2010 Dive in and Read testimonials

Our Learning Support students are really enjoying Cody’s Unexpected Catch. They love having a ‘chapter story’ glued into their English books, ready for them to read the next instalment.  They take reading in turns (with teachers helping and sometimes reading, too).
Having the passports has focussed them on the story, and they highlight all the relevant information (in the chapters) that they will need to answer the questions.
This is a great initiative from NiE. Well done.
Louise Houltham, Learning support teacher, Northcote College

Room 13 really enjoyed Cody's Unexpected Catch! Over the couple of weeks we were reading it, I noticed a MARKED improvement in the quality of their response activities, particularly amongst my lower ability readers. Each time a new chapter came out, my Teacher Aid worked with them to help them read the text, then discussed the Scavenger Hunt questions - they then wrote their answers on their laptops. I found that keeping this group in particular doing the same activity most of the time, allowed them to become familiar with the pattern of responses and therefore their confidence grew. One of them went up a reading group and when I asked what had changed for him, he replied that he had really connected with the story.  As their teacher, I found all of the question categories really useful…
Suzanne Fryer, Room 13 (Year 7/8), Greytown School

Okay, how can I fit in all my wonderful feelings about this resource?  First of all, the Literacy Passports were very exciting for my students.  They felt as if they were actually taking a journey, and they did.  The activities in the passport would have been enough but they were supported with even more activities related to each chapter. 
The learning intentions, curriculum links, focus questions and readily available answers made it easy to take in the classroom (a bonus for any teacher).  The fact that this story could be taken at a range of levels provided a resource that could cater to the different learning needs in my class. I assisted the lower level students and let the more confident ones loose.  The themes of the story ranged from simple to extremely complex meaning that this story could be taken at surface level or even deeper level.  You were able to tackle important issues like fishing restrictions and unemployment in the context of the story without being ‘preachy’.
The story was full of suspense and emotion and my students found it easy to relate to Cody, Wiri, and Caitlin.  It had a true New Zealand flavour to it that my students were attracted to.  After the day’s activities, my students were able to take the newspaper home to further their reading and interest in current events.   
Thank you for providing such a wonderful, truly New Zealand experience and promoting literacy in a time where its promotion is needed the most.
Bryan Leilua, teacher

My school have been doing the Codys Unexpected Catch and I really enjoyed it. Every time my teacher read the story I didn’t want her to stop reading I wanted to know what would happen next.
Grace Evans (10), Cornwall Park District School

I am a teacher of a Year 5 class at Remuera Primary. My class loved following Cody’s Unexpected Catch. As a teacher I really appreciated the disc that accompanied the story.
Liz Stewart
Here are some of the children’s comments:

Bella: I really liked the story and enjoyed reading the paper and filling in my passport. The story was amazing. It was cool getting a certificate.
Harry: In Cody’s Unexpected Catch I enjoyed following the story and wondering what was happening next. I also liked doing the activities to do with the story.
Hannah: It was exciting when each day we opened the newspaper to find Cody’s Unexpected Catch. I liked having the passport to fill in and getting a certificate at the end. I really liked the story.
Sophie: I enjoyed the story as Cody and his friends got up to dangerous but fun adventures!

I have been reading Cody's Unexpected Catch in my school and it's awesome. Everyone likes it. We have also being doing your passport which is cool. My favourite part is when all the white bait were fallowing the torpedo, and the saddest part was when Sox got poisoned. Anyway that story was brilliant.
Charithma Rajapakse (11) Papakura Central School

I really enjoyed your story. It was not just me that liked your story but the whole class. I liked the chapter where the dog was poisoned. Caitlin's dad was a horrible man. I was glad that the dog got better. It would have been really sad if he died.
Our class looked up what a torpedo was. A torpedo is very helpful in catching fish.
Matt Love, Springbank School