Narcissus

The National Literacy Strategy has helped us to raise standards for pupils with learning difficulties. The Inclusive Readers Series is designed to support teachers in this area by providing attractive, stimulating and appropriate reading materials for children with moderate or severe learning difficulties across the 7-11 age range. It includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and could help to support a multi-sensory approach to learning.The Inclusive Readers Series aims to do more than develop children's reading and writing - it aims to enable readers to extend their knowledge and understanding, to develop a fascination with language, to explore a range of emotions and, where appropriate, to help them to deal with difficult issues. The books represent positively many aspects of disability, and reflect the cultural diversity of society.Each pack consists of a 16-page A3 (11-2/3 x 16-1/2) big book, with full color illustrations; a pull-out section of characters and images from the text to cut out and laminate for use in follow-up work; a teachers' book with half-term and weekly plans, plus activities for pupils at different levels; and photocopiable differentiated versions of the text at four levels (P5-6, P7-1C and 1C-2A) for use with individual pupils - the lowest level using words with symbols.The Narcissus Big Book is written by Maggie Walker and illustrated by Virginia Gray. When Echo sees Narcissus she falls instantly in love with him. But Narcissus spurns her love, and she pines away until only the sound of her voice remains. The gods decide to punish Narcissus for his heartlessness.This is a retelling of the Greek myth of Narcissus, written for Year 6. Suggested activities in the Narcissus Teachers' Book, by Maggie Walker, Val Davis and Ann Berger, include work on reflections and echoes, and on visual and auditory matching and discrimination. This is a very useful text for pupils in the early stages of reading and writing. The simple tale of love and selfishness is a good introduction to the genre of myths.Walker, Maggie is the author of 'Narcissus' with ISBN 9781853469060 and ISBN 1853469068.