Ling Lee's Surprise Level 6-8

In Ling Lee's Surprise, a young girl brings a mysterious package to class, sparking curiosity and excitement among her classmates. As the surprise is revealed, Ling Lee takes centre stage and gradually gains confidence. This story thoughtfully explores themes of cultural pride, sharing personal experiences, and creating a sense of belonging within a school community. With familiar classroom settings, expressive illustrations, and engaging language structures, the book fosters discussions about diversity and acceptance. It also provides opportunities to model and monitor students' use of key reading strategies, such as predicting and summarising. The story is enriched with phonics elements, including consonant blends, digraphs, and compound words, which support early literacy development. The use of changing perspectives across pages and direct speech keeps readers engaged while enhancing comprehension skills.

Educational Benefits:

• Reinforces phonemic awareness through consonant blends and digraphs
• Encourages personal connections and cultural appreciation
• Supports development of summarising and predicting strategies
• Enhances understanding of narrative structure and character development

Classroom Ideas:

• Create a class œmystery bag activity to inspire descriptive writing
• Discuss and draw surprises from students' own cultures
• Practise reading aloud with expression using direct speech
• Explore adjectives by describing the surprise using sensory language

Safety & Information:

• Ages: 5+
• Size: 150mm x 210mm
• Reading Level: 6-8 (Yellow)
• No small parts; suitable for classroom use