Travellers’ Notes: Reading widely is essential to literacy, accessing the curriculum and for getting the most out of life. Inverclyde Academy’s Explorers’ Club helps pupils enjoy and understand the benefits of life-long reading.
Explorers’ Club starts in English classes but is a whole school initiative. It is a 2-year journey of exploration into as many different worlds (genres) as possible. It has in-built progression and incentives whereby pupils are supported and challenged to read from a variety of different texts and genres (eg an adventure novel, a science fiction film, newspapers etc).
Pupils receive guidance and book lists on fiction and non-fiction texts which are appropriate for their interests, abilities and curricular needs.
After reading their chosen text, pupils will discuss aspects of their text and write a report or produce an imaginative response (eg comic strip, character study, letter, poster, email, blog, podcast etc). Worksheets and support can be found on Inverclyde Academy’s Glow site.
Benefits include: reading fluency, knowledge, ideas, raised self-esteem and increased understanding, creativity, self-motivation and confidence across the curriculum.
In our new Curriculum for Excellence all these are texts which can be explored:
Making Connections: Pupils are encouraged to think deeply; read between the lines and make connections with their learning across different subject areas.
Explorers’ Club links with the Big Writing VCOP initiative. Reading improves pupils’ ideas, spelling, understanding of the Writer’s Craft and their Knowledge of Language including Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation. As a consequence of more Reading, Thinking, Writing and Talk also improve.
Explorers’ Club Book Talk Finalists
Where Am I Going?
Explorers’ Club Reading, Writing and Talk support A Curriculum for Excellence (aCfE) and Assessment is for Learning (AifL). Pupils are encouraged to be active and to think about their learning journey and set targets and destinations.
How Parents/Carers Can Help Explorers’ Club is part of the ongoing English Department Homework Programme. Pupils should be travelling at the rate of one major text a month.
Keep in touch with your children’s journey by: encouraging them to read for pleasure (avoid forcing reading); helping them choose texts; discussing their reading and checking their written reports/creative responses. Please check your child’s Homework Journal/Planner to ensure work is being completed and/or posted onto the Glow intranet.
The Explorers’ Club Worlds include:
Adventure, Animals, Authors, Autobiography/ Biography, Classics, Contemporary Issues, Crime, Drama, Environment, Everyday, Factual, Fantasy, Geography, Health, History, Horror, Humour, Internet, Media, Music/Arts, Numeracy, Religion, Romance, Science, Science Fiction, Scottish Fiction, Sport, Technology, Teenage, Thriller, War, World Fiction etc.
Progression is recorded on class wall charts and pupils will be assessed on their level of understanding and the difficulty of texts.
Rewards for texts completed include: stickers, badges, novelty pens and pencils, certificates, t-shirts, medals, author visits and school trips.