How it works
A story, a band for each reader, one table
Ordinary levelled-reader systems solve difficulty by giving each child a different book. HummingRead does the opposite: the same worthwhile story, rebuilt at six levels, so the family reads one story and talks about it together.
A reader is short — a booklet of eight to sixteen pages — and complete: the story with its pictures, pause questions along the way, Words to Know, Let’s Talk questions, and an About page that says where the story came from and when it was first published. Beside it sit a worksheet and a Quick Check for the ones who want to work the story, and a read-aloud script for the ones who want to hear it.
Step by step
What a reading week looks like
- 1
Find each reader’s starting band
Ten minutes, adult-led, observable behaviour only. It returns a starting band, not a label, and you can change it. Do it once for every reader in the house.
- 2
Pick tonight’s story
The Family Reading Map shows every reader’s band. Choose a story family with each of those bands ready now, or let My Shelf suggest one.
- 3
Read it your way
On screen, on a Kobo or Kindle, printed as a booklet, or aloud from the script. Purple and Yellow readers come with a colouring page for afterwards.
- 4
Pause, talk, check
Pause questions inside the story; Let’s Talk at the end; a worksheet for the desk; a Quick Check you mark in a minute. Eight in ten says ready for the next reader at this band. Twice below that in a row says slow down, not push harder.
- 5
Move up when the reading is ready
Bands move on evidence, never on age. Two or three readers at the top of a band with easy checks, and the next band is a comfortable step.
Formats
Digital · E-reader · Print · Audio
Every reader comes in every format the membership includes: the web reader and a PDF, an EPUB for e-readers, three print layouts, and the read-aloud script. Narrated audio is in development. How a reader is made.