Title: Scholastic DVD Readers

Publisher: Scholastic

Reviewer: Alex Warren, Academic Director from British Study Centres, Bournemouth

Overall rating:  

The Readers market is a highly competitive one nowadays and so any new series needs to have something to make it stand out from the crowd. By basing its Readers on TV shows - including Take Away My Takeaway, Brilliant Britain and 999 Emergency - and accompanying them with clips from the shows, Scholastic’s DVD Readers are trying something new. Aimed squarely at teenagers, the content, along with the bold and colourful design, grabs the attention of the reader.

Each book is split into three or four chapters, with each one being preceded by a Word Bank to pre-teach useful vocabulary and then followed by the DVD content with comprehension questions. Also thrown in to the mix are Fact Files and Infoburst boxes which help develop and give more detail about the topic, putting the stories into more of a context. Each book finishes with some self-study exercises reflecting back over the book and a focus on conversational language, taken from the DVD.

However, when dealing with Readers the eternal question is just how can teachers get the most out of them in class? This series tackles the issue well and the titles are actually as practical for class use as they are for self-study. This comes in part from the structure of the book which lends itself to in-class use and learning. Each chapter of the book is preceded by a Word Bank for pre-teaching vocabulary and then followed by linked DVD clips and activities and a Fact File. In this respect each book is split into manageable chunks and isn’t just about reading. For teenagers with potentially short attention spans, this is exactly what is needed. In essence it is trying to make reading a fun learning experience.

Take Away My Takeaway Series

Everyone loves a good takeaway, right? But just how authentic is the Italian, Chinese, southern fried chicken or hamburger that you’re eating?

The series follows fast food addicts travelling around the globe learning more about their fast-food addiction, including the search for the perfect pizza in Italy, the most succulent southern fried chicken in New Orleans, the nicest noodles in Hong Kong and the best burgers in Texas. With teenagers being synonymous with fast food these Readers should appeal to all finger lickin’, burger loving teenagers around the world.

Take Away My Takeaway Italy follows pizza lovers AJ and Daniel from their south London home all the way to the home of pizza in Naples. Their adventure takes them shopping for ingredients, milking a buffalo before finally (and not so triumphantly) making their very own Italian pizza. It’s a fun little trip with the DVD support helping bring it all to life and along with the activities and additional Fact Files, it provides an enjoyable learning experience for students.

“It’s easy to understand, interesting with lots of useful information” - Sthefany Cabeza, Venezuela

Brilliant Britain Series

Whether it’s following Goldie on his journey discovering the origins of his traditional full English Breakfast, joining Madness singer Suggs as he explores the British seaside or getting to the bottom of Britain’s love affair with tea with ex-boxer Barry McGuigan, the Brilliant Britain series gives students an insight into the heart of just what makes British people tick and Britain brilliant. As a cultural journey through the mind-set of Britain they are quite insightful, presented through the main story of the celebrity and supplementary Fact Files.

Take Brilliant Britain Tea for example. It follows Barry McGuigan on his journey to learn more about his favourite drink which takes him from his childhood home in Ireland to tea-tasting at Twinings in London and then from tea at the Ritz to the university of Northumbria to discover the science of tea. Which is all very interesting… if you like tea. Or Barry McGuigan.

And this is the real question mark over the series. Despite the quality of the source material, the presentation and activities, are teenage students going to be able to relate to these British celebrities and therefore enjoy their journey around Brilliant Britain?

“It was really nice, the Word Banks were really useful to help understand.” Sthefani Medina Bautista

999 Emergency

The emergency services do some amazing things around the world and this reader takes a closer look at four of the more striking stories from the annals of the BBC’s 999 Emergency show. It starts with the remarkable rescue of a yachtsman in the middle of the Southern Ocean during the Vendee Globe round-the-world race and continues with an unbelievable lightning strike injuring 17 people. The other stories follow paraglider Pat Dolan as he crashes in Italian mountains and that of a couple’s 119 day survival after their yacht was sunk by a whale. The DVD content really helps bring these stories to life through reconstructions and interviews, which help lend a real sense of the danger that all the people were in. The main stories are well complimented with interesting Fact Files, helping make this book interesting as well as inspiring.

Changing World

Taking footage from the BBC’s Changing World series, the book looks at the various environmental issues affecting the world, including rising temperatures, wild weather and the disappearing rainforests and coral reefs. It also examines how we can actually help prevent these changes and save the planet, everything that the budding eco-warrior would want to. As with other books in the series, the DVD content is of a high quality and along with the DVD activities it could also provide useful supplementary material for any coursebook unit on environmental issues.

“It’s practical and easy to read and more interesting with the DVD.” Maria Victoria Villamizar Ostos, Venezuela

Eccentric Britain

There’s no doubting that Britain is a country of eccentrics and so educating foreign students in the peculiarities of the British would seem a culturally stimulating, not to mention potentially useful, topic. Based on the BBC series Great British Eccentrics, this book looks at three of the country’s more peculiar eccentrics - the Burryman from South Queensburry, Howling Laud Hope of the Monster Raving Looney Party and Captain Beany from South Wales. However, just how interesting these people will be to teenage foreign language students is debateable – certainly a potted overview of UK politics and it’s most eccentric party or a man lying in a bath of beans for 4 days aren’t going to be on the agenda of most teenagers, wherever they’re from. Indeed, it is the Fact Files on strange British traditions, famous eccentrics and eccentric festivals from around the world which offer more of interest and relevance to students.

“I found it quite interesting.” Patricia Cabeza, Venezuela