Reading together for fun and for pleasure

Tips to encourage reading * Never "rubbish" anything a child wants to read. Even the flimsiest, trashiest material helps build reading stamina * Value all reading, including web pages, instructions and magazines * Be seen absorbed in books yourself, especially if you are male and the child is a boy * Take children to bookshops, libraries and book-related events * Read children's books yourself and show real interest in them * Restrict time spent with TV and computers and do not allow them in children's bedrooms!!!

Activity using the mischievians

Looking for clues and talking about the book

Sharing the book together Some ideas… Take your child on a bear hunt. You could hide a teddy bear somewhere in the house and act out the story at home. Could you take a tray of mud, some grass, water and snow (ice from the freezer or small bits of paper) outside and retell the story. Could your child use a favourite toy (doll, teddy) to be the character in the story. Clap the story with your child. The story has an excellent rhythm; you could start of slowly and then get quicker and quicker.

It’s not all about the words Can you make models of or pictures of skeletons? You could use straws, chalk, pastels, black paper. Buy a cheap toy skeleton from a children’s shop (WHSmiths). Introduce him as Scaredybones to the children. Tell your children he gets frightened at night, how could you make him feel better?   Can you use some old clothes and white fabric at home with your child to make skeleton costumes. Can you all dress up and make a different skeleton family? Take photographs and with your children make up some new stories using play as a starting point.

Using the book to encourage play Hunt the bone Everyone shuts their eyes while someone hides a bone (use something that looks a bit like a bone and just call it a bone). Whilst everyone is hunting the person who hid it can hum a tune and get louder if one of the people gets nearer to it. Chase the tail Use a long sock, a scarf or something familiar. Tuck the end into the back of someone’s trousers or belt. Count to ten to allow them to run away. Everyone chases them and tries to snatch the tail. Make some puppets Puppets can be used to help tell the story. You could tell the actual story or make up a story of your own. Use the middle of a kitchen roll; stuff it with newspaper to make it stronger. Join some kind of stick, perhaps an old ruler to the kitchen roll. Now be as creative as you like. Use anything you have to hand to make a dog – wool, tissues, newspaper and scraps of material.

Prior Knowledge Activation Home School Prior Knowledge Activation Activating prior knowledge can develop children’s understanding by helping them see links between what they already know and new information they are encountering Prediction The aim of this strategy is to encourage reasoning whilst reading and test predictions. It also establishes a purpose for the children’s reading. Constructing images Creating visual images can improve comprehension by linking prior experiences to new information. Summarising Effective summarising involves the children evaluating a text and deciding which elements of it are most significant Questioning/Clarifying Using questioning as a tool to clarify understanding.

Common Questions

How can I find the right book? Listen to your child and find out what sort of books he or she enjoys. Ask other parents and your child’s teacher for tips on what to read. Find out about recommended books at libraries, bookshops and on book websites.

Nestle Smarties Book Awards The Carnegie Medal The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children. Kate Greenaway Medal The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in 1955 for amazing illustration in children’s books. Nestle Smarties Book Awards Go to a fiction book or poem written especially for children by an author who lives in the UK.

What do I do if my child picks a book that is too hard? You could read part of it and talk about the ideas and pictures. Children can enjoy more difficult books than they can read on their own. Why is my child taking longer than others to read? Most children learn to read between the ages of four and seven, but children really do learn at different rates. What matters is that they know books are fun.

Is it all right to read to my child in my first language? How do I find the time? Getting together with a book for just ten to twenty minutes a day, or several times a week, is a great support. Is it all right to read to my child in my first language? It’s great for children to hear stories and rhymes in the language that is spoken at home. Children are much better than adults at dealing with two languages.

Finally Make a special time and place to read the book together Enjoy laughing together at the funny bits. Help bring the book to life – draw pictures of your child’s favourite characters and make up stories about them together. Talk about what is happening in the pictures. This will help your child make sense of the story.