Reading at Pittington

Reading is one of the most important skills we learn in life. At Pittington Primary School we learn lots of strategies to help us along the way. We follow the Letters and Sounds phonics programme, which begins in nursery. We use a variety of approaches and resources to support the children in their learning e.g. X Project and Oxford Reading Tree and a recent online addition, Rising Stars. Please enjoy watching our videos as we share some of our secrets with you! Our reading journey begins in nursery and continues throughout school. We promote reading in every subject area and work hard to use a wide variety of texts, chosen carefully with our children in mind.

EYFS

In the Early Years we introduce children to reading and books. We share lots of different kinds of books with them and teach them to listen for sounds, read sounds, blend and segment words and read tricky words. By the end of the Reception year most children can read sentences using their knowledge of sounds to decode unknown words. They can recognise many common words and read them on sight. They talk about what they've read to show understanding. 

In nursery we love to read books and share lots of stories during our snack time.

We do lots of group activities to hear initial sounds in words. 

Clapping sounds

We learn how to read sounds and listen for initial sounds in words. 

We learn to write letters correctly.

We practise reading sounds (phonemes) everyday, and learn actions and songs to help us to remember them.

We learn to read tricky words by practising reading and writing them regularly.

Blending - We blend sounds to hear words. 

Segmenting - this is hearing the sounds in words so that we can write them. 

By the end of the Reception year we can read sentences and talk about what we've read.

Key Stage 1

How to tackle reading a word we do not recognise...

What to look for in a word.

Segmenting sounds.

Blending.

Blending sounds to read words.

Reading for meaning

Comprehension – this is where the children show their understanding of what they are reading by answering questions.

Skimming a text to find key words to answer comprehension questions.

High frequency words cannot be sounded out. We learn these by heart and use them all of the time.

Identifying suffixes and how they change the meaning of words to support children’s understanding of what they read.

Identify prefixes and how they change the meaning of words to support children’s understanding of what they read. 

Inference – this is where the children look for less obvious messages or hidden meanings in a text.

Prediction – this is where the children use what has happened in the story to guess at what might happen next.

Keystage 2

Reading for Meaning by Year 3

Reading Strategies by Year 3

Reading by Year 4