The Tempest

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 Tempest Big Book is adapted from the play by William Shakespeare by Maggie Walker and illustrated by Jane Bottomley. Imagine another time, 500 years ago, and another place, a town in Italy. In this town had lived the duke Prospero, until his riches and power were stolen and he and his baby daughter, Miranda, were sent to sea to drown. But, they did not drown. They landed on a far away island. When our story begins, 18 years have passed on the island. Prospero, through studying his magic books, has become a powerful sorcerer. He has used his magic to tame the creature Caliban and make him his slave. The sprite Ariel has become Prospero's trusted servant, but he desperately wants to be free again. Miranda has grown into a lovely young woman who has never seen another person except her father and the creature Caliban.

This adaptation of Shakespeare's play is written for Year 6. The story is told partly by a narrator, and partly through sections of the original dialogue from the play. Suggested activities in The Tempest Teachers' Book, by Maggie Walker, Val Davis and Ann Berger, include units of work on magic spells, islands and the differences between plays, poetry and prose. There are good cross-curricular opportunities in science and geography. The story provides all the elements of love, horror and magic that children love and serves as an excellent introduction to Shakespeare.