Inside Stories – The Three Little Pigs & The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The Three Little Pigs was used in Year 1 as a guided reading text, we read the story and used ‘before or after’ pages and it was very good in sequencing activities.

The Three Billy Goats gruff was used in Year 1 & 2 as a focus for writing and drama work. The children really enjoyed the text.

The Inside Stories CD Rom was also used for shared reading with Year 1 and Year 2. It is very good for supporting writing and modelling. It was nice to be able to print out the pages and use again the next day.

Sarah Skinner, Peterborough LEA, Peterborough

Inside Stories – Cinderella

Cinderella is an easy to use CD-Rom that covers a wide range of core English skills. Those learning English as a second language might find it useful; because it has full sound support. A teacher or teaching assistant could use this product with upper Foundation or Year 1 pupils. It is also practical for individual use by higher ability key stage 1 pupils or the younger end of key stage 2. Ideally the teacher would use an interactive whiteboard to introduce the software to the whole class. Alternatively they could use a multi-media projector with a computer link, a stand-alone or a networked ICT suite.

Pupils and teacher can look at the story and play together, with opportunities to engage all the pupils and pull out teaching points, by using the pause facility. At all times and for all the scenarios, sound is very important and either speakers or headphones would be needed to engage the pupils fully.

The software was easy to install and auto-ran straight away. I had no problems accessing the games or printing out the teacher’s notes (a useful way of preparing lessons).The software is extremely user-friendly and easy to understand. The games are intuitive and straightforward to play. There are a variety of real voices for the play scripts. The animation is minimal and in typical cartoon design, with lots of primary colours and a very simple style. The animation sequences are quite engaging, e.g. when a team of mice come to collect the discarded phrases in “I was there”. Navigation is consistent and intuitive; playing the games is straightforward and interesting. The activities are divided up into different skills and objectives. There are over 15 different follow-up activities for use away from the computers.

Cinderella is excellent value for money. The obvious benefits were improved spelling and reading but for the pupils the motivation was winning the games and having fun. Teachers know that this is the perfect learning environment.

Evaluate

This is one of the best and most comprehensive programs I have seen which is directly linked to the Literacy Strategy. Together the two sets provide a structured programme for a complete year’s work, with activities linked directly to literacy targets. Poorer readers are supported with a sound button and on-screen help.

Junior Education

If you are looking for a series of early years programmes to bring an information and communications technology element into your Literacy Hour, look no further. Kingscourt has produced eight superb titles in 2 sets that build word, sentence and text level work around a well known story.

The Times Educational Supplement

This new series adds depth and breadth to the teaching of these classic children's stories. The support texts that accompany the main tale cover a wide range of genres - from poetry to non-fiction - and are sure to catch the interest of the class. My favourite sections are those that provide stimulus for exciting speaking and listening activities. All this and a CD-ROM packed full of focused and engaging tasks - what more could you ask for!

Cheshire Literacy Advisor

I used the Cinderella pack with my class of 25 children over a two-week period. The presentation of the story and activities for the shared part of the National Literacy Strategy was very successful. The activities are attractive and the 'layers' within the activity meant that the children didn't become bored and keen to resist them. The consistent format throughout the packs means a minimum of teaching the children how to use them.

As a teacher I appreciated the fact that most of the planning is done for me and there is still enough feasibility to adapt the use of the packs for particular occasions. Also the links to the National Literacy Strategy takes a lot of the stress out of planning. Other staff members are also keen to put them in to use.

Inside Stories is an excellent IT resource that supports the National Literacy Strategy with linked activities for all aspects of the 'hour' motivating the children in a stimulating way. The accompanying documentation provides the teacher with valuable support in planning and a bank of related photocopiable worksheets enables activities to be extended away from the computer.

A Liverpool School

Not only is the content exciting, fresh and superbly presented on screen, but the teacher’s resources are a dream. The children love it. "This is brilliant!" exclaimed one girl in a lesson taken by our headteacher.

Gordon Infant School

Absolutely wonderful, they fit in with the literacy hour so perfectly and also with the topics of traditional tales. All the children adore them and they are extremely popular. Very good for whole class teaching.

Balfour Infants School, Brighton & Hove

We have been using Kingscourt ICT resources (Sounds Great, Sounds Great 2, and Inside Stories 1 & 2) for a year. They have helped to develop Software / Interactive in literacy (as part of the school improvement plan). The resources have been of benefit with both group and independent work in literacy and provide good worksheet follow through opportunities. The ICT resources are inline with the literacy national curriculum objectives.

The cross referencing ability within the resources enables weekly planning to be focused to progressive development of objectives.

We value that Kingscourt/McGraw-Hill ICT resources are modern, up to date and in line with the literacy strategy. And they are child-friendly. We also value the service of our representative and the ordering service.

Roseberry Community Pirmary School

We have been using Inside Stories for the last year in our Reception classes. The skills covered are varied and comprehensive and provide extension possibilities for our most able pupils, who revel in the challenge of some of the activities. All the children can access the CDs at the same level. The least able love listening to the stories, and the added help of bring able to repeat something with the ‘sound button’ is invaluable to children.

The children work in pairs for many activities, with an able child working with a less able child. All the children love the animation and the variety of activities. We plan to use the CDs in Year 1 next year as well as Reception, as there is plenty of scope for this age group as well.

Literacy Co-ordinator / Reception Teacher, Pashley Down CI School

We have been using Kingscourt / McGraw-Hill resources for three years.
The Inside Stories CD ROMs and MatchWord CD ROM have been an excellent resource for introducing Software / Interactive into the Literacy Hour, which can also be used in conjunction with big books.

We feel that Kingscourt / McGraw-Hill understand our needs in school. The resources have been an excellent support for implementing Numeracy and Literacy strategies. They have given teachers lots of ideas and confidence.

We value the differentiation of products, the variety i.e. choice of books and CD ROMs, the straightforward teacher notes and the service of our local rep, who is always helpful and spends time looking at our school's individual needs.

Air Balloon Hill Infant School, Bristol

Our children are interested in reading both for work and pleasure. They all enjoy the bright interesting books which encourage them to read.

We have been using Inside Stories for 2 years. We chose Kingscourt/McGraw-Hill as it is suitable to the Scottish curriculum and offer a good variety of materials. The Big books provide a valuable resource for class language - lesson, reading, writing, talking and listening.

Inside Stories lends itself to a variety of follow up activities, which could be used for assessment e.g. retelling story, sequencing story etc.

The 3 best things about the resources are:

• Appropriate to different levels of ability within a stage.
• Children can work independently.
• Children can teach / help other children to use CD Rom.

Ladywell Primary

The Three Billy Goats Gruff is both an animated talking book and selection of games delivering specific language objectives to support the Literacy Hour in Key Stage 1 classrooms. It is an engaging and stimulating way of presenting a traditional story to young children, using audio support for content and instructions, developing literacy and Software / Interactive skills.

The CD Rom follows a straightforward and consistent approach that is not too ‘fast-moving’, encouraging children to work independently. Text is highlighted as it is read, encouraging the child to follow the text and read along. Children are given lots of encouragement and after three wrong attempts the answer is given, which avoids any frustration.

Excellent support materials are supplied, including a well-differentiated range of photocopiable masters to follow-up activities off screen. The pack provides all the material you could need to plan and deliver an enjoyable and effective Literacy Hour with Key Stage 1 children. These include an illustrated text of the story that can be used to make books for children to read themselves, or enlarged to make a big book for use away from the computer.

The detailed teacher’s guide indicates the expected learning outcomes of each activity and links this directly to literacy objectives at text, word and sentence level. The Three Billy Goats Gruff is one of eight popular traditional stories aimed at Key Stage 1, but could be adapted easily for older children with special educational needs. The Three Billy Goats Gruff is a stimulating and appropriate use of Software / Interactive in the Literacy Hour.

ECT/Hobsons review

We used Red Riding Hood with a class of 12 junior language unit children yr3-y6. Children liked the different presentation of a story i.e. told on the screen. Thy enjoyed the activities related to the story.

It's well produced and there are many varied activities to accompany the programme.

We have been using Inside Stories with a poor ability Yr 4 class has found it to be a great motivator. Children who have been turned off reading books due to lack of confidence are eager to read when they are presented with the Inside Stories software. The verbal instructions...enable the children to work independently. It was helpful having plenty of follow up materials. There were ample variations of sheets on a theme, which were useful for plenary sessions where different examples could be read out.

A London School

Inside Stories

First Impressions: The programme is very child friendly. The children were immediately captivated by our new software. It is colourful, and instructions and directions are easily understood. The children can move between activities in the programme without support. Children with poor mouse control have ample opportunity to improve on this while children who are more able in their computer skills can work on their literacy skills.

One Month Perspective: This is an excellent resource to support our Literacy Hour. We work hard to ensure our computer is an integral part of the work in our classroom, in all areas of the curriculum, and not seen as a toy or a treat! This software increases the children's motivation to learn about literacy and makes learning fun. The children don't realise the concepts they are picking up because they enjoy using it so much. Children who find it difficult to have real success in pencil/paper exercise find success using this software. The print out gives the children something to concrete to take back to their desk and then home. This reinforces the concepts and skills taught through the computer activities. This software is also an excellent resource to organise mixed ability groups. Our children enjoy working in mixed ability and social groups and this programme ensures all children experience success.

Inside Stories - Red Riding Hood

First Impressions: It kept the children's attention - to see the storyteller on the monitor was good. It brought look of amazement. Perhaps a large picture would be better. We do not have access to a large screen.
Children enjoyed the original story as it was something they knew and could relax ok. The modern story added fun.
It was easy to use - simple on screen instructions.

One Month Perspective: The title we were given to pilot was Red Riding Hood. My class are P3/4 (ages 7 and 8). I was lucky that most children enjoyed the story. Perhaps at this age they would have felt it to be too "babyish" a story. They loved the whole class approach. Perhaps this was aided by the fact that there are only twenty children in the class. Once their activities were done, they had the chance to have a "Race Through the Woods". We kept a usual record of the time each pair took to complete this. It added a bit of competition especially like sequencing activities as children need much practice in this kind of activity.

Burnbrae Primary School, Glasgow

It is an engaging and stimulating way of presenting a traditional story to young children, using audio support for content and instructions, developing literacy and Software / Interactive skills.
The CD Rom follows a straightforward and consistent approach that is not too ‘fast-moving’, encouraging children to work independently. Text is highlighted as it is read, encouraging the child to follow the text and read along.

Excellent support materials are supplied, including a well-differentiated range of photocopiable masters to follow-up activities off screen. The pack provides all the material you could need to plan and deliver an enjoyable and effective Literacy Hour with Key Stage 1 children.

The Three Billy Goat’s Gruff is a stimulating and appropriate use of Software / Interactive in the Literacy Hour.

Educational Computing and Technology