Our F1 and KS1 reading programme

What is Bug Club?

• A reading programme that Ducklington are using, alongside our existing reading schemes, to help children make accelerated progress in phonics and reading

• Bug Club is very finely-levelled which ensures that all children read books at exactly the right level for them

• The carefully graded eBooks are accessed via a personalised website.

• Limited hard copies are available to ensure that no one misses out.

Why are we using eBooks?

As part of our plan for developing a reading for pleasure culture in our school we consulted our pupils and were met by great enthusiasm for an online reading scheme

Our current Year 3 pupils were the first cohort to use the scheme

Online books are not subject to wear and tear; you can allocate the same book to every child in a group/class (we simply could not purchase enough hard copies to ever make this possible) and new books are frequently added to the scheme at no additional cost

Avoiding the ‘Summer Slump’

Why Bug Club?• New curriculum: “read aloud accurately books that are consistent with their developing phonic

knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words”.

• Not only is the scheme perfectly matched to the new curriculum, it is also perfectly matched to Letters and Sounds which is the programme we use to teach phonics.

• Bug Club books are phonically based and will help your children to practise their all-important decoding skills and to develop fluency in reading. Tricky words are highlighted in the inside front cover notes.

• The books take your children from the very first phonemes learned on their journey to becoming fluent readers. For example, your child only needs to have covered the first two letter sets – s, a, t, i, p, n, m, d - to be able to read 8 books. We could not use a traditional reading scheme to provide our pupils with this range of reading material.

• Range of books – fiction, non-fiction, comics and plays

• Well known authors and characters

• Previously read books can be revisited

• Every eBook has embedded comprehension questions which link to specific literacy skills and the use of language and structure. These appear as fun quizzes to the children.

• Teachers can easily see how children are progressing in each area of comprehension through the reporting system

Other Benefits

When can children use the eBooks?

• Whenever and wherever you have access to an internet connection

• The new website can be accessed on iPads as well as laptops – system requirements

Using the eBooks

Example login details

Username: Emma22

Password: sheep

School ID: 7jtw

Each child’s login details will be different

Log in here with the details we have given you

A child’s homepage

• Select your world from the ‘My Home’ tab

My Stuff

• Your child will see their allocated eBooks under the ‘My Stuff’ tab

• We will allocate eBooks according to the phonic phase they are on

• Each child will have 2 new books allocated each week. A minimum of 6 books will be allocated for the summer holidays.

Phonics Bug eBooks

Green Bugs•Some eBooks contain a guide to help you with the pronunciation of sounds•These eBooks also have a quiz question that focuses on word-skills•You must have clicked on every green bug and on ‘done’ before a book can be recorded as completed•Some books also have a ‘read to me’ function

Using the booksParent notes on inside front covers

• Practise high-frequency words and sounds that appear in the book

• Don’t worry if your child struggles on the tricky words

• Use the games and questions for discussion

Using the books

Child activities inside the back covers

• Comprehension questions – very important

• Play the games to encourage going back through the book

• Further reading and spelling practise

Finishing eBooks• Your child does not need to complete a book and the quiz questions in one sitting – the

book can remain under ‘My Stuff’

• When they want to complete the book they must have clicked on each bug icon, answered the questions and reviewed the book

• The screen below must appear and be completed before the reward is received and the book is moved into the library

• You must press ‘close book’ rather than the white cross

Books I Have Read

• When your child has finished an eBook, the eBook will move to ‘My Library’ where they can read it again – they must click on the door to enter

• They can choose a new eBook from ‘My Stuff’

Bug Points and RewardsWhen children have finished all quiz questions in an

eBook, they will gain some coins

• When they have read a few eBooks, they will have enough coins to gain a reward

• Under the ‘My Rewards’ tab – use the arrows to select either The Pit Stop, Sticker Factory or The Tree House

• Click on the doors to enter and choose a reward e.g. respray your bike, collect stickers, buy something for your treehouse

Getting the most out ofthe eBooks

• Children can read at their own pace but they must read every week – we will track this

• eBooks do not replace real books - they will be used alongside them

• Encourage your child to attempt all quizzes, to focus on the comprehension questions and to not get too carried away with the rewards which could cause them to rush

• Allow your child to read eBooks again for revision

• System requirements listed in phonics packs

• Speak to your child’s class teacher or email the school office FAO Mrs Carroll

Have a go!