KS1 With Miss Parker and Mrs Martin

In the Early Years of a child’s life Children begin by Recognising people Object recognition Symbolic awareness (photos and drawing) Rhythm and rhyme Left to right sequencing and direction of the print Interest in books Enjoyment of stories Book conventions Reads stories from memories

In Mayflower in Early Years Children enter Mayflower with a reading book without words. Inference and deduction are two key areas in reading. Inference and deduction begins very early on, when children look at pictures.

Pictures and Images Pictures can tell a story without words. Children will look at facial expressions of the characters, what characters are doing and wearing to gather information. Children read the picture to find out what has happened, might happen and is happening. Pictures help children to recall what has happened and retell a story in their own words. It is important that pictures are not covered up. It is an important skill and isn’t cheating! This skill continues to develop in both KS1 and KS2. It is not wrong for a Year 6 to look at picture books to continue to develop these skills.

Reading and discussion in KS1 Reading is a discussion about the book as well as reading aloud. Typical questions you can ask your child about a book they are reading. (Responding to the text/picture) Who are the characters? What has happened? How do you know that? What do you think will happen next? Why? How would you feel if…? How are the character’s feeling? How do you know that? What do you think of the book? Why do you think that?

Reading aloud in KS1 Children read the initial letter sound first. They move to using their phonics to blend and segment their words. Segmenting is breaking apart. Blending is putting it back together. e.g. Cat = c a t = cat Train = T r ai n = Train

Things to do Talk about books and pictures Explain what the book is about Ask children to predict “What might happen next?” Ask children to talk about what has happened “Which words/sentences did you like?” Encourage children to use expression in their voice Make a game out of common words used in reading.

Phrases to use “Well done, you had a go” “Well done, you used good expression” “Good, you corrected yourself” “Good try, but did that make sense?” “I like how you re-read that bit to check you understood/got it right” “Don’t forget to follow the punctuation” “Let’s try reading that word again”

Important things to remember To improve fluency let your child read to the end of the sentence if they make a mistake. This is because, children might notice themselves that the sentence doesn’t make sense and will automatically self correct. It is also giving them the opportunity to self correct. If they don’t notice, take them back to the mistake and read it how they have read it. Then see if they notice the error. You can discuss this afterwards. You can simply say, “Does that make sense?” Keep the reading sessions short. 10-15 minutes at the most. As soon as reading starts to become a struggle, children loose interest and that is not want we want.

Important things to remember Children will often substitute words with others, but the meaning can still be the same. E.g. She has two sisters. She had two sisters (error) She works in the house. She works in the home (error) Sometimes, it doesn’t make sense and alters the meaning. Her sisters will not help He sisters will not help

KS2 With Miss Parker and Mrs Martin

KS2 Children use lots of different knowledge at the same time when reading. They look at pictures to help assess what is going on. They look at the visual patterns of words and letters. They listen to hear if it makes sense and if the context is correct.

Non-Fiction texts What you read at home does not just have to be a story book. It is important to use a variety of texts. Comics, newspapers, leaflets, information books are all good choices.

Question examples If a mistake has been made. Does it make sense? Would we say that? Does that sound right? Encourage self correction. Congratulate them on self correction. It is a skill to go back to something that doesn’t make sense and work out why.

Question examples Try to use open questions that explore and encourage discussion. What sort of character do you think he might be? What is this poem/story/letter/non fiction piece about? What makes you think that? Who do you identify with in this story? Why do you think that? What does this sentence/phrase mean? What words give you that impression? Can you explain why? Do you agree with …’s opinion? Are there any patterns you notice? (familiar story structures, rhyme, repetition, images) Can you summarise this chapter/paragraph/extract? How is this story different/similar to one you have recently read?

Simple things to do at home to practice reading Make a game out of the common words used in reading. Encourage older children to share a book with a younger sibling. They can read their book to them.