Reading with KS2 children (The new English curriculum)

Why is reading so important? an over riding aim must be to promote a life- long love of books and reading( reading for pleasure); the ability to read fluently and with meaning develops and enhances many skills including: grammar, vocabulary, memory, imagination, knowledge of the world, attention span, self confidence, understanding and interpreting, links to other subjects including CC links

International reading study children in England tended to report ‘reading for pleasure’ less frequently than peers in many other countries; 23rd out of 29 countries; only one third of children reported reading for pleasure on a daily basis outside of school;

Important aspects to reading Accuracy ( word recognition) Involves decoding words by phonic and other strategies to arrive at the correct pronunciation Comprehension Involves the brain internalising decoded words, ordering them into a meaningful sequence and interpreting the grammar involved to arrive at a meaning Punctuation /expressive reading

Reading at school independent, quiet reading for 15 minutes each day – read to teacher/TA/parent helper; reading records kept; targets given; assessed regularly; variety of CC texts- whole class, independent, group reading reading comprehension lessons; book reviews; book of the term;

Reading at school We encourage reading for pleasure by: library sessions; visiting authors/illustrators; World Book Day; Bath Children’s Literature Festival; visiting drama groups;

Reading assessment ( reading trail) assess reading for comprehension and accuracy; do you read at home? what strategies do you use if you are stuck on a word?-phonics/segment/read around the word reading record;(fiction/non fiction) do you think you are a good reader? do you enjoy reading? do you have a favourite author? what type of books do you enjoy reading?

In order for children to be able to access all areas of the curriculum, we would like parents to work with us to encourage happy, fluent readers; Our overall aim is to teach children the process of reading ,to understand the text, to read for pleasure and to become life long readers; We very much value the support parents are able to give their children ; Reading at home

How to help fluent readers still need to read to an adult at least 4 times a week; continue sharing books; sometimes read to your child; sometimes read with them ( aids expressive reading); hear your child read often; success is the key – 95% accuracy; positive approach- enjoyable experience (20 minutes to include 10 minutes of discussion and questioning);

How to help identify themes in a wide range of books; use dictionaries to help with meanings of words; discuss understanding of words in context; identify ideas in a paragraph; discuss words and phrases that capture their interest; discuss the author’s use of language; to become good readers and to read with understanding children need to develop higher order reading skills;

Higher order reading skills Decoding Retrieval and recall Skimming and scanning Personal responses Inference and deduction Structure and organisation Language Purpose and viewpoint Making links Fact/opinion Self correct when meaning is lost

Questions and prompts Questioning and discussing texts – both very important for measuring understanding and comprehension skills; SATS are designed for children to show they can read with understanding using the higher order reading skills; Different question styles- a lot more questions on children’s own opinion on the texts; List of questions to help;

Reluctant readers encourage reading of books with topics that interest them; read a series of books by the same author; audio visual books; fun/interactive books; read books with fewer words; newspapers/comics; Barrington Stoke publishers – range of authors for reluctant readers

Life long readers do your children see you reading? are you enthusiastic about reading? encourage your child to read for pleasure- visit the library/Bath Literary Festival/theatre; encourage your child to read/share books with other adults; story telling events; library-summer challenge; school library; word games- boggle /scrabble; talk to your children- correct grammar; don’t feel you have to always read the reading book – encourage other texts and make it fun;

Children learn to read so that they can read to learn.

The KS2 English curriculum( changes) Reading: discussion of fiction, poetry, plays, non fiction , reference books preparation of poems and play scripts to read out loud; the need to recognise different forms of poetry; the need to increase familiarity with a range of books;

Key changes in reading the need to read whole texts; a shift from word reading to comprehension; reading for pleasure; to make comparison between texts reading to be encouraged as a cross curricular skill;

Key changes in writing an increased focus on developing and improving handwriting; correct posture for writing; a greater number of specific grammatical structures with which pupils will become familiar; cross curricular skill;

Key changes in Spoken English speaking and listening is now referred to as ‘spoken English’ or spoken language’; spoken English is encouraged as a cross curricular skill; please encourage the use of standard English;

Grammar, spelling and terminology big focus on grammar- SPAG test please help your child with weekly spellings terminology is now used in grammar lessons. This is also linked to writing please correct your child’s grammar

Parental support Many thanks for your on going support. Your support is vital in encouraging your child to read with understanding, to read for pleasure and to become life long readers. ‘Hand outs’ on the higher order reading skills and questioning children can be obtained from Mrs Bradley