Download Help Your Child With READING

Help Your Child
With
READING
Key Stage 2
Reading
As parents you are the most influential teacher and you play a vital role in
helping your child to read. It is really important that you sit with your child on a
regular basis to hear them read and to help them understand the texts around
them.
This guide has been produced to support you to help your child’s reading and
most importantly the understanding of what they have read. We find that
many children can grasp the mechanics of reading quickly yet lack the levels of
understanding to take their reading on to the next level. It is important to note
at this stage, that it is not how quickly a child moves through the reading
scheme but the level of understanding that they have of texts that is most
important.
On the following pages you will find top 10 hints for hearing your child read as
well as some key questions that you can ask your child about what they have
read. We hope that you find this guide useful and informative and that it
supports you in your child’s home learning.
10 tips for hearing your child read
1. Choose a quiet time
Set aside a quiet time with no distractions. Ten to fifteen minutes is usually long enough.
2. Make reading enjoyable
Make reading an enjoyable experience. Sit with your child. Try not to pressurise if he or she is reluctant. If your
child loses interest then do something else.
3. Maintain the flow
If your child mispronounces a word do not interrupt immediately. Instead allow opportunity for self-correction. It
is better to tell a child some unknown words to maintain the flow rather than insisting on trying to build them all
up from the sounds of the letters. If your child does try to 'sound out' words, encourage the use of letter sounds
rather than 'alphabet names'.
4. Be positive
If your child says something nearly right to start with that is fine. Don't say 'No. That's wrong,' but 'Let's read it
together' and point to the words as you say them. Boost your child's confidence with constant praise for even the
smallest achievement.
5. Success is the key
Parents anxious for a child to progress can mistakenly give a child a book that is too difficult. This can have the
opposite effect to the one they are wanting. Remember 'Nothing succeeds like success'. Until your child has built
up his or her confidence, it is better to keep to easier books. Struggling with a book with many unknown words is
pointless. Flow is lost, text cannot be understood and children can easily become reluctant readers.
6. Visit the Library
Encourage your child to use the public library regularly.
7. Regular practice
Try to read with your child on most school days. 'Little and often' is best. Teachers have limited time to help your
child with reading.
8. Communicate
Your child will most likely have a reading diary from school. Try to communicate regularly with positive comments
and any concerns. Your child will then know that you are interested in their progress and that you value reading.
9. Talk about the books
There is more to being a good reader than just being able to read the words accurately. Just as important is being
able to understand what has been read. Always talk to your child about the book; about the pictures, the
characters, how they think the story will end, their favourite part. You will then be able to see how well they have
understood and you will help them to develop good comprehension skills.
10. Variety is important
Remember children need to experience a variety of reading materials eg. picture books, hard backs, comics,
magazines, poems, and information books.
Source: www.topmarks.co.uk
There are 7 Assessment Focus (AF) areas within reading each one is explained before the type of question
related to that AF.
Lower Key Stage 2
AF1: Your child is able to understand the words that they read and use expression and punctuation.
How would you read new
words that you didn’t
know?
What should you do if you
see a full stop or comma?
Which words do you
already know?
What would you see at the
beginning of a sentence?
How does your voice
change when someone in
your story is speaking?
AF2: Can your child find answers in the text?
Fiction and non-fiction
Where and when did the
story take place? How do
you know?
Who are the key
characters in your book?
What did the character
look like? Where did they
live? How do we know?
Can you find something
that interests you from
this text?
Explain why you chose
that particular part?
What is the text
about? What is the
title of the text?
Who is the author of
the text?
Can you describe what
happened in the story?
What did the author mean
when they wrote…..?
Explain something that
happened at a specific point in
the story?
Can you find a few words
or phrases that tell you
about the setting?
Can you find 3 words that
describe your favourite
character? (could be
personality or appearance)
Why did you choose these
words?
What is on the cover of
the book? What does this
tell you about the content
inside?
Where would you look to
find out what a technical
word means?
Fiction
AF3: Can your child use clues to read between the lines and discover more information?
If you could choose a
character to interview
what questions would you
ask? What do you think
their answers would be?
Which is your favourite
part of the story? Why?
Who would you like to
meet most in the story?
Why?
Who was the
story teller? How
do you know?
Could you visit
the setting of
the story?
Why? Why not?
What do you think would
happen next if the story
carried on past the ending
of the book? Could you
write the next chapter?
How is the main character
feeling at the start, middle
and end of the story? Why
do they feel that way?
Does this surprise you?
What sort of person do you
think would use this book?
Why?
Which parts of the book
can help you find the
information you need?
When might someone use
this book and why?
When would you use the
contents or index page?
Do you think the author
of the book is an
“expert” about the topic
of the book? Why do
you think this?
AF4: Can your child talk about how the text has been put together and organised?
How has the text been organised?
Why do you think authors use
short sentences? (e.g. for action
and dramatic effect etc.)
Has the author used an unusual
layout in the text?
Are you surprised by the
ending? Is it what you
expected?
What is the main event in the
story? Why do you think this?
Has the author used a
variety of sentence
structures? Has the
author put certain
words in bold or italics?
Why have they done
this?
Can you find an example
of a page that has an
interesting layout? Why
did you choose it?
How does the layout help
the reader?
What kind of text is
this? How do you
know?
What are the subheadings
for?
What is the purpose of the
pictures?
Can you find examples of
words which tell you the
order of something?
How many paragraphs are
on the page?
AF5: Can your child explain how the author has used language for different effects – metaphors, similes
etc.
Why did the author choose
this title?
Do you want to read the rest
of the text? How does the
writer encourage you to read
the rest of the text?
Which part of the story best
describes the setting? Can
you find some examples of
effective description? What
makes them effective?
Why does this book
contain technical
vocabulary? Find an
example of a technical
word? Read the sentence
it is in. What do you think
it means based on how it
is used in the sentence?
Find an example of a
word you don’t know
the meaning of. Using
the text around it, what
do you think it means?
Where else could you
look to find the
meanings of words?
Are there any
examples of
persuasive
language?
Why do we
need a glossary
in a text?
Can you find examples of
powerful adjectives? Can you
find examples of powerful
adverbs? Can you find
examples of powerful verbs?
What do they tell you about a
character, their actions or the
setting?
AF6: Can your child explain the author’s viewpoint and how the text makes them feel?
Can you think of another story
that has a similar theme e.g.
good over evil, weak over
strong, wise over foolish?
What makes this a
successful story? What
evidence do you have
to justify your opinion?
What are the similarities and
differences between them?
Why has the writer
written this text?
How would you
start this story? Can
you rewrite the
opening paragraph?
What genre is the
story and how do
you know?
Why do you think the
author chose this setting?
What was the most
important part of the
story? What was the
least exciting part of
the story? Explain your
answer as fully as you
can.
Have you found any of the illustrations,
diagrams or pictures useful? Why? Why
not?
Why did the author choose to present that
information in the way they did?
How could the information be presented
better?
Are there any features it hasn’t got? Why?
How could the story
be improved or
changed for the
better?
Fiction
AF7: Can your child compare and contrast stories set in different cultures and times?
Have you been in a similar
situation to a character in
your book? What happened
and how would you have felt
in the same situation? What
would you have done
differently?
Do you think this book
is trying to give the
reader a message? If so
what is it?
How would you describe
this story? Eg: Myth, fable,
traditional tale etc.
Do you know another
story that deals with the
same issues? E.g. social,
cultural or moral.
What did the story make
you think about? Have you
read any stories that have
similar characters to this
one? If so which story was
it? What happened?
Useful terms to use when reading with your child
Adjective
A describing word, for example: large, yellow, small etc. The large elephant.
Adverb
A word that describes the verb, for example: The boy ran quickly. A lot of adverbs end in _ly.
Antonym
A word opposite in meaning to another word, for example: Good and bad.
Assessment Focus
(AF)
Blurb
The area of reading being looked at. There are currently 7 AF areas.
Character
The subjects within the story, eg: people, animals ect. It is who the story is about.
Clause
A group of words made up of a verb and a predicate. A main clause can stand alone as a sentence.
Compound word
A word made up of two shorter words, for example: pan + cake = pancake.
Connective
A word that links two clauses, for example I can't go out. It is raining. > I can't go out because it is raining.
Expression
Use of voice or changing in volume etc when reading. EG: "Come here!" shouted Joe would be read out loud
as though Joe was actually shouting.
Glossary
An alphabetically list of technical terms from within a text. This is usually found at the back of the book as an
appendix.
Main clause
A main clause must contain a subject and a verb and be able to stand alone as a sentence.
Noun
A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the first
words which small children learn, for example: dog, cat, chair, hair etc
Paragraph
A number of sentences all about the same idea. Paragraphs are usually separated by a missing line or with
the first sentence indented.
Predicate
Every sentence has a subject and a predicate. The subject tells whom or what the sentence is about and the
predicate tells us what the subject is or does, for example, The house (subject) is white (predicate), The red
car (subject) is faster (predicate).
Preposition
A word that shows the relationship between a noun/pronoun and another word in the sentence, for
example: My dog is on the bed. My dad is in the car.
Pronoun
A word used instead of a noun, for example: I, she, they, he, you etc
Punctuation
The marks used to clarify meaning by marking separation of words and clauses and phrases.
Setting
Where the story is taking place.
Inverted commas
(Speech marks)
This punctuation marks the words that are actually spoken by the character. For example: "What time is it?"
asked Sarah.
Synonym
A word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language, for
example shut is a synonym of close.
Verb
A doing word. Walk, run, sat, ate etc
This is the short piece of writing on the back cover that usually gives you a brief overview of what the book is
about.
For any other terms please see the English glossary for 2014 statutory requirements. This can be
found under the curriculum section of the school website.