Reading

Reading is the foundation of lifelong learning.  It opens doors to imagination, understanding and critical thinking.  Reading is not just about books - it is about building the skills your child needs to thrive across all areas of the curriculum.  

Reading supports the four capacities which are at the heart of the Curriculum for Excellence by:

• Developing literacy skills that are essential for learning in every subject

• Building vocabulary and comprehension, which boosts confidence in speaking and writing.

• Thinking critically, asking questions and forming opinions.

Curriculum for Excellence benchmarks provide specific statements about what children should be able to do at different stages, focusing on five different areas.  These are:

Enjoyment and Choice

Assesses a child's interest in reading, such as engaging with stories, sharing likes/dislikes and choosing texts.

Tools for Listening and Talking

While focusing on speaking, this area includes asking questions and responding to others, which is vital for understanding texts.

Finding and Using Information

Measures the ability to identify new information from spoken and written texts and use it to learn.

Understanding, Analysing and Evaluating

Focuses on a child's ability to comprehend stories, make predictions, ask questions and link what they learn to prior knowledge.

Creating Texts

This includes talking about and describing ideas, events and characters from texts in various ways.

At Countesswells your children will learn through a range of different texts whether that be from a reading scheme, library books read for enjoyment or other reading resources we have in school.  Staff will choose the appropriate resources to provide breadth and depth and ensure that learners experience a range of genre.  

Some examples of resouces we have in school include:

Reading books follow a 'book band' order.  Lilac books are wordless books which help learners use picture clues to create their own stories.  Following Lilac is Pink, where learners will start to blends CVC words together.  Book bands will grow progressively more complex as learners move through them.  The order of book bands are:

Lilac

Pink

Red

Yellow

Blue

Green

Orange

Turquoise

Purple

White

Lime

Novels

From Pink - Green level, your child will likely work on 2 texts per week but this will be supplemented by other reading opportunities over the week.

What Does a Typical Reading Session Look Like?

P1 - 3

A reading session will begin with the teacher introducing the book.  Together the group will discuss the title, the author, the illustrator and the blurb.

Learners will be encouraged to point to each word and will often read the words together during the first read.

Learners will be asked a number of questions about the book to further their understanding of the text.

Teachers will check that children have a good understanding of the vocabulary and go over any unknown words.

The books will then be sent home in the learners book bag.  Parents are encouraged to follow a similar pattern of reading aloud the text, supporting with any word the child may find difficult and asking questions about what has been read.

When the book is back in school, teachers will be looking at how well the learner has progressed since the first read.  Has accuracy, expression and volume improved?

P4 - 7

Your child will be heard reading at least once each week in school, although there will be other opportunities to apply reading skills throughout the week.

Teachers will check for understanding of the vocabulary in the book and go over any unknown words.  

Learners will be supported to develop fluency and expression.

Learners will be asked a range of questions to further their understanding of the text and develop comprehension skills. 

To find out more about how you can help your child with reading at home, please follow the link below.