Welcome to Stage 5.

In order to comprehend what we read we must be able to read with confidence, fluency and expression. If we spend too much time trying to decode the word as we read, this slows the reading process down and makes comprehension very difficult. 

Once you have mastered the 71 phonograms, tools and are working through understanding the 31 spelling rules we can begin to read with fluency and expression. 

The following strategies must be practised daily so that they become automatic to allow for fluent and expressive reading so that comprehension can occur.

1. Younger children should be able to read the letters of the alphabet and identify all their sounds. Next read lists of rhyming words by modelling segmenting and blending these and asking the child to repeat the process such as c a t = cat and the child repeats this. Read lists of rhyming words several times to build an automatic recall over time. For example: bat, cat, mat, sat, fat, hat. Ask do the words yes and me rhyme? etc.

2. Consider onset and rhyme activities for children such as, what sound do you hear at the end of the word bark? What is the first sound you hear in the word desk?  

3. Consider onset fluency, isolating final sounds, blending words, segmenting words, adding words, deleting words, substituting words. For example, what is the beginning sound in the word baker and happy? Blend the following two words play + ground = playground. Say a compound word such as classroom and ask it to be segmented into two words. Add words by asking to add to a word, such as card + board = cardboard. Ask for part of a compound word to be deleted such as airport to just air, etc.

4. Model reading picture story books to identify words. Have them read these back to you the basic words or short sentences. Read familiar texts many times together. Discuss the contents of pictures on each page. Discuss who, what, when, where and why of what is happening in each picture to begin helping recall and comprehend what is being read. Work together to recall as many facts and details as possible from the text read. 

5. When reading texts, identify and practise reading the High Frequency Words (HFW). Use the Reading Tools to model sounding out and blending these words with your child first and then complete the process together.

6. For older children start with one page of a longer picture story or chapter book. Before reading, scan the texts for unfamiliar words. Use the Reading Tools with the knowledge of the phonograms and spelling rules to decode these words together first so that when the child comes across these words when reading they can read these words automatically and with fluency as it is a familiar word. Re-read the word several times and move onto the next word. This is a strategy that improves and becomes automatic with practice. Discuss the meaning of the word if it is a new word for the child.

7. Read a text three times. If it is a chapter book read a page three times. The first time an adult can model reading to the child or alternatively the child reads and spends time decoding and reading words for accuracy. By the second time the child builds familiarity with what they read and confidence by using cues such as commas, exclamation marks and words written all in capital letters to signal when to read with extra expression. Finally, the third time the child reads the text, it is with fluency and expression.

8. Focus on expanding a child's vocabulary. Read books that relate to topics of interest. Find unfamiliar words and see if the text explains the meaning of the word or use a glossary if the book contains one. If not, use an online dictionary to find its meaning.

9. Next work on building a child's ability to comprehend what they read. When working on comprehension it is best to read the text three times to ensure that a high level of recall of facts and details occurs so that there is a strong understanding of the text before answering questions.  

10. After reading the text, ask questions and together find the answers to model and support a child to comprehend, search and locate information from within the text that answers the question or use prior knowledge on the topic for extra support. Consider asking the following types of questions in the order presented below. The further down the list the more complex the questions become.

11. Comprehension should occur in the following order. When reading focus on one or two areas each time.

    1. Recount what they have read. Model this process to the child. Recall facts and details such as the names of all the characters, setting and events that take place in the story. Ask questions such as who, what, when, where, why and how.

    2. Sequence events as they happen in a story using a picture story book first and then a chapter of a book. Focus on event order and if possible time order.

    3. Find the main idea to explain what is the text mostly focusing on. With larger texts you can find the main idea in the first sentence of a paragraph. The rest of the paragraph provides supporting details. 

    4. Recall facts and details such as the names of all the characters and setting.

    5. Make predictions about what will happen next in a story.

    6. Compare (same) and contrast (different) characters and events from different stories. 

    7. Recognise cause and effect, what happened and why?

    8. Identify the author's purpose (persuade, inform (explain) or entertain).

    9. Distinguishing between fact and opinion. My favourite day of the week is Tuesday. The fact is Tuesday and opinion is that it is my favourite day of the week.

    10. Identifying what is real and make-believe. Are pigs real? Can pigs speak? 

    11. Interpreting figurative language. Figurative language is phrasing that goes beyond the literal meaning of words to get a message or point across such as, After a long day at the beach, my skin was as red as a tomato. This is a simile. There are many other forms of figurative language including metaphor, personification, hyperbole and onomatopoeia.  

    12. Drawing conclusions and inference (Use prior knowledge of the topic, own experiences and clues from the text to work out the meaning to answer a question).

    13. Summarise what has been read into ones own words. See below on how to achieve this using different strategies for fiction and non-fiction texts.

For fiction texts use the SWBST Strategy. Somebody - Who is the main character? Wanted - What does the main character want? But - What is the problem? So - How does the character try to solve the problem? and Then - How does the story end?

For non-fiction texts use the MUSH Strategy. Main Idea of the text or article, Uncover the purpose - Why did the author write the text or article, Structure - What is the text structure to help you retell and Helps - Use the title, headings and images to help work out what is important about the text or article. Answer the following questions, who, what, when, where, why, how. Identify statements of fact and opinion statements contained in the text. Does the text contain bias or is it balanced with opposing views presented? If so, what evidence from the text supports such a view.

Important Note:

It is through daily application of all these strategies that children will develop the confidence to apply the phonograms, tools and rules to read and spell competently. Fluency, expression and comprehension will develop firstly through lots of rich discussion and modelling by adults using the strategies above.

When adults model good reading behaviours and interest in reading, children will pick this up and share the love of reading themselves into adulthood. 

Remember, practise makes permanent!