Reading in the Early Years

1. Reading in the Early Years

2. Draw children’s attention to... • The pictures. • Words in sentences. • Full stops, commas, question marks; all forms of punctuation. • Identify the sight words and letters they already know in the text. • Talk about who the main character in the story is. • What the story might be about; make predictions. • Try to re-tell the story.

3. What we know... • WORDS: • I • Am • Can • See • The • In • It • At • And • to • here • Went • That • like • LETTERS • S • A • T • P • F • M • E • R • B • I

4. Strategies to encourage reading... • Stretchy Snake – Stretch it out! • Stretch the word out slowly. • Put the sounds together • Chunky Monkey – Chunk the word! • Look for a chunk that you know (at, in) • Look for a word part (ing, er) • Lips the Fish – Get your lips ready! • Say the first few sounds of a new word • Read the end of a sentence and say it again.

5. Eagle Eye – Look at the pictures! • Look at the pictures for a clue. • Skippy Frog – Skip it, skip it! • Skip the word. • Read to the end of the sentence. • Hop back and re-read it. • Try' in Lion – Try it again! • Try to re-read the sentence • Try a word that makes more sense.

6. Helpful Kangaroo – Ask for help! • Ask for help (after you have tried all the other strategies. Flippy Dolphin – Flip the vowel sound! • Try the other vowel sound if it doesn’t sound right. • Flip a short sound into a long sound or vice versa.

7. Reading at St Benedict’s • Teachers listen to the children read during reading rotations. • Students read to parents on a daily basis at school. • Through guided reading teachers then decide who is ready to be re-tested; to move up reading levels. • St Benedict’s encourages individual success and mastery of knowledge at own pace. • St Benedict’s also utilises the “read to, read by, read with” approach to home reading. • Encourage reading for fun.

8. Progression • Confident readers, stem from confident children. • Easy text is a GOOD thing. • Home readers are a chance to “Show Off” not a teaching opportunity. • Comprehension is a key factor. • Assessment of children is as needed and directed by classroom teacher. • Utilise your local library. • Think outside the box; shopping lists, environmental print, etc.

9. Testing / Benchmarking • Reading levels are not an area of concern unless a teacher brings it to your attention. • At this stage we hope that our Preppies are reading very basic text (pink or white dots). • Testing or benchmarking occurs by the classroom teacher or a trained school officer. • It is based on an accuracy level and comprehension of text.

10. Things to extend and build on... • Transfer their gained letter knowledge to writing and play spelling games. • Practice the strategies on the hand out that you receive today (as spoken to earlier in the presentation). • Magic 100 words; list attached. • Encourage risk taking with writing words utilising sound knowledge. • Read stories to your little ones that are more complex and ask comprehension based questions.

11. Important things to remember... • We all gain knowledge and mastery over skills at our own pace. • Success inspires a willingness to have a go. • When reading is enjoyable for children they will continue to read – “One is never lonely in life with a good book!”

12. Frequently asked questions.. Q. The reader is too easy? • Great, your child is applying knowledge of sight words and strategies in context. Q. The reader is boring? • Text is around us in many forms and reading of a variety of topics is essential to our life skills. Q. What dot is higher? • Each child is catered for individually and dots are simply codes to meet the needs of all children, as well as assisting organisation in schools. Q. Who picks the book? • Children self select according to their area of interest. Q. We have had the same book for three nights? A. Practice makes perfect.