READING

Please keep reading with your child. Below are some suggestions for discussing the book with your child. 

VOCABULARY – Years 1 - 2
Draw upon knowledge of vocabulary in order to understand the text.
 What does the word ………. mean in this sentence?
 Find and copy a word which means ……….
 What does this word or phrase tell you about ………?
 Which word in this section do you think is the most important? Why?
 Which of the words best describes the character/setting/mood etc?
 Can you think of any other words the author could have used to describe this?
 Why do you think ………. is repeated in this section?

INFER – Years 1 – 2
Make inferences from the text.
 Why was……. feeling……..?
 Why did ………… happen?
 Why did ………. say ……….?
 Can you explain why……….?
 What do you think the author intended when they said……….?
 How does ………. make you feel?

PREDICT – Years 1 – 2
Predict what you think will happen based on the information that you have been given.
 Look at the book cover/blurb – what do you think this book will be about?
 What do you think will happen next? What makes you think this?
 How does the choice of character or setting affect what will happen next?
 What is happening? What do you think happened before? What do you think will happen after?
 What do you think the last paragraph suggests will happen next?

EXPLAIN – Years 1 – 2
Explain your preferences, thoughts and opinions about the text.
 Who is your favourite character? Why?
 Why do you think all the main characters are girls in this book?
 Would you like to live in this setting? Why/why not?
 Is there anything you would change about this story?
 Do you like this text? What do you like about it?

RETRIEVE – Years 1 – 2
Identify and explain the key features of fiction and non-fiction texts such as: characters, events, titles and information.
 What kind of text is this?
 Who did…..?
 Where did…..?
 When did…..?
 What happened when…..?
 Why did …….. happen?
 How did …….?
 How many…..?
 What happened to……?

SEQUENCE – Years 1 – 2
Sequence the key events in the story.
 Can you number these events 1-5 in the order that they happened?
 What happened after …….?
 What was the first thing that happened in the story?
 Can you summarise in a sentence the opening/middle/end of the story?
 In what order do these chapter headings come in the story?

Phonics
It is so important for children to be able to use their phonics knowledge when learning to read and write. Children need to be able to hear the sounds in isolation and hear them within words. Robot talking is a great, fun way to develop this skill: eg put your h-a-n-d on your kn-ee!
A great website you could use is www.phonicsplay.co.uk

High Frequency Words (HFW)
These are equally as important. High frequency words are the building blocks to reading. Children need to be able to recognise and read these by sight so that they can concentrate on sounding out the content words. Reading will be a chore if your child needs to work out every word and the meaning then will be lost.
Keep practising reading the HFWs -play games with them. Write them on post-it notes and hide them around the room, Can you find ‘said’? How quickly can your child find the correct word. You could make and play simple games such as snap or pairs with them. Keep persevering!

Most importantly enjoy books together!