National Standards online modules

This set of professional learning modules supports schools to understand the reading, writing, and mathematics standards and how they relate to the New Zealand Curriculum.

http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/National-Standards/Professional-development/Professional-learning-modules

Here is an example of a module on Engaging learners with texts
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/National-Standards/Professional-development/Professional-learning-modules/Engaging-learners-with-texts

We can ask the same sort of questions about the use of "real books" as well as the structured reading resources mentioned...

Reflective questions for school leaders and teachers
The following questions are designed to help school leaders and teachers understand their school’s current practice in relation to engaging learners with texts. They can then make comparisons with the practices embedded within the reading and writing standards. Use the reflective questions to identify areas for further exploration through the activities that follow.

1. How do the texts that we select and the tasks that we plan support students’ development and use of reading and writing as interactive tools?

2. How do we use texts and tasks to explicitly teach the knowledge, skills, and strategies that students need?

3. Do the programmes and texts that we use reflect the needs of different groups of students? For example:

• Do our programmes and texts reflect the languages, cultures, and identities of all our students?
• Do our programmes and texts build on the experiences that students bring with them?
• Do we as teachers have specific knowledge about the features that make texts and tasks easy or difficult for particular groups of students, such as English language learners?
  
• Do we provide differentiated instruction with opportunities for students to choose different texts and tasks to meet their different needs?