READING

 Words are all around us – in signs, in newspapers, in timetables – so reading is a vital skill we need to provide our children with so that they can access the world they live in.

 Phoneme: the sound a letter or letters makes.  Phonics: the teaching of our sound system.  Grapheme: a written representation of a phoneme.  Blending: merging a series of sounds together to make a word.  Decoding: working out an unknown word.  Fluency: the ease with which a child can read a text.  Expression: the way we change our voices when a character is speaking or when we see certain punctuation e.g. !

 Our children begin to learn the skills they will need to become confident, fluent readers as soon they start school.  This begins in YR through the teaching of daily phonics so that the children can begin to learn the phonic sounds needed to crack our alphabetic code.  They use Jolly Phonics songs and actions to help them learn which letter/letters make each sound.  They will also learn the skill of blending sounds together to make words e.g. c-a-t makes cat.

 As children move into Key Stage 1, there continues to be a strong emphasis on the use of phonics to de-code unknown words. o The children will participate in whole class daily phonics sessions. o The focus is on learning new sounds and practising blending and segmenting, real and made up ‘alien’ words (an important skill) o Some words will need to be learnt by sight (high frequency words) as they can’t be sounded out e.g. the/my

 Children also have opportunities each week to apply their phonic skills during Guided Reading sessions, which take place each day.  During this time the teacher and teaching assistant will work with a small group of children on an appropriately levelled text.  Children will read aloud the text and answer questions about it to show they are understanding what they are reading e.g. Predicting what might happen next, discussing how a character is feeling.  During this time, the other children in the class will be involved with a variety of independent reading activities.

 As children progress through Key Stage 2, the emphasis shifts from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’ with a greater emphasis on comprehension skills.  Children begin to find quotations to back up their answers and to consider why an author has chosen a particular word and the impact it has on a reader.  For those children who still need to build on their phonic skills, this will also continue in Key Stage 2.  The structure of Guided Reading sessions continues from Year 1 and 2 with the tasks and texts being clearly differentiated to suit the needs of the children.

 For those children who find reading challenging, we provide a range of different reading interventions to try and support them in closing the gap. These include:  Rapid Readers  Extra phonic groups with Teaching Assistants  Extra reading sessions through Pupil Premium  Daily word grids  Extra practise with reading volunteers

 It will have a huge impact if you can support your child at home by practising their home reading book with them as often as possible.  In Year 1 the children’s book comes from the ORT scheme but from Year 2 onwards, the children choose their own book from a selection at the correct level. This means they should bring home something that appeals to them.  Make it an enjoyable time, offer lots of praise and encouragement. If they are tired/reluctant, offer to share the reading by doing a page each.  A little and often is fantastic.  Please fill in your child’s home reading card so their class teacher knows they are reading at home.

 It is really important that children are able to answer questions about what they are reading.  This shows they are reading for meaning which is the whole purpose of reading.  The questions on the sheet can offer ideas about the sorts of things you could ask children about.

 Join the local library / share the school library books.  Encourage reading for pleasure – able readers may just want to enjoy a simple picture book and less able readers may want to experience chapter books which can be read to them.  Read newspapers – e.g. football reports – or comics.  Read to a younger brother or sister or even a teddy!  Let children see you reading.  Read signs / labels in the environment when you are out and about.  Read recipes when doing some cooking.

 You are now invited to join your children in their classrooms while Guided Reading is taking place.  You will be able to see them involved in either a reading session with their teacher or teaching assistant or in an independent activity(please feel free to help them with this).  In the second part of the session we would like you to take the opportunity to share your child’s current class reading book with them and have a go at asking and discussing some of the questions from the sheet with them.  Please be aware the children are encouraged to maintain as quiet an atmosphere as possible during Guided Reading.  Have a lovely morning!