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
So how are these skills taught to a 7-11 year old? How can I help my child to develop these skills?
AF2
“Fetch!� Just like a dog retrieving a stick, we need to go into the text to find, pick up and use information quickly and accurately.
AF3
“Hmm…..” 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.
AF4
“Sort it!” 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 subheadings”.
AF5
“Words! Words!� 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.
AF6
“What do we think?�
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.
AF7
“To boldly go� questions
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 Activities Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
Remembering Recognise, 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?
Understanding Interpret, 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
Applying Implement, 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
Analysing Compare, 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
Evaluating Check, 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?
Creating Design, 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 ď ł 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 ď ł Can one of the reading sessions be in the home language i.e. not English? ď ł 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!