Sales Toolkit

Contents1. The Pedagogical Basis……………………………………………………………………… p32. About our experts……………………………………………………………………………. p133. Key components of Bug Club Comprehension………………………………… p15 4. National Curriculum for England……………………………………………………… p185. Scottish Curriculum for Excellence…………………………………………………… p216. National Curriculum for NI…………………………………………………………….... p267. National Curriculum for Wales…………………………………………………………. p298. Assessment……………………………………………………………………………………… p329. Structure chart…………………………………………………………………………………. p3510. Insight selling hints and tips…………………………………………………………..... p53

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The Pedagogical Basis

The Pedagogical BasisThe pedagogical basis of Bug Club Comprehension is key to understanding the programme, identifying customers’ needs and explaining to customers how the materials will meet their needs.

Problems with current comprehension practice identified:

• Decoding and comprehension do not develop at the same pace – a child’s comprehension can be far in excess of their decoding ability, so comprehension shouldn’t suffer at the expense of phonics

• Comprehension is often assessed but not taught

• Delivery of comprehension is inconsistent within and between schools, some do it via guided reading, others via worksheets, some not at all

• Current approaches which use guided reading are very time consuming to plan and prepare, and often the activities where children are not with the teacher are meaningless

• Children struggle with inference and deep comprehension and this impacts on SATs performance

• Poor levels of vocabulary development can be a barrier to comprehension

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Three, is the magic numberAt the centre of the Bug Club Comprehension approach is our expert Wayne Tennent’s three key questions.

Every text in Bug Club Comprehension has three key questions: a looking, a clue, and a thinking question which form the basis of all comprehension around the text:

The Looking Question: literal comprehension

The Clue Question: making connections and inferences to further comprehension

The Thinking Question: going beyond the text, connecting text to self, text to world to access ‘deep’ comprehension

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Comprehension Strategies

Illustration: Kanae Sato

Another key foundation of Bug Club Comprehension is the development of strategies for comprehension.

Every time we read a piece of text we consciously or unconsciously use comprehension strategies to understand it…

Building on the idea that comprehension is something which needs to be taught and Wayne Tennent’s approach, Bug Club Comprehension focuses on the teaching of eight core strategies for comprehension

These comprehension strategies form a toolkit which children can develop and apply to anything they read in order to understand it.

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Comprehension StrategiesStrategy Description

SummarisingSummarising what has happened in the text, or recallingdetails of the text and putting them in order.

Activating Prior Knowledge

Children draw on what they already know and understandto make sense of the text as they read it.

EvaluatingAbility to give an opinion about a text and read it critically,and justify that opinion to others.

Inference Making Strategies

QuestioningAsking and exploring literal, inferential and exploratoryquestions.

Clarifying Clarifying words or concepts that are not understood.

PredictingAnticipating what might happen next based on evidencefrom the text and personal experience.

ConnectingFinding causal links between events, actions, themes andideas in the text seeking textual evidence to supportthinking.

VisualisingTaking details from the text and bringing them to life- theability to describe a scene – the ability to imagine what isbeing read.

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Let’s talk about it…

Illustration: Kanae Sato

Bug Club Comprehension uses a talk based approach for comprehension… but why?

Research says it works:

Talk – at home, in school, among peers – is education at its most elemental and potent. It is the aspect of learning that arguably has the greatest purchase on learning.

(The Cambridge Primary Review)

Children have a spoken language comprehension far in excess of their ability to decode. It doesn’t make sense to stall, or stagnate the comprehension component until decoding has been mastered.

(Tennent, 2015)

That’s why rich discussion about texts is one of the fundamental elements of Bug Club Comprehension.

A Tale of Two Poggles, Year 4 Summer Term

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Vocabulary is Essential!Another key principle of Bug Club Comprehension is the idea that vocabulary is important – regardless of decoding, or comprehension ability, children cannot understand a text if they don’t know what the words mean!

So every week of teaching in Bug Club Comprehension has a part dedicated to ‘removing barriers to comprehension’ caused by vocabulary.

Jack and JillWent up the hill

To fetch a pail of water.Jack fell down

And broke his crownAnd Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack gotAnd home did trot

As fast as he could caperWent to bed

And plastered his headWith vinegar and brown paper

Jack and JillWent up the hill

To fetch a pail of water.Jack fell down

And broke his crownAnd Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack gotAnd home did trot

As fast as he could caperWent to bed

And plastered his headWith vinegar and brown paper

What’s a pail? My mum sometimes says I look pail

when I’m poorly…

Jack was wearing a crown? Was he a king or

something?

My sister rides a horse, sometimes she trots…

was he on a horse?

I don’t know what a caper is. I think perhaps it’s a vegetable…

My uncle’s a plasterer, but I thought he did

something with walls…

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Inclusion For All

Illustration: Kanae Sato

Decoding ≠ Comprehension

• Ask a small child to tell you what happened in their favourite TV programme and they can probably do it, but ask them to read the script…

• Bug Club Comprehension works on the principle that all children should access the same text regardless of their decoding ability – as decoding ability and comprehension ability do not progress equally.

• That’s why a core principle of Bug Club Comprehension is one text for the whole class (saving teachers time) – the differentiation comes in how that text is accessed: audio ebook, independent read, paired read, read to a child by a TA – getting the words ‘off the page’ is never a barrier to comprehension.

Photograph: Sue Barr

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A Mastery Approach

Illustration: Kanae Sato

• There is little agreement on what ‘mastery’ means when applied to English. Unlike maths or science there is very little research on this.

• However, principles of mastery most commonly agreed upon are:

• Repeating concepts until they are mastered• Collaborative learning• Clear and specific objectives• Keeping the class together

• Bug Club Comprehension follows these principles:

• Strategies are repeated again and again to be applied in many contexts

• Learning is collaborative• Strategies are specific• The class is kept together working on the same text

A Tale of Two Poggles, Year 4 Summer Term

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Engaging Resources

Illustration: Kanae Sato

• In line with the Bug Club principles, Bug Club Comprehension puts the learner at the heart and provides engaging resources for children and teachers alike:

• User friendly workbooks• Beautiful varied texts with Bug Club values

A Tale of Two Poggles, Year 4 Summer Term

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About Our Experts

Our Experts

Illustration: Kanae Sato

Dr. Wayne Tennent, University of East London

• In school research with schools in East London to implement talk based, reciprocal and dialogic guided reading approaches for comprehension.

David Reedy, Secretary and Former President of the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) and Principle Primary Advisor for Barking & Dagenham

• In school research with schools in East London & beyond implementing talk based approaches to comprehension across the curriculum.

The teaching staff of Highlands Primary School in Redbridge, East London.

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Key Components of Bug Club

Comprehension

Key Features of Bug Club ComprehensionBug Club Comprehension incorporates the following components:

• Texts: 30 per year (1 per week), organised into 6 volumes per year• eBooks: 30 per year (1 per text) with audio• Teaching cards: 30 per year with lesson plans for each day of the week• Workbooks: 3 per year group (1 per term) for children to write into• Online planning area: lesson plans, videos, additional resources• PD: face to face and online professional development resources• Handbook: pedagogical handbook with guidance for implementation

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The Teaching Cycle

Day 1

Vocabulary activity based on text vocabulary to remove barriers to comprehension

Day 2

Reading the text and considering the key

questions. Audio ebooks to remove barriers.

Day 3

Discussion of book in group with the teacher – using

strategies for comprehension

Day 4

Reflection on group session via follow-up task –

embedding strategies.

Day 5

Reading into writing –embedding strategies and

providing evidence for assessment.

Every week follows the same cycle and there are 30 weeks of teaching per year (10 per term) which run on a carousel basis:

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National Curriculum for England

National Curriculum for EnglandOverarching curriculum aims (reading and speaking and listening)

• Children acquire a wide vocabularyIn Bug Club Comprehension there is a strong focus on developing a broad vocabulary supported by the vocabulary activities on Day 1 of the teaching cycle.

• Children appreciate our wide and varied literary heritageBug Club Comprehension includes a broad range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and the texts increase in complexity and sophistication as children move through the programme, and cover key genres mentioned in the curriculum – e.g. myths and legends, and fairytales

NB. Every week of work is fully aligned to the curriculum on the platform and in the handbook.

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National Curriculum for EnglandOverarching curriculum aims (reading and speaking and listening)

• Have good understanding of what they readBug Club Comprehension is entirely focused on children understanding what they read and barriers to decoding are removed to facilitate this deeper understanding.

• Children use discussion in order to learn and can elaborate and clearly explain their understanding and ideasDay 3 of the teaching cycle requires children to discuss their ideas and build on the ideas of others, using the key comprehension strategies to structure their discussions with others.

• Are competent in the arts of speaking and listening• The support for rich, high-quality discussion creates an environment in

which children learn to listen respectfully to the views of others, and support their view with evidence from the text

NB. Every week of work is fully aligned to the curriculum on the platform and in the handbook.

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Assessment

Assessment

Illustration: Kanae Sato

• Throughout Bug Club Comprehension there are a wealth of opportunities for formative assessment:

• Workbooks: teachers can see children’s thought patterns and comprehension progress through their workbooks – both within and between weeks.

• Rich discussion with teacher: teachers can assess in discussion which children are making use of their strategies and which are struggling through simple observations.

Both the handbook and PD course give extensive information on how assessment can work with Bug Club Comprehension.

All strategies and weeks of teaching are linked to all UK curricula in the handbook to support observation and assessment.

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BC Comprehension & Progress and Assess

Illustration: Kanae Sato

Bug Club Comprehension links to the strategies for comprehension whereas P&A links to the Pearson Primary Progression Maps…

HOWEVER both of these link to the National Curriculum.

With that in mind, P&A can be used as a summative assessment solution alongside Bug Club Comprehension to periodically check how children are doing in their reading comprehension.

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Structure Chart (Year 3 & 4)

Year 3 Components

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Year 4 Components

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Year 3 & 4 Components

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List of Printed ComponentsYear 3 Components

Title Component Genre

While I am Sleeping Book Fiction/Poetry

King Kafu and the Moon Book Fiction

Hot Spots and Other Extreme Places to Live Book Non-Fiction

Bright Sparks MagazineNon-Fiction, Fiction

and Poetry

Fairy Tales Anthology (title TBC) BookFiction and Non-

Fiction

Escape from Black Mountain Book Fiction

Year 3, Autumn Term Workbook Workbook N/a

Year 3, Spring Term Workbook Workbook N/a

Year 3, Summer Term Workbook Workbook N/a

Teaching Cards (x30) – only available in packs Teaching Card N/a

Lower KS2 Teaching Handbook Handbook N/a

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List of Printed ComponentsYear 4 Components

Title Component Genre

Mary Anning: The Girl Who Cracked Open… Book Non Fiction

The Death of the Dinosaurs Book Non-Fiction

The Song of Sky and Sand Book Fiction

Daring Deeds MagazineNon-Fiction, Fiction

and Poetry

Myths of the Sea (Anthology) BookFiction and Non-

Fiction

A Tale of Two Poggles Book Fiction

Year 4, Autumn Term Workbook Workbook N/a

Year 4, Spring Term Workbook Workbook N/a

Year 4, Summer Term Workbook Workbook N/a

Teaching Cards (x30) – only available in packs Teaching Card N/a

Lower KS2 Teaching Handbook Handbook N/a

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Insight Selling Hints & Tips

Key questions to ask:Have you had any thoughts about introducing a mastery

approach in reading? How do you think that will look?

How does your current reading scheme address your needs at KS2 – how does it develop children’s deep comprehension?

How effective do you feel your current guided reading practice is?

How do different teachers in your school approach guided reading? Do you feel that it’s a consistent approach?

Do you feel that the time spent planning guided reading is reflected in the outcomes achieved? Why/why not?

Do you ever feel your children held back in their comprehension because they have poor decoding skills?

Is an inclusive curriculum important for your school? How does that look in your school?

Are you ready to move your children on in comprehension?

Is it time to go beyond decoding?54

Key needs to listen for:Problems finding time to plan for guided reading

Difficulty in getting children to understand text deeply

Issues with children’s inference skills

A need to introduce a mastery approach to reading

A concern over children’s SATs-readiness

A concern that comprehension is stagnating due to poor decoding in groups or classes of children

A frustration/boredom with guided reading practice

A need for meaningful formative assessment

A need for written comprehension outcomes

A need to see evidence ofprogression in children’s comprehension

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