Reading Meeting Thursday 28 November 2013

Welcome! * This meeting will focus on how reading is taught in school. Give you some ideas to enable you to support your children’s learning and development at home.

Reading How do children learn to read? Use pictures; Phonics -become familiar with letter sounds Blend sounds to help with reading; Learn tricky words as sight vocabulary; Use context; PRACTISE, PRACTISE and more PRACTISE! Specific!

What do we do in school? Phonics lessons - Letters and Sounds; Jolly Phonics; Individual, shared and guided reading; Word walls; Oxford Reading Scheme; Story telling; Print rich environment; Reading buddies; Independent activities to promote reading. Specific!

Letters and Sounds What’s involved at Phase 1? These skills are crucial for your child’s development as reader, writers and speakers; You can help by sharing nursery rhymes, singing simple songs, playing alliteration and rhyming games, listening and describing sounds. Sound discrimination, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, oral blending ;

What’s involved in Phase 2? Letter sounds taught individually at first, not in alphabetical order; It is very important to say the pure sound and not add an ‘uh’! m a t Some words cannot be ‘sounded out’ and children need to learn these by sight eg the, said, was.

What are ‘Word Walls’? Tricky words High frequency words

What’s involved in Phase 3? The aim of phase 3 phonics is to recognise digraphs (this is when 2 letters make one sound) and use them when they are reading and writing more complex words e.g. toad, feet, boat, farm; Children are expected to read and spell these words in simple sentences.

What’s involved in Phase 4? In Phase 4, no new graphemes are introduced. The main aim is to consolidate children’s knowledge and to help them learn to read and spell words which have adjacent consonants, such as trap, string, and milk.

What’s involved in Phase 5? In Phase 5, children will learn more graphemes and phonemes. For example, they already know ai as in rain, but now they will be introduced to ay as in day and a_e as in make. Alternative pronunciations are taught: eg tin – wild dog – cold

What’s involved in Phase 6? The children in this phase are able readers who now need support with alternative spellings, tenses and spelling rules.

How do books at school cater for children’s needs? Text-less books; Book band colours Wide range of books Changing books regularly, different types of books.

What can I do to help my child at home? * Quiet place for regular reading; * Use school books; * Word Walls; * Enjoyable shared reading experiences eg bedtime; * Provide other reading material; comics, instructions, recipes, on screen. * Visit the library together.

Remember: All children learn in different ways and at different rates; Be positive and patient; Read on a regular basis, aiming for 5-10 minutes each night; Speak to your child’s teacher if you have any concerns; Keep home reading books in book bags; Children may like to go back to their favourite stories again and again.

Thank you for listening and for your continued support -it makes a massive difference!