Curriculum for Excellence

Curriculum for Excellence says

Giglets delivers

Early Level and Early Primary School

Learners working within early level explore and choose stories, sharing likes and dislikes. Learners explore and play with the patterns and sounds of language and begin to use what they learn to help reading and writing. Asking questions and connecting to what children already know helps learners better understand stories and texts.

• A vibrant and enchanting library for young readers working at early level.
• Texts at Bright Star and Red Balloon level include traditional tales, nursery rhymes and engaging texts (fiction and non-fiction) exclusive to Giglets, designed for use in the primary school.
• Rhyming texts are ideal for exploration of sounds and phonics.
• Higher Order Thinking Skills and Reading Test Questions available as discussion prompts for whole class or guided group lessons.

Example lesson at Early level

Read the Giglets original text 'The Shark in the Dark' together as a class.

Using the front cover and theme music predict what might happen in the story. When reading, highlight and explore the rhyming pattern, guessing what rhyming word might be next or other words that would fit the section.

Finally, use the Higher Order Thinking Skills or Reading Test Questions to check comprehension or develop a deeper understanding of the text.

First Level and Lower Primary School

Learners working within first level access and explore an increasing range of texts and are further developing their identity as a reader. Learners are beginning to read more confidently and are employing the use of reading strategies to better understand texts. Children are learning about the features of different text types and are beginning to evaluate different aspects of text, including word choice, structure, characters and setting. Children respond to different kinds of questions to show understanding.

• A wide choice of texts are available at first level. Short stories and novels, informative texts all feature with word choice designed to build vocabulary and understanding.
• Giglets texts are enhanced with audio, illustration, animation and theme music which is ideal to support text understanding and the development of reading strategies.
• The Giglets highlighting tool is ideal for pupils noting their own questions that arise when reading.
• Comprehension and progress can be monitored using the automatically marked Reading Test Questions and reporting. Giglets Reading Test Questions include different question types such as multiple choice, sequencing, find and copy, and matching styles. The different question types not only engage learners but allow teachers to assess understanding on a deeper level.
• The Giglets resources section provides many activity suggestions for developing reading strategies and skills.

Example lesson at first level

Read 'The Tortoise and the Hare' on Giglets. Using the Giglets highlighting tool, children should highlight the key words and the may transfer these into the ABC Grid found in the resources section. They can also attach any notes or questions they may to their highlights.

After reading, children should use their key words to help retell the story. They may use a Diamond Nine activity to help them identify the most important words. Don't forget to return to the theme music and discuss in what way it matches the events of the text!

Second Level and Upper Primary School

At second level, learners are regularly selecting and reading texts which they enjoy; children continue to build a love of reading. Children read with more fluency and employ a range of reading strategies to better understand texts both before, during and after reading. Finding, sorting, and selecting information is a strong feature of literacy at Second level.

To demonstrate understanding, children answer increasingly challenging comprehension questions including in close reading tasks and literal, inferential and evaluative questions. Children comment in increasing detail on an author's choices including their structure, characterisation and setting, theme and style.

• Giglets is ideal for whole class, group and independent work at Second level.
• Teachers can explore a wide variety of text types including, but certainly not limited to, adapted classics, narrative poetry and more detailed non-fiction texts with their pupils.
• Differentiation is easy with Giglets as teachers can assign different texts and tasks to suit the needs of the individuals in the class.
• The ideal tool for developing reading strategies, teachers can harness the power of Giglets features like the accessible reader, highlighting, searching and the theme music when teaching reading and writing.
• The Giglets Higher Order Thinking Skills questions are text specific and so encourage critical and creative thinking.
• The automatically marked Giglets Reading Test Questions challenge learners to build a deep understanding of language, the text and its themes.
• Comprehension progress can be monitored using these Reading Test Questions and the Giglets reporting tool.

Example lesson at second level

Read 'How to Make Carrot Cake!' on Giglets. Using the Giglets highlighting tool, children should highlight key words and text features. They can also attach any notes or questions they may to their highlights.

After reading and completion of the supporting tasks, children may create their own instructional texts, building on what they have learned about the text type from their reading.

Third and Fourth Level

In the final levels of the broad general education of CfE, children and young people are building high levels of literacy which will be of benefit to them in the senior phase. Reading is often used in the creation of new texts and learners can demonstrate their understanding by identifying purpose and main concepts, inferring and comparing different texts. Texts are discussed and evaluated in detail as learners develop their critical thinking skills.

• For learners working at third and fourth levels, teachers are able to assign more challenging texts and supporting tasks.
• Adapted and unabridged classics feature in the Giglets library and these levels, as well as some more technical non-fiction texts.
• If young people in early high school are not working at anticipated levels, teachers may make use of the texts at other levels noting that children do not see book levels or reading ages when reading; differentiation is easy with Giglets.

Example lesson at third level

Read the first chapter of 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' on Giglets. Using the Giglets highlighting tool, highlight the most descriptive passages that aid with understanding and visualisation.

After reading, evaluate highlights and consider how these excerpts could be made both less descriptive and effective and more descriptive and effective. Higher Order Thinking Skills and automatically marked Reading

Children who have Additional Support Needs

All Scotland's children and young people are entitled to support to enable them to gain as much as possible from the opportunities that Curriculum for Excellence provides. Some children may need additional support and in these cases, teachers may explore additional resources that can best support learners.

Inclusivity is at the heart of everything Giglets does. All children when reading with Giglets have access to a choice of:

• two dyslexic friendly fonts,
• eight font sizes,
• ten options for tailored text and background colour, and,
• audio storytelling support on many texts and screen-reader compatibility.

These features are in place to support those who may be dyslexic or visually impaired.

All children also benefit from the bright and vibrant Giglets illustrations, engaging theme music and animations. These prove beneficial for increasing engagement in reluctant readers and those who require additional support with their reading.