1. Reading Workshop 5th December 2018
How can we help our children become fluent readers?

2. The ability to read is vital
It paves the way for success in school and later life.
Research shows that it's the single most important thing you can do to help your child's education.
There are many reasons why we read and therefore why children will read:
for pleasure and interest
for work
to learn about the world e.g. in papers
to obtain information e.g. recipes and signs

3. Impact of regular reading on Reading Attainment
In order to determine the impact of regular reading at home, action research was completed in this area during the summer term of This research was undertaken in Year 2.
Attainment:
All of the children in Year 2 completed assessments as part of their learning. These assessments gave information about their reading ages.
The average reading age of the children who regularly read at home was 9 years and 9 months.
The average reading age of children who did not regularly read at home was 7 years and 4 months.

4. Impact of regular reading on Reading Attainment
At the end of Year 2, children are assessed against the end of KS1
expectations. The following data shows the impact of regular reading
at home on these outcomes.
Children who regularly read at home
Children who did not regularly read at home
% of children working towards the expected standard 0%
58%
% of children achieving the expected standard
43%
34%
% of children working at greater depth
57% 8%

5. Fluency: What is it?
Reading fluency is a child's ability to read a book or other text correctly, quickly and with expression.
Fluency comprises:
automaticity – fast, effortless word recognition and decoding
prosody – reading smoothly and effortlessly with expression, proper intonation and phrasing
A fluent reader doesn't have to stop and "decode" each word. Rather, most of the words can be read automatically. This means the reader can focus his/her attention on what the story or text means.

6. Fluency: Why is it important?
Fluency develops the skills of reading accurately with appropriate pace and expression.
Fluency and reading comprehension are closely related – pupils who read in a laboured, choppy and disfluent manner commonly have difficulty understanding what they read.
For that reason, fluency is critically important — it is the bridge between decoding words and understanding what has been read.
The development of fluency is one of the key ways to develop effective readers.

7. Does fluent just mean fast?
“Children may become monotone race-readers who skid through words, grasping a gist at best.”
Comprehension actually declines as children learn to blow through full stops, commas, and other forms of punctuation in their quest for speed in reading.
Skilled readers slow down, vary their rate and think about their reading as they're going.

8. How can we help our children become fluent readers?

9. Paired or "Buddy" Reading
The easiest and best way to help your child develop fluency is to sit with your child and read! Read together every day, which is often called paired or buddy reading. To use paired reading, simply take turns reading aloud. You go first, as your reading provides a model of what good fluent reading sounds like. Then, ask your child to re-read the same page you just read. You'll notice that your child's reading will start to sound more and more like yours. Do this for several pages. Once your child is comfortable enough, and familiar enough with the book, take turns reading page for page.

10. Re-read Favourite Books
Another way parents can help develop fluency is to build a tall stack of books that your child can read quickly and easily. Encourage your child to re-read favourite books over and over again. With each reading, you may notice your child reading a bit easier, a bit faster, and with a bit more confidence and expression.

11. Record It Another fun way to practice reading and build fluency
is to have your child create their own audio books.
This can be done simply with a tape recorder or audio
app (like Audioboo) on your phone. Or, use something more sophisticated like StoryKit. Regardless of the method you choose, your child will be practicing what they want to record and that reading practice is critical. Sharing your audio recordings with family and friends is a great motivator too!

12. Read a good quality text
It is great for children to re-read their favourite books as it’s most important that they love to read!
However, once your child is becoming more fluent it is key that they read a variety of texts, both fiction and non-fiction. There are many excellent authors but some children’s books don’t do enough to stretch your child’s vocabulary and to get them thinking at a higher level.
Are there words in the books that make them think?

13. The importance of Vocabulary
Children need to have a secure understanding of the vocabulary in the text in order to be able to understand it.
Research shows that children need to know 95% of the words in the text to successfully comprehend it.

14. The importance of Vocabulary

15. The importance of Vocabulary

16. The importance of Vocabulary

17. The importance of Vocabulary

18. Vocabulary Strategies
Clarify unfamiliar words when reading with your child
Use lots of different words that mean the same thing
Give children opportunities to use new words in different contexts
Encourage independent clarification strategies – reading around the word, substituting in the text, looking at the root word, thinking of words that are similar or have the same roots

19. Any questions??