Author: Clare

Phonics
Children are learning Phonics in school
in a systematic way using Letters And Sounds.
Children develop their phonic awareness in the following steps:
Phases of phonic progression
Rhyme cap/map/tap
Blend cvc words (consonant/vowel/consonant) tap/pat
Recognise all 44 phonemes (all the sounds our letters make including sh oo th ee, etc)
Blend adjacent consonants stop/post
Know all long vowel phonemes ai /ay /a_e
Apply knowledge to spell more complex words

Pronouncing Sounds/Phonemes
Children need to be able to sound out many words
in order to try to read them.
It is very important that you encourage your child to say each sound clearly and as the pure sound. Do not put an “uh” sound onto each phoneme i.e.

Reading In Different Ways
Children read in many different ways in school throughout the day:
Individual reading
Guided reading
Shared reading
Reading in relation to class activities
Reading for research
Language games
Hearing stories read to them

“If you can read, you can do anything”
(Adam Wilde 2011)

For all readers:
Find a quiet time and place
Encourage them to make predictions about what will
happen
Remind them to use the reading strategies to help when they get stuck
Ask questions throughout the book to help develop a good understanding of the text
Regularly praise their efforts
Read regularly to your child
Visit your local library

For Developing Readers:
Ask your child to tell you the story using the pictures
Encourage them to use story type language i.e “Once upon a time....” “Next....” “At last.....”
Talk about the cover. Find the title, author, etc.
Ask them to predict what the story could be about.
Spend a few moments
going through the book with your child—point out any tricky words - clue them into the story

For Confident Readers:
Discuss the cover off the book and suggest what type of book and what you might find in it
Recap the story so far and predict what might happen next.
Share the reading of a longer text with your child so that you can model expressive reading
Read a range of different types of texts regularly to your child
Encourage your child to read from a range of texts i.e.
poems, stories, magazines,
comics, web pages,
information books, etc.

Questions to ask....
Before

What do you think you are going to find out about in this book? What are you going to learn?

What do you think is going to happen in his book? What makes you think that?

Have you read any other
stories by this author?

What characters do you think will be in this story? What do you think will happen to them?

What does the title of the book suggest it will be about?

During:

What do you think will happen next?

How is the problem
going to be solved?

How is ..........
feeling now?
Why?

Why is this information important?

What might happen if.....?

Would you be friends with........?
Why/why not?

Why did .............
happen?

What has
happened so far in the story?

What is the most interesting thing you have learned so far?

Does the
character remind you of any other characters you have read about?

Have you read any other stories like this one? What is similar about it?

After

What was the most interesting thing you learned?

Have you ever felt like...........?(character)
Why?

Can you retell me the story?

Does this story
remind you of any other stories you know? How?

What was your
favourite part of the story?

Would you read a book by this
author again? Why?

Can you make
up a different
ending?

Which fact do you think is the most important fact in the book? Why?

How did
you feel when ..........
happened?

What kind of
person is .............? (character)
How do you know?

Does the story
remind you of
anything that has happened to you?

What was the main idea in this story?

“If you can read, you can do anything”
(Adam Wilde 2011)

Reading is a skill for life. It is used every day in everything you do

Reading widens our knowledge and
understanding of the world around us

Spend quality time together

Reading

Support your child’s
independence

Reading encourages imagination and
creativity

Reading helps develop a wider
vocabulary

Confident
readers learn more easily.

Reading is fun and enjoyable.

Praising your child’s reading shows you value their efforts.

Phrases that encourage:

I liked it when you ..........
because..........

I liked the way you sounded out the tricky word.

I noticed you used the .............
strategy.

You are reading with lots of expression. I’m really impressed.

Good for you! I saw you checking the word to see if you were right.

You’re thinking hard about what thee story is about.

I noticed you tried .......... when you had trouble. That’s what the best readers do.

I’m really
impressed with your reading skills.

Well done, you’re checking the
writing makes sense and you are really
understanding what you are reading.

“sssss’ not ‘suh’
“mmmmm” not “muh”
“shhhhh” not “shuh”
“t” not “tuh”, etc
Please ask your child’s teacher for further explanation if required