Welcome to our Primary 5 Reading Workshop

What do you think makes a good reader? Is it that they … know all their sounds and can blend them together to make words? read with fluency – no stumbling? read with expression – tell the story?

Please read to yourself The drig blant ast frum clep. You were able to sound out the letters - You may even be able to read it with expression but… …Were you reading?

Should a good reader be able to: understand obvious meaning in the passage? What about: understand any hidden meanings of the passage?

We need to equip our children with strategies to help them to know how to understand the text We need to teach our children how to actually engage with text for deeper meaning.

What makes a good reader? They think while they are reading They ask themselves questions They can visualise what they are reading They can clarify unknown vocabulary They can summarise what they have read They can predict what might happen next

How do we achieve this? To do this successfully we teach our children strategies for: Before reading During reading After reading

We will look at: The strategies used in ‘Reciprocal Reading’ to encourage children to engage with texts. How some of these strategies are used before, during and after reading. How these strategies encourage children to think about what they are reading.

The Strategies Predicting Questioning Summarising Clarifying Roles = Boss, questioner, summariser, predictor, clarifier – we must help the children develop these roles and so will now explain how we help them do this.

Predicting Prediction is a reading skill which can develop with practice. Prediction helps to engage the reader throughout the story. Children should predict by: Using clues from what has been read Using clues from the illustrations to help figure out what may happen in the text I think …. I predict … I think this text will be about…

Questioning Who… What… When… Where… Why… How… What if… I wonder… Children are encouraged to create questions, based on what they have read, to challenge others and themselves Encouraged to self- question as they are reading to enable them to fully comprehend what they are reading. Who… What… When… Where… Why… How… What if… I wonder…

Roles = Boss, questioner, summariser, predictor, clarifier – we must help the children develop these roles and so will now explain how we help them do this.

Summarising Children are encouraged to: Tell the group what has been read in their own words. Identify the important information, not the little details. Keep it as short as they can! This develops children’s ability to identify the main idea of a text. The most important ideas are … The main idea is … This part was about … First, ….. Next, …. Then, … This story takes place in … The main characters are … The problem of the story is …

Clarifying ‘Clarifying’ involves the children using strategies to break the text down in order to help their understanding.

Some clarifying strategies: Stop and think about what has already been read Re-read Use clues in the sentence containing the unfamiliar word(s), the sentence before and after Try and connect the text to something read in another book, what they know about the world or to something others have experienced Look for base or root words, prefixes, or suffixes Keep reading to see if you can get a sense of the definition

These are just some of the strategies we teach the children to help them engage with texts for deeper meaning. Shortly you will have the chance to peruse a selection of resources and activities commonly used in our classrooms.

How can you help at home? Talk together Read together Revisiting favourites together Making choices Check understanding - by using some strategies before, during and after reading. Make connections to their own life experiences and previously read texts.

Reading Workshop Thank you for taking the time to come along tonight. We would now like to invite you to go to Room 6, where you can have a look through a selection of resources and activities we use in our lessons. Before you leave, please complete your evaluation form and leave it in the green tray by the door in Room 6. Also, don’t forget your goody bags!