Sunshine Starters
Themed Books for Reading Workshops
Ignite Inquiry and Build Skills with Themed Texts
In Reading Workshops, the goal is to develop reading skills by engaging meaningfully with texts. We support this by helping students to share thoughts, drive conversation, and master the art of using text to find information and answer questions during their research and inquiry.
Introducing Themed Sunshine Starters
We’ve organised our much-loved Sunshine Starters into ten themes, perfect for creating engaging interest boxes in your classroom. This simple step helps students efficiently target the exact information they need for their inquiries, at a level appropriate for them, boosting their independence and focus.
For Teachers: The best part? The ten themes are consistent across all complexity levels. This allows you to effortlessly select books of varying complexity, ensuring every reader in your workshop—regardless of their current skill level—can explore the same engaging topic.
Key Features for Powerful Instruction
- Engaging Texts: A diverse mix of captivating fiction and non-fiction titles.
- High-Frequency Word Support: Flashcards of essential high-frequency words are conveniently printed on the inside front cover of every book.
- Teaching Notes: Comprehensive teaching notes are available for free download.
- Comprehension Check: A quick, targeted comprehension task is included on the outside back cover.
- Focus on the essential skills that children need in order to develop into successful readers: phonemic awareness; phonics; vocabulary; comprehension; fluency; and oral language (how to communicate ideas).
The books can be bought in packs which have been organised according to reading ability or individually.
View sample titles here
View sample books
OVERVIEW
Sunshine Starters books are rich and engaging. Children will enjoy the beautiful illustrations and funny, thoughtful and memorable characters. The books can be used in a way that suits the individual students. For those who haven’t mastered the alphabetic code, they can be used as an art reference or story inspiration. Confident decoders will be ready to transition to read these authentic texts.
THEMED BOOKS TO GENERATE DISCUSSION
Reading workshops often involve small group settings where students share their thoughts on topics they are researching, facilitating deeper conversations. By giving students control over their book choices, workshops encourage them to share and discuss their insights, enhancing engagement and dialogue.
FICTION
The Sunshine Starters fiction titles have been designed to hook students in from the cover and then keep them reading right up to the very last enjoyable page! Our talented authors have written stories that even feature footloose flamingoes and runaway pants! There are an abundance of fun stories that your students will want to read.
NON-FICTION
The Sunshine Starters non-fiction texts are perfect for sparking students’ natural curiosity about the world around them. Including high interest topics, the books will help students to develop their general knowledge and expand their vocabulary.
TEXT TYPES
Students are introduced to a range of different text types including factual reports, recounts, procedural texts, persuasive texts and explanations.
