Reading in Primary 4-7
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Policy and Practice
At Skene Square School we value and enjoy reading and want to pass this onto our learners. Competency in reading enables the whole curriculum and the world beyond the classroom to be accessed and pursued.
Reading and responding to literature and other texts play a central role in the development of learners' knowledge and understanding. Curriculum for Excellence-
The purpose of this policy is to promote a consistency of approach and to ensure that continuity, progression and challenge are embedded in our practice.
Our aims are:
• To nurture a love of books and reading
• To recognise the value of parents / carers as essential components in supporting and developing children's reading skills and love of reading
• To deliver a structured and consistent whole school approach to reading
• To develop reading strategies and skills: fluency, accuracy, understanding and response to different texts
• To read and enjoy a variety of texts from a variety of sources: library, class book corners, ICT
• To create a strong, embedded reading culture through a rich language environment within classrooms and the wider school environment.
Reading at Skene Square School
As your child progresses into the upper school (P4-7) they will continue to receive reading homework from school. This is a great opportunity to continue working with your child to foster a love of reading along with developing crucial skills.
Below you will find information about what reading looks like in school and how you can continue to support your child at home.
Reading books are valuable resources that all children need access to. Please take care of our books so that they do not get lost or damaged.
As your child continues their reading journey they will bring home a variety of texts; including fiction and non-fiction. The aim is for children to become familiar with a range of genres, be able to discuss their features and their understanding of a text.
Our Reading Routines
Our Reading Routines
Each week your child will be heard reading at least once in school. During this session, teachers will explore the genre of the text, features of the text and develop children's skills in reading aloud. They will further develop children's comprehension skills by asking a range of questions about the text and discussing what the children have read to aid their understanding.
Below you will find further information on reading sessions at school and at home.
1st Session
1st Session
The first session takes place in school. Children will be supported to identify the title, author, illustrator and blurb for the text they are reading. They will discuss the genre of the book and identify, through examining features of the text, whether it is a fiction or non-fiction book.
Teachers will check that children have a good understanding of the vocabulary in the book and go over any unknown words.
Whilst reading aloud, children will be supported to develop their fluency and expression.
Children will be asked a number of questions about the book to further their understanding of the text and develop their comprehension skills.
Following the reading in school session, your child will bring home their book to read. They will be allocated certain pages/chapters or the whole book to read depending on the length of the text.
2nd Session
2nd Session
Reading session 2 takes place at home between parent/guardian and the child.
At the beginning of the session, the adult should discuss the title of the book and what the child already knows about the text.
They should then ask the child to read the book independently.
As the child is reading, adults should support children to decode unknown words and pause to discuss new vocabulary and ask questions about the text.
After the book has been read the adult should ask the child questions about it. The 'Reflective Reading Cards' at the end of this website may be particularly useful to support questioning at home. Some of the books also have questions to ask the reader printed at the front or back of the text.
Following the reading session at home, the same process starts again.
Every session children should be returning their old book and receiving a new book or new pages or chapters to read.
Assessment
Assessment
At Skene Square, children's reading is assessed using a variety of methods.
Teachers continually assess reading through observation of children reading aloud, verbal comprehension and written comprehension tasks.
Sometimes, teachers may use a reading assessment to further assess children's reading.
Clear next steps are regularly shared with children to help them further develop their reading and comprehension skills.
Reading Support at Skene Square
Reading Support at Skene Square
Some children may receive extra support in reading from our Support for Learning Team. This may be to support fluency and skills when reading aloud or to further develop their comprehension skills.
Regular assessments are carried out by our Support for Learning Team to track children's progress and next steps are shared with the child, their Class Teacher and their families through the use of our 'Reading Next Steps Bookmark'.
Comprehension at Skene Square School
In Primary 4-7, all children will also engage in a weekly comprehension lesson. These lessons may focus further on their reading book or use an alternative text.
During comprehension lessons, children will develop seven different comprehension strategies. A summary of each of the strategies can be found in this poster.
Children will be supported to develop these strategies through engaging with texts across a range of genres.
They will learn how to formulate answers in structured sentences using their understanding and evidence from the text.
In P4-7 children are gradually introduced to the acronymn 'PEE'. PEE is a strategy which children use to create structured and evidenced answers in comprehension. This strategy is used by our associated secondary school, Aberdeen Grammar. It stands for:
P - Point - Your answer to the question, in simple terms and very focused. This is the shortest part.
E - Evidence - One or more quotes taken from the text to prove or support what it is that you are saying. This MUST be a direct copy of the words in the text. Use speech marks “ ”
E - Explanation - This is where you give a more detailed description of the point and quote and what it actually means. It is good to include your own personal understanding here.
Supporting reading at home
When reading at home with your child, there are a number of things you can do to help them further their reading and comprehension skills.
Below you will find a range of resources which may be helpful in supporting reading at home.
When reading, we must develop the lower order skills such as remembering to be able to move on and progress on to higher order thinking skills such as evaluating.
It is very important to go over any unknown words, extending vocabulary and developing understanding of the text.
The reflective reading question cards below are designed to develop your child's higher order thinking skills.
Reflective Reading Question Cards
Early, First and Second Level Reflective Reading Cards have been created to use to support reading sessions between parents/guardians and children at home.
There are 6 sets of question cards at each level which have a range of questions to develop higher order thinking skills.
When reading at home, these cards will give you a guide to some questions you can ask to extend your child's reading and comprehension skills development.
Set 1-4 are best used with fiction books and Set 5 and 6 are designed for use with non-fiction books.
Early Level Reflective Reading Question Cards.pdfEarly Level
Early Level
First Level Reflective Reading Question Cards.pdfFirst Level
First Level
Second Level Reflective Reading Question Cards.pdfSecond Level
Second Level
Word Attack/Decoding Strategies
Decoding strategies or word-attack strategies are ways in which children can tackle reading new or unknown vocabulary.
Open this poster to read more about the different strategies.
When your child comes across new/unfamilar vocabulary whilst reading at home, encourage them to use these strategies to decode the word and discuss it's meaning.
Knowledge Organisers
The following knowledge organisers have been created to give an overview of key reading knoweldge and understanding and support reading sessions at home.
There are two different knowledge organisers - one for P1-3 (Early & Beginning of First Level) and another P4-7 (Mid First Level to Second Level).
These include key vocabulary, an overview of RWI Phonics and word attack/decoding strategies.
P3-4 Reading Organiser.pdfP4-7.pdfPage updated
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