Reading workshop – Autumn 2
Research shows that children who are helped at home
make better progress in school.
Reading with your child can be fun and very rewarding. If
children enjoy reading, it will benefit their whole education.
They are also more likely to carry on reading as adults.
Benefits of reading together for your child
•Stimulating imagination
•Helping develop language skills
•Helping develop comprehension skills
•Demonstrating that reading is important
Reading is a skill that has two parts!
Word Recognition (decoding) - The
ability to recognise words presented in
and out of context.
Comprehension - The process by which
word information, sentences and
discourse are interpreted. The same
processes underlie comprehension of
both oral and written language.
How do children learn how to read?
Phonic clues
Word recognition
Knowledge of content
Grammatical awareness
The main purpose of reading is to
build a visual image of the text
Decode
Understand Attitude
Respond
?? Comprehension questions ??
Literal questions – recalling information that is
directly stated in the text
Deductive and Inferential Questions – asking
children to work out answers by reading between
the lines, combining information from different
parts of the text and by going beyond the
information given.
Evaluative and response questions – thinking
about whether a text achieves its purpose, or
making connections with other texts
Reading strategy activity
What does your child like to read?
Choose any books that appeal to your child, for
example, stories or information books on
hobbies/interests such as football or animals.
Vary your reading together.
It doesn’t have to be school books. Newspapers,
magazines, recipes, games instructions can be
read together and still be part of the process of
learning to read with enjoyment.
Listening comprehension is increased and your
child will remember points more easily if you
have a good background knowledge and
discussion of the topic before the you begin.
What would you ask your child about
the book cover before they start
reading it? (Activity)
What things in this
picture do you already
know about?
What are some of the
key vocabulary words
we might come across
in this book?
What questions do you
have about the book
from its cover?
Do you know the reading strategies your
child uses?
1. I take notes when reading to help me understood what I
have read.
2. When text becomes difficult, I read aloud to help me
understand what I read.
3. I summarise what I read to reflect on important information in
the text.
4. I discuss what I read with others to check my understanding.
5. I underline or circle information in the text to help me
remember it.
6. I use reference materials such as dictionaries to help me
understand what I read.
7. I go back and forth in the text to find connecting ideas in it.
Between now and next week….
Find out which book is your child’s favourite
What type of books do they like?
Who is their favourite book character?
Where do they like to read?
What strategies help them to read?
Reading Workshop Session 2
Autumn 2
‘Comprehension is like having a pretend conversation.’
Comprehension does not come naturally to some
children. These children must be told that the text is
supposed to make sense. Some children need help to
understand how one action in the passage leads to
another. Some connections come easier and quicker
for some than others.
Natural readers ‘hear’ their thinking in their heads as
an inner conversation that helps them make sense of
what they read. It is useful to also help your child make
personal connections to the story e.g. talking about
them 'helping mum bake a cake!'
How can I help?
• Find a quiet, relaxing place away from distractions such as TV
• Sit comfortably in good light and talk to your child about their book
• Read for about 10 minutes; a regular short time of quality is better than
a long session which happens only occasionally
• Ask why they have chosen the book
• Talk about the cover and title and what the story might be about • Ask
them to tell you who wrote the book or point to the author
• Look at the pictures and ask them to tell you where the story takes
place
• Ask who they can see in the pictures
• Try to be supportive and positive during the reading time
• Encourage your children to look closely at the print
• Read the first page or two together until your child is ready to continue
alone
• Encourage your child to point to each word as they read aloud
• Where possible wait for your child to decode words
• Encourage the use of clues such as the look/sound of the letters, what
would make sense and the illustrations
What to do if your child gets stuck
on a word in the text..
let them read on so they can work out the word
themselves from the context
point to a picture if it will help them guess the meaning
give them the first or last sounds to help them o read
along with them then pause, prompt, praise if they get it
right
read the word for them (especially if it is a Proper Name)
when they are confident with sounds, let them sound out
unknown words – break longer words down in to
syllables o do not sound out words which are not
phonetic e.g “because”
Reading activity with your child
(20 mins)
Using the resources on the desk, complete
some of the activities with the books on the
table.
If reading becomes a challenge at home…
We would like all of our children to enjoy reading rather than
see it as a an effort/hard work/something they don’t enjoy.
to avoid confrontation
Offer alternative reading material, e.g. internet access,
magazines, non – fiction etc...
Encourage reading at different times of the day or week
Buy/borrow books on tapes from the local library and then
you can listen whilst in the car of before bed
Share reading activities and interact with the text together
Share the problem with your child’s teacher, we are here to
help!
