Whole Class Reading
At Red Rose, we believe that the ability to read is fundamental to pupils’ development as independent learners, during their time at school and beyond. We believe that reading has a direct impact upon progress in all areas of the curriculum; therefore, reading is given a high priority at our school.
In whole class reading sessions, there is a high level of interaction between teachers and pupils in order to develop a good level of comprehension. Children are exposed to a wide range of high-quality texts and discussion in an immersive environment that aims to provide appropriate challenge to build on pupils’ existing knowledge and understanding.
In KS1 and KS2, we have adopted a whole class reading approach, which allows all children to comprehend above their word reading ‘level’ using the VIPERS comprehension skills.
The mnemonic ‘VIPERS’ covers the key comprehension skills:
Vocabulary
Inference
Prediction
Explain
Retrieve
Sequence/Summarise
The same mnemonic can be used by both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 with a little adaptation.
The main differences being in the S – sequence in Key Stage 1 and Summarise in Key Stage 2.
Reading Opportunities
At Red Rose, we know the importance of developing fluent readers but also the need to promote a love of reading. Therefore, in addition to whole class reading lessons which focus upon termly objectives, pupils have many other opportunities both in school and at home to further develop. Please find detailed below information from each key stage.
In Early Years and in both Key Stage 1 and 2, we try to provide as many opportunities as possible to immerse children in reading. Detailed below are some of the reading opportunities that children are exposed to:
- Home reading books sent home which are closely matched to phonic ability.
- In Key Stage 2, Accelerated Reader Book matched to the child’s ability.
- Teachers carefully select children’s literature to use throughout the school day in order to enthuse and encourage children .
- Daily phonics lessons in EYFS and Key Stage 1
- Intervention phonics lessons in Key Stage 2
- Class story time at the end of the day for all children to hear stories read out loud with relish and enthusiasm.
- Accessible class reading areas
- Free choice books to promote a love of reading and expose children to new vocabulary.
- Weekly school library visit to promote a love of reading.
- Opportunities within lessons for children to discuss texts with their peers, making links with other texts and recommended books to their peers/teachers.
- School trips to the local library
- Participation in events within school such as books fairs and World Book Day.
- The celebration of reading through incentives
Home Reading Books
At Red Rose, we have recently been reviewing and updating our current reading book scheme within school to ensure that reading books are closely matched to the children’s learning needs. Detailed below is the home reading expectation and progression within each year group.
EYFS and Key Stage 1
- Children will receive a phonics book matched to the sounds they have been taught within school or an Oxford Reading Tree book closely matched to their ability in order to develop their confidence and fluency. There is an expectation that this book will be read several times throughout the week to develop your child’s confidence and fluency. The book should be 95% readable and therefore your child’s need to segment words into sounds should reduce the more the text is read. Once your child can read the book fluently without segmenting words and an adult has signed the home reading log to acknowledge this, the book can be changed.
- In addition to their scheme book, children will receive a free choice book to share with an adult. There is no expectation that your child will read this independently. It is to be shared with an adult to develop sight vocabulary, a love of reading and to increase exposure to new vocabulary.
- Once your child has completed the Year 2 scheme and is deemed a confident, fluent reader, their reading ability will be assessed through the Accelerated Reader programme. This programme is designed to develop your child’s comprehension skills. Your child will then be able to select a book appropriate to their reading age and complete a comprehension quiz to assess their understanding. You will receive additional information about this when your child moves on to this programme.
Key Stage 2
- In Key Stage 2 children follow the ‘Accelerated Reader’ programme which assesses the child’s comprehension and understanding skills. A ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ (ZPD)is then given to each child and a book matched to their level. Your child will have an ‘Accelerated Reader’ book which they will bring home, when they complete the book they undertake a quiz online which assesses a broad range of comprehension skills. A score will be formulated and on completion of three quizzes each achieving over 80% they will progress to the next (ZPD) book level. (At Red Rose, we often refer to the ‘ZPD Level’ as the Book Level or BL.)
- In addition to ‘Accelerated Reader’ some children will also access ‘Lexia’ which enables children of all ages and abilities to master essential reading skills.
Lexia Reading provides children with a systematic and structured approach to the five areas of reading, covering early phonological to advanced comprehension skills.
Accelerated Reader
Accelerated Reader is a computer program that helps teachers manage and monitor children’s independent reading practice. Your child picks a book at their own level and reads it at their own pace. When finished, your child takes a short quiz on the computer – passing the quiz is an indication that your child has understood what has been read.
Passing a quiz means scoring 80% or above. Children are encouraged to develop at their own pace and to take pride in their achievements as they progress through the Accelerated Reader programme. Accelerated Reader gives both children and teachers feedback based on the quiz results which the teacher then uses to help the child set targets and ongoing reading practice. Here is a snapshot of our reading acheivements for this month.
For more information about Accelerated Reader, please see the attached parent guide.
At Red Rose Primary School, we have invested time and effort in to relabelling and organising our reading books in school to facilitate this reading program. Children in years 3 to 6 access the Accelerated Reader scheme for reading. In addition, some Year 2 children will use it as we progress throughout the year and they become confident, fluent readers.
How can you help at home?
- Make sure your child always has the Accelerated Reader book in school.
- Encourage your child to read each day, preferably in a quiet space where there are fewer distractions.
- Discuss their books with them and ask them questions about what they have read.
- Be positive about the system and ask them how their quizzes have gone.
- Listen and make suggestions on how things can be improved if they have scored less than 80%
Parents Guide to Accelerated Reader
Our Library
We have always valued our library space and have recently moved and updated it to provide a great space to browse, borrow and read from our selection of over 5000 books.
The library is supported by our team of librarians. Their roles are to keep the library a tidy, friendly place; assist pupils to borrow books using the Junior Librarian system; and also help our younger pupils to read some books during the lunchtime.
We have an online form that can be used by pupils to suggest new books that they would like to see in the library – its nice to keep up to date!
