1. Learning To Read!

2. The essential ingredients for reading success… To instil a love of reading!To provide children with a high quality programme of phonics teaching

3. What will reading look like? Children will have access to… Literacy Rich Environment Regular Guided Reading Groups Structured Phonics Programme Weekly Library session Supported by…Daily Reading at Home (children reading to you AND you to reading to them) Targeted 1:1 Reading with individuals in school Daily, shared stories with the whole class Cross curricular activities

4. How do we teach children to read? Other things that play an important role. Use of… Picture cues Contextual cues Grammatical Knowledge Word Knowledge/Memory

5. Creating A Passion for Reading Fill your home with books (join the library) READ EVERY DAY! Model good reading behaviour (magazines, newspapers novels etc) Value books and reading Get involved with libraries, book clubs, reading week at school, reading challenges and competitions Let children see the importance and the value of being able to read!

6. Phonics Programme: Letters & Sounds Taught everyday in school at the start of the morning (Mon- Thurs) 20 minutes of intense teaching of letters and sounds A structured and progressive series of stages from Phase 1-6 Differentiated groups to enable children to progress at their own pace. Constant assessment of children’s needs and learning speed

7. Take a look yourself http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/what-is- letters-and-sounds.htmlhttp://www.letters-and-sounds.com/what-is- letters-and-sounds.html 6 progressive phases A child will work through these phases at a pace which is right for them Teachers will regularly assess, to monitor progress and move children onto the next phase

8. Letters and Sounds Phase 1 (Nursery/Rec) Developing listening skills & an awareness of sounds Phase 2-4 (Reception) Children learn how to represent each of the 42 sounds by a letter or sequence of letters How to blend these sounds together to make words (reading) or split them up to spell (writing) How to read and spell high frequency words “tricky words” (may come home for practise)

9. Phase 5 (Year 1) Children learn new ways of representing the same sound and continue to practise blending and segmenting. Phase 6 (Year 2) Children become increasingly fluent readers and more accurate spellers.

10. Developing specific skills in Reception… LILAC : Enjoying & showing an interest in books, handling books correctly, talking about pictures and stories, responding to texts. PINK: Developing 1:1 correspondence, awareness of text and words, initial sounds, blending sounds (eg. cat) and discussion about events. RED: Develop skills to blend more complex words, recognising high frequency words and remembering words they’ve read before. YELLOW: Talking about sentences, developing a bank of recognised words, talking about events, characters and settings. BLUE: Reading words where sounds are represented in different ways, developing fluency and using expression.

11. Which Books? A variety of different picture books, reading schemes & publishers Fiction and Non Fiction Books colour coded according to difficulty throughout the school Different books tend to promote different skills and strategies Free Readers Book Corners for sharing

12. Guided Reading Takes place in small groups, with children of a similar reading level Once a week with a teacher for about 15 minutes Using books of a slightly higher level than that taken home Teacher plans for a specific targeted learning intention for the session Children have copies of the same book and read together, answering questions, supporting each other with strategies and discussing ideas and responses to the text Great for less confident readers and allows for new challenge

13. Reading at Home Children need their reading bags (with book and reading record) EVERY day. Books will be changed on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays Each child will bring home a Reading Record Book which will include a list of skills to work towards, appropriate to the level of the books. Coloured levels will change when teachers feel that the child is ready Please record the name of any book read in the child’s reading record and comment or initial so we know it has been read at home.

14. Reading Deeply Reading is not just a mechanical exercise. It is vital that children enjoy and understand the texts they are reading. Books should be shared at least twice, if not three times! First Time Prediction skills -What is it going to be about? What will happen now? Talking about the pictures and the characters Reading together and building confidence Decoding new words and checking their meaning

15. Second Time Recalling and following the sequence of events- What happened next? What happened at the end? Who was in this story? Practising the text and reading for sense and fluency Third Time Reading confidently and independently, perhaps with some expression Answering deeper questions about the text. Why do you think he did that? How is he feeling? Why? Repeating & mastering a book will create a more confident, motivated reader!

16. What can I do to help my child? Please make sure somebody reads with your child every day (parents, grandparents, siblings) Talk about the pictures, character and story not just the text. Encourage your child to use their knowledge of letter sounds to work out the word, give them time to think, before helping. Don’t read if your child is very tired or unwilling, find a time when they are relaxed and you both have time, don’t rush. Remember initially children may only be able to concentrate for 5 or 10 minutes. Try and make time to read to your child at bedtime each night Join the local library Make sure your child sees you reading for pleasure too!

17. What will reading look like? Children will have access to… Literacy Rich Environment Regular Guided Reading Groups Structured Phonics Programme Weekly Library session Supported by…Daily Reading at Home (children reading to you AND you to reading to them) Targeted 1:1 Reading with individuals in school Daily, shared stories with the whole class Cross curricular activities

18. Useful Reference www.phonicsplay.co.uk www.letters-and-sounds.com www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gxxLnfS5Ts or google “Phonics Literacy - Letters and Sounds of the Alphabet” (You Tube video on pronouncing the letter sounds correctly) www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gxxLnfS5Ts www.wordsforlife.org.uk for recommended books to read with your child at different ages www.wordsforlife.org.uk

19. Please read everyday and make sure reading is fun!