Helping Your Child to Learn to Read St Alphege CE Infant School and Sunbeams Nursery

How we help in school… Nurture a love of reading. Use Book banding to give children clear target for reading and a range of books to choose from. Teach reading every day using phonics and guided reading. Reinforce through the whole curriculum. Encourage reading at home.

Tips for Success Read every day Talk about the books every day Sit somewhere comfy Give your child your FULL attention Help your child to track the words as they read PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE!

What do I say when my child is stuck on a word? Sound out the word Sh i p Try “sound buttoning” the word. Move your finger under each sound, saying the sound as you do… (‘ssshhh’ i p) Then blend the sounds to say the word. (Ssship) (Ship)

Find the different sounds (phonemes) and keep them pure Say sssss not ‘suh’ Say tttt not ‘tuh’ See an example from this link… http://phonicbooks.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/how-to-say-the-sounds-of-letters-in-synthetic-phonics/ Caution- this will link to the main U-Tube website

Look at the picture Is there a clue to guess the word? I play with the …

Consider the initial letter and link it to the picture I have a hat and s…….

“Peter Pan shot the …… from his bow.” Read on and go back “Peter Pan shot the …… from his bow.”

What is the book about?

Learn the sight vocabulary together… here 1. Find the words in books. you 2. Hide them around the house. was 3. Try a few every day and 4. Practice again and again. we said all no

Ask your child questions about the book… What is going to happen next? Who are the characters? What has happened so far? What do you like most about the story?

Reading for meaning… What word tells you that she is angry? How do we know that it was dark? How can we tall that he was dreaming? Which route should he of taken and why?

Reading beyond books… Share comics Play word games Read signs Put subtitles on the TV

Show your child that you enjoy reading!

Pink Book Band (working towards Level 1 – WC/WB) • Find title • Open front cover • Turn pages properly • Understand that the left page comes before the right • Understand that we read from left to right • Point to each word as it is read – 1:1 correspondence • Use the meaning of the text • Use language patterns • Predict the story • Predict some unknown words • Recognise some letters by what they look like or sound like • Read one word for each word seen

Red Book Band (Working towards level 1 – WA) • Find and remember title • Match written and spoken words 1:1 • Use known words to help understand the sentence • Repeat words, phrases or sentences to check and be sure of understanding • Blend and read CVC words • Use phonic knowledge to attempt unknown words • Read on sight familiar and important words • Recognise 10 tricky words

Yellow Book Band (1C) • Use punctuation to help reading • Notice familiar words and letter patterns and use these to help read new words • Find things that are the same or similar in different texts e.g. Curly the Caterpillar • Predict in more detail • Read on sight familiar and important words • Say what they do and don’t like about a text • Talk about stories and other texts identifying main points and themes • Use phonic knowledge to attempt unknown words • Read to the end of a sentence to work out an unfamiliar word • Read about 15 tricky key words

Blue Book Band (1C) • Take notice of meaning, words and sentence structure, to help us read • Self correct more quickly during reading • Re-read to make the text sound more interesting and to help us understand it • Solve new words using different clues – meaning of the sentence, known words, letter patterns, using what you already know about a word or sentence • Read a wide range of books and types of text • Talk about the book and show we have understood • Use awareness of grammar to help decipher new or unfamiliar words • Blend phonemes to read words containing consonant clusters and long vowel phonemes • Read about 20 tricky words • Identify and discuss main events and key points in a text

Green Book Band (1B) • Read fluently noticing punctuation • Read familiar texts aloud with fluency and expression appropriate to the grammar • Solve new words using a range of clues and investigating words that fit • Track lines of text without finger pointing • Read a range of texts • Talk about the character and story plot in detail • Blend phonemes to read words containing consonant clusters and long vowel phonemes • Sustain independent reading to complete texts • Locate specific information in a text to find the answers (retrieval) • Understand how simple diagrams and charts add information • Relate story setting and incidents to own experience

Orange Book Band (1A) • Read more complex sentences • Solve new words using a range of clues and cross check • Notice a range of punctuation • Infer meaning and work out what the author is suggesting • Recognise the full range of vowel digraphs and trigraphs • Identify syllables in order to read polysyllabic words

Turquoise Book Band (1A) • Read different genres more confidently • Use punctuation and text layout to read expressively • Keep reading through longer sentences and paragraphs • Work out and tackle a larger number of more difficult words • Recognise common prefixes and suffixes and regular verb endings to construct the meaning of words in context • Make simple inferences about thoughts, feelings and reasons for actions

Purple Book Band (2C) • Look at lots of different texts with independence and predict • Read silently at a good pace, using punctuation to help • Work out most unknown words “on the run” • Identify some literary effects writers use e.g. good adjectives • Use reading to extend speaking and listening • Understand how to use alphabetically ordered texts to retrieve information, written vocabulary • Scan the text to find specific answers • Make simple inferences about thoughts, feelings and reasons for actions

Gold Book Band (2B) • Confidently predict the content and layout of a text by looking through • Read silently at a rapid pace, using punctuation to help • Work out most unknown words "on the run" • Take notice of literary effects writers use • Use reading to extend speaking and written vocabulary • Read aloud with intonation and expression, taking account of the punctuation e.g. speech marks and exclamation marks • Generate questions before reading and use bibliographical knowledge to help retrieve specific information • Identify how ideas link and how a writer does this

White Book Band (2A) • Read silently most of the time • Stay interested in longer texts and returns to them easily after a break • Search for and find information in texts easily • Notice the spelling of unknown words and relate to new words • More aware of vocabulary and exact meanings • Discuss and offer own opinions and ideas about the text • Begin to understand the effects of different words and phrases e.g. to create humour, images and atmosphere • Evaluate the usefulness of the information in particular texts for answering questions • Understand the deeper un-stated meaning of a text

Lime Book Band / Free reader (L3) • Recognise a range of prefixes and suffixes to construct the meanings of words in context • Recognise the function of the apostrophe for omission and pronounce contracted forms correctly • Recognise a full range of consonant digraphs e.g. kn, wr, ph • Understand how pronouns in 1st, 2nd and 3rd person forms are used in sentences and apply this info to maintain understanding when reading • Know how language is used to create effects e.g. adjectives and adverbs and use to create detailed mental images • Understand the difference between prose and play script • Explore underlying themes and ideas, making clear reference to text • Discuss the actions of the main characters and justify views using evidence from the text (f) • Sustain silent reading to include longer, more complex texts • Draw on knowledge of authors and types of books they write to inform choices

Lime Book Band / Free reader contd… • Understand how dialogue is punctuated and laid out and read with appropriate expression • Read aloud with intonation and expression taking account of punctuation e.g. commas to mark pauses • When reading aloud show awareness and understanding of the different voices in stories (f) • Read aloud confidently to an audience e.g. playscript, performance poem or favourite passage from a text • Understand how to use indexes to locate specific info • Use bibliographical knowledge e.g. indexes to locate specific info • Understand the features of page layout in non-fiction texts e.g. subheadings, labels, diagrams, charts (nf) • Identify the main point and summarise orally the content of a passage of text (nf) • Use notes to summarise the main points from a passage of text (nf) • Evaluate the usefulness of information e.g. follow instructions to see if they work (nf)