E-Book Content
FREE
Penguin Readers Teacher’s Guide to Using Bestsellers Carolyn Walker
Contents Introduction
2
Penguin’s top 20 Bestselling Graded Readers Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Why are these books so popular?
2 2 2 3 3 4
Making use of the Bestsellers list
4
The library system Do your students read books for pleasure? Ground rules Encouraging reading achievements Reading is a social activity
5 5 5 5 6
Class Readers Choosing a class Reader from the Bestsellers list Some points about managing the reading Understanding the book Language practice Responding to and evaluating the book
6 6 7 7 11 12
Scheme of work for a class Reader
17
Photocopiable Student’s Worksheets 1 Are you a bookworm? 2 Reading record 3 Reading target 4 Bestsellers survey 5 What would you do if...? 6 Arranging in the right order 7 What does the future hold? 8 Matching 9 Was it a good thing or a bad thing? 10 Interview a character 11 One person’s view of another 12 My book from A–Z
1 Introduction
popular children’s story. There is a well-known film starring Jenny Agutter, made in 1971, and also a more recent TV adaptation.
Penguin Readers offer teachers and students an extremely valuable resource for learning English and, just as for other types of books, there is now a list of the Top 20 Bestselling Readers. . These are the books which are consistently popular among students and teachers around the world. In this Guide you will find the reasons why large numbers of teachers are making use of the bestselling Penguin Readers to teach English and why their students are becoming bookworms – in English! This Guide also gives teachers lots of concrete and practical suggestions on how to maximise the use of bestsellingGraded Readersso that students get the full benefit of extensive reading.
Mr Bean is a simply written ‘novelization’ (i.e. a book based on a film) of the comedy film, which was released in 1997 starring British actor, Rowan Atkinson. In the film, the rather strange Mr Bean, familiar to TV viewers, is sent as an ‘art expert’ to a gallery in Los Angeles. While there, Mr Bean accidentally ruins a famous masterpiece. But somehow he manages to rescue the situation, earn the gratitude of his host, and even impress the art world with his perceptive remarks on the masterpiece. All Mr Bean fans will love this book, and those unfamiliar with him will find the book highly entertaining.
2 Penguin’s top 20 Bestselling Graded Readers Penguin’s ‘top twenty’ list for the year 2000, based on global sales, was as follows: 2.1 Level 2 Treasure Island is a classic British story by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883). Treasure Island is a gripping adventure involving pirates, greed and treachery. Jim Hawkins, the young hero, finds himself on a boat with a collection of rogues sailing to search for buried treasure whose location is given on a secret map. The story has a historical setting, but the excitement and romance ensure its appeal for modern readers. There have been several films made, including one in 1990 starring Charlton Heston.
2.2 Level 3
White Fang is a classic animal story by US writer Jack London (1906). White Fang, half wolf–half dog, is found by Indians in the wild north west of Canada at the time of the gold rush of the 1890s. The story tells how a fierce, wild animal is gradually tamed and civilized as he passes from one owner to another, and we see how cruelty breeds violence while respect and gentleness are rewarded by love. There have been two film versions of the story, the latest by Disney in 1990. Audrey Hepburn is a biography specially written for learners of English. Overcoming the hardship and poverty of her youth in Europe, Audrey became a famous Hollywood film star whose career lasted nearly fort