1. Reading Workshop – 1st March 2016 (EE)
Aim: Every student will leave Cardinal Wiseman with their reading age at least the same as their chronological age.

2. Reading at Cardinal Wiseman:
The pupils have an amazing resource at their fingertips full of books chosen by pupils here at Cardinal Wiseman.
There are lots of initiatives working in school to encourage reading amongst the pupils, but what can you also do as parents / carers at home?

3. Reading strategies:
Try to read with your child for minutes per day, or supervise them reading for 30 minutes, with 5 minutes at the end for discussion. If your child struggles to understand the words being read why not try the following strategies:
Phonics: Encourage your child to sound out the word.
Word recognition: Encourage your child to think about the letters and the shape of the words.
Grammar: Encourage your child to think about how the words fit together.
Context: Encourage your child to look at the next word or the next sentence in the text for clues.
We look for clues from different things in the text.

4. Difficulties with English:
Why do you think ‘English’ as a language is difficult to get to grips with? Think-pair-share.
The letters can sound different in different words.
The same sounding word can have a different spelling and different meaning.
Link to phonics.
Meet v meat; break v brake.

5. Phonics:
Phonics encompasses sounds and spelling – recognising letters of the alphabet, knowing the sounds of speech they represent and how they combine together to form words. .
Encourage your child to make the sounds out loud.
b m n p
Consonant sounds (mostly) don’t change but vowels – a, e, i, o, u (and y) - change according to their placing in the word.
Meat break threat
Use phonic knowledge to build the sound of the words. Take each sound and put them together to make the whole word.
Meat has 3 parts – m, ea, t
- You may be familiar with this as it is the technique used a lot in primary schools.
Meat, break and threat sound very different despite having the same ‘ea’ letters. E.g. it’s ‘meat’ not ‘met’, as with ‘threat’. When read in context (you search for the meaning) you are able to recognise what sound the letters / word should make.
Even the most experienced reader uses this strategy when faced with technical terms or names which are unfamiliar.

6. Word recognition:
We recognise some words quickly and on sight because we’ve read them before.
The more people read and the greater their range of reading the more words they will recognise instantly.
Readers also recognise and understand the meaning of words that commonly occur such as –ing, -action etc.
The average adult has in excess of 20,000 words to call upon. The more common the word the more likely it is to be recognised immediately.

7. Grammar:
Our knowledge of English helps us predict what will come next in a sentence.
Hin Spfli was a lop. Alken he goes on a denmore with Ghen. Spfli and Ghen sogat. Fect in the sild they meet more lops. All the lops dund and then festin.
What was Hin Spfli?
Where did Spfli and Ghen go?
What did Spfli and Ghen do?
Who did they meet in the sild?
What did the lops do after dund?
Read the passage out loud and then try to answer the following questions in pairs using the mini-whiteboards. We can still make sense of the passage / answer the questions because of our understanding of how sentences are structured or patterns of English. We need to look at the ordering of the words. E.g. it starts with a name / subject, followed by a verb to tell us what he is. Also for Q5 the words ‘and then’ help us to understand what they did next.

8. Meeting in progress. Please do not disturb.
Context:
We use our knowledge of how books work to help us make sense of what we are reading. We look for clues on the page to confirm what we are reading.
Think about what the book or passage is about. We can work out the meaning of words by thinking about what the expected words might be.
Meeting in progress. Please do not disturb.
It is qutie pissible to read a text with a greta man y mistaeks becos we no hwat we expetc to rade; the sense is ont afectid untl we distreb the construction of the langauge moving by sentences words or about so not they correct are grammatically.
- At first glance the pupils might struggle with the words ‘progress’ and ‘disturb’, but can work out the meaning of these words when they put the rest together.

9. Over to you….
In pairs practise helping your child to read. What techniques might you adopt?
Top tip – always start by discussing the book – What can you remember about the book and what you read last time? What do you think is going to happen next? If it is a new book ask the pupils to discuss what they think the book may be about based on the cover.
Stop part way through the book and ask the pupil to think about what might happen next?
Watch the following video clip and think about how you might apply these techniques at home.

10. Record sheet: Name: E Edwards
Target: 1. Try to read unfamiliar words on my own. 2. Sound out the words I don’t know.
Book: Finding Jo by Steve Sharp
Diary of reading, including date and pages read:
Thoughts about what has been read:
Date:
Pages:
15-25

11. Year 7 parental reading workshop: Engagement at home (LHE)
Aims:
Every student will leave Cardinal Wiseman with their reading age at least the same as their chronological age.
Every student will be encouraged to respond to a book they have read in an engaging manner.

12. What is DEAR at Cardinal Wiseman?
Drop Everything And Read
30 minutes every day
Need a reading age of 16 to access GCSE examinations
Working towards matching their reading ages to their chronological ages
Rewards/incentives for those who improve or are successful in quiz completion
Colour coding

13. This session is catered for the parents of pupils who CAN read but often choose not to do so or do not see the importance of it. What can you do to help us achieve our aims?
Do you ever see your child read at home? What do you see your child read?
What reading happens in your home?
Do you read? Do you set positive examples of reading at home?
Is reading important to you on a personal level? Do you need to read for work or do you read for pleasure?
Have you ever read with your child? How often do you do this?

14. Strategies to encourage reading at home:
Reading focus conversations: When your child reads a book at home ask them to focus on a particular element and then you can lead a discussion around this by asking them a series of focused questions.
Planners: Check the current reading age against the target reading age, and discuss ways in which improvements can be made.
Book reviews: Once they have finished reading a book the pupils are being encouraged to review it and show how they have engaged with the text. This is something you could also do at home.
Other engagement strategies: Not only can your child complete a book review, they could answer questions related to certain aspects of the text such as character or plot, or they could make their own PowerPoint slide or storyboard.
Introduce some of the strategies we currently use in school and what they could do at home.

15. Reading focus conversations
Conversation 1: Upon choosing the book
If your child has chosen a new book at school, why not show your interest and ask them what book they’ve chosen? Why have they chosen it? What do they think it will be about based on the front cover/blurb?
Conversation 2: Whilst reading the book
After reading with your child, ask them how they feel about the book; is it living up to expectations? Who is their favourite character? How do they think the plot will develop?
Conversation 3: After reading the book
Once completed, you could ask your child how they feel about the book as a whole – did it end the way they expected? Were there any clues throughout which made them feel it would end the way it did? Were their opinions different from their predictions from before reading?

16. Key areas of reading
There are four areas of reading which you should try to revolve your questions and tasks around:
Comprehension – Understanding what a text is all about and being able to draw conclusions from that text.
Analysis – Examining the text closely and finding the necessary information to answer a question.
Inference – Making conclusions using evidence and reasoning.
Vocabulary – Understanding the meaning of words and being able to select words of a similar meaning.

17. Possible reading tasks and questions
Use questions that begin with: Who, what, where, why and how to check your reader’s comprehension.
Use character based questions.
Ask if they would make any changes to the book. If so, what would they be?
Ask them to imagine they are one of the characters in the book. Have them write a diary entry following events happening in the story.
Ask them to write a review of the book.
Include ‘true or false’ questions.
Include vocabulary or dictionary tasks.
Include spelling practice tasks.
Give copy to parents – show video of Brandon/Yonatan/Riley/Joshua

18. Character Plot Setting How would you describe the character(s)?
In what way are the characters influential to the text?
Are the characters likeable or not? Why?
What is the plot of the story?
Do you think the plot engages the reader?
Can you think of an alternative start/middle/end?
Is the setting suitable for the story?
Does the setting create a vivid image in your mind? How?
Can you think of a different setting which would be suitable?
Lazarus Serum – bringing people back from the dead. Looks at the concept of bullying people who are different.
Yes – it allows the Pales to have an identity
They all follow the crowd – no identity as individuals
Jed allows a reader to think about the consequences of bullying
Yes, to a degree – could be more detailed and tense to engage a reader fully
No – not enough description
Jed becomes likeable towards the end. Kyle is not likeable because he is a bully.
At a hospital – description of doctors giving the injection
Ending could be less ambiguous

19. Character Plot Setting How would you describe the character(s)?
In what way are the characters influential to the text?
Are the characters likeable or not? Why?
What is the plot of the story?
Do you think the plot engages the reader?
Can you think of an alternative start/middle/end?
Is the setting suitable for the story?
Does the setting create a vivid image in your mind? How?
Can you think of a different setting which would be suitable?

20. Planners
In their planners, students have a specific section dedicated to DEAR. In this section, they can note down their target reading age and their current reading ages. If above, below or on target, pupils are encouraged to give themselves targets to work towards for their next STAR reading test.
By looking at this section of the planner, you can see where your child is currently working, and whether they are on or below target.

21. Book reviews – enhance thoughts on what they’ve read
Characters:
After reading the novel, how would your child describe the characters in the novel? Were they predictable/believable/likeable etc.?
Plot
What happened in the story? This section needs to be brief and general and not give too much away. In a review, the summary of the plot needs to ensure it makes a reader want to read the book themselves – if they include every detail, who needs to read the book?!
Opinions/recommendations
What is your child’s opinion of the novel? Is it what they expected? Did they think it should have been written differently in any way? Would they recommend it to a friend or you? Why/why not?

23. DEAR tutor signature___________________ Parent signature__________________

24. Other engagement strategies
Alternative book cover
If your child has chosen a new book at school, why not show your interest and ask them what book they’ve chosen? Why have they chosen it? What do they think it will be about based on the front cover/blurb?
Storyboards
After reading with your child, ask them how they feel about the book; is it living up to expectations? Who is their favourite character? How do they think the plot will develop?
PowerPoint slides
Once completed, you could ask your child how they feel about the book as a whole – did it end the way they expected? Were there any clues throughout which made them feel it would end the way it did? Were their opinions different from their predictions from before reading?

26. Jed and Kyle, the school bullies, begin to beat up a pale
Jed and Kyle, the school bullies, begin to beat up a pale. A pale is someone who has died, but has come back to earth with white skin, eyes and features.
Jed and Kyle are questioned at school based on the fight with the Pale. They deny what happened, and their friends Sadie, Nate & Ash begin to laugh.
Jed leaves school and is unable to be picked up by his Dad. On the way home, his girlfriend Sadie is about to be hit by a car. He pushes her out the way, and gets hit himself, dying in the process.
Sadie allows Jed to be given Lazarus Serum, which brings Jed back as a pale. He wakes up and is unhappy about her decision.
Jed becomes friends with the boy he once bullied as all his friends have deserted him. He starts to get bullied, but he tries to win back the love of his girlfriend, Sadie.
Jed and Sadie meet up, but she invites all the bullies. They try to kill Jed by setting the meeting place on fire but the plan backfires, and the bullies are left in the burning building. The story is left on a cliff-hanger.

27. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

28. Pale by Chris Wooding
This book is a story about bullying, and how people can deal with bullying in their lives.
However, I personally believe it teaches you to do the wrong thing in a bad situation; rather than solving the issue, it is added to.
A lovely message relating to treating people as though you wish to be treated, but could be done in a more morally acceptable way.

29. Short review – would you recommend?
Name of book & author
Short review – would you recommend?
Picture of novel
DEAR tutor signature:
Parent signature:

30. Following this presentation, what are you going to do?
What are you going to say as to why you were here today?
What changes are you going to make, if any?
How are you going to teach your family the importance of reading?
Do you belong to a local library?
Do you look at books at your local supermarket?

31. Here at Cardinal Wiseman our Library system is support by the Eclipse software system. Alongside this software, Eclipse have now created an App for you to access at home, which once logged into, will allow not only your child to access their library account, but also allow you to access their accounts to see what they are reading.
The following video shows you what the App can do and how you can use the all important technology to engage them with reading through their phones/Ipads or tablets!

32. Date Book Minutes read Pages Parent signature
Thoughts about what I’ve read:
Set a target with your child which they can work towards.
Complete a log at home with your child. You should sign this log and your child should bring it into school every Monday for a member of the DEAR team to sign.
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