I have two large groups of P5 boys who are reading well, so one group has read Anthony Horowitz's 2 Groosham Grange books (Groosham Grange and Return to Groosham Grange), while the other group has gotten started on Alex Rider: 'Stormbreaker' (with plans to move on to Point Blanc once Stormbreaker is finished).

The first Groosham Grange book is a bit more challenging than the second,  I think, but they make a good pair to read back to back. To follow the story line, kids need to use all of their reading comprehension strategies (checking for understanding, visualising, making connections, predicting, asking questions when they notice something odd or that they don't understand yet, etc). It's a challenge that my boys have risen to....because who doesn't want to read about vampires and ghosts and all things creepy? 

The Alex Rider books are a step on from Groosham Grange, and require a bit more from readers. Currently, my plan is to have my Groosham Grange readers move on to the first Alex Rider book once 'Return to Groosham Grange' is finished. 

If you are interested in using some of the guided reading tasks I've already prepared, you can click on the pictures below. I've left the task mats in Powerpoint format, so you can change any of the tasks to ones that will better suit your class. I have used these in class, and have made any changes children pointed out to me (they love to catch your mistakes!) - but there might be a few remaining. It's a good idea to read the tasks over before giving them to your class anyway, so hopefully you'll catch anything I've missed. If you do, and you have time - drop me a note to let me know, so I can fix the problem in the original. 

For the 2nd Groosham Grange and the first Alex Rider book, I prepared the tasks over Spring Break, so had the time to create vocabulary cards on the computer. These are in separate links under the 3 main book links below (I've used the old Return to Groosham Grange cover and a different Stormbreaker cover for the vocabulary card links). I don't have those kind of vocabulary cards for the first Groosham Grange book, I'm afraid. We looked at tricky vocabulary using flashcards, but the flashcards were handwritten (with a note of the book page they came from, so we could read the word in context to work together to figure out its meaning).

The 'Return to Groosham Grange' and 'Stormbreaker' files also include teacher's guides for the tasks mats. It's important to read all the books, so you can guide the group discussion, but even if you have read the books, sometimes it's helpful to have a reminder of the answers you are looking for when you check written tasks. Unfortunately, I only have a teacher's guide made for the last few chapters of the original Groosham Grange book (adding teacher's guides for the rest of the book may happen next year, if I teach the book again!)

Hope these are useful to some of you, and I'll try to keep on top of this blog a bit more. Only a few more weeks to go! 

 Here are the task mats I've done for the Turquoise band books we have at my school. The first page of the Task mat gives your groups a variety of different tasks to do. The second page gives success criteria for each of the tasks. I print the 2 pages off back to back, then laminate. Your kids then have their set tasks ready to go. When they finish a task, they can check the back to see if they have met their success criteria. And because the task mats are laminated, they last all week AND they are ready to go the next time you have a group ready to read that particular book!

​All of the files are Powerpoints, so you can edit them. This means you're able to change any or all of the tasks so that they are appropriate for your own reading groups. You can also use any Mat as a template and create your own tasks for books you have at your school.

​I've used all of these in my own class, but please do proof read them before printing out and using them - I've been known to make the odd mistake here and there. And if you do find a mistake, it would be very much appreciated it you could let me know, so I can edit. Thanks so much and I hope you find some of these resources helpful!

If you have a look on my blog, there are a couple of different posts about using Task Mats in your classroom. I started using them last term, after attending a Twilight course.

I've found that the Task Mats allow my reading groups to be more independent as they work through their book and the different tasks. They also allow me to assign a larger variety of tasks for each book, so the children are able to practise/review past reading comprehension strategies, even when we are focusing on developing our ability to use a different strategy.

And - very importantly! - they solve the problem of keeping reading groups busy, which gives me more time, either to work with a specific group OR to move around the room to support individuals.

​In our school, we have a variety of reading books, including Big Cats (Collins), Julia Donaldson's Song Birds and Oxford Reading Tree. At the book band levels I'm using this year, I prefer the Big Cats books. I also like the Song Birds books, but we only have them up to Orange Band level, so I don't have many task mats for them. Additionally, I tend to find that the Song Bird books are significantly easier than the Big Cat books at the same level, so it can be tricky to dip in and out of the different book types. All of that to say - most of the Task Mats I have done are based on Big Cats books. Below, you'll find links to the Orange band books I've done task mats for.

When I'm using the Task Mats, I link the tasks to animal-themed reading comprehension strategies from a Teachable Teacher (if you are interested, you can find them here). However, in these files I've taken out the animal icon, and left the files as Powerpoints (rather than turning them into PDFs). That way, you can either use them as they are, or alter them to create your own tasks for your students. Even if you only use these mats as a template, they give you a bit of a head start that will hopefully save you some time. You are welcome, of course, to use the task mats 'as is' as well.

The orange reading band is the first level I use Task Mats with. I do have groups working at other levels, though (Turquoise through White currently). As I have time, I'll try to post Task Mats for other levels as well. Again, most of the Mats I have are for books from the Big Cats series.

​If you find any typos or mistakes in any of the mats, I'd appreciate it very much if you could let me know, so I can edit them. Please do proof read before you print out and use any mats as they are. I have used all of these in my own class, and have proof-read them myself, but I'm only human and sometimes I miss things!