You may have heard of ‘Vocabulary Ninja’ – resources aimed at developing confidence and understanding of vocabulary in Key Stage 2 pupils. Their creator, teacher Andrew Jennings, has now developed a range of non-fiction ‘Comprehension Ninja’ workbooks for children in Year Two and upwards.

These workbooks are designed to use at home with your child to help build their confidence and strengthen key comprehension skills. A useful tool whilst schools are still closed for some, or for homework once schools re-open.

I was kindly sent the 8-9 year old and 10-11 year old titles to test out.

 

Comprehension Ninja Workbook Ages 8-9 (Bloomsbury Education)

 

These textbooks focus on three key aspects:

• Skimming and scanning a whole text to locate information.
• Retrieving the correct information from the text in different ways.
• Vocabulary awareness and the effect of word choices.

This book contains seven different information texts with a wide variety of questions to follow to check understanding.

Here’s an example of a text about chimpanzees and some of the subsequent questions:

Comprehension Ninja Workbook Ages 10-11 (Bloomsbury Education)

 

This instalment also have seven different curriculum-linked texts to explore, from Barack Obama to Plant Adaptations. Eight question types are used to assess understanding. These are: labelling, matching, fill the gap, multiple choice, true or false, find and copy, sequencing, underline or highlight.

It is suggested that the first four texts are done in sections so children can practise skills one at a time, whereas the later texts look more like texts and could be done in one go.

Here’s an example text on climate change and questions from the workbook:

You’ll pleased to know that the answers are handily included at the back of the book!

Clearly linked to the National Curriculum and with relevant, engaging texts, these workbooks would be a very useful tool for anyone wanting to become more confident or improve their skill levels whilst at home.

Library Girl.

*Many thanks to Faye Rogers for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour. Make sure you visit the other stops to see some of the other books in the set*