Reading
When our pupils leave Crick Primary School, we expect them to be enthusiastic and fluent readers, who read for pleasure having had access to a wide range of text types, genres and authors.
While children are learning to decode words, they will bring home a Read Write Inc Book Bag reading book that complements the synthetic phonics programme that operates in school. These books are phonetically decodable, which is recommended as the prime method of teaching early reading skills. The books have red and green words at the front of the book that should be read first. The red words are the tricky words that are not phonetically decodable. The books also have questions at the back. Ask your child these questions after they have read the book to check they understand the text. We recommend reading each book two to three times, particularly in the earlier stages, to improve fluency and the speed at which children can decode words.
Once the pupils have reached a good level of fluency and understanding with the reading scheme books, all pupils will be able to choose their own reading books from a selection of books within the classroom. We have decided to move away from reading scheme books as many pupils said the books were dull and there was not enough choice. Therefore, once the pupils are fluent readers and have a sound understanding of what they are reading, they can choose a book from a wide selection in the classroom that we hope will help them become life-long readers and will create a buzz around books within our school.
The pupils will still be assessed by the class teacher across the year to check they are making good progress and to plan the next steps for their learning.
Although we teach the mechanics of reading in school, learning to read takes lots of practice and time. Pupils are expected to read to an adult at home at least three times a week. Please write in the reading diary so we know your child has read.
Top tips for reading with your child:
- Make it fun – not a chore! Reading together should be a special time. Take time to stop what you are doing and listen to them read. You will be surprised at how many words children will skim over when we are not listening carefully!
- Be a good role model, show them how much you enjoy reading.
- Take turns to read.
- Use silly voices for characters.
- Help them with tricky words, if they can’t read a word straight away, support them by helping to blend the sounds. If it is not decodable, tell them the word.
- Before starting the book, make sure they can read the title and give clues about the content. We are not trying to catch them out – we are trying to help them!
- Praise and encourage them! Everyone likes to be told they are doing well and we want our children to be confident to have a go.
- Use the comprehension book marks (see below) to check your child is understanding what they are reading.
We also strongly recommend that you read aloud to your child daily. Reading aloud to your child is associated with numerous benefits: improvements in reading achievement and comprehension, better ideas for writing, increased vocabulary, improved general knowledge, improved empathy, understanding of self and others and wellbeing. Reading can also improve sleep patterns and listening skills. It’s a win-win situation with benefits for everyone!
If you would like any further information about the ways in which you can support your child in their reading journey, please get in touch with myself, or your class teacher.
This website has some fantastic recommendations of books for children: Buy a Book. Support a School. Make a Difference | LoveReading4Kids UK
Our local book store, Hunt's Bookshop | Family Run Bookshop in Rugby (huntsbookshop.com) is always willing to recommend reads as well. Look out for our school book fairs where you can purchase some fantastic quality texts.
Please use the comprehension bookmarks below to help with this questioning.
Reading at School
READ as a Writer, WRITE as a Reader
At Crick primary School we are keen to share books in every aspect of the curriculum and therefore every class shares a high-quality text every half-term. Part of our whole-school approach is to immerse pupils in a range of class texts, exploring the ways authors use language and to explore this to develop our pupils as writers. There is a wealth of research to show that one of the most effective ways to become a good writer is to be an avid reader; to unpick language from books and use this as a model for quality writing.
We see the importance of both classic and long-standing much-loved books and novels as well as new and upcoming authors and texts. We’ve invested money in bringing in a range of quality texts for us to share with the children. The staff encourage and guide pupils to choose their own books from the high quality books in each classroom.
This website has some fantastic suggestions of great books you could share with your children at home.
Reading for Pleasure
At Crick we think reading for pleasure is incredibly important. Michael Rosen (an incredible author) explains the importance and some benefits of reading for Pleasure.
Shared Reading
At Crick Primary school, we have a shared reading lesson every week. This is a whole class teaching approach to concentrate on the skills of reading in more detail. In Key Stage 2, pupils then do two shorter shared reading lessons, and in Key Stage 1 pupils practice phonics daily. This is another way we immerse pupils in a range of high quality texts. Comprehension is a huge part of reading. These lessons allow pupils to explore a text in more detail and really understand what a text is telling us. In these sessions we love to ask questions! We explore a range of texts and answer questions around the VIPERS.
VIPERS are the key areas which we feel pupils need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts.
Vocabulary
Inference
Prediction
Explanation
Retrieve information
Summarise or sequence the text.
For more information on the VIPERS please follow the link https://www.literacyshedplus.com/en-gb/browse/reading-vipers
In KS1, we follow the RWI Phonics scheme. Please see our Phonics page for more information on this.
Library Time
We are very proud of our well stocked library. It is a bright and welcoming space where pupils can choose from a range of good quality texts. Library club is every Monday and Thursday lunchtime so pupils have the opportunity to come and share an excellent range of books and they are welcome to borrow books to read at home.
Reading Assemblies
Every week we have a reading assembly where a member of staff shares their passion and enthusiasm for reading by sharing a book with the whole school. At Crick we believe this to be a valuable assembly to promote different text types, authors and develop a love of reading amongst our school community.
