How to Use the Rockerbox Reading Ladders Lesson Plans

This article will give you a greater understanding of how to use your weekly lesson plans successfully in your classroom.

 

We know that lesson plans need to be engaging and supportive, as well as challenge pupils to develop their independence in reading and comprehending a text.

Each Rockerbox Reading Ladders topic has 5 related lessons. Each lesson is designed to last approximately 30 - 45 minutes. Over the course of the lessons, pupils will understand the purpose of reading the texts, have plenty of opportunities to develop their functional reading skills and life skills, and will communicate with others about an interesting topic. 

If you have 5 reading lessons (or lessons where reading can be incorporated) per week, you can cover one topic per week. If that's not the case, or you feel your pupils need more time to consolidate their learning, a single plan can be covered over two or more weeks.

Each lesson is designed according to the following structure:

Lesson 1: Establish the purpose for the week's reading and connect it with background knowledge

  • "This week we are learning about... so that we can..."
  • Establish what pupils already know about the topic
  • Watch any videos linked in the plans to learn more about the topic
  • Each pupil will read the selected article at their correct reading level
  • Discuss and answer the related questions as a class. What more did you learn about the topic from the text?
  • Model the reading strategies needed to find different pieces of information
  • Apply new knowledge and vocabulary in any related activities and discussions

Lesson 2: Consolidate learning so far and read with more independence

  • Recap the purpose of the week's reading and see what pupils remember from the lesson before
  • Each pupil will read the same article from Lesson 1 at their correct reading level
  • Each pupil will answer the related questions with more independence where possible
  • Review the questions and answers together as a class
  • Apply your new knowledge and vocabulary in any related activities and discussions

Lesson 3: Dive into the functional text

  • Take time to listen to the week's article at a higher level than the majority of the class is reading. Did you learn anything new?
  • Establish the purpose for the functional text: "Today we are going to read... so that we can..."
  • Each pupil will read the functional text at their correct reading level
  • Discuss and answer related questions as a class
  • Model the reading strategies needed to find different pieces of information
  • Apply your new knowledge and vocabulary in any related activities and discussions

Lesson 4: Apply learning from the functional text

  • Recap the purpose of the functional text and see what pupils remember from the lesson before.
  • Apply your new knowledge and vocabulary in any related activities. Pupils will be working on their life skills in Lesson 4 each week.

Lesson 5: Consolidate and evidence learning

  • Recap the purpose of the week's reading and see what pupils remember from the lessons before.
  • Pupils read and answer questions independently about both the article and the functional text, focusing on their comprehension skills.
  • Provide opportunities for pupils to share what they have learned this week as you review the questions and answers together
     

Download this guide as a PDF

Click here for details on how to access the Rockerbox Reading Ladders lesson plans. If you're not a Rockerbox Reading Ladders school yet, please get in touch with your School Success Manager for more details.