Aims of the afternoon
• To explain the content of the reading book bag
• To look at how we teach reading • To explore ideas to support early
reading at home.
Reading Book Bag
• Reading diary – to record your child’s progress
• Reading book
• Word box
• Tricky word key rings.
Reading Books We start with a mixture of individual and guided reading, once a week, where individuals or groups of 3 or 4 children read the same book with the teacher. This enables the children to share their observations, discuss their views and it also reinforces their enjoyment of stories! The structure of a book is explained, e.g., the book cover, front & back, title, author, illustrator and how we read from left to right. The children also learn how to treat books with care and
respect.
We encourage children to talk about what is happening in the picture, how or why it is happening and predict what might happen next. Developing their descriptive language is very important at this stage. Books with out words are fantastic for encouraging children to do this.
Please do not cover the pictures!!
As parents you play a major role in encouraging your child to read. Building on their initial observations to enhance their story telling as much as possible and helping them develop their language will go a long way in ensuring your child becomes a confident and happy reader.
Reading Books
Word Boxes
Every day your child will bring home their reading book bag and within this should be a strip of decodeable words. Which we call word boxes. The purpose of these words is to help your child practise the skill of segmenting and blending sounds together to read words. Blending sounds together is another key reading skill that will help your child decode words. However it is important to remember that it is just one reading strategy.
Segmenting and Blending
• Segmenting and blending are reversible skills. • Segmenting is breaking words into units of sounds
• Blending is building words using the sounds
cat Each week your child will practise these words and if
they are able to read them will be given a new set of words to practise.
Phonics
• Phonics is really important for reading and writing • Phonics is fast paced, but children regularly revisit
learnt sounds and words • Phonics lesson is in 4 parts
Revisit – fast recap on learnt sounds Teach – new sound Practise – children practise using this sound
through a number of games and activities Apply – children apply this new sound learnt
We use a mixture of programmes and
resources to teach phonics:
Letters and Sounds
And
Jolly Phonics
Phonics
Tricky Word Keyrings
In your child's reading book bag will also be a set of words on keyrings.
These words are called ‘tricky words’ as they are words that cannot be
sounded out and have to be learnt by sight.
Again each week your child will practise these words and if they are able to read them will be given a new Keyring to practise. Make it fun! – play games such as matching pairs or tricky word hunts!
A New Vocabulary • Phoneme = the smallest unit of sound in a word e.g. /c /a /t/ in cat. Or /d/ow/n/ in down. • Grapheme = letter shape that represents a sound. • Tricky words = words that cannot be decoded using
phonics
• cvc - c = consonant (b/c/d/f), v = vowel (a/e/ee) • Digraph = a sound made with two letters eg. sh ai oi