Reading at New Swannington Primary School

Building blocks of reading Practise Heard stories Concepts about print Phonics Sight words Speaking and listening

Heard stories Listening to stories is as important as reading books. This should not stop as your child gets better at reading. Listening to stories helps children to: Hear story book language Be able to predict events Supports comprehension Helps children to understand how books work Builds a love of reading Know what story telling sounds like What can I do at home? Read your child a bedtime story every night.

Concepts about print Some children do not automatically learn how a book works. Here are the concepts that they need to know for reading: Front/ back of book Which way up it goes Words and pictures Where to start reading Which way to read Return sweep Letter, word, sentence Punctuation and what we do when we see it A great way to teach these is through shared stories. What can I do at home? Share stories and talk about how books work.

Phonics Phonemes are the sounds that make up words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJx1NSineE In EYFS we teach the speaking and listening skills necessary to use phonics before teaching the sounds. Children need to be able to: Hear environmental sounds and say what they are Say the sound a word begins with Understand rhythm and rhyme Hear and say the sounds in a word cat = c-a-t Hear sounds and blend them to make a word c-a-t =cat Once children are secure with this we move on to learning and using letter sounds. Children in Reception will learn the following sounds: What can I do at home? Listen to sounds in the environment such as cars, kitchen sounds etc. Learn and say rhymes. Clap and tap rhythms. Play games like I spy. 1) Tuning into sounds before we start 2) If they can hear the difference between sounds in the environment they can hear different letter sounds. 3) Rhythms help children to learn the beats and syllables in words which help with blending longer words later on. 4) Once children can hear initial sounds well, I spy could be extended to small words I spy with my little eye a c-a-t.

Speaking and listening It is really important that children can speak in full sentences and listen to themselves when they are talking so that they can check if their reading sounds right. Does it make sense? Was that a real word? Does your reading sound like talking? What can I do at home? Encourage your child to speak in full sentences. When they are reading and their sentence doesn’t make sense ask them: You said ‘The can sat on the mat’. Does that make sense? 1) These skills help with accuracy, fluency (flow of reading) and comprehension (understanding what they have read).

Sight words Some words in the English language cannot be broken down into phonic parts. Others are used that frequently that it is important that children can see them and say them quickly to aid fluency and comprehension. We will send home a book mark with the words that your child is learning. There are nine book marks in total. We will check regularly but if you feel that they are ready for the next book mark let a member of staff know. What can I do at home? When reading to your child see if they can spot the sight words that they are learning at school. Put sight words around the house. Spot them in the environment. Practise them regularly.

Practise It is really important that your child gets lots of practise at reading. Each week if your child reads 4 times they will get a sticker. Reading regularly promotes a love of reading and will allow them to build the understanding of how words, sentences and books work. It is important to read the same book a few times to allow the child to see that a word always stays the same.

Together we can teach your child to read! At school At home Daily phonics session   Sight words around the room and in play. Sight words read daily. Words in the environment Home time story daily Listen to child read Listen to sounds in the environment such as cars, kitchen sounds etc. Learn and say rhymes. Clap and tap rhythms. Play games like I spy. Put sight words around the house. Spot them in the environment and in books. Practise them regularly. Bedtime story Talk about how books work.

Reluctant readers If you are having difficulties getting your child to read their book here are a few things that you can try: Taking it in turns Reading the book silently to yourself and getting excited or laughing a lot Preparing to read to someone different Reading lots of stories, comic books, magazines and information books to your child Making sure that the books that they have match their interests Go through the book before they read it to point out the things that they know already and tell them new words Check how many activities your child is doing after school each week. They may be tired. If you are having difficulties let us know and we will do our best to support you and them. A sense of a joint task makes it less daunting. 2) Children can’t resist something exciting or a secret. Grandparents, relatives, friends etc A range of reading will promote interest. They may not be motivated by the book. They may feel daunted by the task. This makes it feel easier.

What happens next? AT PARENTS EVENING: We are currently working on rhyming and hearing sounds in words. We will give you a book mark to start practising sight words, a reading book without words and reading diary. AT PARENTS EVENING: We will give you sound cards and examples of games to play during Phase 2.

Any questi0ns?