English - Reading
Introduction to Reading at Connaught
WHY: At Connaught, we want all children to express a love for reading and read for pleasure. Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible; once you learn to read, you will be forever free.
WHAT: We want all children to leave Key Stage 2 as confident readers.
HOW: We are committed to promoting reading through a variety of strategies and opportunities as explained in our introductory video.
Our main priority is for children to enjoy reading so they can not only widen their knowledge, vocabulary and sentence structure but also read for pleasure and have access to a wider range of text types, authors and make informed decisions about their favourites.
Intent
At Connaught, we envisage that all children, including those who are disadvantaged or have SEND, will express a love for reading and read for pleasure. Our main priority is for children to enjoy reading, so they can not only widen their knowledge, vocabulary and sentence structure but also gain enjoyment. As well as this and in line with the National Curriculum, they will learn key skills in deduction and inference allowing them to answer targeted questions about fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts.
Implementation
The children will acquire high levels of engagement in reading by participating in daily reading with an adult at home and recording this in their homework diary. They will obtain access to classic and modern literature through their use of our innovative library space. Children will participate in daily ERIC (Everybody Reads in Class) sessions which facilitate the development of key reading skills. Children will regularly take part in ‘reading’ activities such as: drop and read, book clubs, listening to and recording podcasts, being read to daily by an adult, paired reading, analysing books, listening to authors read in assemblies, staff sharing their thoughts about reading, corridor libraries, authors of the term and always having access to high quality texts.
Impact
The impact of these strategies will ensure children will develop a ‘love of reading’ and ensure they leave Connaught with the ability to decipher significant meaning from a text through their use of deduction and inference skills.
Bug Club
At Connaught Junior School, we use the online reading tool - Bug Club. Bug Club is our core reading program to help you develop confident and motivated readers. It combines over 500 finely levelled books with interactive eBooks and an online reading world – so you can allocate books to individual pupils for home reading and assess their progress instantly.
The children log in to Bug Club with their own login details.
https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk/login?c=0
Here is a video for you to understand more about Bug Club.
Author Visit
We were really fortunate to have a visit from Stuart Reid who kept the children very entertained!
Author of the term
This term, our author of the term is Stuart Reid. He writes books that are engaging, funny and inspiring. We were very lucky to have him visiting our school last term - he was absolutely brilliant!
The children have enjoyed finding out some interesting facts about him.
Facts
Stuart is a full-time children's author since 2012, and has performed in over 2,000 schools, libraries and book festivals around Britain and Ireland, and throughout the world (including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, India and Australia).
His book events are designed to engage and inspire children, especially boys and reluctant readers, to love reading.
His largest live audience (so far) has been 800 pupils aged between 5-11 years old.
Quote
"My 7th book was awarded silver medal at the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and my debut novel took Silver Seal at the Forward National Literature Awards."
School
Stuart attended Comely Park Primary School (but we called it Crumbly Park because it was over 100 years old, and literally falling apart!) and Woodlands High School.
Family
My wife Audrey and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this year. We have two daughters; Jess, aged 23, who has just completed her degree in History and Politics, and Charley, aged 18, who is just about to start university, studying music.
Birthday
My birthday is the 15th September (and I'll be 55)... same day as Agatha Christie, and two days after Roald Dahl.
Promoting Reading
The English team are working hard to promote reading in school through a
range of different ways. These include:
- creating corridor libraries where the children can be exposed to books when they move around the school;
- displaying quotes of books around the school encouraging the children to read the book that the quote has come form;
- covers of books are displayed all around the school so children can be encouraged to see a book and then read it;
- characters from books have been drawn and displayed around the school;
- children 'drop and read' at various points throughout the week which encourages children to find the most comfortable way they like to read;
- weekly assemblies where they are read to;
- promoting an author of the term;
- children are read to every day by their teacher;
- inviting book corner in each classroom;
- time in class to talk about books they have read and recommending books to each other;
- podcasts whereby children talk about books they have read;
- poetry is read to them each week during as assembly;
The children were given the task to make their book corners look as exciting and engaging as possible. The winning class will be given some money to buy more books for their classroom.
The Book Ambassadors were given an old book to upcycle. Have a look at their wonderful creations.
Book Clubs
Children have created their own book clubs with peers in their class. It gives the children an opportunity to enjoy reading the same books as their friends and then having time to discuss the books in school. This has encouraged children to read and talk about books with their peers.
As well as this, staff have created a book club where they meet once a month and discuss the books that they have read. So far, we have read The Boy who made the world disappear by Ben Miller and Can you see me by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott.
ERIC (Everyone Reading in Class)
Our timetable prioritises daily ERIC sessions in which all the children have the opportunity to access and analyse a quality text from start to finish; for these sessions, books are selected at a higher level than might be read independently to provide appropriate challenge and engagement. Skills are developed through a structured cycle:
- Objective-led questioning, e.g. exploring the difference between fact and opinion, or predicting what will happen next.
- Immersion activities, e.g. drama, hot-seating.
- PEE questions - PEE stands for : Point, Evidence, Explanation. Point is a specific argument that you want to make within a paragraph. Evidence is the information you provide that supports the argument, statement or claim that you have made. It could be a quote or a piece of technical data.
- Assessment-style questions
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Support
At Connaught, we provide various different support programmes (intervention programmes) to ensure that our children are given the right support at the right time.
The term 'intervention' is often used to describe a short-term, focused teaching programme with specific intended outcomes aimed at individuals or small groups of pupils with particular needs. We have many intervention programmes including Lexia, Literacy for all, Rapid Phonics (please see more information about this in our Phonic section below), Spelling, SPAG, Writing - the list goes on. Intervention programmes are delivered to our children either by our teachers or support staff. Interventions are not just for our lower skilled children but for all as we want all of our children to be the best they can be and Improve Every Day.
Lexia
Where necessary, specific phonics support is offered to develop children’s reading
skills through the use of interventions such as the online Lexia programme.
Those children who require a more structured approach to reading have access to the Book Banded books to help them to continue to grow in confidence as readers with a text that is appropriate for their age group.
Literacy For all
Literacy for All - Reading Intervention and Resources
Outline
An evidence based intervention to develop Reading Skills.
Description
Following a successful trial we are pleased to be offering the Literacy for All Reading Project to all Surrey schools.
Within Surrey, a team of Educational Psychologists, Specialist Teachers for Inclusive Practice and Speech and Language Therapists have been working together to trial an evidence based approach to reading in a small number of Surrey schools. Early data from the trial demonstrates significant progress in reading for the pupils involved in just a short amount of time. The intervention uses early identification, along with good quality assessment and intervention to promote the literacy skills of all young people.
Outcomes
For pupils:
- Accelerated reading accuracy and fluency
- Accelerated generalisation through increased reading of real books
- Increased vocabulary
- Improved comprehension skill
Reading at Home
Reading or being read to has astonishing benefits for children: comfort and reassurance, confidence and security, relaxation, happiness and fun. Giving a child time and full attention when reading them a story tells them they matter. It builds self-esteem, vocabulary, feeds imagination and even improves their sleeping patterns. Watch the video below of a child explaining how reading impacts him.
As you know, we promote reading in everything that we do. Children choose library books or their own texts to take home and read; they are encouraged to complete their SPAG homework linked to what they have read. As well as their own personal books, we also have Bug Club for the children to use enabling them to enjoy eBooks.
Please click on the image below for your childs year group - this will take you to the School Reading List website. Beneath is the Connaught Reading list.
Connaught Reading List for Year 3
Suggested Reading List for Year 4
Suggested Reading List for Year 5
Suggested Reading List for Year 6
These lists are intended to be a guide to books suitable for children in Key Stage 2. Covering a range of genres, the lists are drawn from a number of sources including teachers own recommendations; suggestions by respected authors; reading lists suggested by other schools and the National Literacy Trust’s website.
Some of the texts are more difficult to read than others and care should be taken when choosing those which your child might enjoy. Try the ‘Five Finger Test’ – open the book at random and ask your child to read aloud, holding out a finger for each word they do not know or cannot pronounce. Just one finger and the book is probably too easy; two or three fingers is an appropriate level; four might be too challenging and perhaps a book to read with an adult; five fingers suggests this is a book to leave until they are a little older.
For more information on how to support your child’s reading, please read the following documents:
World Book Day
Each year, the children love spending time celebrating reading by coming into school dressed up as their favourite book character.
Have a look at their outfits...
The children enjoyed listening to this song that we found!
During World Book Day, the children enjoyed a quiz...
We also decided that we were going to write a whole school story. Have a look at our whole school story.
As she walked along the street to school with her Dad, the tiny dragon in her pocket stirred restlessly. She knew that she should have put him back when she found the creature sitting in the bushes in her garden, but he looked lost and frightened. The small girl hadn’t thought through how she was going to hide him from her friends, let alone her teacher Mr Tall.
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Matterhorn |
As she was walking down the path, the tiny, gruesome and slimy dragon accidentally breathed hot, burning fire through Lucy’s coat pocket. “Lucy, what’s that? Is your.... your coat is on fire!” screamed Dad, as he grabbed her water bottle out of her bag and squirted it all over Lucy’s coat. Immediately, the scared, little dragon leapt out of her pocket and escaped down the path and into... Lucy’s primary school! |
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Olympus |
The scared, tiny dragon sprinted towards Lucy’s classroom door. However, the door was too heavy for the tiny dragon to open, so he scurried away down the never ending, slippery corridor. Suddenly, the dragon heard an uproar from all the children entering the school. The tiny dragon started to tremble with fear, and with every child’s footstep, the ground shook as if a volcano was about to erupt. “Oh no! How am I going to get out of this one?” the scared dragon said to himself. |
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Snowdon |
He crouched quietly feeling terrified, his heart beating and pounding as though it would burst through his tiny, scaly chest. Out of the corner of his miniature eye he spotted an old mouse hole in the corner, under a low shelf. He wondered, “Could I fly into that dark hole, is it big enough for me to escape into, where would it lead to, what might I find?” Bravely, Dash the dragon decided to take a leap of faith and … |
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Eiger |
He found himself falling down a deep, dark hole. It began to get wider as he plummeted down. Down, down, down he fell. After what seemed like forever, he crash-landed into a scary dungeon. Dash began to tremble as he did not know where he was. Without a second thought, he shot a lick of fire out of his trembling mouth to add light to his surroundings. All he saw was an unfamiliar, damp room with water running down the walls. What should he do now? |
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Mikeno |
“Hiccough!” Dash froze as the unexpected interruption to the silence left as quickly as it came. “Hiccough!” There it was again, this time louder, lingering in the air as it’s echo bounced off the damp walls. “He...hello?” Dash uttered hesitantly, tilting his head back, directing the question to the space above his head where he intuited the initial noise had come from. Another burst of light would reveal his companion. |
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Meru |
Fearlessly, Dash burst out a blaze of molten hot flames to illuminate the damp, dark air around them. A tiny dragon, with scales as blue as the sky without clouds, crouched in horror at what was stood before her. In a trembling voice, she said, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” “My name is Crystal...” |
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Kilimanjaro |
The bright, blinding blue dragon stood timidly in front of Dash. “Crystal, that’s a charming name!” complemented Dash, “I’m Dash, Lucy’s new cold-blooded companion.” Suddenly, a revolting, plump rat appeared from the shadows of the dingy dungeon. Like an angry bull charging towards a bright red cloth, the beastly rodent scurried towards them. In a blink of an eye, Crystal had... |
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Stanley |
Vanished! The menacing beast with fire-red eyes rampaged through the dungeon, heading straight for a petrified Dash. Suddenly, a blast of ice appeared from the darkness shooting straight towards the unsuspecting rodent. Without hesitation, the rat scurried away as quickly as his stubby little legs would carry him. In the haze of light, Crystal appeared, a welcome sight for Dash. “I thought you had abandoned me,” cried a relieved voice. “No time to explain, let’s get out of here,” Crystal replied. Hand-in-hand they darted down the tunnel to find... |
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Cotopaxi |
an illuminated, iridescent egg that glimmered like the reflection of beaming hot sun upon a water puddle. Full of trepidation, Dash and Crystal scampered over to where the egg lay and Crystal gently scooped the egg into the safety of her wings. Both Dash and Crystal leant close to the egg to hear if there was life inside when suddenly, CRASH!!! An overhead pipe split above their heads forcing Crystal to shudder and lose grip of the precious egg. Crack! Crystal and Dash were horrified to discover what was inside the egg that they had been clutching so closely... |
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Rainier |
A thick, ruby red mist began to seep out of the egg revealing an emerald, green creature with burning obsidian eyes. The creature stared intensely at Dash and Crystal, who began to quiver with fear, before it let out an ear-piercing screech! Unsure of what this creature was, Dash and Crystal slowly retreated into the safety of a nearby nook in the dungeon wall. Suddenly, this emerald creature opened its mouth and began to speak in the strangest voice the pair had ever heard, “Thank you, thank you! You have set me free!” it squealed. “Please don’t be afraid. Did you see the Condador monster? He is the one who trapped me inside this egg.” Puzzled, Dash and Crystal looked at each other... |
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Denali |
“Come with us,” suggested the two dragons as they gestured supportively towards their new-found companion. All three were wide-eyed as they edged their way along the dungeon wall; water cascading around them. In fear of more foes appearing, the three friends held onto each other like limpets cling to rock. Quietly at first, a rumble rose from the granite below their paws. They trembled as the noise became louder and the ground shook violently... |
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Salcantay |
From the depths of the murky shadows, a figure emerged as it took the dragons by surprise. Debris and rocks came pouring down like a hailstorm as the dark figure collided with anything that got in its way. As the downpour of rocks stopped, an eerie silence echoed throughout the dungeon. Without knowing, Crystal, who was still shaking from what she had witnessed, slowly turned around... |
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Elbrus |
Crystal stared into the beady eyes of a beastly creature: chrome scales covered his back; meaty thighs carried his large body and fangs, as sharp as knives, protruded from his mouth. “The C...C...Condador monster,” trembled Crystal, “run!” As the three new allies scrambled away, the intimidating beast charged powerfully towards them. The ground shook violently and stones rained vigorously on them from above. |
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Fuji |
“What are we going to do?!” screeched Dash, tripping over his feet, as they felt the pounding pebbles falling above. As they scurried through the inky, gloomy tunnels, they prayed they could find a way out of this tragic scenario, before the menacing Condador attacked them. While they were scampering, the mysterious emerald creature spotted a small sliver in the concrete wall. He urgently wailed out to Dash and Crystal, “Quick! Follow me before we get squashed!” The trio sharply turned back to the opening, finally feeling that there was hope to be free from this treacherous doom. |
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Everest |
They could hardly see: no light came from the hole they had just entered; jet-black walls caved in around them, grazing their cheeks; the dark, claustrophobic gap squeezed out all hope. The Condador was hot on their heels, snapping and clamping its bloodcurdling fangs open and shut. The path was quickly becoming narrow. Suddenly, the Condador got stuck, digging its claws into the crackle-like earth, trying to free itself. It was no use. He was stuck. After what felt like an eternity of running, the three friends came to a halt; three eerie, black tunnels stood before them. |
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Annapurna |
Fighting back tears, Dash proposed that they go their separate ways. Hesitantly, they stepped towards their chosen tunnels – Dash chose the middle, Crystal chose the left and the emerald creature chose the right. Dash crept through the endless void that was his tunnel, without a clue as to what it beheld. Then suddenly there was a violent shudder in the ground. Blood-red eyes appeared behind him. “The Condador!” shrieked Dash, his voice echoing through the tunnel. He sped through the gloomy tunnel and his beloved Lucy came into sight. He leapt into her pocket, wishing that the Condador would vanish. Dash watched as the Condador backed away in fear of Lucy towering over him. Dash finally felt he was safe again. |
As well as all of this, the children enjoyed making their own book mark.
