Focus On Reading

Hello again,

This week I am going to try something different. When we are at school, I shall ask one or two of the children to “read” the news and then upload it here for you to access (fingers crossed) as a soundbyte.

news-for-blog

Please make sure that your child is reading their lexile book for at least 15 minutes for homework each night. There are far too many children staying in at recess and lunch on a Friday to make up their reading time. As I always tell the children, footy players practise footy skills to get better. Netballers practise their netball skills to get better at netball. Readers MUST practise their reading skills to get better at reading. There is just not enough time in the school day for all their reading practise to be done here. We have daily reading at school from 8.50 – 9.10. It is at this time that children are also changing books and taking quizzes and reading to adults. We have explicit reading lessons on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays when Mrs Corey, Mrs Bradshaw and Selena also work with us to improve our reading skills.

Reading is not just about sounding out the words correctly. That part of reading is called decoding. It is also about understanding what you have read. That part of reading is called comprehension. Many children have a good grasp of simple comprehension but their higher level comprehension skills need improving. Take a look at the passage below for an example of the different types of comprehension levels that children need to know.

” Katy had a cat called Snowball. Snowball had 4 kittens. They were also little white fluffy cats. Katy had trouble trying to think of names for all the kittens”

A low level question could be, “How many kittens did the cat have?” We call these “here” questions because the information can be found directly, here, in the text.

A mid-level question might be, “How many cats were there altogether?” This is a “hidden” question because the answer is not directly in the text, but you can work it out from what is written.

A high level question could be, “Why did Katy have trouble trying to think of different names?” This is what we call “head” questions as the answer is not in the text at all. It requires the reader to use what they have read in the text to come up with their own ideas about something.

Next time you are listening to your child read, see if you can challenge them with a few “hidden” questions as well as some easier “here” questions.

Thank you to all the adults who are supporting their child’s reading program.

I hope to have “The News” sound byte on here by Wednesday. Please come back then for another look.

Regards,

Louisa Guest