Strengthening the teaching and assessment of reading

Aims To deepen our understanding of what makes good reading comprehension To consider strategies to strengthen the teaching and learning and assessment of reading To share resources to support the understanding of progression in reading

How secure are your teachers in assessing reading? What do you feel are some of the key issues regarding the use of APP for reading?

Comprehension is an interactive and reciprocal process Oral Language SkillsCognitive Resources Vocabulary knowledge Grammatical skills Pragmatic abilities Idioms/figurative language General knowledge Knowledge of texts Inference and deduction Monitoring understanding Rich, relevant and varied reading curriculum

Alesha had won the final of the dance contest and the audiences cheers brought her to the stage for an encore. Every step she takes is so perfect and graceful, Cheri said grudgingly, as she watched Alesha dance. Reading the speech, what might you infer?

Which words are worth the teaching? Tier One the most basic words – e.g. clock, baby, happy Tier Two high frequency words for confident word users – e.g. insist, mischievous, gentle Tier Three – often with very specific contexts, includes low frequency words – e.g. metamorphosis, symmetrical, phoneme,

Identifying Tier Two words …With a cry of rage, Prince Aral leapt up and thrust his sword deep into the dragons heart. Its dying shrieks echoed through the cavern and awoke the long-sleeping ruler. Staggering to his feet, the king held his arms aloft realising that the curse had been broken. He took a faltering step but stumbled forward only to be caught immediately by the prince.

Conceptual understanding Do the children already have ways to express the concepts represented? Do they have associations with words they already know? Instructional potential Can the words be worked with in a variety of ways so that children can build rich representations of them and make connections to other words and concepts? Importance and utility Words that are characteristic of confident language users and appear across areas of learning. Suggested Criteria for a Tier Two word:

Identifying Tier Two words …With a cry of rage, Prince Aral leapt up and thrust his sword deep into the dragons heart. Its dying shrieks echoed through the cavern and awoke the long-sleeping ruler. Staggering to his feet, the king held his arms aloft realising that the curse had been broken. He took a faltering step but stumbled forward only to be caught immediately by the prince.

Figurative language Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. travelling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. A full moon, as heavy as an udder in need of milking, grazed the tops of the trees.

Inference Broadly two kinds of inference: Coherence inferences Elaborative inferences

Inferences …With a cry of rage, Prince Aral lunged towards the dragon and pierced the shining scales. Its dying shrieks echoed through the cavern and awoke the long-sleeping ruler. Staggering to his feet, the king held his arms aloft realising that the curse had been broken. He took a faltering step but stumbled forward only to be caught immediately by the prince.

Cow in the field As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane. What do we deduce from this? What can we infer?

Effective teaching of reading comprehension: Learning about words Interacting with the text predictionExplicitly teaching strategies for reading comprehension: prediction questioning questioning clarifying clarifying imagining imagining summarisation summarisation

Book Talk Booktalk : Chattergroups… Talking ones way into a deeper understanding is crucial for developing the ability to think critically and appreciate literature. Its in the discussion that the ability to think critically can be developed These skills must be modelled, thinking aloud, teasing at an issue Children can and should expect to change their minds in the light of what others say Encourage children to raise questions as well as make points and suggestions This is not simply about answering questions or guessing what the teacher has in their head! Booktalk must be developed as part of what the class do and in itself will contribute to the social health of the class

Delivery How can you use this film to teach comprehension?

Resources Progression in narrative Pupil targets for Strand 7 and 8 Gathering Evidence in Reading (H/O) Understanding Reading Comprehension (DCSF Ref: ) Guided Reading KS2 – Institute of Education Starting Stories BFI Education Standards Files Talk for Writing

The Reading Curriculum Shared reading Guided reading Regular independent reading – individual, group and paired Home/school reading Hearing books read aloud on a regular basis Selecting their own choice of texts Reading whole texts Reading cross the curriculum

Teaching and learning in the reading phases Reading analysis and exploration Reading analysis into writing Read as a reader Read as a writer Familiarisation with text Capturing ideas Analysis

Guided Reading How effectively does guided reading develop opportunities for pupils to talk and respond to each other, exploring ideas and shaping meaning and so deepening comprehension? How effectively is guided reading used to focus on next steps for groups of pupils?

Developing Assessment Understanding progression Using lesson study to develop practice in the teaching of reading Developing teacher knowledge of texts Context of the criteria in the assessment guidelines

The Childrens Plan Teaching and learning are most effective when teachers are enthusiastic and knowledgeable and have the confidence to stand back and encourage pupils to become independent learners