READINGST. MARGARET’S CE(A) PRIMARY SCHOOL

To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.

READING AT SCHOOL Guided reading Shared reading Independent reading Individual reading Reading in the environment Reading as a writer Reading across the curriculum Paired reading

PHONICS The independent review of early reading,

conducted by Jim Rose, confirmed that ‘high quality phonic work’ should be the prime means for teaching beginner readers to learn to read (and spell).

The review also highlighted the importance of developing, from the earliest stages, children’s speaking and listening skills – ensuring that beginner readers are ready to get off to a good start in phonic work.

WHAT IS PHONICS?

Phonics is the link between letters and the sounds they make.

Using a highly structured programme working through 6 progressive phases, children are taught:

The full range of common letter/ sound correspondences.

To hear separate sounds within words.

To blend sounds together.

SOME DEFINITIONS Phoneme – The smallest unit of sound in a

word.

Grapheme – What we write to represent a sound/ phoneme – for some phonemes, this could be more than one letter (eg. t, ai, igh).

Digraph – two letters that make one sound (ck, ai).

Trigraph – three letters that make one sound (igh, ear).

PHONICS How many different ways can you think of

spelling / reading these vowel sounds?

A E I O U

A

pay

nail

cake

table

E

bee

beach

field

scene

I

pie

sky

child

night

bike

O

blow

boat

cone

post

U

food

blue

screw

cube

DECODE, UNDERSTAND, RESPOND To be a good reader a child needs to: •Be able to decode rapidly to develop good

word recognition. •Have good oral language comprehension.

Reading has two distinct phases: learning to read (decode); reading to learn (comprehend).

WHAT IS COMPREHENSION? Reading comprehension is making

meaning from text.

Understanding what is being said and interpreting it. Understanding and picking out choices and effects used by the author. Making predictions using what they have already read.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TURTLE?

The river was narrow. A beaver hit the log that a turtle was sitting on and the log flipped over from the shock. The turtle was very surprised by the event.

The river was narrow. A beaver hit the log that a turtle was sitting beside and the log flipped over from the shock. The turtle was very surprised by the event.

Sleepy Tom was late for school again.

What do we know about the person in this sentence?

Why was he sleepy? How do we know that he is often late for

school?

John had got up early to learn his spellings. He was very tired and decided to take a break. When he opened his eyes again the first thing he noticed was the clock on the chair. It was an hour later and nearly time for school. He picked up his two books and put them in a bag. He started pedalling to school as fast as he could. However, John ran over some broken bottles and had to walk the rest of the way. By the time he had crossed the bridge and arrived at class, the test was over.

•What was John trying to learn?• How many books did John pick up?• How did John travel to school?• What did John do when he decided to take a break?

UNDERSTAND, DESCRIBE, SELECT OR RETRIEVE INFORMATION, EVENTS OR IDEAS FROM TEXTS AND USE QUOTATION AND REFERENCE TO TEXT

Identify a word from paragraph 2 which shows that…

What was happening at the beginning of the story?

What is ‘animation’?True/False based on text

How many…Give one example…

Match answers from text evidenceWhich character…

Fill in the gaps in the tableChoose the best word to fill the gap…

DEDUCE, INFER OR INTERPRET INFORMATION, EVENTS OR IDEAS FROM TEXTS

What does this quotation suggest about…?Explain the use of the word…

What impression do you get of the feelings of this character from the text?

Why did…?Fill in the thought bubble: what might this character have been

thinking?If you made a movie of this, what type of music would you use for

it, and why?How are the experiences of these two characters similar?

Why did he feel…?How did the character feel before… and after…?

How did the characters feelings change?What would you buy / do / see / ask? Base your answer on

evidence from the textWhat evidence is there that…?

What is this characters attitude towards…?

IDENTIFY AND COMMENT ON THE STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION OF TEXTS, INCLUDING GRAMMATICAL AND PRESENTATIONAL FEATURES AT TEXT LEVEL

How does the first sentence help to guide the reader?How does this paragraph link back to the opening paragraph?How does the writer link the conclusion to the introduction?

How does the writer build up to the conclusion?Sequence these events from the text

Label these parts of the textHow does the timeline / image / diagram / layout make it easier

to understand?Why is this element in bold / underlined / in italics?What would be a suitable caption for this image?What would be a suitable heading for this text?

Give two features that tell you it is written as a formal letter / diary / scripts

EXPLAIN AND COMMENT ON WRITERS’ USE OF LANGUAGE, INCLUDING GRAMMATICAL AND LITERARY FEATURES AT WORD AND SENTENCE LEVEL

Explain how the use of language in this sentence shows…Why does the writer use the word…

Why is the description of … a good metaphor to use?Underline the word / noun / verb / phrase which shows that…

What does the choice of language suggest…How does the choice of language create the impression that…

Why is this style of formal / informal language used in this text?What words help the reader to imagine…

Explain two ways in which this sentence makes the reader…Why is the word … in inverted commas?

Choose a word to describe this character. Why?What is the effect of…?

Which parts of the text tell you..

IDENTIFY AND COMMENT ON WRITERS’ PURPOSES AND VIEWPOINTS, AND THE OVERALL EFFECT OF THE TEXT ON THE READER

What do you think the writer thinks about this topic? Why?

How does the writer show his positive / negative attitude towards…?

How does this article create the impression that…?

Which elements of this text are persuasive?Why does this section begin with a question?

What is the main purpose of this text?Which of these texts would inspire you to…?

How does the author make you feel…?Why has the author included…?

How can you recognise the attitude of this character?

READING AS A WRITERTim stared at the room. The windows were smothered in a film of green grime that let in a strange light. Cobwebs strung across the ceiling and dust powdered every surface. The floor was covered in a tangled mess of broken boxes, old furniture and moth eaten blankets. At that moment, he heard something scratching. Tim’s scalp crawled and he bit back a scream. What was it?

HOW CAN YOU HELP AT HOME? Read regularly with your children. Little and often. Make reading fun! Read to your child. Read favourite books over and over again! Go to the library – let your child choose what

they would like to read. Come and talk to us if you need help.

IF YOUR CHILD GETS STUCK ON A WORD... Break up the word, sound it out, blend

the sounds together. Model first, then ask your child to

repeat. Use the pictures as a clue. Read on, missing out the tricky word.

Allow your child to self correct before asking, ‘What word would fit / make sense?’

Remember PPP – Pause, Prompt, Praise.

WORTH A LOOK... http://www.firstnews.co.uk/ An online children’s newspaper! http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ Reading resources to access at home! http://www.kidsworldfun.com/ebooks.php Lots of free ebooks! http://www.mumsnet.com/learning/ebooks More free ebooks!

ipad/iphone apps

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

BOOK BANDS