Shakespeare's plays and characters in our brilliant retellingsJane Eagland's Wild Song is a stunning retelling of The Tempest. Explore links between the two texts, and open up The Tempest to less confident students. Eric Brown's Twocking is inspired by the central relationship in MacBeth. Explore our retelling, and open up MacBeth and Lady MacBeth to less confident readers.
Introduce study of Tudor England, World War I, slavery and the English Civil War or discuss and explore character development through our classroom discussion guides for Anne Perry's 'time-slip' seriesBooks 1 & 2: Tudor Rose & Rose of No Man's Land Classroom Discussion Guide.Books 1–4: Tudor Rose, Rose of No Man's Land, Blood Red Rose, Rose Between Two Thorns Classroom Discussion Guide
Single titles
Jon for Short by Malorie Blackman. Develop reading comprehension, including prediction and inference with this short and powerful novel, dealing with strong themes of mental illness.
Moose Baby by Meg Rosoff. Ideas for classroom discussions.
Gamer by Chris Bradford. Explore the text via structured discussion in this breathtaking dystopian adventure!
You Killed Me! by Keith Gray.
Awesome by Pete Johnson.
Just a Bit of Fun by Robert Swindells.
Falling Awake by Viv French. Develop prediction and inference skills with a powerful novel on the dangers of drugs.
Prisoner in Alcatraz by Theresa Breslin. Develop inference and other strategies with a great novel about the infamous US prison, from a Carnegie Medal winner.
Guided Reading Pack Resources
Three-title packs
Reading Age 6.5 Group Reading Pack (suitable for primary and secondary)
Reading Age 7 Group Reading Pack for Primary
Reading Age 7 Group Reading Pack for Secondary
Terry Deary Group Reading Pack (suitable for primary)
Single-title packs
Just a Bit of Fun by Robert Swindells
Falling Awake by Viv French
Prisoner in Alcatraz by Theresa Breslin
Posters
Author posters with reading tips:
Julia Donaldson, Karen McCombie, Chris Bradford, Jeremy Strong, Sam Enthoven, Tommy Donbavand, Bali Rai, Tom Palmer, Graham Marks, Jim Eldridge.
Loads more coming soon!
Other posters:
Barrington Stoke Poster – boast about your dyslexia-friendly library!
