Seed Learning’s new three-level nonfiction reading series is designed to teach young students about the world around them.Easy Fun Factsengages and prepares beginning-level students for a foundation in reading. The interesting topics and fun photographs make it easy for students to understand and remember the new vocabulary, grammar, and concepts.Easy Fun Factsexclusively focuses on nonfiction texts to equipstudents for future study of academic material in English.
Easy Fun Facts 1contains passages of 25-35 words.
Easy Fun Facts 2contains passages of 35-45 words.
Easy Fun Facts 3contains passages of 45-55 words.
Each book consists of 16 units plus 2 review units and features a pull-out full-color workbook.
Easy Fun Factsutilizes a four-strand approach that provides the framework for students to practice receptive and productive skills alongside focused language study and fluency practice.
Each unit in theEasy Fun Factsseries includes ten parts
Think– Uses a key questionto stimulate students’interest in the unit topic.
Key Words– Provides a visualdictionary for the fourkey vocabulary words.An audio recording of the words is provided on the CD.
Sight Words– Highlights three sight wordsthat appear in the unit’spassage.
Reading– Presents an easy, fun originalpassage using grammarstructures and vocabularydesigned for entry-levelstudents. An audio recordingof each passage is provided onthe CD.
Check It– Asks students to scan the passage and/or imageto find key points in preparation for answeringreading comprehension questions on the nextpage of the unit.
Read and Answer– Includes three comprehension questions related to the unit’s reading passage.
Say and Choose– Reinforces the unit’s target vocabulary through an oral practice and visual recognition activity.
Match and Write– Highlights the target vocabulary of the unit along with key grammar structures for focused language practice.
Show and Tell– Supports basic speaking practice through simple substitution drills with a partner.
Workbook– Provides extra vocabulary reinforcement, reading fluency drills, and basic writing practice that can be completed as homework.
In addition, two review units provide students with activities and games to reinforce vocabulary acquisition and retention.
Sample Pages
Each unit starts with aThinkquestion which helps get students to start thinking about the unit topic.
Next is theKey Wordssection. This is an illustrated dictionary of the four vocabulary words featured in the unit. Here you can also listen to the pronunciation of each word.
At the top of the following page, we find theSight Wordssection. Here students focus on three sight words found in the passage. This is a pre-reading activity. Before students read or listen to the main passage, they should scan the text for these three high-frequency words.
Now, it is time to focus on the reading passage. At this time, teachers are encouraged to discuss the title and main photograph with their students. The goal is for students to think about what they are going to read. Some sample questions for this unit might be:
Where are these kids going?
What color is the boy’s bike?
How many cars are there?
What goes here? (Point to the parking space.)
Students should read along in their books as they listen to the recorded track.
The next two pages are filled with activities. First, we have theRead and Answersection which focuses on reading comprehension. Students should be encouraged to re-read the main passage in order to find the answers if needed.
After that, we haveSay and Choose. This section includes speaking practice and focuses on vocabulary retention. Here we can see that students will read the words and check the correct pictures.
Next, is theMatch and Writesection. Students must match the phrases to make sentences and trace the missing words. This section reviews the target vocabulary and key grammar structures.
The last activity in the student book is theShow and Tellsection. Here students use what they have learned to talk about their own experiences. First, students practice with a model conversation, and then they use that framework to come up with their own dialog.
Finally, each unit features two additional pages of practice activities in the workbook. These pages can be completed as homework or as extra practice during class. As we can see here, the workbook presents vocabulary reinforcement, reading fluency, and basic writing practice in a fun and simple format.
