Meeting the reading needs of all students
The Simple View of Reading helps us understand the reading strengths and needs of our students. Reading comprehension is dependent on students being able to decode written words and understand the language of texts. This means that students will have different levels of proficiency across the components of reading.
How Children Learn to Read
Learning to read is a process that needs step-by-step teaching and plenty of practise at school and at home. Unlike walking or talking, reading is not a skill that we learn naturally — everyone needs to be taught how to read.
Reading requires two very important skills:
- decoding (reading) the words on the page
- making meaning from the words, sentences and paragraphs that are read.
For children to learn how to decode words, they need to understand how sounds and letters link together. They are taught that: - words can be broken up into sounds (the word 'cat' is made up of 3 sounds: c-a-t) and that sounds can be blended to form words (the sounds c-a-t blended, forms the word 'cat')
- the sounds in words can be represented by letters or groups of letters.
As children develop their understanding of letter-sound correspondences and apply this knowledge to reading words and texts, they learn more complex English spellings.
- The same sound can be represented by different letters; the words 'play', 'rain' and 'stage' all contain the sound /ay/ but the spelling is different in each one.
- The same letter can represent different sounds; the letter 'c' can represent a 'k' sound as in 'cat', or an 's' sound as in 'race'.
- Small parts of words can have a meaning all their own; in the word 'walked', the '-ed' tells us that the walk has already happened — it marks past tense.
- Children practise their word reading skills by reading decodable texts that contain only the letter-sound correspondences children have been taught.
- As children develop their decoding skills and their reading becomes more automatic, they will move from reading simple decodable texts to authentic texts. Authentic texts are any texts that are read for enjoyment or learning and that support word reading, language development and engagement.
Children develop their language skills through the language they hear and read. In the early stages of reading instruction while children are developing their decoding skills, it is very important that they are read to often, so they hear lots of new words and learn about new things that they may not yet be able to read about themselves.
Parents play an important role in helping children learn to read by both:
- listening to your child read aloud to practise decoding words
- reading aloud to your child to build their understanding of language and literacy.
Reading at Home
Why use shared book reading?
Shared reading describes the interaction that occurs between an adult and a child when reading or looking at a book. Although one of the most obvious and engaging features of storybooks is their illustrations, they also provide children with access to a world of sights, sounds, and words that may be quite different from what they experience in their homes, communities, and schools.
Reading aloud with your child builds language development so that by the time children have mastered letter-sound correspondences and can read increasingly complex texts themselves, they will have the language skills to understand what they read. Having strong oral language skills sets the foundations for children to build strong literacy skills.
Reading authentic texts aloud to your child allows them to continue to hear stories, information and written language they may not yet be able to read themselves.
What does shared reading look like?
An important aspect of shared reading is the conversation that occurs between the adult and child during the reading. Pausing while reading and taking the time to discuss details in the story can support your child's oral language development. The conversation might focus on the storyline, such as characters or where the story takes place; it may focus on similar experiences the child has had to those that happened in the book; it may focus on specific words; aspects of print; or concepts that are new to the child. When you read aloud to your child, they hear and learn lots of new and sophisticated words and sentences they may not hear or use in everyday talk.
What books should be used for shared reading?
In the early years of reading instruction, children engage with different books for different purposes. They need to read decodable texts to develop their word reading skills and they need to read and hear authentic texts to develop strong oral language skills. Authentic texts include picture books, storybooks, information texts and any reading material the child enjoys.
When children are first learning to read, the books they will read independently are designed to improve their ability to decode (decodable texts). For most children, the language used in these books will be far simpler than the language they already understand and use.
Virtually all children's books are appropriate for shared reading, but the best books will have rich, detailed pictures, and are interesting to the child. Remember, the purpose of shared reading is to stimulate rich talk between the adult and child, not for the child to be able to read the text themselves.
What is Systematic Synthetic Phonics
Your child will be explicitly taught to read at school using an approach called systematic synthetic phonics. This approach teaches children how sounds and letters link together to form words that we can read and write. It provides students with a reliable strategy for decoding unknown words and discourages guessing.
What does the term systematic synthetic phonics mean?
- Phonics is the understanding that letters and letter combinations represent speech sounds.
- Systematic means that letters and sounds are taught in a planned order.
- Synthetic refers to the process of synthesising or blending the sounds and letters to decode (read) words, and the segmenting or pulling apart of sounds and letters to encode (spell) words.
Using a systematic synthetic phonics approach, children are taught the letter-sound correspondences that represent all 44 sounds in English, gradually, over time. Students are first taught the most common and consistent letter-sound correspondences (for example: the letter 'b' in 'ball'; the letter 'v' in 'van') before being taught the less common alternative letter-sound combinations (for example: the many ways we can represent the sound 'ay' — bay, break, tail, sleigh and so on).
Your child will practise their word reading skills by using decodable texts. Decodable texts contain only the letter-sound correspondences that your child has already learned. They may also contain some high-frequency words that the teacher has taught simultaneously.
Decodable texts are important for beginning and struggling readers as they provide immediate practise of their new skills in segmenting and blending, and their understanding of letter-sound correspondences, to build automaticity, fluency and confidence.
Once children have read words by blending the sounds together many times, they may remember the word and be able to recognise it immediately by 'sight'. Over time, children will be able to recognise many words without decoding them.
Helping your child to read decodable texts
What are decodable texts?
When children first learn to read using systematic synthetic phonics, they are taught letter-sound correspondences in a specific order. They will learn a few at a time — not all at once — and they will practise the letters and sounds they have learned by reading and spelling.
Decodable texts are used with beginning readers and are written to match children's developing letter-sound knowledge. These texts provide an opportunity for your child to practise their reading skills in a meaningful way without having to guess words.
Decodable texts will contain only those letter-sound correspondences students have been taught. If a child is having difficulty decoding a word, the teacher will model saying the sound represented by each letter and will blend the sounds to read the word. For example: for the word 'cat', point to each letter and provide the sound it represents /c/ /a/ /t/, then blend the sounds to read 'cat'.
Decodable texts may also contain some high-frequency words that your child has been taught. High-frequency words are words that are common in English texts (for example: said, the, of, is). These words are included in decodable texts to create meaningful sentences. They may contain some letter-sound correspondences that have not yet been taught.
How can I help at home?
- As your child reads, you may notice there are words they can read automatically, while other words will need to be 'sounded out'. When your child comes to a word they do not automatically know, you can help them by saying: 'Say the sounds as you point to the letters. Now, blend the sounds and read the word.' For example: for the word 'hen', point to the letters and provide the sounds, /h/ /e/ /n/, then blend the sounds to read 'hen'.
- If your child still has difficulty reading the word, it's okay to tell them what the word is. Remember, they are still learning about letters and sounds and may need more practise and support.
- When your child is learning new letter-sound correspondences, they may read slowly, and it may look laborious. This is typical of beginning readers and is no cause for concern.
- Remember, practise is key to becoming a skilled reader. Encourage your child to read their decodable texts often and to other family members.