Albion's Dream

Product Information

We asked Reading Detectives author and all-round Primary reading expert, Rachel Clarke, to give us her thoughts on this year’s KS2 reading paper and what it might mean for your teaching next year.

Albion are five points adrift of safety with nine games to go but McGhee is adamant his players have the stomach to stay up. Please don't die Edward, I can't loose you, and your mother!" It was my dad's voice. I opened my eyes. "D-dad? Is this heaven? Am I dead?" My dad looked so relieved, and gave me such a tight hug.

That leaves us to examine the second extract – the poem ‘ Grannie’. A closer look at the content domains tested in this extract (9/17 marks inference based) shows that this narrative poem was tested in a similar style to a straight-forward fiction text. This in itself raises implications for teachers of all year groups – how much narrative poetry is read by and explored/discussed in Key Stage 2? Edward. It's time you found out about my past. My name is Emily Sharp. You have probably not heard of me. Thousands of years ago, my great grandma, Maria Sharp, was a murderer. She murdered anybody, whenever she felt like it. She was wanted by the police as soon as she turned twenty. She was eventually found and taken to prison, but ever since the police had to keep a close eye on my family. As it passed through the generations. It was killing spree, after killing spree, after killing spree. When you were little, your mum mysteriously died, correct?" She said with a smirk on her face. Suddenly, I heard Em Sharp drawing closer to the door. I could feel my heart racing as she bellowed, '' Edward what are you doing in there you have been told many times not to enter this forbidden room.'' Her voice becoming clearer as she entered the room. Soon she noticed the strange box in my arms as I was trying my best to cover it. She hesitated as she tried to figure out what it was. she soon recognised it,'' GIVE ME THAT BOX RIGHT NOW IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU IT IS VERY DANGEROUS!'' She screamed. I new she had no right to own this box it was mine and mine forever. The 2018 KS2 SATs were authored, produced and managed by the STA (Standards and Testing Agency) under the authorisation of the DfE (Department for Education). The 2018 KS2 SATs were authored, produced and managed by the STA.

I keep saying this, and people will only believe it when we do win a game, but we remain really positive. I didn't understand what she meant, but then I started to shake. Just then, from one of the dark crevices in the crumbled wall, a tiny rat came scuttling out. Then it came towards me and I dropped the box and it split in two... Edward, I think it's finally time I told you this... I'm dead. I was murdered 100 years ago by what is in that box." she stammered. My face had gone pale and I had started to feel dizzy. Identify/explain how information/narrative content is related and contributes to meaning as a whole

The new east stand has also been erected, although it won't be open until the visit of Luton on March 25. We need 11. If we get 11 we have got a chance. We've got to get that, we cannot keep shooting ourselves in the foot." This year’s KS2 reading SAT contained an information text: The Giant Panda Bear; a poem: Grannie; and a fictional extract: Albion’s Dream. As a specially commissioned piece, The Giant Panda Bear contained several features we would expect in information writing aimed at children including: clearly signposted sections, supportive illustrations and graphic design features relevant to the content matter. Certainly the text included frequent reference to numerical facts, which may have been distracting for some pupils, e.g. ‘ An adult can grow up to 1.5 metres and weigh up to 150 kilograms,’ and ‘ Cubs stay with their mother for two to three years, reach maturity at five to seven years and live in the wild for about 25 years.’ And there were also some interesting vocabulary choices that may not have been fully recognised by all readers, e.g. ‘ razor-like claws’, ‘ densely populated’, ‘ bamboo supplies are diminishing’. But on the whole, this first text appeared reasonably accessible. I stood rooted to the spot. What was so special about the box that Em Sharp wanted it so badly? She stared at me, unblinking and vicious. I had never seen Em so angry. But she also looked scared. I could see it in her eyes. My instinct was telling me to give it her but I was too curious to see what was in it. There is no surprise that 4/17 marks (3 questions) available in this middle text tested content domain 2a – give/explain the meaning of words in context. Questions 16 and 20 were presented in the familiar ‘ Find a copy a word/group of words’ style question stem. However, question 22 demanded a deeper thought process as it was a 2-mark vocabulary question.