Content Reading with understanding How reading is taught Supporting your child at home What is good reading material? Reading and boys Your Google Drive resources English as an Additional Language

Reading with understanding

Blobdags like nutto What do the blobdags like? This proves that you do not need to

understand every sentence to be able to answer questions on a text

It is called ‘barking at print’ Our aim is for students to read with

understanding rather than just say words out loud

How reading is taught

Quiet periods of reading for enjoyment A class story One-to-one with the class teacher or teaching

assistant Bloom’s Taxonomy ‘Assessment Foci’ When the students can read the words fluently,

a deeper understanding is now possible

How can I help my child to develop these skills?

So how are these skills taught to a 7-11 year old?

“Fetch!”AF2

Just like a dog retrieving a stick, we need to go into the text to find, pick up and use information quickly and accurately.

“Hmm…..”AF3

For these questions we are text “detectives” searching for “clues” so that we can comment on characters, motives, events and ideas as well as making predictions.

“Sort it!”AF4

Imagine a tidy tray with everything in its place to help us find just what we want. For these questions, we are explaining how texts are organised to guide a reader, using correct names such as “glossary, captions and sub-headings”.

“Words! Words!”

AF5

For these questions we need to think about and explain how writers use words, and how particular words and phrases make a text more powerful.

“What do we think?”

AF6

For these questions we are thinking about why the writer has written the text, what the writer thinks and what we as readers think about a text.

“To boldly go” questions

AF7

For these questions we are thinking about what the text tells us about other cultures, times and places. What makes this writer special and how does their writing compare with that of others? What do we know about this type of text.

Reading ActivitiesUsing Bloom’s Taxonomy

RememberingRecognise, Describe, Identify, Retrieve, Name…

Make a list of the main events of the story

Make a time line of events Make a facts chart Write a list of the pieces of

information you can remember

Make a chart showing the events of the story

Make an acrostic poem Name all the characters in

the story What animals were in the

story?

UnderstandingInterpret, Exemplify, Summarise, Paraphrase, Explain, Classify, Compare Cut out or draw pictures to

show a particular event Illustrate what you think

the main idea may have been

Make a cartoon strip showing the sequence of events

Make a colouring book What do you think could

have happened next?

Write and perform a play based on the story

Retell the story in your own words

Write a summary report of the event

Prepare a flow chart to illustrate the sequence of events

Explain why a character acted the way they did

ApplyingImplement, carry out, use

Construct a model to show how it works

Make a diorama to illustrate an event

Make a scrapbook about the text read

Make a model to include relevant information about an event

Make a story map for part of the story

Take a collection of photographs to demonstrate a particular point

Make up a puzzle game Paint a familiar scene from

the story Write a textbook about this

topic for other

AnalysingCompare, attribute, organise, deconstruct

Which events could not have happened?

What do you see as other possible outcomes?

What was the turning point of the story?

Design a questionnaire to gather information

Write an advert to sell a new product

Make a flow chart to show the critical stages

Construct a graph to illustrate selected information

Make a family tree showing relationships

Devise a play about the topic

Prepare a report about the area of study

EvaluatingCheck, critique, judge, hypothesis

Is there a better solution to…?

Was the main character a good or bad person? Why?

List 5 strengths & 5 weaknesses of the main character or plot

Conduct a debate about an issue from the book

Make a booklet about 5 rules you see as important. Convince others

What changes would you make to turn the bad guy into the hero?

How would you rate this book and recommend it to others?

CreatingDesign, construct, plan, produce

Invent a machine to do a specific task from the story

Create a new product based on your story. Give it a name & plan a marketing campaign

Design a CD, book or magazine cover for the story

Write about your feelings in relation to the story

Rewrite the ending of the story changing it from happy to sad or vice versa

Compose a song relating to part of the story

Rewrite the story, changing the to a fantasy or futuristic setting

Further support Use of technology in the classroom e.g.

laptops, iPads, online resources Reading throughout the curriculum e.g. IPC,

ICT AP2 students reading to AP1 students ‘Buddy classes’ Group work as part of a ‘Guided Reading’

lesson

Example of Guided Reading

Support at home Listen to your child read 3 to 5 times a week Students should read out loud for 10-15 minutes How can I help?

Encourage your child to read out loud for fluency, without interrupting!

Ask your child to retell the story Ask your child questions about the text – refer to

‘reading questions’ cards Encourage your child to read to a younger child, or

to imagine that they are doing so

Other ways of encouraging

reading What if time is an issue? My child does not always want to read to me As an alternative, you could encourage your child

to make an audio recording of their reading progress. Reading out loud for fluency Retelling a story Choose one set of questions from the ‘reading

questions’ cards Recordings can be emailed to the teacher How to record instructions are on the English blog

Destiny BIS Library website (can count as one of

their 3 – 5 sessions of reading) Students should know how to log in from

their library lessons. Top 10 books and ‘new arrivals’ are

generated automatically Lists are popular books as voted for by the

students

Finding Destiny from the BIS website

Destiny websites

Destiny homepage From here students can add a book review,

recommend a book to their friends or use TitlePeek which links to an external website with more information on the book.

Destiny websites Use the ‘websites’ tab to search for child-

friendly, reviewed websites

Destiny websites

Let’s have a quick look…

Reading materials What type of materials should my child be reading?

High interest Vocabulary that stretches but does not exclude the

reader Variety:

Internet reports and news e.g. CBBC, First News, Our Little World

Instruction manuals Recipe books Newspapers & Magazines Comics & graphic novels Audio books , Online web-based reading sites, Apps

like Project X

Reading and boys A different species? Attention spans & learning styles Graphic novels Books that make the reader a participant Non-fiction

Frankenstein

Asterix

Star Wars

Non-fiction Choose a topic to explore together, or as an

independent task Google search e.g. the water cycle Search Tools All results Reading Level Basic This removes a huge amount of non-relevant

data Forget Wikipedia!

First Language Reading

Can one of the reading sessions be in the home language i.e. not English?

Yes! Especially retelling a story as this encourages reading with understanding - e.g. a news article from their home country.

Final words Phonics first! Keep using sounds. ‘S’ is not eh-ss, nor is

it suh. It is sss

Reading empowers spelling and vice versa Chunking. Butt-er-fly

Use book-talk. Talk about the author, illustrator, cover, the beginning, the end, words, sentences, features on the page

Make connections “That’s a bit like when we…” Don’t worry if a book is read more than once Praise! Reading isn’t just about books e.g. Oxford Owl offers

250 tablet-friendly eBooks and activities. Go to the English blog!