TE Rock Climbing pages - Alpha...

Teacher Edition

Written by Emma Rossi

Photographed by Michael Curtain

Rock Climbingalphakids

The Alphakids Plus teachereditions support teachers as theyguide children’s reading andthinking during one or more guidedreading sessions. Teachers canobserve children as they read andchoose from the given suggestionsto suit individual needs.

Before readingSetting the context, front coverand title page:The suggestions help teachers to set the scene and prepare childrenfor reading the book. Prompts helpto determine children’s priorknowledge. Where necessary,background information isprovided. Teachers are encouragedto check that children understandthe vocabulary listed and to discussthe meanings and/or the structuresof these words. Previousexperiences with similar text typesmay also be discussed.

During readingPredict, Read, Reflect:Questions encourage children toengage with the text by makingpredictions. They then read asection of the text and reflect onwhat they have read. The focus ison the content, language and textfeatures of the book.

Observe and support:Prompts help teachers to focus onthe strategies children use as theyread. Teachers can then select fromand adapt the suggestions accordingto the needs of the individual child.The suggestions aim to develop achild’s reading abilities.Interruptions to the child’s readingshould be minimal.

After readingA selection of reading and writingactivities:The last pages of the teacher editionprovide follow-up activities andinclude the assessment focus.

HORWITZ GARDNER

LIMITED

168e High StreetEgham, SurreyTW20 9HPUnited Kingdom

Published edition © Eleanor Curtain Publishing 2004Text © Nicole di MarcoPhotographs © Eleanor Curtain Publishing

First published 2004

Apart from any fair dealing forthe purposes of study, research,criticism or review, aspermitted under the CopyrightAct of Australia, no part of thisbook may be reproduced byany process, or transmitted inany form, without permissionof the copyright owner. Where copies of part or the whole ofthis book are made under PartVB of the Copyright Act, thelaw requires that records ofsuch copying be kept and thecopyright owner is entitled toclaim payment.

Developed by Eleanor Curtain PublishingDesigned by Alexander StittProduction by Publishing Solutions

Printed in China

ISBN 0 7253 3279 4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 904 05 06

How to use this book

Selected text features Vocabulary• Technical language is used: rock faces,

cliffs, ropes, harness, climbing shoes,karabiner, clip, pulley, belayer, pouch

• A labelled photograph showingclimbing equipment is used

belayer, competitions, crevices, harness,instructor, karabiner, pouch, pulley,ropes




Rock Climbing



alphakids

Setting the contextHave you ever tried to climb up rocks? What was it like? How did you do it? Have youever seen people climbing up cliffs? How do they do it? What equipment do theyuse?

Front cover and title pageWhat is the boy doing? What does thefront cover illustration tell you about thisbook?Point out the names of the author andthe photographer.What sort of book will this be? Why doyou think so?

2

Rock Climbing Pages 2–5

PredictWhy do you think the boy wants to be a rock climber?What is a rock climbing centre?What would you expect to see at a rock climbing centre?

Read to the end of page 5.

ReflectWhy does the boy want to be a rock climber?Did the photographs on pages 4 and 5 match thedescription of a rock climbing centre given in the story?Have you ever been to a rock climbing centre? What wasit like?

Observe and supportDoes the child use contextual information todiscover the meaning of new vocabulary?What is a crevice? How did you work that out?

3

2

I want to be a rock climber.

I want to climb up steep rock facesand tall cliffs.

I want to climb into rock crevicesand hang off mountains.

That’s what I want to do.

3

I went to a rock climbing centre to learn how tobe a rock climber.

The rock climbing centre has tall walls that arecovered in rocks of different colours.

There are even rocks on the ceiling.

Long ropes hang from the tops of the walls.

54

4


PredictWhat does the labelled photograph on page 7 tell us?Why would the author include it?Point out the caption on page 8.This is called a caption. What does it tell us?


ReflectWhat special climbing gear did the boy need?What is a karabiner and what is its special job?Was the labelled photograph useful? Why?

Observe and supportAsk one child to read aloud to you while the othersare reading silently. Does the child attend to linebreaks to support expressive reading?Did you notice the extra space between these twolines? This tells us a new idea is coming. It is a goodidea to pause before each break when readingaloud.

5

6

Before I started climbing, I had to put onclimbing gear.

The instructor gave me a harness and climbingshoes to wear.

climbing shoes

harness

rope

7

The instructor attached the rope on the wall tomy harness with a special clip. The clip is calleda karabiner. It locks so that the rope can’t slipout.

The rope is attached to the top of the wall with apulley.

The rope helps you to climb and keeps you safe.

A karabiner

8 9

6


PredictWhat do you think the boy’s big sister is doing? Withoutreading the text, how do you think you could find out?(Caption and photographs.)What do you think is the purpose of the differentcoloured rocks on the climbing wall?


ReflectWhat is a belayer?How did the boy climb the wall?Why do rock climbers always work in pairs?

Observe and supportIs the child able to point out different text featureson the page?Example: Where is the caption? How did you knowthat it was a caption? Why would an author usecaptions?

7

10

Climbers always work in pairs.

One end of the rope is attached to the climberand the other end is held by someone who stayson the ground. If the climber slips off the rocks,the person on the ground pulls down on the ropeto stop the climber from falling.

My big sister held the rope for me.

The person who holds the rope is called the belayer.

11

As I climbed I used my hands and feet to gripthe rocks.

I could only use the red rocks to grip and pullmyself up because the red rocks were forbeginners.

Because it was an easy climb there were lots ofred rocks and they were close to each other.

12 13

8


PredictLook at the photographs on pages 14 to 17.What do you think is in the pouch? Why would climbersneed it?Why might the boy be climbing up the green rocks thistime?


ReflectIs the boy becoming a better climber? What part of thestory tells you this?Why did he use the powder?

Observe and supportCan the child use their knowledge of letter/soundrelationships to support their reading?What letter does that word start with? What soundmight it make? Can you think of a word that startswith that sound that would fit there?

9

Because rock climbing is veryhard work, my hands got hot andsweaty. On my harness there wasa pouch with powder in it. I putthe powder on my hands to stopthem from slipping.

14 15

16

Then the instructor said that I was ready to do aharder climb.

This time I tried to climb a wall with green rocks.They weren’t as big as the red rocks and thereweren’t as many.

I only got half way up the wall the first time.

It took me a few tries to get to the top, but it wasgreat once I got there.

It was much harder than my first climb.

17

10


PredictWhy might the boy enter into rock climbing competitions?What do you think he might want to do in the future?


ReflectHow does the narrator feel about rock climbing?Do you think it would be easy to do? Why?Can you think of another title for this book?

Observe and supportDoes the child integrate a range of cues whenreading?Point to a word the child has read correctly.Ask: Does that make sense? How do you know?Does it look right?

11

18

19

Now I can do much harder climbs andsometimes I go in rock climbing competitions atthe centre.

Last week I went in a competition. I didn’t win,but I finished the hardest climb I have ever done.

I was really excited.

19

Soon I’ll be ready to climb outside.

In a few years’ time, this could be me.

20

After reading

12

Being a meaning makerEncourage the children to supporttheir answers with evidence fromthe book as they discuss thesequestions:Where is the boy learning to be arock climber?What equipment does he use?Why does he carry special powderwhen he is climbing?Why can rock climbing bedangerous?What safety precautions do rockclimbers take?

Being a code breakerChildren may like to explore thefollowing language features:• the blend ‘cl’: climb, cliff, clip,close• the sound /m/: climb, mountains,myself, them, many, much

Being a text userWhat did you learn from readingthis book?Who do you think might like to readthis book?

Being a text criticCan all children learn to rock climb?Would you be interested in learningto rock climb? Would you beallowed to learn?

Responding to text

Children could work incooperative groups to write

instructions for learning how torock climb. Groups could thencompare their instructions with thebook to check that details arecorrect.

Children could drawillustrations showing the

equipment needed for rockclimbing. They could attach labelsto explain each piece of equipment.

Children could list a rangeof words beginning with the

blend ‘cl’. These could be displayedas rocks on a rock climbing wall.

Writing linksShared writingHave the children search throughthe book to find the technical wordsspecific to rock climbing. Writethem on a list. Discuss the meaningof each word. Model writing one ofthe words in a sentence to explainits meaning.Does this sentence tell other peoplewhat this word means?Could it be written in a better way?Children could then work with apartner to write a sentence usingone of the words on the list.

Independent writingChildren could write about theirown hobbies. They could explainhow they acquired the skills theyneed and what equipment they use.

Possible assessment focus

Can the child:• use contextual information to identify climbing equipment such as a

karabiner or a harness?• explain how and why captions are read within the text?

whole text activity sentence activity word activity




TeacherEdition

Topic: HobbiesCurriculum link: Health, Physical Education Text type: RecountReading level: 21Word count: 435Vocabulary: belayer, competitions, crevices,harness, instructor, karabiner, pouch, pulley, ropes

Possible literacy focusUsing context to understand technical language.Using text devices such as captions to developvocabulary.

SummaryThis book is a recount about a boy who learns how torock climb.

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