The English Way: Reading
“We believe that reading plays a key role in developing students’ cultural,
emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual knowledge which is vital for life as a
21st century citizen.”
2.
DATA Having students’ reading age data allows us to plan reading
opportunities more effectively and efficiently. In addition, using the data to
build seating plans creates opportunities for more able students to support
their peers.
1.
MODEL PACE AND FLUENCY As with anything we teach, modelling is
absolutely vital. Students don’t just learn to read by doing it themselves; they
also learn from following the text while listening to the pace, rhythm and
pronunciation of an expert reader.
3.
LOW RISK, HIGH EFFORT Use strategies which maximise the amount of practice
every student will have, without feeling the pressure of reading in front of the
entire class.
4.
VOCAB Provide explicit vocabulary instruction to help students access (and
use) academic language. Focus should be placed on tier 2 and tier 3 words.
This will make students more confident and demystify the text.
5.
6.
7.
CONNECT AND PREDICT Activate students’ prior knowledge by making links to
what they already know about the text’s subject, this will make the new
reading less daunting. When students make predictions about the text they
are about to read, it sets up expectations based on their prior knowledge
about similar topics.
MAKE THE SKILLS EXPLICIT We read for varying reasons across subjects and it
follows that we are using subtly different skills when doing so. We read for
retrieval, interpretation and to infer information from the text. Ensure that
students know the difference between these skills and which they are using
for each specific reading.
SUPPORT, NOT SANCTIONS Almost every time a student is reluctant to read, it is
due to a lack of confidence. Use strategies such as choral or antiphonal
reading to help build these students’ confidence to read independently.