Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency

Year 1: Horrid Henry

An able child in year 1 had read Horrid Henry and the Tooth Fairy by Francesca Simon independently at home and during group time in the literacy hour. His teacher paired him with a reading partner, an older child in the school. At regular intervals the two met to talk about the character Horrid Henry. They considered the behaviour of this character and, among other things, why the story was funny. Upon finishing the book, the child was asked to decide whether he would recommend the story to his teacher. His response was enthusiastic, so the teacher decided to read the novel to the whole class.

Planning notes

The teacher planned to support the independent reading of a year 1 able child by:

recommending a particular extended text, for example Horrid Henry

offering advice to the pupil's parents on how best to oversee reading, for example occasional reading-aloud sessions to check accuracy, and more frequent discussions of the plot

providing opportunities for independent reading as part of group work in the literacy hour

arranging for regular conferences with an older reading partner, focusing on discussion of the characters, events and humour

ensuring an opportunity to reflect on the text with the child

acting on the child's recommendation to read the book to the class, using the child's opinions as a way of introducing it to the others.

Year 2: Hedgehogs

A class was studying hedgehogs as part of its science activity on life processes and living things. All the pupils used library books and CD-ROM encyclopedias to gather information. Pupils with exceptional literacy skills were asked to use this information to answer open-ended questions about the relationship between animals and their environment, such as 'What sources of food are crucial for a hedgehog's survival?' 'Why are most hedgehogs killed in certain months of the year?' They presented their findings in more than one format -- as pie charts, flow diagrams and as an illustrated talk to the class -- and drew out the practical implications of what they had found for the conservation of hedgehog populations.

Planning notes

The teacher planned that the most able children would:

use the activity to develop their ICT skills, for example they might work together on a PowerPoint version of the presentation

consider the effects of hedgehog survival on other animals in the same food chain, and report on this to the class

work together to make a list of the new vocabulary they had learned while doing the activity, with a short explanation of each word (which could be displayed for the benefit of the whole class).

National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies' Guidance on teaching able children. (Print copy available from DfES, order reference: LNGT.)

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