1. East Ardsley Primary Academy
Reading at KS2: an overview for parents Good evening and welcome. Please read through the text on your table while we are waiting for everyone to arrive.
East Ardsley Primary Academy

2. The aims of this evening:
To provide a brief overview of the New National Curriculum for English with a focus on reading;
To look at the different elements of reading;
To look at the types of questions used for assessment purposes;
To explain how our new reading scheme, ‘Accelerated Reader’ works;
To outline ways of how you can help your child to make good progress in reading.

3. New Curriculum: KS2 English
More emphasis on the following:
Poems and play scripts to be performed;
Deep understanding (inference and deduction);
Familiarity with a wide range of books and poetry;
Reading for pleasure;
Comparisons between texts;
Increase in difficulty of texts and questions equivalent to an advance of months.

4. Why is reading still important?
Reading allows pupils to develop:
Culturally
Emotionally
Intellectually
Socially
Spiritually

5. Ways for others to communicate with us
The New Curriculum
All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society.
Speaking
Listening
Ways for others to communicate with us
Ways to Communicate
English
Writing
Reading

6. When reading independently
Word reading
Comprehension
Decoding Encoding
When reading independently
When
listening
At KS1 there is a huge emphasis on phonics in the early teaching of reading.
By the end of primary school, all pupils should be able to read fluently with confidence in any subject they will encounter in secondary school.

7. New style ‘Guided Reading’
Rich texts are read together on one day out of the five sessions;
Huge importance is placed on the children discussing the text;
In Y5/6, the children pass ideas and comments around the room, responding to each other with less adult intervention than previously;
The children practise the skills covered in the ‘rich’ text session as the week progresses and in their Reading Journals.
Let’s have a quick look at the text on your table…

8. Let’s have a go…!
This text has very long, complex sentences. Why does the writer use these types of sentences?
Do you think this text is meant to be funny or serious? Explain your opinion, using examples from the text.

9. A simplified view of reading+
Good language comprehension,
poor word recognition,
Good word recognition,
good language comprehension - +
Poor word recognition,
poor language comprehension
Good word recognition,
poor language comprehension -

10. Reading comprehension is complex. As they read, successful readers…
Activate background knowledge.
Make predictions/ask questions.
Visualise when necessary.
Identify important words/phrases/ideas.
Monitor meaning during text reading.
Detect understanding breakdown and use repair strategies.
Make connections and integrate meaning.
Use inference.
Summarise for their own benefit.
In addition, they read frequently and widely to develop vocabulary and text experience
A successful reader is active, constantly responding to the text.

11. Reading through ‘the lines’
(literal reading and understanding)
Reading through ‘the lines’
(inferential and deductive reading)
Reading beyond ‘the lines’
(evaluative and comparative reading)

12. Inference: a subjective process where the reader determines what the author is suggesting, using background knowledge and prior experience.
Activate background knowledge
Make predictions/ask questions
Visualise when necessary
Identify important words/phrases/ideas
Make connections and integrate meaning
To use inference, we must read like a detective. We find the clues, across the text and use them to add layers of understanding, building a rich picture in our head

13. Make connections and integrate meaning
Use inference
Summarise and synthesize
Read frequently and widely to develop vocabulary and text experience
In order to be able to compare and contrast across texts, you need to have a wide range of text experience… you need the skills to be able to know something that is the same, and something that is different
You need to be able know what you like and why, and what you don’t like and why. To have an opinion.
Level 6 readers (according to 2ndary school teacher) are the ones whose parents go the extra mile….
What can we do to go the extra mile?
And cos we are busy, what can we do in the car?!!!

14. So, how can you help? Get out and about!
Inference depends on a child bringing their knowledge and experience of the world to help interpret the text…

15. Encouraging reading for pleasure
“Study after study has shown that performance on tests of reading comprehension is heavily influenced by the amount of self-selected, free and voluntary reading that children do” Michael Rosen
‘Reading for pleasure’ means reading what you chose to read, because it has personal meaning and appeals to your preferences.
Children need reading material…. Fill your houses with books… you can get them really cheaply from the charity shop!
Let children choose their own books to read.
Give books as presents (boys and reading)
Model reading ….in lots of different forms…..
Also try reading to children still… a book that they wouldn’t can’t yet read for themselves. They need to hear the language of written text, and learn vocabulary and language structures

16. Any sort of reading material, self chosen, doesn’t matter if they re-read stuff, wide range, in any capacity…
And it is worth considering the kindle/ipad/book debate….
My feeling is that it as well, not one or the other.
My daughters just move from one to the other independently, without even considering it. It isn’t that I have books or kindle, it is that I have books and kindle and comics and magazines and blogs etc…
Consider how much reading as parents you do in front of children. We are models -

17. Finding books… Lovereadingforkids.co.uk
Federation of Children’s Book Groups
Children’s Best Book Guide
National Literacy Trust
Blogs….
Other children!

18. Reading with children
It is vitally important to carry on reading with children in KS2;
Share a book, page by page, chapter by chapter or poem by poem;
Explore a more sophisticated picture book;
Read the same story independently…then discuss the text, watch the film, or go to the theatre and make comparisons
You can do it in the car!!
consider what is available… reading war horse, watch the film (compare and contrast, explore the idea that the film is one person’s interpretation of the book, is yours the same? If not why not?), see it at the theatre… how does that compare, do you understand it more, read other books set in the 1WW…
Or read David Walliams, watch it on telly – Gangsta granny…. Or the Gruffalo etc etc…

19. Talk is important!
Listening comprehension and reading comprehension use the same skills;
Vocabulary building is essential – what words mean, what phrases mean, words that mean the same, words that mean different things.
How we can talk is important too…
Helps make them better writers too! Yippee!!

20. Good readers ask questions…
When we read, we make predictions, ask ourselves questions about the text and then look out for the answer.
If the answer is not what we expect, we are prompted to go back and check 
It is more powerful if we can get children to ask the questions themselves….
We need to ask questions, and encourage children to ask questions…

21. Open question starters….
I wonder if….
I wonder why…
Tell me about….
Why do you think….
Tell me more
How do you know….
Things to open a discussion that ranges backwards and forwards
Look for children to draw ideas from across the text, using direct examples from the text

22. Retelling is an important skill…
Good readers do not need to remember the exact words of a text, they remember the ‘gist’;
In order to retell a story, you have to be able to pick out the important parts of the story (summarise) and put them into your own words (synthesize);
Encourage children to use the language of the story they have been reading.
Another form of talk,,,,

23. Share jokes… Tell jokes, explain jokes;
Jokes help develop a child’s depth of vocabulary and understanding of grammar.

24. Provide reading mileage Encourage children to ask questions
In summary…
Provide reading mileage
Lots and lots of books, magazines, web pages, comics or newspapers; provide any opportunity to read.
Get out and about… enjoy as much real-life experience as possible.
Tell jokes; why are they funny?
Watch adverts; what are tricks are they using?
Talk
Model reading
Try reading the same book to discuss it together.
Read age-appropriate articles from the newspaper together.
But remember that reading should be fun, at home!
If in doubt, ask!
Ask questions…
Explore what words mean and play with language.
Encourage children to ask questions

26. Accelerated Reader What is ZPD? How is it calculated?
What will happen with my child’s reading books from school?
How will it help my child to progress in reading?
What can I do to support Accelerated Reader?