Teaching reading
at
Key Stage 3
Wot u
readin’?
It’s called ‘The History of
Glue’….. I can’t put it down
How to help
make links
between
reading and
writing
How to
motivate and
avoid the
‘it’s boring’
syndrome
How to balance the
teaching of reading
with the ‘love’ of
reading
Pupil apathy
How do you teach
specific reading skills
to individual children
within a class of 30
pupils?
Challenges for
teaching reading at
KS3
Differentiation reading ages
Reading assessment – optional
tests and KS3 SATs should
show progress by 2 sub levels
above KS2 result
Reading for different
purposes
How to maintain
good habits from
KS2 in a KS3
environment
Whole school
responsibility
NLS – extracts used
for shared reading of
a text – will pupils
experience a whole
text?
Staff knowledge/
training to teach
skills with
confidence
How best to use
library lessons
Key Stage 3 Reading – Assessment Focuses
AF2
Understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events
or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
AF3
Deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from
texts
AF4
Identify and comment on the structure and organisation of
texts, including grammatical and presentational features at
text level
AF5
Explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including
grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level
AF6
Identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints
and the overall effect of the text on the reader
AF1
use a range of strategies including
accurate decoding of text to read for
meaning
Tested
at KS2
AF7
relate texts to their social, cultural
and historical contexts and literary
traditions
Tested
at KS4
Key Stage 3 Reading – How to spot Assessment Focuses
AF2
Understand, describe, select or retrieve
information, events or ideas from texts and
use quotation and reference to text
Find….what is?…
how did…?
AF3
Deduce, infer or interpret information, events
or ideas from texts
What does it mean
when..?
Identify and comment on the structure and
organisation of texts, including grammatical
and presentational features at text level
How does..?
AF4
AF5
AF6
Explain and comment on writers’ use of
language, including grammatical and literary
features at word and sentence level
Identify and comment on writers’ purposes
and viewpoints and the overall effect of the
text on the reader
What/ how does the
writer suggest..?
How can you tell..?
How does..?
What are the effects
of..?
How effective is..?
What/ how does the
writer..?
Optional tests in Y7 & 8
• Non-statutory tests for pupils who achieved L4 or higher at KS2
• “offer schools a means to monitor pupil’s progress in Key Stage
3..between the statutory tests at years 6 and 9” (QCA Y7
optional tests Teacher’s guide)
• Diagnostic - identify individual needs or group trends
• Greater continuity and progress between key stages
• 3 texts from different genres with 5 (approx.) questions on
each text, each question testing a specific reading skill
• Format same as end of KS3 tests
• Optional tests marked internally
What about pupils who failed to
achieve L4 at KS2?
• Optional tests assume a minimum reading ability,
therefore not appropriate
• Pupils identified by SEN dept. in Summer term
• Small teaching groups with SEN support
• Reading recovery programme
• Literacy Progress Units (LPUs)
Literacy Progress Units
• Aim: to help pupils achieve L4 by end of Y7
• 20 minute sessions with small group
• There are six units on:
1. organising writing
2. spelling
3. phonics - word choices
4. inference and deduction
5. information retrieval
6. improving sentences
• End of Year 7, pupils sit a Progress Test
LPU benefits
• Six units written to specifically target reading and writing
• Resources and plans are written – minimal preparation time
for staff
• Tasks relate directly to assessment criteria for L4 on
Progress Tests
• 20 min– clear focus for each session with small number
• Can boost pupil confidence and self esteem
• Optional tests could be set at same time as Progress tests
LPU issues
• Timetable for LPU – remove from lessons? Lunch?
Before/after school?
• How to ‘pitch’ LPU to pupils
• How user-friendly are the resources? Photocopying
bill!?
• Who delivers the units – English staff? LSA?
Librarian? Literacy assistants?
• Timing of units – don’t finish too early before tests,
but some schools don’t finish them…
• What if pupils still do not achieve L4 at end of Y7?
How do we teach reading skills?
Use of a quick Starter in pairs addressing a
specific AF: This one is based on AF3
Read the passage on the next slide.
• Why are the writer’s feelings about rugby?
• How are we know this?
The Starter
I couldn’t wait for the games lesson to start. It was going
to be great. After all those skills sessions with my dad in
the park, I would really show the kids in my class how
good I was and maybe, just maybe, I would finally make
some friends at the High School. Coming from a different
primary school to all the others hadn’t made life easy for
me – and today was the day that was going to change
everything. I was going to whizz down the wing, side
step, then cut in and fly over the line like Jason Robinson
in the World Cup Final. All I needed was for someone to
actually pass the ball to me, and I would be the star, the
hero; everybody’s mate!
How do you teach reading skills?
( a few tips…)
• Little and often – use starters as route in & link to
lesson objectives
• Use class reader rather than ‘extract overkill’ –
prediction, inference etc…
• Teacher-led reading – showing pupils how you read a
text (use of annotation/ interactive whiteboard)
• Diagnostic tests to inform differentiated paired
reading
• Guided reading
Guided reading
• Common at KS2 – Y7 will be used to it
• 20 min group work with teacher within lesson working
on specific reading skill
• Clear and focussed learning objectives related to
optional/ KS3 tests
• Good way of supporting weak students but to also
challenge G&T pupils
• Diagnostic tests/ target levels useful for grouping
• Encourages pupils to be more aware of skills used
when reading a text
Guided Reading: practicalities
• Planning, planning and planning!!!
• How to select pupils
• How to ensure all pupils in class have
guided reading time
• Selecting resources for session
• How to manage classroom space
• How to manage behaviour of rest of
group
Your turn!!
Group activity
• You will be given an Assessment Focus
and a text
• With these, you need to produce a plan
of how you would aim to deliver a 20
minute guided reading session for pupils