Family reading café story unit · KS1 (Reception to Year 2)
The Story Café
Learning objective: Talk about the people we read with and the different things we can read together.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Fantasy · Length: 3 chapters · Time: 10–15 a chapter minutes · Story world: The Impossible Library
Talk questions
- Who do you like to read with? What do you read together?
- What could be in the teapot's next story?
Writing task
Draw someone you like reading with. Write: 'I like reading ___ with ___.'
Word bank
- read
- to look at words and understand what they say
- share
- to enjoy something with other people, such as a book or a story
- together
- with other people, at the same time
- story
- words that tell about things that happen to characters, real or made up
- café
- a small place where people can sit, have a drink or a snack and talk
Success criteria (letter to a character)
Reception to Year 2: I can start with 'Dear'. I can ask a question. I can end with 'From'.
National Curriculum statements
- “listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “being encouraged to link what they read or hear read to their own experiences” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers” (Years 1 to 6, Spoken language (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
The story café was nearly ready. There were cushions on the floor and paper cups on the table.
In the middle sat a big blue teapot with gold stars on it. It was the story teapot, and today it was very, very quiet.
“It only pours out stories when people read together,” said a little voice. It was Page, the talking bookmark.
So Nia and Page went looking for readers. In the playground they found Grandad Bill, reading the bus timetable in a funny, squeaky voice. “The number 7 bus,” he squeaked, “comes at half past three!”
Back in the café, the teapot gave a tiny bubble. “Read with me, read with me,” sang Nia, “pour a story for our tea!”
Notes
Family reading café story unit · KS2 (Years 3 to 6)
The Day the Café Ran Out of Stories
Learning objective: Explain why people choose to read, and recommend a book or story to someone else with reasons.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Fantasy · Length: 3 chapters · Time: 10–15 a chapter minutes · Story world: The Impossible Library
Talk questions
- Which reader in the story are you most like? Why?
- What would you recommend to a grown-up at home, and what would you say to persuade them?
Writing task
Write a short recommendation card for the café: the title, who it suits, and two reasons to read it.
Word bank
- recommend
- to say that something is good and that someone else might enjoy it, giving reasons
- neighbourhood
- the streets and people around where you live
- favourite
- the one you like best of all
- persuade
- to make someone want to do or believe something by giving good reasons
- community
- the people who live in an area and the places they share
Success criteria (persuasive letter)
Years 3 and 4: I can give a reason in each paragraph. I can use persuasive words. I can end strongly.
Years 5 and 6: I can back my reasons with evidence. I can answer the other side. I can use modal verbs and a formal register.
National Curriculum statements
- “recommending books that they have read to their peers, giving reasons for their choices” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “provide reasoned justifications for their views” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own” (Years 5 and 6, Writing – composition (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
At eight o’clock on the morning of the reading café, Mr Sandhu opened the café cupboard and dropped his tea.
Every book on the shelves had blank pages. Not a word, not a picture, not a page number. Just white.
“Ah,” said Ms Kowalski the librarian, who had come in early to help. She turned a blank book over in her hands as if it were a sleepy cat. “I’ve seen this before. The stories have gone back to the people who loved them first.”
“So how do we get them back?” asked our hero.
“We ask,” she said simply.
The first person they asked was Mrs Adeyemi at the corner shop. She leant on the counter and closed her eyes. “When I was a girl,” she said, “my grandmother told me the story of the tortoise who wanted to fly.” And as she began to tell it, the top book in our hero’s arms grew warm, and words began to appear.
Notes
