Lesson video

Hi there, my name is Mr. Charlesworth and in today's reading lesson, we're developing our reading preferences through text recommendations.

In today's lesson, we're going to explore where to go to to get a good recommendation as well as looking at a range of different book awards.

Finally, we're going to deepen our understanding of what makes a good text recommendation by looking at our likes, dislikes, puzzles, and connections.

I hope you're looking forward to the lesson, let's begin.

Today's lesson outcome is, "I can make recommendations to other readers." The keywords are, my turn, your turn, recommendation, reader preference, puzzle, connection.

Let's try those once more.

Recommendation, reader preference, puzzle, connection.

Well done.

A recommendation is a suggestion for a text that is well suited to a reader's age and their interests.

A reading preference can include what we read and where we read.

A puzzle is a question you have about a text.

It does not always have to be answered or solved.

And how a text relates to a reader, another text or the wider world can be called a connection.

Don't worry if you're unsure about any of these words, we'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

Today's lesson is all about developing reading preferences through text recommendations.

In the first part of the lesson, we're going to look at how we discover new texts and also a range of book awards, and then in the next part of the lesson, we're going to continue to develop our understanding of book recommendations through book talk, looking at likes, dislikes, puzzles, and connections.

Let's begin by exploring where we go to to discover new texts.

Text recommendations are an important part of developing reading for pleasure.

There are several benefits to giving and receiving recommendations.

They can expand our reading choices, develop our interests, promote diversity, that's through both the writer and illustrator, but also about the text content.

They can spark curiosity about the wider world, deepen discussions, and allow us to stay updated with what's being released.

Sharing texts in this way can encourage us to read beyond our initial reading preferences.

Well done for spotting all the keywords, it's really important to be aware of new releases, but also a text that might entice us to read something new and exciting.

A text that did this recently for me is "High Rise Mystery".

This is a murder whodunit, and we follow two characters, Nik and Norva, as they try to solve a crime that's committed in their tower block.

It's a really exciting read and not normally a genre that I explore that often, I now want to read lots more.

Good thing, it's part of a series.

It's estimated that, in the United Kingdom, over 10,000 new children's titles are published every year.

How is it possible to discover these new texts? Before I share some examples, have a chat with your talk partner.

Pause the video now whilst you talk.

Great discussion.

There are lots of people and places you can go to to discover new texts.

Let's have a look at some examples.

You can look in the school or local library, you can speak with friends or family members, you might discuss recommendations or new titles with school staff.

A local bookshop is a fantastic place to explore if you're looking to discover new titles.

You can also look online via websites and book blogs.

And finally, you might want to explore book awards, we're going to look at that in more detail shortly.

Here's our first check for understanding.

What are the benefits of giving and receiving recommendations? Have a think back to what we just learned.

Pause the video now whilst you note down two ideas.

Fantastic work.

There are lots of benefits for giving and receiving recommendations, let's have a look at a few.

They enable us to expand our reading choices, develop our interests, promote diversity, spark curiosity, deepen our discussions around text, and finally allow us to stay updated with new releases.

Lucas says, "I love receiving recommendations from my librarian.

They really know what I like and recommend new authors for me to expand my reading choices." I hope you've got a school librarian or local librarian near you.

Their knowledge of new texts and texts that you might enjoy is invaluable.

Finding out about and researching book awards is a great way to expand your knowledge of quality texts.

There are several awards for children's literature.

You might see these celebrated on a text's front cover, like the example below, "The Light in Everything".

It's written by Katya Balen, who's a Carnegie Medal winner.

The Carnegie Medal is an award given for outstanding writing in children's books since 1938.

There have been lots of winners over the years, I wonder if your favourite text is one of them.

You might also see recommendations from authors you've read or reviews from newspapers on a text's front cover.

The example below from Ross Montgomery, who's another fantastic children's writer.

He said that, "The text was spirited, moving, heartfelt and bold." Recommendations like this are really helpful when readers are looking for a new text.

They might see an author that they've read before recommending another text for them.

This is a great way to expand our reading preferences, and interestingly, we're always told never to judge a book by its cover, but there's definitely a few things on there that help.

Here's our next check for understanding, true or false, book awards can recommend new texts for us to read? Is that true or false? Pause the video now whilst you decide Fantastic work, it's true.

Now, I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it because, A, book awards are celebrated on the front cover of a text, or, B, book awards celebrate new and diverse literature that is high in quality.

Have a think back to the original statement, which justification best suits it? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

Let's see if you're correct, it's B.

Even though book awards are celebrated on the front cover, book awards celebrate new and diverse literature that is high in quality, and that's how we get our new recommendations.

Book awards can celebrate text for a number of reasons.

Texts can also be celebrated based on their illustrations, the themes within the text, their subject matter, and the authorship.

The recent winner of the Jhalak Prize and Bradford Boase is "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths".

The Jhalak Prize celebrates British writers of colour and the Bradford Boase celebrates new voices in children's literature.

"Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear" was a recent recipient of the Carnegie Medal for illustration.

It awards texts for both illustration and writing.

Finally, "Boy Everywhere", which was the winner of the Little Rebels Award.

This is an award that celebrates the theme or subject matter of a text.

This is a really powerful and empathetic text which encourages empathy for refugees and those seeking asylum.

I wonder, have you got any texts that have won awards at your school or at home? In this first task, I'd like you to research three award-winning texts.

Book awards that you might like to research could include the Carnegie Medals, the Jhalak Prize, Bradford Boase Award, the Amnesty CILIP Honour, that's linked to the charity, Amnesty International, the Little Rebels Book Award, the UKLA Book Awards, they're judged by teachers, the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards, they're affectionately known as the Lollies, the CLiPPA, that's CLP's Children's Poetry Award, the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, and the Empathy Lab Book Collection.

These are great starting points to research three texts that have won awards.

I hope you enjoy researching your three texts, don't forget to note them down and maybe recommend them to a friend.

Pause the video now whilst you go and research.

Fantastic work, I hope you enjoyed researching a range of award-winning texts.

Did your research recommend any new texts that you wanted to read? It's always important to check the suitability and recommended reading age for texts.

You can do this online or by asking a trusted adult to check for you.

Perhaps you'd like to explore some previous winners of these awards at home too.

Now that we've explored places that we can go to to discover new texts, we are now going to be developing our understanding around book talk and book recommendations.

When recommending and talking about texts, the reader's perspective and experience of reading is very influential.

Talking about our likes and dislikes is a great way to start this process off.

I wonder, what did you enjoy most about your most recent read? Was there anything you disliked about it? A dislike doesn't have to be something you hated about the text, it could just be something linked to a choice or decision a character made.

It's important to remember that some readers may have the same preferences as you, others may not.

Everyone's preferences are equally valid.

We're now going to explore all about puzzles, puzzles are questions you have about a text.

Well done for noticing the keyword.

Examples of puzzles could include, what engaged you most about the text? Was there anything that took you by surprise? Were there any unanswered questions? Using the example of "Tyger", one of my favourite recent reads, here are some of my puzzling questions.

I wonder why Tyger is spelt that way.

I noticed that on the front cover and was immediately intrigued by it.

Before reading, I wondered if the texts had links to the universe, there are galaxies in the tiger's eye, can you see them? Finally, I was intrigued by the city landscape.

What will happen there? There seems to be pollution or smog emanating from the rooftops.

I was really intrigued and curious about what the text might be about.

It surpassed all of my expectations.

I hope you are intrigued to go and discover it yourself.

Connections are ways in which you can connect personally with a text.

The way that one reader connects might be different to another based on their own life experiences.

There can also be patterns that you spot when reading a text.

Connections can be from text to self, text to text, or text to world.

That means you can connect with a text on a personal level, compare one text with another text, or even think about how that text relates to the wider world.

This text "Finding Bear" made me reflect on the natural world and how we treat our environment.

It made me think of connections to the others in the series.

The themes in "Finding Bear" relate to the creative team's previous texts, "The Lost Whale" and "The Last Bear".

These texts all encourage social action.

I hope you'll read them and discover more about our natural world and environment.

We are now going to explore what this might look like in a book recommendation, focusing on our likes, dislikes, puzzles, and connections.

Here's my turn first.

This is a text called "Runaway Robot".

I really liked the humour in the text, it's really funny and heartwarming.

I wondered why the author used steps instead of chapters.

It turned out to be a great metaphor linked into coding and computing.

It made me think about when I didn't fit in and how I gained confidence.

It's a really deeply empathetic text and definitely one I'd recommend.

Your turn now.

I'd like you to use the sentence stems linked to likes, dislikes, puzzles, and connections.

I liked or I disliked, I wonder why, I wonder if, and the text made me feel, it made me think about, or it links to.

Pause the video now whilst you create your own text recommendation and tell it to your partner once you've completed.

Great work, I wish I could have heard your recommendation.

In this final task, I'd like you to think of a text you'd like to recommend.

Note down your likes, dislikes, if you had any, puzzles and connections.

Pause the video now whilst you complete your mind map.

Now, in the second part of the task, I'd like you to share your recommendations with friends, fill in the table below based on your friend's recommendation.

Remember to include the title of the text, your friend's likes or dislikes, the puzzles and connections that they made, and in the final column, whether you want to read, whether yes or no.

Pause the video now whilst you share your recommendations with friends.

Great work, I hope you enjoyed sharing your recommendations and picked up a few new texts to read.

Here's an example of what one might look like.

The title of text is "Crystal of Storms" by Rhianna Pratchett.

The likes or dislikes is the text is interactive, you can choose your own adventure.

I found all the different creatures and settings really intriguing.

The first attempt at a fighting fantasy book can be quite challenging.

The connections I made linked to other texts, the creatures make you think of mythical beasts you could have read in other texts, including Greek myths.

And finally, under wanting to read, I put yes.

I hope you'd want to read it too.

It's important to remember that some readers may have the same preferences as you, others may not.

Everyone's preferences are equally valid.

In today's lesson, we've been developing reading preferences through text recommendations.

We've learned that there are many places or people to go to for recommendations.

Finding out about and researching book awards is a great way to expand your knowledge of high quality texts.

A reader's perspective and experience of reading is very influential when making recommendations.

Readers may have the same preferences as you, but others may not.

And finally, everyone's preferences are equally valid.

Well done for all your hard work.

Looking forward to seeing you again soon.