Reading KS2

Reading KS2

Intent

At The Gateway we aim for all our pupils to become fluent, confident readers with a good understanding of a wide range of literature. A love of reading is central to our culture at The Gateway and our aim is to create learners with a life-long passion for reading. Our approach for the teaching of reading provides our children with the opportunity to read widely and our resources enable all our pupils to experience a wide range of texts (fiction, non-fiction and poetry). We recognise that vocabulary is a key part of reading and this is explicitly taught throughout our reading curriculum.

Implementation

Phonics is taught daily in EYFS and KS1 using Letters and Sounds supported by a range of practical and online resources including Phonics Play. Pupils are taught to recognise, blend and segment sounds for reading and spelling.

Reading is taught daily in every year group and is supported by regular reading at home. Workshops are held to provide additional support and guidance to parents.

Our daily reading sessions ensure pupils are immersed in a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. They read independently for pleasure and in teacher directed guided reading small groups to develop fluency and comprehension skills. Books are carefully graded (book bands) to ensure a clear progression of skills and appropriate challenge. Class texts are linked to cross curricular topics to ensure reading is embedded across the curriculum. Our library has a range of non-fiction books to promote reading and research across the curriculum. Book themed weeks are held to come together as a community to celebrate reading.

How will my child be taught reading in KS2?

Guided Reading

Children continue to participate in carefully planned daily guided reading sessions to deepen their comprehension of texts. Each session is focuses on one of the key reading skills, for example:

Vocabulary
Inference
Predictions
Explanations
Retrieval
Summarising

Through guided reading our pupils are introduced to a range of poetry, non-fiction and poetry. Guided reading is used across KS2 and group notes are made linked to the reading content domains. Children continue to take book banded books home with them. In KS2, children complete 5 activities during guided reading over a week: spelling, comprehension, poetry/non-fiction, independent reading.

Independent Reading

In Key Stage Two, pupils read independently on a daily basis after lunch. They complete a reading journal and write regular summaries of what they have read. The children are encouraged to complete book reviews once they have finished reading to be available to other pupils in their class. During independent reading, pupils are asked to record adventurous/new vocabulary in their magpie books and use a dictionary to include a definition. At the end of guided reading time, pupils are asked to share new vocabulary and it is added to the class magpie wall. We value this quiet reading time as it enables our children to immerse themselves in a text for a short period of time.

Whole Class Reading

Whole class reading is a key part of promoting reading for enjoyment at The Gateway. In Key Stage Two, longer, more challenging texts are introduced linked to topics and a range of authors are chosen across the school. The children are encouraged to research the author and recognise how their background has impacted on their writing.

What texts will your child be reading in KS2 at The Gateway?