READING KITS FOR TEACHERS

The materials contained within the Reading Kits are written for, and by, teachers and are intended to help young people exploring contemporary British literature enjoy themselves and think about what they are reading.

Young People's Illustrated Literature

In 2007 we put together a list of 100 picture books, graphic novels, illustrated novels, illustrated classics, manga, early readers and reluctant readers.

To accompany the booklist we have prepared guides on how to select and use illustrated young people's literature for librarians, parents and teachers.

Reading the City

In 2006 we put together a list of books, short films, websites, reading activities and performance artists on the theme of reading the city. The booklist consists of: fiction and poetry; teenage fiction; and teenage graphic novels. The website list is divided into: websites for project organisers; football; websites for readers; and blogs and discussions. With the addition of extra reading activities in 2007. New teaching materials will be added linked to downloadable extracts from a selection of the books in autumn/winter 2007.

New Writing

The New Writing website is a companion and key to New Writing, the British Council's annual anthology of the most exciting contemporary writing (short stories, poetry, novel extracts and essays), and is for readers and teachers all over the world. It features selected texts grouped into 24 themed sections for New Writing 12 and New Writing 13; a new theme is currently being added every month for New Writing 14. Recent themes include Yearnings, Conversations, Bullies and Moments of Happiness. Texts are available online for six months. After this time please refer to the print publication for the texts. The teachers' pages, readers' notes, interviews and glossaries will remain on site. 

BritLit

Resource material to help teachers around the world exploit English literature in the ELT classroom. The materials are for 15- to 17-year-old students are produced by the British Council and Portuguese Association of English Teachers (APPI). Each BritLit resource kit contains a range of materials to help students understand the context of the literature as well as the language and the works themselves. Many of the packs contain complete texts, tasks for students, teachers' notes as well as audio recordings of interviews with the authors and readings of the text.

Magic Pencil

Children's Book Illustrators exhibition website with teaching materials at primary and secondary level including pupil worksheets developed by an experienced ELT teacher.

Reading Kit - Hungary

This kit was produced as part of a collaborative project instigated by the Hungarian Ministry of Education and coordinated by Gabriella Gulyas at the British Council Hungary. The kit provides session plans for 20 Reading Circle meetings: 10 dealing with the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, and 10 covering the novel Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah.