Helping your child read at home

Reading schemes are developed in conjunction with literacy experts. KS1 books are written with a mix of high-frequency and decodable words to develop a range of reading strategies. KS2 books cover a wide range of genres and subjects, linking to the curriculum.

The number of books children read at each phase depends on how much practice children need. Children are not required to read every book in a phase. They will need to read a range of books across the phase to ensure they are confident. The books do vary across the phase in terms of difficulty so your child can be challenged. Teachers will know when a child is ready to move to the next phase and will make an informed decision.

Set aside some time Find somewhere quiet without any distractions - turn off the TV/radio/computer. Sit close together Encourage your child to hold the book themselves and/or turn the pages. Point to the pictures If there are illustrations, relate them to something your child knows. Ask them to describe the characters or situation or what will happen next. Encourage them to tell you the story by looking at the pictures.

Encourage your child to talk about the book Talking about the characters and their dilemmas helps children understand relationships and is an excellent way for you to discuss different situations. Give your child plenty of time to respond. Ask them what will happen next, how a character might be feeling, or how the book makes them feel. And lastly, above all - make it fun! Try to ensure you both enjoy the time together. Don't be afraid to use funny voices: children love this!

The new reading books are designed to be enjoyed and discussed over several sessions. In order for your child to get the most out of them you will need to use the suggested activities. Reading at home with your child should not just be about reading the text. It is vital to  Question them  Discuss the story  Retell the story

There are questions in your child’s reading journal and in today’s handout to use during the text and at the end of the book. They can be as simple as:  What did you like or dislike?  What can you remember from the story?  Who was your favourite character?  Link it to their own experiences- can they remember something similar?

There are questions at the back of the books specific to that story. These are a really good way of assessing your child’s understanding of the story. You can develop these further to allow children to practise and develop other skills.

E.g. On page 4, read the sentence: ‘Mishu thought the Taj Mahal was amazing.’ Ask: What other words could you use to describe the Taj Mahal? You could  Make a brainstorm of interesting adjectives  Discuss adjectives  Use a thesaurus to find some other words  Write their own sentences

E.g. Talk about Natasha’s character and how she managed to escape from Baba Yaba. Ask: Why do you think the animals and the gate helped Natasha escape? Discuss the morals of the story – how good can defeat evil and that being kind to others means they are kind to you in return. You could:  Discuss/list other stories where you know good has defeated evil.  Discuss what a moral of a story is- write a sentence for a moral of another story they remember/know well.  Write their own story where good defeats evil.

Discuss the text with your child as they are reading- don’t wait till the end of the book to question them. E.g.  That’s an interesting word I wonder what it means?  Do you think she/he made the right decision?  What do you think they will do next?  I really liked how the character … Did you?

Retelling the story (whether rereading or telling it with prompts) allows children to build their confidence and fluency. Childhood is an oasis of repetitive acts- in their play, in their language- it’s one of the ways they learn. It will help them to understand story structure and this will follow through into their writing.

With repetition the task of reading becomes simpler and faster due to the familiarity of characters, plot and language. The reader can understand new things when freed from the restraint of reading the new words. Rereading offers the opportunity to reflect on and savour the language, the characters and the events.

Many of the new reading books (Traditional Tales and Project X) have one of these story maps at the back to allow you to retell the story

Most traditional tales follow the same structure and this is a unit children are taught in Literacy in KS1. By retelling the story together using the pictures children will:  Become familiar with the structure, language and characters that appear  Become more confident at telling their own stories  Transfer this knowledge to their writing The way we teach writing at TDS ensures children orally learn and retell stories as this has been proven to aid and improve their writing.

Retelling the story You could:  Take it in turns to retell the story  Do a picture each  Tell the story and miss one out- which one was missing?  Retell the story but change an element- how would it affect the ending?  Add in some of the language from the book e.g. connectives, adjectives to encourage your child to start using them  Draw your own story map  Put actions to it

If your child is struggling to read their book read the story to them on the first day then on the second day get them to read it. On the third day they can discuss it and re-tell it in their own words Reading it to them first allows them to copy your intonation and inflection Not all the reading books have a story map but there are many other activities that you can do (see the handout) and they can retell a story in their own words.

The process  Discuss the front cover, what the story might be about, read the blurb, what genre of story is it- what do they know about these types of stories already, what are their predictions? Introduce the main characters and explain how to pronounce their names  Read the story whilst discussing it together/ read the story to them  Reread the story/retell the story using story map  Questions  Activities This should take at least 2 nights and therefore children will not have their books changed daily.

If you spend time questioning or discussing the book, retelling the story or doing the suggested activities please record this in your child’s reading journal so we know what your child has been doing at home. Please write a brief summary in the comments box.

We hope you enjoy reading at home with your child. This presentation will be on the website and a handout is available to take home today If you have any further questions please stay behind to discuss them with us or Mrs Jonwood (reading leader) Thank you