The Old Town Road Shop (Inclusive Readers)

The National Literacy Strategy has helped us to raise standards for pupils with learning difficulties. The Inclusive Readers Series is designed to support teachers in this area by providing attractive, stimulating and appropriate reading materials for children with moderate or severe learning difficulties across the 7-11 age range. It includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and could help to support a multi-sensory approach to learning. The Inclusive Readers Series aims to do more than develop children's reading and writing - it aims to enable readers to extend their knowledge and understanding, to develop a fascination with language, to explore a range of emotions and, where appropriate, to help them to deal with difficult issues. The books represent positively many aspects of disability, and reflect the cultural diversity of society. Each pack consists of a 16-page A3 (11-2/3 x 16-1/2) big book, with full color illustrations; a pull-out section of characters and images from the text to cut out and laminate for use in follow-up work; a teachers' book with half-term and weekly plans, plus activities for pupils at different levels; and photocopiable differentiated versions of the text at four levels (P5-6, P7-1C and 1C-2A) for use with individual pupils - the lowest level using words with symbols. The Old Town Road Shop Big Book is written by Maggie Walker and illustrated by Bethan Matthews. Mr. and Mrs. Madasa have owned the shop on the Old Town road for many years. They've been happy there, but when someone vandalizes the shop, they are very worried. Should they accept Mr. Dosh's offer to buy the shop and turn it into a supermarket? This story is written for Year 5, and features a multicultural community. It focuses particularly on the letter-writing genre, covering several styles and formats, from formal business letters to informal emails. Suggested activities in The Old Town Road Teachers' Book, by Maggie Walker, Val Davis and Ann Berger, include units on exploring feelings, characterization and writing letters. The story explores issues that affect children and adults in today's world, and it provides opportunities for cross-curricular work in RE, geography and design technology.