Ella's Reading Plus Champion hub
We are thrilled to share what Ella achieves as a Reading Plus Champion this academic year!
Within her role, Ella has the opportunity to complete a series of exciting reading activities throughout the year, including:
- Reviewing new (and unseen!) texts yet to be added to Reading Plus.
- Sharing her experience of Reading Plus in a blog titled ‘My Reading Plus Journey’.
- Expanding her reading further and reviewing books outside of Reading Plus.
- Collaborating with us on interviews with children’s/YA authors.
As she progresses through her Champion duties, all her tasks will be added here – so look forward to more amazing activities being published soon!
I feel proud and happy. I am looking forward to helping others and hope I will do well.
TASK ONE: ‘Meet Ella’
How do you feel about becoming a Reading Plus Champion?
I feel happy and proud for being chosen. I am astonished that I was chosen as I just moved to England. I am also interested in learning what it means to be a Reading Plus Champion, and I hope I will learn a lot.
What do you plan to buy with your book voucher from your Champion Prize Kit?
I would like to buy Lottie Brooks books or Dork Diaries. Maybe I can get a book called Secret of the Sun King because I enjoyed reading it in class. Maybe I will also get St Claire’s or The Naughtiest Girl in the School. I’m looking forward to going shopping at Waterstones!
What do you enjoy most about reading?
I enjoy reading because you get to learn new words and you can feel in other people’s minds as your imagination creates a picture of the characters. You can get different kinds of books, such as adventure stories (fiction) or informative stories/biographies/true stories (non-fiction). You can also write your own and read that. Every story is unique which makes reading interesting.
Can you tell us about your favourite author/book?
My favourite author is Enid Blyton who wrote Malory Towers. She is my favourite because her stories are adventurous and exciting. They are fascinating and inspirational, and friendship is a big part of it.
Out of all the books you have ever read, which is your favourite character?
Darrell Rivers because she has influenced me to be determined, never give up, to do what’s right and most importantly to be kind to all.
What is your favourite hobby and why?
Gymnastics is my favourite hobby because it is fun and challenging when you learn something new. Some moves can be tricky, but there are kind coaches who always support me.
If you had a superpower, what would it be?
I would have the power to give peace and kindness to people because I find it is most important that the world has these features. I also think that the world doesn’t have enough of that!
What do you want to be when you are older and why?
I want to be a fashion designer because I love to draw and see what I can create with a pencil. But I also love to sew. I tried to make hand warmers but failed miserably! Maybe I need to study fashion design before I get started 🙂
Imagine you just won a million pounds – what would you do with it?
I would give £20,000 to charity for cancer research so everyone can be cured soon. Then I would get a horse-rabbit-farm and a mansion (with a pool and made from marble). I would buy a library with 100,000 books from Enid Blyton and lots of other authors. It would be called ‘The Farm Library’.
If you found a genie in a bottle, what would be your three wishes?
- I would wish to win the Olympics at Gymnastics and become famous.
- I would also want to have peace in the world and no more illness to anyone.
- I would also wish to swim with sea creatures such as dolphins, turtles, blue whales and penguins. I wish to protect them because they are important for our earth.
TASK TWO: Book review of Wider than the Sea by Serena Molloy
This is a book review about the fictional story ‘Wider than the Sea’ by Serena Molloy. It is illustrated by George Ermos.
The story is about a girl called Ro who struggles at school but who finds the strength to keep going by watching a dolphin after school. Sadly, the dolphin disappears, and Ro must face many challenges…
My favourite character is Sunny who is a dolphin because I like dolphins and was amazed by his ability to jump up and dive down when he is in the water. He is grey with a white tummy and cute little fins.
I liked the book because it had lots of description and a drawing occasionally which is lovely to see when you cannot read yourself yet and the book is being read to you. It had an extraordinary and interesting lay out. It was written like a poem, not sentence after sentence. It was written in first person and from the perspective of a girl aged 9-14 years old. The ending made me wonder what happened to one of the main characters.
Overall, I liked it and found it a fascinating story especially for people whose brains work differently as the book is about friendship, perseverance and believing in yourself. I would recommend this book to readers from 8-99 years old. I rate this book a 4 out of 5.
TASK THREE: My Reading Plus Journey
Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog. I'm Ella and I'm ten years old. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy reading books!
I only discovered Reading Plus after I had moved from Germany. At the time, I didn't really enjoy reading because I didn't know which books to read, and German was my second language. This made it harder for me to enjoy books as much because I didn't understand as much as I do now. Now, I really enjoy reading and can't put books down. Even in my lessons in school!
My favourite Reading Plus text is 'Someday Comes'. It's about a gymnast who is scared of heights. She is afraid to get on a beam, however, she conquered her fears eventually. I really liked this book as I am also a gymnast and could imagine being in her situation. I liked that she overcame her fear, as it shows you can do something if you put your mind to it.
A new word I learned whilst using Reading Plus was 'Sabbath'. This means Sunday and was in a book about old words that are no longer used in our language today. I found it really interesting to learn about how language has developed. There is also a Vocabulary component in the programme where you learn unfamiliar words and what they mean. You have to link the meaning to the words in a fun way, encouraging you to learn.
I learned from Reading Plus texts how thousands of years ago people lived differently from us nowadays. They didn't have modern technology like cookers, phones, computers, etc. If you were to go back in time and take your phone, people would ask you what that thing was. They would think you could do magic. I found it fun to think about how it would be if we didn't have all this technology today. There wouldn't even be Reading Plus.
My reading skills have definitely improved with Reading Plus. I have learnt so many new words, and I can read more words per minute and track how I have improved through my account on the programme.
My advice for other students on the programme is that it's important to use your power ups like Combos and ReReads - otherwise you're just wasting them. You get Combos from completing questions correctly at the end of the texts, and they help you unlock new levels and stories to read.
ReReads encourage you to read the texts properly so you can answer the questions correctly and make using Reading Plus super fun!
You can make your account really personal, as there is a wide variety of backgrounds and pictures to customise your screen. I don't want to spoil all the surprises, so all I will say is... it is amazing!
I really enjoy using Reading Plus. You can find books that you love. It makes reading fun and also helps you improve. This was really useful for me after I moved, as it made me want to read more.
Reading Plus is a great programme. It really helps you if you struggle with reading. If you're reading this and feel that you struggle with reading, please talk to your teacher, as they will be able to help you. Reading is fun and should not feel like a chore.
Thank you so much for reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed it!
What is DreamBox Reading Plus?
Reading Plus is an adaptive online reading development programme designed to accelerate progress, improve results and build engagement.
Benefits of Reading Plus include:
- An efficacy study proved that students using Reading Plus significantly progressed more than non-users (full study here).
- Students are offered choice and control to self-select texts aligned with their interests from a vast online library.
- Regular challenges and initiatives motivate students, encourage reading for pleasure and celebrate successes – like our Reading Plus Champions!
Want to discover if Reading Plus can help your school? Book a call with a Reading Development Consultant to find out more!
