Going to the Zoo: Level 9 (Collins Big Cat Arabic Reading Programme)

Book excerpt: Collins Arabic Big Cat is a guided reading series for ages 3 to 11. The series is structured with reference to the learning progression of Arabic at nursery and primary schools researched especially for Collins. This carefully graded approach allows children to build up their reading knowledge of Arabic step by step. Level 9 books are similar in complexity to level 8, with strong patterns and similar events and episodes. Non-fiction titles use non-fiction tools - including signs, labels, captions and diagrams - where necessary. Single-word spacing is used from level 9 upwards. In addition, very high-frequency words appear consistently without vowel markings. These features will help the students get used to the traditional norms of printed Arabic. Join one boy and his family on a trip to the zoo. But this is no normal zoo: it's full of extraordinary animals, including elephants who drink tea, penguins who ski, and even chimpanzees who eat peas! Illustrated by Luciana Fernandez, this imaginative poem is written by eleven-year-old Collins Big Cat 2011 Writing Competition winner Reece Cox. Children can recap all the different extraordinary animals from the book in the map of the zoo on pages 14-15, allowing children to retell the story in their own words.