Stephen Rickard is a writer and publisher, and has written and developed many award-winning books and software titles. He specialises in books that develop reading skills and promote an enthusiasm for reading for all ages but with a strong concern for reluctant and struggling readers. Using his detailed knowledge of both the phonics programme Letters and Sounds and the UK Bookband system, Stephen has developed Ransom's reading programme, working with the late Shirley Bickler. As well as his role as series editor he has written a number of the books within the programme.
Interest Age:
7
Reading Age:
5
Category:
Literacy
Strand:
Decodables
Do you know there's a place in the world called Death Valley where it's so hot you can die. Uncover this barren land in this phonics reading book. Part of Reading Stars Achieve Phonics - our brand-new programme of 98 fully decodable, age-appropriate phonics readers for KS2/KS3 students who are still on their phonics journey - Death Valley is a Phase 5 book. It introduces alternative pronunciations of the known grapheme for reading: ou (you, could, mould), and the common exception word different This book uses letters and sounds and common exception words that are found in Phases 2, 3 and 4, plus the Phase 5 new graphemes for reading. It also uses the following from Phase 5: Alternative pronunciations of known graphemes for reading: a (acorn, fast, was), e (he), i (mind), o (no), u (unit, put), ow (snow), ie (chief), ea (head), er (her), ou (you, could, mould) Common exception words: their, people, called, water, where, who, thought, work, many, because, different