What are You Afraid Of?

The National Literacy Strategy has helped us to raise standards for pupils with learning difficulties. The Inclusive Readers Series is designed to support teachers in this area by providing attractive, stimulating and appropriate reading materials for children with moderate or severe learning difficulties across the 7-11 age range. It includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and could help to support a multi-sensory approach to learning. The Inclusive Readers Series aims to do more than develop children's reading and writing - it aims to enable readers to extend their knowledge and understanding, to develop a fascination with language, to explore a range of emotions and, where appropriate, to help them to deal with difficult issues. The books represent positively many aspects of disability, and reflect the cultural diversity of society. Each pack consists of a 16-page A3 (11-2/3 x 16-1/2) big book, with full color illustrations; a pull-out section of characters and images from the text to cut out and laminate for use in follow-up work; a teachers' book with half-term and weekly plans, plus activities for pupils at different levels; and photocopiable differentiated versions of the text at four levels (P5-6, P7-1C and 1C-2A) for use with individual pupils - the lowest level using words with symbols. The What Are You Afraid Of? Big Book is written by Maggie Walker and illustrated by Sarah Wimperis. The minute Adam walks into the classroom he knows that something is wrong. Everything looks the same, but he knows, somehow, that it isn't the same. It doesn't feel right. He hangs up his coat and bag and stands by the wall, watching. The others are already there. A stranger, a man, comes into the classroom. "Good morning, I'm Mr. Smith," he says. "I'm going to be teaching you today. This story is written for Year 6, and its key character is an autistic boy. The story focuses on dealing with fears, especially the ordinary everyday variety. The What Are You Afraid Of? Teachers' Book, by Maggie Walker, Val Davis and Ann Berger, allows teachers to explore difficult issues using this book, which addresses one of the most common anxieties for pupils in school. Imaginary creative writing is explored in the suggested activities.