Introduction:

This book is called Left and Right.

It gives us examples of how we use left and right in everyday life.

Probes:       Can you tell me about...

1. ...how the book begins telling us about left and right.

2. ...some of the important uses we have for left and right.

Questions:

1. What do we need to do at a pedestrian crossing? Show me where it says that.

2. Why is it important that car drivers know the difference between left and right?

3. Tell me about some of the disadvantages of being either left or right handed.

Text:

left foot

right foot

looking left

looking right

left turn

right turn

turning left

turning right

I can use my left hand.

I can use my right hand.

I can stand on my left foot.

I can stand on my right foot.

[Whole book]

Introduction:

This article is called New Zealand Bushwalk.

It is written by an eight year old Wellington girl called Laura, and she tells about the things that they were able to see, smell and touch as they followed a muddy track through a forest of very tall trees.

Probes:       Can you tell me about...

1. ...the track they were walking on.

2. ...the suggestion mother made for crossing the muddy part.

Questions:

1. What did the bellbirds sound like? Show me where it says that.

2. Where do you think they saw the rabbits?

3. Name some of the dangers that there might be on a bush walk?

Text:

When we were going into the bush we heard bellbirds warning the other animals that we were coming. They sound like a musical bell. All the rabbits scamper away when a bellbird sings. We climbed over a wooden stile to go on the bushwalk. The track was quite muddy in parts so my mother thought of a trick where you put dead punga tree-fern branches over the mud, then you walk across. The bush smelled of damp leaves and moss. The punga fronds hung down and dead bits came down from the tops of the trees and fell on the ground to make a leafy path for people to go on stepping stones across the river of mountain water to get to the other side. All the rocks were covered with moss and lichen and looked like soft green bumps.

Soon we were deep in the middle of the rainforest. We came to a huge hollow tree with spider webs coming out from the sides. I climbed inside and found a window which my brother peeped through. Next we came across a waterfall which was rushing down a bank and splashing into the river below. We walked past a tree which had fallen over and still had roots in the ground. It was still growing.

Everywhere about us were lianas that you could swing from. On one extremely tall tree we saw some fungus steps growing out from the side. Some trees had epiphytes, which are other plants growing on top of them. I found spiky red bushflowers on the ground. It took us a long time to find which tree they were coming from because it was so high up.

A few minutes later we spotted daylight and walked through a meadow and came back to the car.

[Whole story]

Introduction:

This article is called Design Your Own T-Shirt.

It gives ideas about the kind of design you may like to put on your shirt, and about how to choose the right paint.

Probes:       Can you tell me about...

1. ...what type of design you can put on your T-shirt.

2. ...what sort of paints you use.

Questions:

1. What patterns are more effective? Show me where it says that.

2. What sort of things do you need to consider before painting a T-shirt?

3. Suggest some ways in which the skills you might develop in painting T-shirts could be used for other purposes.

Text:

Sometime, when you've got nothing to do during the summer holidays, you might like to paint a T-shirt for yourself. Fabric paints are available at most stationery shops, fabric shops and art supply shops.

Creating your design

1. Before you buy your paints, it's best to work out exactly what picture you want to paint on your T-shirt. You might want to paint an abstract design, an animal, a clown face or a special hobby that you enjoy (e.g. a paint brush and palette, a boat, rugby ball, violin etc.) Remember that bold, bright patterns look more striking and are more effective!

2. If you don't feel happy working out your own design, then look through a colouring-in book for fresh ideas. You can always trace the pictures and transfer them onto your T-shirt, if you don't want to draw them free-hand.

[Excerpt]

Introduction:

This article is called Why Does My Heart Beat?

It gives information on what the heart in a person's body does and how it works.

Probes:       Can you tell me about...

1. ...what the heart does.

2. ...what a pulse is.

Questions:

1. What does a doctor do when he is doing surgery on a person's heart? Show me where it says that.

2. What are the two life supporting jobs of the heart?

3. How do you imagine a heart-lung machine would work during an operation on a person's heart?

Text:

The heart is a never-failing pumping organ that pushes blood around the body, from the time you are a baby-to-be inside your mother until the moment you die.

Your body needs this pumped supply of blood because it does two vital jobs. First, it brings food and oxygen (the gas you need to stay alive) to all the tissues of the body. Second, and at the same time, it removes poisonous wastes from those same parts. These two life-supporting jobs must be carried on constantly for life to continue.

Around 70 to 80 times a minute, and even more often in babies and young children, a heart beats inside the chest. A matching pulse can be felt at the neck or wrist in time with the heart beats. The pulse is the surge of blood in the arteries that follows each squeeze of the heart's muscular pump.

So vital is the beating of the heart, that if a doctor needs to carry out surgery on the heart, the patient has to be connected up to a heart-lung machine first. Only in this way, with the machine keeping the flow of oxygen-containing blood going, can the surgeon stop the heart in order to operate.

[Excerpt]

Introduction:

This article about the inside of a volcano is from a book called The Violent Earth - Volcano.

Information is given about the inside structure of the Earth and the material which rises up and explodes into the atmosphere when a volcano erupts.

Probes:       Can you tell me about...

1. ...the different layers that make up the structure of planet Earth.

2. ...the molten rock and gas that comes out as magma.

Questions:

1. What is the layer outside the Earth's core called? Show me where it says that.

2. Explain your understanding of tectonic plates.

3. We know volcanoes are destructive. Name any useful functions that you think they may have.

Text:

Inside the earth
The planet that we live on is made up of three layers. Deep inside the earth is the fiery core, where the temperature is thought to be over 2,500¡C. The inner core is made up of solid material while the outer core is thought to be liquid.

Above the core lies the mantle, which is solid rock but is still very hot. The mantle supports the earth's enormous tectonic plates. These plates are the size of continents. They stand next to each other but are constantly moving because they are under pressure from the earth's centre. The plates make up part of the earth's crust and mantle.

Magma
When volcanoes erupt, the material that rises out of a volcano is called magma - a mixture of molten rock and gas. The magma is formed in the lower part of the crust and the upper part of the mantle. This is because the rocks are hot enough for a small amount of magma to melt. If enough magma is formed, it begins to rise up to the surface through cracks in the rocks in the earth's crust. The heat explodes through the ground blasting fizzing rocks into the air and spilling lava in all directions as a volcanic eruption.

[Excerpt]

Introduction:

This extract from an encyclopaedia is about sponges.

In it we are told about the structure and characteristics of sponges and the variety that exist in the waters of the world.

Probes:       Can you tell me about...

1. ...the form and structure of sponges. 2. ...the variety of sponges found around the world.

Questions:

1. What happens to the food particles carried in the water? Show me where it says this.

2. Name some of the characteristics of higher forms of life also shown by sponges.

3. Identify some of the qualities of sponges which make them useful commercial products.

Text:

Sponges have some of the characteristics of simple multicellular animals but are essentially colonies of single-ordinated nervous systems, blood vessels and muscles of the higher forms. This means that the growth of a sponge can be quite plastic yet conform to the essential character of the colony. Special ciliated cells set up currents which result in water being drawn in through the sponge, circulated throughout the colony via a system of internal cavities, and discharged via a series of larger openings or ostia. Food particles in the water are trapped and digested by other cells within the main body of the sponge. In all cases the cells are supported by some form of "skeleton".

The more familiar sponges have a basic matrix of horny fibres of spongin supported by siliceous spicules of characteristic size and shape which are useful for species identification. Growth forms vary from irregularly shaped encrusting mats to flask or horn-shaped to globular or finger-like with the final form often influenced by depth and the degree of exposure. Some are very small while others can assume massive proportions, depending upon the type and age of the colony.

Some sponges, like the typical bath sponge from the Mediterranean, lack spicules and are supported only by the spongin fibres which are all that remains in the commercial product after the living cells have been killed. Like form and structure, colour amongst sponges is variable with buff, yellow, orange and red predominating.

[Excerpt]