Enjoy Guided Reading Teacher Book with Copymasters Taken from: KS 1 Book Bands: White and Lime For: The Enormous Crocodile Author: Roald Dahl, Illustrator: Quentin Blake www.badgerlearning.co.uk WLBB7 You may copy this book freely for use in your school. The pages in this book are copyright, but copies may be made without fees or prior permission provided that these copies are used only by the institution which purchased the book. For copying in any other circumstances, prior written consent must be obtained from the publisher. The Enormous Crocodile Author: Roald Dahl, Illustrator: Quentin Blake Key stage 1: Lime Roald Dahl is one of the most popular authors in the world. Many of his children’s books are very well known and have been made into films or stage productions. Popular Roald Dahl children’s stories include: Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits, The BFG, The Witches and James and the Giant Peach. Although he died in 1990, his writing is still enjoyed by millions of children today. Quentin Blake illustrated almost all of Roald Dahl’s books. He began working with Dahl in 1976 and they continued working together until Dahl’s death. Dahl described Quentin as ‘the finest illustrator of children’s books in the world today!’ In 2013, Blake was knighted in the New Year’s Honours list, which means he is now officially known as Sir Quentin Blake. Story synopsis The Enormous Crocodile boasts to his friend, the Notsobig One, that he can devise various secret plans and clever tricks to catch some juicy small children to satisfy his voracious appetite. He leaves the brown, muddy river and meets various animals as he walks through the jungle: Humpy-Rumpy the hippopotamus, Trunky the elephant, Muggle-Wump the monkey and the Roly-Poly Bird. The animals all know that the Enormous Crocodile has nasty plans and tricks in mind; they are horrified that he is going to eat small children, but they are all cleverer than he is. As he enters the town, the Enormous Crocodile pretends to be a coconut tree. Just as a small boy is about to climb the ‘tree’, Humpy-Rumpy charges in and knocks the Enormous Crocodile to the ground. However, crocodiles are tough. Clever Trick Number Two is to make himself into a see-saw by balancing himself over a piece of wood in the playground. Just as the children are about to sit on the ‘see-saw’, Muggle-Wump appears and tells the children to run away as the crocodile is about to eat them up. Thwarted again, the Enormous Crocodile approaches a roundabout at the fair to pose as a wooden crocodile. A girl is about to climb up to ride on him when the Roly-Poly Bird swooshes down and tells her it is a real crocodile who wants to eat her up. By now the Enormous Crocodile is very hungry. Clever Trick Number Four is to place himself as a picnic bench next to a table on which he has placed flowers to entice the children. He waits as the children approach. They are about to sit on his back when a loud voice bellows “Stand back!” Trunky the elephant crashes out of the bushes, trots over to the crocodile bench and wraps his trunk around the crocodile’s tail. As the crocodile dangles upside down, Trunky swings him round and round in the air, faster and faster. Trunky suddenly lets go and the crocodile sails up into the sky ‘like a huge green rocket’. Higher and faster he goes, past the moon and stars, until he crashes headlong into the sun and sizzles up ‘like a sausage’. The Enormous Crocodile © Badger Learning 2 PB Discussing the text Objective 7: participating in discussion about what is read to them, taking turns and listening to what others say Objective 8: explaining and discussing their understanding of books, poems and other material, both those that they listen to and those that they read for themselves Discussing the text is the central focus of all guided reading sessions. These objectives run throughout the Teacher-led sessions and link to the following expectation: ‘Discussion should be demonstrated to pupils. They should be guided to participate in it and they should be helped to consider the opinions of others. They should receive feedback on their discussions.’ (National curriculum for Key Stage 1) See the various ideas for encouraging KS1 pupils to join in the discussion in the Introduction to this book. Questions The questions provided in the Teacher-led sessions can be used to explore and develop the children’s understanding. Examples of some possible answers for the more open questions are given; however, teachers should be aware that variations on these answers may also be correct. Teacher-led session 1 Introducing the text Objective 1: drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher Front cover: Look at the front cover. Ask the children: • Have they seen or read any other books by the same author and/or illustrator? • Can they guess what the crocodile has in his mouth in the illustration? This may be tricky as it is not clear. However, later in the story, the items in his mouth are revealed to be bird feathers. Blurb: Ask the children: • What do you know about crocodiles? Where might crocodiles be found? • Ask them to identify some other jungle animals that might be in the story. • Discuss alliteration e.g. ‘greedy grumptious’ and ‘foul fiend’. • Is ‘grumptious’ a real word? (No – but pupils could still try to work out what it might imply within the context where it has been used.) The Enormous Crocodile © Badger Learning 3 Beginning the story The activities and questions below relate to the following national curriculum expectations and objectives. Objective 2: discussing and clarifying the meanings of words, linking new meanings to known vocabulary Objective 4: making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done Objective 6: predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far Begin the story by reading pages nine to 11 to the children. Emphasise the way the two crocodiles are talking. Take account of the punctuation, and the italics. Ask the children why you emphasised ‘tough’ and ‘chewy’, ‘nasty’ and ‘bitter’. Select some children to read the words spoken by the two crocodiles on page ten as if they are having the conversation. Remind the children to read with expression, taking account of the punctuation when they are reading to themselves. Ask the questions below during or after reading. Page 9 • Where is the story set? • Which crocodile wants to eat a child for his lunch? Page 10 • Which words show that the Notsobig One does not think children taste very nice? Page 11 • How does the Enormous Crocodile describe himself? • How does the Notsobig One describe the Enormous Crocodile? How might children react if they saw the Enormous Crocodile coming towards them? Do you think the crocodile will get to eat any children? Continuing reading Continue with reading pages 12–21, selecting Option A, B or C, depending on the ability of the children and the level of the text. Option A Modelled reading The teacher reads aloud to the pupils. This approach links to the following expectations from the national curriculum: ‘Pupils should be taught to develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently.’ ‘“Thinking aloud” when reading to pupils may help them to understand what skilled readers do.’ The Enormous Crocodile © Badger Learning 4 Pupils should be discussing texts beyond the level at which they can phonically decode. This is a key aspect of the national curriculum for reading. Therefore, the teacher may purposely select a text the children cannot yet read entirely by themselves for use in guided reading. The focus is on comprehension rather than word level. Teachers should model how to use expression and pay attention to punctuation. Option B Shared reading This approach links to the following national curriculum objectives: Objective 3: checking that the text makes sense to them, reading fluently and correcting inaccurate reading If suitable, the children could take it in turns to read short segments of the text aloud. Encourage them to self-correct as they are reading. Teach pupils how to use phonics, picture cues and logic to work out the meanings and pronunciation of new words. Help pupils to read with expression and attention to punctuation. Option C Independent reading The children are fluent readers and the text is matched to their reading level. Objective 3: checking that the text makes sense to them, reading fluently and correcting inaccurate reading One of the key aims of the national curriculum is that children should learn to ‘read easily, fluently and with good understanding’. If the text has been matched to the reading level of pupils, the children can read independently, quietly or silently, while the teacher moves around the table listening to them. Encourage the children to self-correct as they are reading. Use phonics, picture cues and logic to work out the meanings and pronunciation of new words. Encourage pupils to read with expression and attention to punctuation. Reading focus Objective 2: discussing and clarifying the meanings of words, linking new meanings to known vocabulary As pupils are reading, ask them to think about how the other animals feel about the Enormous Crocodile.