Comprehension Ninja for Ages 6-7: Fiction & Poetry Review

This is a set of 6 photocopiable books to help KS1 - KS2 children improve their reading. There is a book for each year group 1-6.

Each book has 24 varied texts including classic fiction and poetry, to new more modern writing styles, dialogue, and newspaper articles. It is a fantastic selection of texts for each year group, including well known writers such as Edward Leer, Roald Dahl, and Michael Morpurgo to the classics of Goldilocks and Jack and the Beanstalk, rewritten by Andrew Jennings and Adam Bushnell.

There are so many comprehension books on the market, many with interesting and varied texts. The texts often vary in difficulty to suit the readers ability. What I like about these books is that the related activities provide a differentiated activity for all abilities. It is unusual to find such a variety of comprehension activities to accompany a text. Each of these texts is accompanied by about 7 activities helping with a child’s understanding of the story, but varying in length and ability level, from simple labelling, using a word bank, to multiple choice questions and more challenging traditional questions and answers. Thus, giving confidence and a sense of achievement. There are also activities for the reluctant writer, such as circling key words, marking true or false and drawing and labelling. Each activity is so well thought out, providing something for everyone. The pages are clear with well laid out with illustrated texts and clear activity pages. The photocopiable pages really focus the readers on what is important in tackling comprehensions – such activities as finding key words, the importance or re reading, and sequencing, help the children to really understand how to tackle a text within an achievable and rewarding task. As it says on the cover, these books are designed to ‘master comprehension’.

The introductions are detailed and clear and there is even an answer grid at the end! The books are so well put together, providing strategies for teaching reading skills in an interesting and unique way. A great classroom resource.

Rosie Watch