Usborne Phonics Readers - 12 Book Set

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The most widely used approach associated with the teaching of reading in which phonemes (sounds) associated with particular graphemes (letters) are pronounced in isolation and blended together (synthesised). For example, children are taught to take a single-syllable word such as cat apart into its three letters, pronounce a phoneme for each letter in turn /k, æ, t/, and blend the phonemes together to form a word. Analytical phonics What pupils said also confirmed the schools’ use of diagnostic reading tests and targeted teaching for specific components of reading. A pupil in Year 7 said the school had assessed his reading and put in place additional teaching to improve his reading fluency. CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words are progressively learned with delightful, full-colored pictures. The only downside to these readers (and it’s a big issue to note) is that Abeka’s program learns all the vowels in their first little book. Learning the vowels — because they all sound so similar to a child just becoming phonologically aware — is not beneficial for most children. Accelerated Reader is a popular commercial computer-based reading programme that uses graded books and related comprehension and vocabulary quizzes. ↩

We also saw how additional help for struggling readers was part of a wider whole-school strategy to improve the reading of all pupils. This meant that as well as additional teaching in the foundational components of reading, such as accurate word reading and fluency, struggling readers benefited from teaching across the curriculum that focused on the vocabulary knowledge needed for comprehension and subject-specific reading. Annex A: detailed research methods The rationale for this work lies in the need for all pupils to leave school as successful readers and with GCSE English at grade 4 or above. It is essential for pupils to be able to read proficiently, so they can access post-compulsory education and participate fully in society. Our education recovery reports also show that learning loss as a result of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic is making reading a greater issue in secondary schools. [footnote 22] I think once we’ve got our reading age where it’s supposed to be they just expect us to get it from there and keep it at that point. There is extensive research into early reading difficulties and interventions at primary level, but less with older pupils, who tend to have different needs. Research into the skills profiles of older struggling readers shows that reading difficulties can present themselves in many different ways. [footnote 18] These pupils may have specific needs related to gaps in one or more aspect of reading, such as decoding, accuracy or language comprehension. Other pupils can, on the surface, appear to be managing in class, because they have developed coping strategies which mask their reading difficulties. Schools are less likely to offer these pupils additional help. [footnote 19] Identifying reading gaps and weaknesses

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Several of the schools used repeated exposure to reading books to improve pupils’ reading fluency. They frequently used paired reading with adults or trained sixth-form pupils. Paired reading helps increase the range and amount children read, and is a way to build fluency and comprehension. To become expert readers, pupils first need to become less reliant on decoding, and fluency is improved through practice. Paired reading is one way to build children’s experience of reading as part of the transition from novice to expert reader. [footnote 32] I am constantly being approached for advice. For example, the PE [physical education] department was thinking about displays and resources in the context of reading. After training they decided to make changes to resources in regard to reading. The maths [mathematics] department were thinking about wording questions, drawing attention to keywords, getting students to read them aloud. Sharing information about struggling readers How do secondary schools with strong outcomes for struggling readers identify these pupils’ particular reading needs? There’s no coordinated strategy for that vital group of pupils to access the curriculum because their reading skill is so low. The English department identify their weak readers and have their own strategy about what to do in English lessons, but not actually talking to the SENCo [special educational needs coordinator]. There’s no kind of synergy there.’

Next, they will learn how sounds can be put together ( blended) to make words. For example, they will learn that the sounds of the letters ‘m-a-t’ blend together to make the word ‘mat’. Your child will then learn more sounds and will start blending them too. These schools recognised that although cross-curricular, school-wide initiatives improved reading, there were pupils who first needed specific teaching in phonics. Once pupils could read accurately, they were better able to access and benefit from what schools did to improve the reading of all pupils. They may not be massively behind their chronological age with regards to their reading, but it could be their fluency and their confidence in reading. Sometimes we find they can read but it’s extremely slow so it’s about trying to improve the fluency of their reading. The school has a strong Year 6 transition programme that is an important part of how it helps struggling readers. Identifying struggling readers who will need additional teaching begins before pupils leave primary school. The reading teacher is a qualified primary teacher who visits the feeder primary schools to support reading in Years 5 and 6. This teacher works closely with the primary schools to identify specific weaknesses and the additional help for reading that pupils have already received. This means that the school has detailed information about struggling readers before they start in Year 7. Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound when they’re combined will help children decode words as they read.

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First, your child will be taught the most straightforward letters and the sounds they make. For example, they will be taught that the letter ‘m’ represents an mmm sound and the letters ‘oa’ represent an oh sound. Many of these children who are coming to us with such a low reading age already have probably had intervention after intervention at primary school and it hasn’t worked, so they need something different. Read signs and information boards as you are out and about. These often contain new vocabulary to discuss. Recipes or instructions for craft projects are also great for this and also encourage us to read with accuracy We read to our children every day, but they rely on us to read to them. Reading a book on their own will make all the difference in their learning and desire to read! Oh the first joy to see them read their own book for the first time! When you discover that your child has learned their letter sounds, and you feel that he/she is ready to begin combining those sounds to create words, then he/she is ready for a Phonics Reader Set. And I wholeheartedly recommend any of the below 10 Sets to you today! I have weighed pros and cons for each reader, and I share my favorites. The most important thing we need to ask ourselves is:

Other schools timetabled additional teaching outside the normal school day. Two schools said they had changed the time of extra reading lessons as a result of monitoring and evaluating their existing reading timetable. Both schools found that teaching sessions before school worked best. One member of support staff described why the school made the decision to change teaching times: Schools should use assessment to help identify whether problems are related to word recognition, oral language comprehension or a combination of these. [footnote 20] This research explores how some secondary schools use different types of tests for different purposes. It focuses on how they use diagnostic assessments to identify specific areas of reading strength and weakness, and how they match additional help to pupils’ individual reading needs. No one sits down with high school teachers and explains how Year 6 SATs work. For teachers that is something that is not explained. We don’t understand what the scaled score of 100 or 95 means in high school. Yes, there is definitely a gap there. Your student will learn many concepts with the All About Reading: Level 1 curriculum. I love that while introducing new concepts, it also includes several phonics readers that reinforce the concepts learned. Every component of reading is taught: decoding (phonics and structural analysis), vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. The three readers included are Run, Bug, Run, The Runt Pig, and Cobweb the Cat. Here is simple text from the fourth story, which includes simple text and pencil-drawn illustrations:Morning interventions are something new that we have started doing. We used to do it as part of the day, but this caused lots of disruption to normal lessons. They now have to come to school a little earlier to do the interventions. According to 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment ( PISA) data, at age 15 in England there is a gap equivalent to 8.5 years of schooling between the highest and lowest achieving 10% of readers. [footnote 28]The level of reading achievement of struggling readers suggests they will have difficulty with more complex texts that require specific subject knowledge. [footnote 29] Methodology overview In this school, the headteacher said she felt that taking children out of lessons was ‘detrimental to their learning’. Staff expertise in teaching reading