Book Badgers: SKANDAR AND THE UNICORN THIEF Essential Information for Tutors

Book Club: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief Essential Information for Tutors

Dear Tutor,

Dates and Time of Sessions:
Please ensure you have made a note of the dates and the time of the lesson each week. You can find these in your KID document.

Register:
We will email you the register a few days before the course starts.

Online Meeting details:
The link will be emailed to clients one week before the course starts. Please ensure you have emailed us your link! Please ensure students’ cameras and audio are switched on at all times throughout the lessons. It is vital that you are ready a couple of minutes before the lesson each week so that the lesson starts on time. For safeguarding reasons, the video should always be switched on and recording of the lesson is not permitted.

Pre-recorded Videos:
Pre-recorded videos of the lessons are available for the clients and can be found in their own Essential Information page. They can access this page via their Bright Light Education account. If they miss a lesson or would like to consolidate the learning, please direct them to these videos.

Lesson Slides and Support Sheets:
You will be given access to the Lesson Slides and Support Sheets via Google Drive. You will need a Google Account in order to access these. If you do not have a Google Account, please create an account. You can use your existing (non-Google) email to create your account.

You will have 'Viewer' permissions so you cannot edit or download the slides. Please look through the course well in advance of the course starting to ensure you are prepared and happy with each set of slides.

Essential Information:
We will send a client version of the Essential Information to all course participants in advance of the course starting. This will include the overview of the course, all the resources they need and the pre-recorded videos.

Homework:
You are not required to mark any homework. We will write a short comment for the Scribble or Sketch work submitted via Google Classroom on your behalf. We will not be passing on your contact details to clients.

Children love to see their homework shared (via Google Classroom) in the following week's lesson. We recommend you whizz through these at the start of the lesson and don’t spend too long on this though!

Technology:
Ensure your use the Share Screen function to share the Slides as a full slideshow, whilst also seeing all children at once. Ensure the waiting room is switched on. Ensure your Internet is strong. Ensure your computer camera is bright enough for children to see you clearly. Use a light if you are not bright enough. Ensure your face is in the centre of the camera. The younger children probably won’t be able to use the chat functions or the mute buttons. We suggest you avoid using these with the younger children.

Pace of Lesson / Lesson Outcome:
Each session is quite fast paced so it is unlikely that you will have spare time. You may like to jot down timings for the lesson activities to help you stick to the times.

Additional Resources you will need for this course:
Please check below for any additional resources you will need to purchase in order to deliver this course.

Feedback:
We want to deliver the best courses possible to clients. Therefore, we openly encourage and welcome all feedback from clients and tutors. If you have specific feedback for us regarding the course you have delivered, please do share it with us. If you have any concerns about a student, please let us know at the time and we can communicate with the client. We ask clients for feedback at certain stages throughout the course. We will share this feedback with you.

Thank you and enjoy the course!

Charlotte and Dani

REMINDER: We have chosen you as a Course Tutor because we believe you possess the following qualities!

Down-to-Earth: Tutors must be approachable and friendly with clients.
Knowledgeable: Tutors must have excellent subject knowledge for the course they will deliver.
Accessible: Tutors must respond to us and the clients in a timely manner and within 48 hours of the communication being received (excluding weekends and bank holidays).
Professional and Polite: Tutors must always remain professional and polite to clients. This includes dressing smartly and appropriately for lessons.
Enthusiastic and Motivational: Tutors must be passionate about teaching and full of energy for inspiring children with their learning.
Care for the individual: Tutors must give individual attention to clients when needed. Customer service is one of our top priorities.
Organised: Tutors must be highly organised and efficient in their work. They must be able to manage their time effectively and prioritise tasks to ensure that deadlines are met.
Excellent Communicators: Tutors must be clear and concise in their communication. They must listen attentively to clients and articulate thoughts and ideas clearly.

Course Dates and Time

Click here to see the dates and time of the classes.

Resources Needed:

Google Classroom: Make sure we have added you to Google Classroom as a teacher. You will need a Google Account to access this. This will allow you to share the work at the start of the lesson. We will write a short comment for each piece of work, on your behalf.
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Kahoot: Please use the login details below to access Kahoot via your computer.
https://create.kahoot.it/
Username: BrightBookClub
Password: Bright2025!Kahoot
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Once you are logged in via your browser, click on ‘Library’. Then, find the appropriate lesson and ‘Host live’.
Make sure you change the mode from ‘Classic Mode’ to ‘Accuracy Mode’ as this will award children on accuracy and not speed. Then ‘Start’. Click here for a short video if needed. Turn off the audio! A PIN number should be displayed. Share this screen with the class. They will enter the PIN from their own mobile or computer, which will enable them to join the quiz. If a child is slow at joining, start the quiz and the pin will remain visible at the bottom of the screen, for them to join when they are ready. If a child can’t use Kahoot at all, they can jot down their answers on a piece of paper and mark them themselves. We have put the comprehension questions and answers into the slides (at the end), just in case you cannot access Kahoot for some reason. Otherwise, please ignore these two slides. Have Kahoot open and ready to go, with the code ready.
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The children will need to be able to access Kahoot at the start of each lesson. We have told parents how to do this in their Essential Information. They can access it via a mobile or computer. They do not need to create an account. If using the mobile app, they click on ‘Join’. You will provide the class with the PIN at the start of the lesson. (They should avoid using kahoot.com on their browser as this is a more complex version of kahoot.it).
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You will need your own copy of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman. Please note that if you buy an online version (e.g. Kindle), your page numbers may be different.
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Children will need their Support Sheets ready for each lesson.

Course Overview

Our Book Clubs consist of the following each lesson:
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Discuss and Debate: To develop speaking and listening skills, we will start each lesson with a discussion of what the children read. We will encourage children to express themselves clearly, sharing different interpretations and beliefs.
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Quiz Whizz
The children will take part in a Kahoot quiz which will focus on different types of comprehension question.
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Word Warriors
We pick out ambitious vocabulary used in the book and teach the children the meaning of these words. The children have to use the words in sentences which have been taken from the book.
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The Deep Dive
The Deep Dive looks at one aspect of the story more closely. The children will have an activity based on this aspect.
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Scribble or Sketch
The final challenge each week is something creative. Children will be encouraged to upload their Scribble or Sketch work to Google Classroom so that it can be commented on and shared in the following lesson.

Word Warriors: Please print off this PDF which includes a list of all the words used over the 6 sessions, together with a definition of the word and an example sentence. Try to read through the words before the lesson! Use the sheet during the lesson to aid your learning.

Lesson 1: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief (Chapters 1-4 inclusive)

Please ensure your child has read chapters 1-4 inclusive of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman for this lesson.

The lesson will start with Discuss and Debate.

Following on from this, we will have fun with our Quiz Whizz. Make sure your child has the Kahoot app ready!

Word Warriors: solstice, guttural, gruelling, miraculously, ominous, billowing, bloodthirsty, rummaging.

The Deep Dive looks at character profiles. The children need to jot down what they know about Skandar, Kenna and their Dad. They should think about their personalities as well as their appearances.

For our Scribble or Sketch this week, children can either imagine they are Kenna and write a diary entry detailing what happened at midnight when Skandar got taken to the Island or they can draw Skandar, Agatha and Arctic Swansong on the beach of the Island. They can add speech and thought bubbles.

Homework:

Finish the Scribble or Sketch and upload it to Google Classroom.
Read chapters 5-8 inclusive ready for Lesson 2.

Lesson 2: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief (Chapters 5-8 inclusive)

The lesson will start with Discuss and Debate.

Following on from this, we will have fun with our Quiz Whizz. Make sure your child has the Kahoot app ready!

Word Warriors: aghast, havoc, eavesdropping, boisterously, prejudice, dire, quaking, excruciatingly.

The Deep Dive today asks the children to think about Skandar’s feelings about his experience of being bonded to a unicorn so far. They must list both his positive and negative feelings.

For our Scribble or Sketch this week, children can either write a letter from Skandar to Kenna explaining everything that happened in the hatchery or they can draw Skandar and Scoundrel’s Luck with Flo, Mitchell and Bobby in the hatchery. They can add speech bubbles to show Flo and Mitchell’s fear.

Homework:

Finish the Scribble or Sketch and upload it to Google Classroom.
Read chapters 9-11 inclusive ready for Lesson 3.

Lesson 3: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief (Chapters 9-11 inclusive)

The lesson will start with Discuss and Debate.

Following on from this, we will have fun with our Quiz Whizz. Make sure your child has the Kahoot app ready!

Word Warriors: putrid, sentinels, gilded, exasperated, perturbed, pandemonium, imperiously, sinewy.

The Deep Dive thinks about Flo’s fears. The children must write a diary entry from Flo’s point of view about her experience at the first training session. They should include details about how she felt when Silver Blade was out of control and how she feels about her mutation.

For our Scribble or Sketch this week, children can either write a list of questions that Skandar might ask Agatha, if he could, or they can draw the young riders and their unicorns during their first training session. They should include thought and speech bubbles.

Homework:

Finish the Scribble or Sketch and upload it to Google Classroom.
Read chapters 12-14 inclusive ready for Lesson 4.

Lesson 4: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief (Chapters 12-14 inclusive)

The lesson will start with Discuss and Debate.

Following on from this, we will have fun with our Quiz Whizz. Make sure your child has the Kahoot app ready!

Word Warriors: indignantly, authority, extroverts, trepidation, cacophony, anguish, gruffly, ignited.

The Deep Dive gets the children to think about the Quartet’s Friendship. Skandar’s quartet seem to be building a close bond, with even Mitchell stepping up to support Skandar. The children must list the ways in which each character has been a good friend to him so far in the story.

For our Scribble or Sketch this week, children can either write ‘The Fifth Element’ in the centre of their page and jot down everything they know about it, using words, sentences and drawings too. Alternatively, the children can draw Agatha and Skandar in the prison. They could add speech bubbles to show what they are saying to each other.

Homework:

Finish the Scribble or Sketch and upload it to Google Classroom.
Read chapters 15-18 inclusive ready for Lesson 5.

Lesson 5: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief (Chapters 15-18 inclusive)

The lesson will start with Discuss and Debate.

Following on from this, we will have fun with our Quiz Whizz. Make sure your child has the Kahoot app ready!

Word Warriors: incredulous, abruptly, silhouetted, suppress, unintelligible, deduce, confined, abysmally.

The Deep Dive asks children to think about the clear themes in the story, including friendship, identity and belonging, prejudice, courage and truth. The children need to find examples of these from the text and list them in the table on their worksheets.

For our Scribble or Sketch this week, children can either make a list of all the evidence that Skandar and his quartet have collected about the Weaver and what he/she is planning or they can split their page into four and draw the main events from each chapter discussed today. They can add captions and speech bubbles, like a comic.

Homework:

Finish the Scribble or Sketch and upload it to Google Classroom.
Finish chapters 19 to the end ready for Lesson 6!

Lesson 6: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief (Chapters 19-end)

The lesson will start with Discuss and Debate.

Following on from this, we will have fun with our Quiz Whizz. Make sure your child has the Kahoot app ready!

Word Warriors: unravelled, assumptions, brusquely, recoiled, allegiance, fortuitous, desolate, indoctrinated.

For The Deep Dive, children will thinking abour Skandar and Kenna’s conversation. Skandar decides not to tell Kenna about their mother when she is visiting the Island. The children must imagine what he might have said to her, if he had told her and write the dialogue between them. They should try to include interesting verbs and adverbs to show their reactions.

For our Scribble or Sketch this week, children must write ‘Skandar and the Unicorn Thief’ in the centre of their page and fill the page with words and drawings all about the book.

Homework:

Finish the Scribble or Sketch and upload it to Google Classroom.

Enjoy the Course!

“My daughter absolutely loved Bright Light Education’s Book Club! The sessions were engaging, thoughtful, and fun — she really connected with ‘The Explorer’ and looked forward to every class. The tutor created such a supportive environment that encouraged discussion, critical thinking, and a love of reading. We’ve seen a real boost in her confidence and can’t wait to join the next one!”

Jankhana, Parent

“My son loves reading, but I was looking for a course where he can develop that love for books even more. For me, it’s not just about reading — it’s important that he builds strong comprehension and understanding of the stories. That’s when I found Bright Light, and I couldn’t be happier with their service and book club.

My son absolutely loved the book ‘The Bolds’ — such an amazing story for kids! As a mum, I appreciated everything about the program, and we have already registered for the next book club course.

Highly recommend for any parent wanting a meaningful reading experience for their child!”

Nirvana, Parent