1. Parents, Children and Teachers Working Together
Learning to Read
Parents, Children and Teachers Working Together
Grafton Primary School – Reception 2017

2. Phonemes and graphemes
Aims
Teaching reading
Phonemes and graphemes
Reading at home
Useful resources

3. Introduction
By the time children enter Reception they already have acquired some basic skills in reading. Think of a book that your child has asked to read again and again. What makes them want to read it over again & again? Think about it’s contents, characteristics, setting, structure and outcomes.

4. Reading On entering Reception children should be able to :
Notice Repetitive Refrain
Word recognition in different contexts e.g. their name
Grasps basic print concepts
Enjoy rhyming books
Recognise story structure; know stories have beginning, middle and end.
Identify the characters, story setting and make predictions.

5. Reading at School By the end of Reception children need to:
Read and understand simple sentences and use their phonic knowledge to decode regular words.
They also need to be able to read the100 High Frequency words (HFW).

6. Shared Reading So how do we teach children to read?
We teach children using big books so that children can see the words and picture clues clearly when reading as a whole class.
We discuss the main events and structure of a story in detail, helping children to re-enact stories independently in their imaginary play.
We teach children that print carries meaning and in English is read from left to right and from the top to the bottom of the page. We do this through pointing to the words and our finger follows the text.
Children are taught that words are made up of letters and when the letters are pushed together they form a word.

7. Your Child’s Reading Book
Your child will bring home their first reading book this week. Our books contain -
Simple text which contain high frequency words (HFW).
Repetitive refrain– so the same phrase/sentence is written page after page, with usually just one word being changed.
Simple illustrations to support children in understanding what they have read. The pictures give clues as to what the new word could be.
Children can apply their phonics skills to decode words, looking at initial and dominant sounds.

8. Group Reading & Individual Reading
Children read in both a whole class and small group context. We teach the children to point to each word as they read. We talk about the stories, ensuring children understand what they have read and that it makes sense to them.
Once children are reading books – pointing to each word as they read, we introduce guided reading.
Guided reading is organised as a small group activity. Specific targets are set for each group, these differ depending on the needs of the group. Children are taught specific skills to apply and given a target.

9. Phonemes and Graphemes
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a word that can change its meaning, e.g. /bed/ and /led/ the difference between the phonemes /b/ and /l/ signals the difference in meaning between the words /bed/ and /led/. In the words /bed/ and /led/ there are three individual phonemes.
Children are taught 44 phonemes. Phonemes are represented in the written form by using letters of the alphabet. We call these graphemes.

10. Phonemes
Segmenting means breaking down words into phonemes to be able to spell words. When we write we segment words.
Blending consists of building up words from their phonemes, pushing the sounds together to be able to read the word. Both skills are important.
When the children are reading we encourage them to blend simple words using their phonic knowledge and you can do this at home. However, be aware that some words can not be blended – we call these tricky words e.g was.

11. High Frequency Words
Children will also bring home HFW – these are words that they should learn to read on sight without the need to blend or segment them. Children should be able to recall these words quickly.
Children will be given 2-3 HFW each week to learn at home.

12. Supporting Reading at Home
Find a quiet place to read e.g. avoid distractions such as the television.
If your child is not happy to read, then try again later.
Read your child’s reading book to them several times.
Encourage your child to tell you the story and talk about the pictures in detail.
Your child will probably become very skilled at ‘reading’ books from memory and looking at the pictures. Talking about the pictures in the book, helps them to do this. Do not cover the pictures.
Show your children that you read – draw their attention to the fact that you read the newspaper, magazines, books, road signs, etc.

13. Supporting Reading at Home
Make obvious mistakes when you read the book, such as reading the wrong word and then checking with the picture. Children learn it is okay to make a mistake and the importance of checking.
Point to the words as you read and prompt your child to do the same.
Encourage your child to use their phonic knowledge with new words – looking at just the initial sounds in words and checking the picture for a clue (we call this cross-checking).
Practise reading the HFW with your child. Can you find them in the book?
Point out repeated words.

14. Supporting Reading at Home
Things to talk about…
What’s going on in the book and what might happen next? Ensure you give your child time to respond.
Characters in the book – how they might be feeling, why they did certain things in the story, etc.
Relate what they have read to their own life experiences, e.g. Have you been to the beach? What did you do there? What was your favourite part?

15. Reading Records
Write comments in the Reading Record – this is really important as it lets us know that your child is a regular reader and we can change their book.
Regular readers will be awarded with a Reading at Home (RAH) certificate.
You don’t have to try out all these ideas at once and remember if your child is not in the mood to read at that time, then try again later. Most importantly…
HAVE FUN!!

16. Reading Records What to write in the reading record- Did they…
Enjoy listening to you read the book
Join in with known or repeated text (repetitive refrain)
Talk about the story and characters
Make links with their own life
Retell the story in the correct sequence
Use the language of the book
Use picture cues to help with their reading
Recognise words (indicate which)
Recognise initial letter sounds (indicate which)

17. Useful Resources
You can visit these websites to support with practising the phonemes:
For word games visit sites such as:
(some games are only available if you subscribe)