Inside, the helmet was dark and stuffy. I couldn't see a thing. The sounds of the waves and the sea breeze had suddenly stopped. I got this weird feeling, like the air was bending around me. Like the ground was shifting under my feet.

You find an old helmet on the beach. It's rusty and looks as if it's been there for years. You slip it over your head to see how it feels.

When you take it off again, you're inside a dark tunnel. Someone hands you a sword. You're a gladiator. And the crowd outside is baying for your blood.

*Help Key Stage 3 students move from Level 3b to Level 3a in reading.
*Support comprehension with the exciting, age-appropriate illustrations.
*Help readers explore the world of Roman gladiators and Roman soldiers using the lively non-fiction section.
*Encourage shared and guided reading using the ready-made tasks and discussion points on the activity pages at the back of the book.

This book is part of a book series called Read On .

This book is suitable for Key Stage 3. KS3 covers school years 7, 8 and 9, and ages 12-14 years. A key stage is any of the fixed stages into which the national curriculum is divided, each having its own prescribed course of study. At the end of each stage, pupils are required to complete standard assessment tasks. This book is aimed at children in secondary school. This book is part of a reading scheme, meaning that it is a book aimed at children who are learning to read. This reading book uses the phonics method. This approach concentrates on teaching children how to map between sounds and spellings, allowing them to decode written words into their constituent sounds. Phonics skill thus involves being able to split the written word 'cat' into the phonemes /k/, /a/, /t/, and to map from letter 'c' to phoneme /k/, from letter 'a' to phoneme /ae/ and from letter 't' to phoneme /t/. Decoding skill is useful when reading unfamiliar words which use regular spelling sequences.

There are 48 pages in this book. This book was published 2012 by HarperCollins Publishers .

Natalie Packer is an educational consultant who has worked as a Senior Adviser for the National Strategies, supporting the implementation of the Achievement for All project to improve outcomes for students with SEN, and as a Local Authority Adviser for Special Educational Needs and School Improvement. She has developed and delivered national training on a wide range of issues, including SEN, teaching and learning, and involving parents in education. She has primary headship experience and was a SENCO for a number of years. Alan and Robbie Gibbons are father and son. Together they have written three stories for the Read On series.