Reading the five books

• Learners should understand - title, table of contents, chapter.
• Learners should understand - punctuation, quotations, paragraphs.
• Learners must be able to recognize words that indicate direct speech, and must understand the implied emotions; for example, "said, asked, shouted, cried". A complete list is given on the first worksheet for each book. These words are repeated in other books.
• Learners should continue to use strategies to figure out words they do not recognize - re-reading, reading ahead, using context clues, using phonics, using word families, and so on.
• Learners should continue to work with strategies such as: skimming, scanning, setting a purpose for reading, and so on.
• Learners should continue to develop strategies to predict text. Some of the strategies are mentioned below in a separate section. (Many learners have difficulty with this concept in stage 2. Extensive work at the stage 1 level will better prepare learners for the work in stage 2.)

Using reading strategies to predict text:

• Look at the title of the book. What ideas do you get from it?
• Look at the table of contents. Can you guess what the book will be about?
• Flip through the book to look at the pictures. What ideas do the pictures give you about the story? Why do you think so?
• What do you already know about this topic?
• Read the first paragraph of the first chapter. What do you think the story will be about? Why do you think so? (Repeat for any or all chapters.)
• After reading the first chapter, can you tell if the predictions were correct? Why do you think so? (Repeat as desired.)
• After reading any chapter, can you predict what the next one will be about?
• After reading a chapter (or the whole story), can you tell which predictions were correct, which were not correct, and why you think so?

Using the worksheets

• The worksheets follow the same pattern for each story. Once learners understand the requirements, they can work more independently.
• For each story, worksheet 1 suggests vocabulary to be checked. (Chapter and page numbers are given for the words.) Some students may not need much practice. Many words are repeated in other books, so will not be "new" words for every book.
• Worksheet 1 also gives a list of ideas and concepts to discuss before learners read. Tutors/instructors will likely need to facilitate the discussions.
• Worksheet 2 requires sentence answers for "who, what, where, when, why, how" questions. Worksheet 2 sometimes has a question about the "main idea".
• Worksheet 3 gives practice in retelling the story. Sometimes learners are asked to give their ideas in sentences, sometimes in phrases. Writing in phrases will require practice; however, writing in phrases is a useful tool for many tasks.