The ultimate literacy support – Created by exceptional educational publisher Essential Resources, Story Seekers are chapter books (fiction and non-fiction) that engage struggling readers and fill in the gaps in their literacy knowledge. Captivate and intrigue your students with compelling plots, high-interest non-fiction topics and appealing images, while taking an integrated approach to literacy support. The Story Seekers books support struggling and reluctant readers by developing both their decoding and their comprehension skills.
Reading age: 7 to 8.0 / Interest Level: 8 to 12+

These multi-use literacy learning resources can be used for Guided Reading, Independent Reading and to support students learning English as an Additional Language (EAL).

A Phonics Scope and Sequence Chart is available for Stage 2 and Stage 3 HERE

Reading is a complex task and the literacy research is clear – accurate reading comprehension cannot happen unless both decoding skills and linguistic comprehension are strong in students (Gough and Tunmer 1986).

The difficulties for students struggling by the age of 8 to 9 and above are often in both areas. Not only do many struggling students have problems decoding and working out the words, but often, the same students also have difficulty with linguistic comprehension: understanding the vocabulary and sentences.

Story Seekers addresses both issues for literacy support. These chapter books:

• Strengthen students’ decoding, improving phonemic and phonological awareness
• Build strong linguistic comprehension

Decoding = applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly sound out words.

To increase reading accuracy, students require a good understanding of the English alphabetic code. Many develop this through direct instruction and self-made connections in their early years of learning to read. But for some, making these connections is difficult, unless direct intervention makes the alphabetic code explicit.

Linguistic comprehension = making meaning which includes receptive vocabulary, grammatical understanding, and discourse comprehension.

A student can have strong linguistic comprehension and perceive meaning in what they hear, but still be a struggling reader due to weak decoding skills. Comprehension comes from a combination of content knowledge of a topic and higher-order thinking skills like reasoning, imagining and synthesising. These enable students to make meaning from words, sentences and ideas.

Browse/Download: Story Seekers Brochure

Two years of research and development is behind Story Seekers. The books reinforce the alphabetic code as an integral part of improving the comprehension skills of struggling readers. They are the ultimate literacy support.

The books feature:

• A wide phonemic and phonological scope and sequence
• A phonics focus, reinforced by questions throughout the text and a language task at the end to build higher-order thinking and vocabulary.

Student comprehension is addressed in multiple ways:

• High-interest text – each book connects to a recognised area of interest in students aged 8 to 12, so students can begin reading with knowledge of, and interest in, the text
• Level-specific vocabulary – language is selected for a 7 to 8-year-old reading level to promote comprehension, while topics are selected for ages 8 to 12 to promote interest
• Integrated literacy approach – the books focus on phonemic and phonological awareness and strong linguistic comprehension
• Visual cues – illustrations, photographs, diagrams and maps provide cues for interpreting text
• Independent literacy activity – each book includes an independent, low-level literacy activity to establish students’ level of basic understanding of the text
• Activity book – teachers are able to extend literacy skills and make the most of each student chapter book, and reduce preparation time. The Activity Books contain six pages for each reader – two teacher pages for pre-reading and four photocopiable activity pages for post-reading.

These Pages are taken from the Story Seekers readers Teeth Talk and Teeth Talk (Teacher Edition) by Bronwen Wall

The Teacher Reader has all that the pupil reader has but also has prompt questions on each two-page spread which are coded C, V and/or D (Comprehension, Vocabulary, Decoding). The Teacher edition also differs by having a full page of Teacher Notes on the inside front cover and a full ‘Phonics Focus‘ page on the inside back cover.

Teacher Activity Books are available for each series. These activity books:

• Feature teaching ideas that build on concepts in the student books
• Support teachers to extend student learning while reducing preparation time
• Include phonemic and phonological knowledge reinforcement, supplementary comprehension tasks and text structure activities
• Support students to ‘read like a writer’ and ‘write like a reader’

Browse/Download: Story Seekers Brochure

Other Ordering Options:

Individual Readers: €7.95 each (pack of 6 identical titles: €45)
Teacher Activity Books: €29.95 each
COMBO Starter Kits (Stage 2 & 3): €725
COMBO Class Packs (Stage 2 & 3): €2,150