Instilling a Love of Reading at Home Primary School 2017/2018
Instilling the Love of Reading at Home
Parents and the home environment are essential to the early teaching of reading and fostering a love of reading; children are more likely to continue to be readers in homes where books and reading are valued.
Why is Reading So Important? Reading together at home is one of the easiest but most important ways in which you can help and support your child. Reading and sharing books with your child helps opens their eyes, minds and hearts to different people and situations and stretches their horizons. Research proves that children who enjoy reading do better at school in all subjects and lifelong readers have richer, more empathetic lives. Reading together increases literacy skills and does so much more - it helps to build a strong and loving relationship with your child. Creating a love of reading in children is potentially one of the most powerful ways to improve academic standards in school. There is evidence to suggest that reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether your child does well in school than their social or economic background.
Clark and Rumbold 2006
The Crucial Role of a Parent As a parent, you are by far the most important educators in a child’s life! Children nowadays have many pressures on their leisure time and will only read if they are motivated to do so. Parents play a vital role in helping to motivate their children towards reading throughout their children’s time in primary school. Sharing books with your child, talking about books, reading aloud to and with your child - please don’t let these activities stop just because your child has reached KS2!
Developing Children’s Spoken Language and Understanding In order to make a good start in reading and writing, children need to have an adult listen to them and talk to them. Speaking and listening are the foundations for reading and writing. Books are a rich source of new words for your child; words you would not use in everyday conversations appear in books. Children need to have a wide vocabulary to understand the meaning of books, so read aloud and share books as often as you can. They will enjoy it and it will be useful to them when they come across these words in their own reading. Even when children are fluent readers, you should continue to read aloud with your child. Our largest vocabulary is the vocabulary we pick up from listening. Reading aloud might expose children to words they might not pick up on their own.
Developing Children’s Spoken Language and Understanding In order to make a good start in reading and writing, children need to have an adult listen to them and talk to them. Speaking and listening are the foundations for reading and writing.
• Encourage your child to talk about the book - talking about the characters and their dilemmas helps children understand relationships and is an excellent way for you to get to know each other or discuss difficult issues. Give your child plenty of time to respond. Ask them what will happen next, how a character might be feeling or how the book makes them feel.
Books are a rich source of new words for your child; words you would not use in everyday conversations appear in books. Children need to have a wide vocabulary to understand the meaning of books, so read aloud and share books as often as you can. They will enjoy it and it will be useful to them when they come across these words in their own reading.
• Don’t be afraid to use funny voices - children love this.
Even when children are fluent readers, you should continue to read aloud with your child. Our largest vocabulary is the vocabulary we pick up from listening. Reading aloud might expose children to words they might not pick up on their own.
• Keep an eye out for the themes that catch your child’s imagination at school and help follow it up with more reading.
Top Tips to Instill the Love of Reading at Home Promoting reading at home is the most important way that parents can help their child. Here are some top tips: • Set aside some quality time - a routine always helps, if possible- be it at bedtime or after dinner. • Find somewhere quiet without any distractions - turn off the TV/phone/ computer. • Ask your child to choose a book (read other books and not just books from the school reading scheme) - sharing books they have chosen shows you care what they think and that their opinion matters; therefore, they are more likely to engage with the book. • Sit close together - encourage your child to hold the book themselves and/or turn the pages • Point to the pictures - if there are illustrations, relate them to something your child knows. Ask them to describe the characters or situation or what will happen next. Encourage them to tell you the story by looking at the pictures.
• Use dictionaries together for difficult words - a picture dictionary can make exploring language more interesting for younger children. For older children, it’s great for them to develop their dictionary skills.
• Make it fun! It doesn’t matter how you read with a child, as long as you both enjoy the time together. • Maintain the flow - If your child mispronounces a word, allow opportunity for self-correction rather than interrupting. If your child does try to ‘sound out’ words, encourage the use of letter sounds rather than ‘alphabet names’. • Variety is key - Remember children need to experience a variety of reading materials e.g. picture books, hard backs, comics, magazines, poems and information books. • BE POSITIVE- If your child says something nearly right to start with that is fine. Don’t say ‘No. That’s wrong,’ but ‘Let’s read it together’ and point to the words as you say them. Boost your child’s confidence with constant praise for even the smallest achievement.
Parents must remember it’s not their job to teach kids to read; it is to encourage them to love books. Michael Rosen 2012
Choosing the Right Book When it comes to instilling a love of reading, it doesn’t really matter what you read. The important thing is that you help to inspire your children to feel confident and comfortable reading. Ask yourself what type of reading the book is for. Is it a book they have got from school to help practise reading and build fluency? Is it a book that they find easy to read that helps them build confidence? Is it a book for you to read for pleasure to your child? It can help to ask your child what book they would like to read. Books are a rich source of new words for your child; words you would not use in everyday conversations appear in books. Children need to have a wide vocabulary to understand the meaning of books, so read aloud and share books as often as you can. They will enjoy it and it will be useful to them when they come across these words in their own reading.
Michaela Morgan
Use the 5 Finger Rule: Promoting reading at home is the most important way that parents can help their child. Here are some top tips: Ask your child to find a page with lots of words and ask them to read it. They need to put a finger up every time they don’t know a word. How many fingers do they have up at the end of the page? 0 fingers: this book is probably too easy for them 1-3 fingers: this book is just right 4 fingers: this book will be challenging 5 fingers: this book might be too hard for now
“Reading should be about having fun and adventure and magic, not just ‘making progress”
As a rule of thumb, you would expect a child to read a book with about 95% accuracy if they want to read it to themselves. Less than that, and it’s likely that they’re missing out, or misreading, too many words for them to make sense of the story.
Encouraging Reluctant Readers The term ‘reluctant reader’ is often taken to mean ‘less able’ reader. This is not always the case. This readership can include bright pupils who know little English; ones who, for whatever reason, see themselves as reading failures; and others who have simply never ‘connected’ with books. Here are some ways to help reluctant readers at home: • Audio Books - there are so many reasons why audio books are useful:
http://literatureyoungadultfiction.com/20-reasons-why-you-should-listen-to-audiobooks/
• Graphic Novels - children read graphic novels for their pleasure and they can really improve their reading development. • Comic Books - there is a lot of evidence that they increase the children’s vocabulary and instill a love of reading. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/using-cartoons-comic-strips
• Recipes - why not make something delicious together with your child, as well as improve their reading skills?! Not only will this develop their reading and writing skills, it will also them to become a super chef! • News - keep your child up-to-date with what is going on in the world, as well as developing their love of reading. Useful website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround
• Magazines - Ask your child to choose a favourite comic and the combination of images and information they are interested in, will certainly keep them engaged.
What do I do if my child picks a book that is too difficult for them to read independently? Children can enjoy more difficult books – even if they can’t read them on their own. Read parts of it to them and talk about the ideas and pictures if there are any. REMEMBER: You can always ask your child’s class teacher for help to choose appropriate books at school OR ask the school librarians.
• Movies - Turn down sound on favourite films + read subtitles • If Tired- read a sentence each or have the child be a teacher and use roles of reciprocal reading (Big Boss, Summariser, Questioner, Clarifier, Predictor) • The Right Book - Check the book your child is reading is one that they will enjoysome children prefer non-fiction. Just keep them reading! Useful website: http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/genre/rel/Reluctant-Readers.html
Good Readers
Helping Struggling Readers Parents can worry if their child is finding reading difficult. Remember- it can be frustrating for the children too. It is important to remember that reading is not a race. Being a good reader might be the finishing line, but children get there in many different ways and at different speeds. Some start early, then slow down. Others come to it later but soon catch up. Here are some ideas on how to help your child if they are struggling with their reading: Encourage your child to read ANYTHING and EVERYTHING! - Magazines, comics or websites can engage children and shows them computers and iPads aren’t just for games. Take turns to read - perhaps a page each- or read together. Build confidence - everyone needs encouragement. If your child is struggling or gets things wrong, always STAY POSITIVE. Read to your child - even as children get older, they still like to be read to. This can be especially useful at bedtime. Link to real-life situations - children like to see a purpose for reading, e.g. reading a recipe, reading a letter See the class teacher - they can give you advice on how to focus on areas of reading which your child is finding particularly difficult, e.g. phonics, vocabulary, comprehension. If your child gets stuck on a word- don’t help straight away. Give them time to work it out for themselves using their own strategies. If they’re still struggling, use a strategy from the poster below. Useful website: http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-owl/expert-help/helping-struggling-readers
Quintessential Questioning To develop understanding of texts, we encourage all children to read, discuss and answer questions on what they have read using a selection of assessment focus questions (AF1 etc).
Reading is vital for developing the imagination - the ability to stand in other people’s shoes and look through other eyes. With a book you can experience other lives, other worlds, other times. Books are the key to opening up opportunities.
Michael Rosen
Example Comprehension Questions: Reading to Learn Assessment Focus 1 - Use a range of strategies, including accurate decoding of text, to read for meaning
Assessment Focus 3 – Deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
See images – visualize what the writer is describing. What pictures can you see of the characters, the settings and the action?
What does this quotation suggest about…? Explain the use of the word… What impression do you get of the feelings of this character from the text? Why did…? Fill in the thought bubble: what might this character have been thinking? If you made a movie of this, what type of music would you use for it, and why? How are the experiences of these two characters similar? Why did he feel…? How did the character feel before… and after…? How did the character’s feelings change? What would you do / ask? Base your answer on evidence from the text What evidence is there that…? What is this character’s attitude towards…?
Hear a reading voice – as you read, think about whose voices you are hearing and how it changes. Think about how the central characters sound and the sound effects of all the action. What can you hear while you read? Establish a relationship with the narrator – think about the narrator – the person telling you the information in the text. Identify who the narrator is. Do you like her/him? What would you say to him/her if she/he were in the room? Establish a relationship with the writer – can you hear the writer’s voice? Is the author hiding behind a narrator or character or speaking directly to the reader? What do you think the writer is trying to say to you? Predict what will happen – use what you know about a text to suggest what you think will happen next. Can you explain why? What evidence have you got? Relate ideas in text to own experience – does this remind you of anything you have done in your life or anything you have seen or heard about? How does this make you feel about the events in the text? Assessment Focus 2 – Understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text. Identify a word from this page/paragraph which shows that… What was happening at the beginning / middle / end of the story? What does ‘________’ mean? Ask: True/False based on text How many… Give one example of… Which character… Fill in the missing word for this sentence: Choose the best word to fill the gap…
Assessment Focus 4 – Identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level. How does the first sentence help to guide the reader? How does this paragraph link back to the opening paragraph? How does the writer link the conclusion (ending) to the introduction (beginning)? How does the writer build up to the conclusion (ending)? Sequence these events from the text: Label these parts of the text: How does the timeline / image / diagram / layout make it easier to understand? Why is this element in bold / underlined / in italics? What would be a suitable caption for this image? What would be a suitable heading for this text? Give two features that tell you it is written as a formal letter / diary / scripts
Guided Reading Questions Example Comprehension Questions: Reading to Learn (continued)
Assessment Focus 5 – Explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level Explain how the use of language in this sentence shows… Why does the writer use the word… Why is the description of … a good metaphor/simile to use? Underline the word / noun / verb / phrase which shows that… What does the choice of language suggest… How does the choice of language create the impression that… Why is this style of formal / informal language used in this text? What words help the reader to imagine… Which phrase best describes… Explain two ways in which this sentence makes the reader… Why is the word … in inverted commas? Choose a word to describe this character. Why? What is the effect of…? In what way is … like … ? Which parts of the text tell you… Assessment Focus 6 – Identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader What do you think the writer thinks about this topic? Why? How does the writer show his positive / negative attitude towards…? How does this article create the impression that…? Which elements of this text are persuasive? Why does this section begin with a question? What is the main purpose of this text? Which of these texts would inspire you to…? How does the author make you feel…? Why has the author included…? Assessment Focus 7 -relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts and literary tradition What is different from nowadays? Has anything not changed? Why? Find examples of words from earlier times/other countries. Pick out the words and phrases that tell you that the text is written about a different country, time or culture. What do these words mean?
Wonderful Websites http://www.booktrust.org.uk/ http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/#/d/books/bookfinder/ http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-owl/find-a-book/library-page http://www.puffin.co.uk/ http://www.sillybooks.net/ http://www.mrsmad.com/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/news https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/parents/websites http://clubs-kids.scholastic.co.uk/authors
Recommended Authors/Titles from our School Librarians: The school librarians have put together a short list of recommended authors and titles per age group (see below). This list is only a small selection out of many and to be used as a guideline only. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them.
For 6-8 year olds:
Recommended Books Comprehensive, age appropriate recommended reading lists are available through the primary parent handbook which can be accessed through the parent portal.
Ellie and the Good-Luck Pig - Barkley, Callie The Mystery of the Mosaic: Greetings from Somewhere - Paris, Harper Don’t forget Tiggs! - Rosen, Michael Mister Magnolia - Blake, Quentin Ivy + Bean Bound to be Bad - Ivy & Bean 5- Barrows, Annie The Famous Five: Five have a Mystery to Solve - Blyton, Enid The Enchanted Wood - Blyton, Enid The BFG - Dahl, Roald James and the Giant Peach - Dahl, Roald The Field Guide - DiTerlizzi, Tony The 26-Storey Treehouse - Griffiths, Andy Skunked! - Kelly, Jacqueline Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - Kinney, Jeff The Queen’s Nose - King-Smith, Dick The Sheep-Pig - King-Smith, Dick Sophie is Seven (7-9) - King-Smith, Dick My Heart is Laughing - Lagercrantz, Rose Pippi Longstocking - Lindgren, Astrid The Poet’s Dog - Maclachlan, Patricia The Billy Kid - Morpurgo, Michael Hour of the Olympics - Osborne, Mary Pope Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth - Park, Barbara The Intrepid Canadian Expedition - Pennypacker, Sara The Bard and the Beast - Quinn, Jordan Charlotte’s Web - White, E. B.
For 8-10 year olds: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - Rowling, J. K. The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones #1 - RIO Riordan, Rick The War that Saved my Life (9+) - Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker Goodnight Mister Tom - Magorian, Michelle Holes (10+) - Davis, Andrew Wade and the Scorpion’s Claw/Copernicus Archives; Book 1 - Abbott, Tony Frostborn - Anders, Lou Crenshaw - Applegate, Katherine The One and Only Ivan - Applegate, Katherine The Witch’s Boy - Barnhill, Kelly Regan Circus Mirandus - Beasley, Cassie Serafina and the Black Cloak - Beatty, Robert The Thing about Jellyfish (9+) - Benjamin, Ali Doll Bones - Black, Holly Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Carroll, Lewis Ethan’s Voice - Carter, Rachel Book Scavenger (9+) - Chambliss Bertman, Jennifer Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now - Child, Lauren Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dahl, Roald Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures - DiCamillo, Kate The Magician’s Elephant - DiCamillo, Kate The Miraculous journey of Edward Tulane - DiCamillo, Kate The Tale of Despereaux: being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, some Soup, and a Spool of Thread - DiCamillo, Kate
Mouseheart - Fiedler, Lisa Space Case - Gibbs, Stuar George (9+) - Gino, Alex Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library - Grabenstein, Chris The Wind in the Willows - Grahame, Kenneth The 26-Storey Treehouse - Griffiths, Andy Dreamer, Wisher, Liar - Harper, Charise Mericle The Fourteenth Goldfish - Holm, Jennifer L. Stormbreaker #1 - Horowitz, Anthony Fish in a Tree (10+) - Hunt, Lynda Mullaly One for the Murphys - Lynda Mullaly The Phantom Tollbooth (10+) - Juster, Norton Skunked! - Kelly, Jacqueline
The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre (The Two Princesses of Bamarre 0.5) - Levine, Gail Carson The Chronicles of Narnia #2: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Lewis, C.S. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh - O’Brien, Robert C. Wish - O’Connor, Barbara The Shrunken Head - Oliver, Lauren Wonder - Palacio, R. J Hatchet - Paulsen, Gary The Red Pencil - Andrea Davis Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1: The lightning thief- Riordan, Rick When Marnie was There- Robinson, Joan G. Echo- Ryan, Pam Muñoz A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 1: The Bad Beginning- Snicket, Lemony Ballet Shoes- Streatfeild, Noel Mary Poppins- Travers, P.L. The Boy in the Dress- Walliams, David The Gangsta Granny- Walliams, David Charlotte’s web- White, E.B. El Deafo- Bell, Cece
For 10-12 year olds: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone- Rowling, J. K. The War that Saved my Life- Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker Goodnight Mister Tom- Magorian, Michelle The Wolf Wilder- Rundell, Katherine I am Malala- Yousafzai, Malala The Screaming Statue / Curiosity House Book 2- Oliver, Lauren Crenshaw- Applegate, Katherine The Witch’s Boy- Kelly Regan Circus Mirandus- Beasley, Cassie Serafina and the black cloak- Beatty, Robert The Thing about Jellyfish- Benjamin, Ali Doll Bones- Black, Holly Ruby Redfort #3: Catch your Death- Child, Lauren House of Secrets- Columbus, Chris The Journal of Curious Letters: The 13th Reality: Book 1-Dashner, James The Isle of the Lost: a Descendants novel- De la Cruz, Melissa The Magician’s Elephant- DiCamillo, Kate Raymie Nightingale- DiCamillo, Kate The Neverending Story- Ende, Michael Mouseheart- Fiedler, Lisa Inkheart- Funke, Cornelia Dreamer, Wisher, LIar-Harper, Charise Mericle The Fourteenth Goldfish- Holm, Jennifer L. Stormbreaker #1- Horowitz, Anthony Fish in a Tree (10+)- Lynda Mullaly One for the Murphys- Hunt, Lynda Mullaly The Phantom Tollbooth (10+)- Juster, Norton The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre (The Two Princesses of Bamarre 0.5)- Levine, Gail Carson. Wish- O’Connor, Barbara The Shrunken head- Oliver, Lauren Wonder- Palacio, R. J. Percy Jackson and the olympians #1: The lightning thief (Age 10-14)- Riordan, Rick The Trials of Apollo #1 (10+):The Hidden Oracle- Riordan, Rick When Marnie was there- Robinson, Joan G. Echo (Age 10-14)- Ryan, Pam Muñoz Counting by 7s (10+)- Sloan, Holly G. Ballet Shoes- Streatfeild, Noel Grandpa’s Great Escape- Walliams, David Wolf Hollow- Wolk, Lauren
St Andrews International School Bangkok Primary School 9 Pridi Banomyong 20/1, Sukhumvit 71, Watthana, Bangkok 10110 Thailand +662 381 2387 High School 1020 Sukhumvit Road, Phra Khanong, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110 Thailand +662 056 9555
admissions@standrews.ac.th www.standrews.ac.th