Years 1 to Year 3 – Reading Information
Dear parents/ carers,
Firstly, thank you for your continued support in helping our children develop into confident, independent readers. Ensuring every child has the necessary skills they need to read is an essential component of literacy education. It enables children to not only learn across the curriculum but also to access numerous aspects of daily life, influencing the opportunities that they have available to them in the future.
Click here to read some key research on the importance of reading fluency for wider life.
Reading Books
Children bring home two different books that are changed on a weekly basis. These two books serve different purposes and the green and red stickers on the front indicate the purpose of each book.
Green Sticker
HOME FLUENCY
Decodable phonics
I must read this book to an adult
These must always be read first, to an adult. These books are to allow children to read independently, confidently and accurately as they build fluency, confidence and a love for reading. These are books that contain sounds and words that children have been taught in class and that they have been assessed as knowing when working independently.
They may be slightly below the level that they’re working on in class and below their complete phonic understanding but, as said above, they are to build fluency, confidence and a love of reading. Children may have the same book on occasions, as they may not be ready to move up once they’ve read all the books in the band, but this is OK as children gain confidence and a deeper understanding of books by some re-reading of familiar texts.
Red Sticker
HOME ENRICHMENT
I must share this book with an adult
These must always be read with an adult to enrich their reading experience and provide challenge at home. You may want to read a page each, a word each, or just work through the book together while offering support and encouragement. These will include many sounds and words that children know but may also include unfamiliar sounds, sounds that have just been taught in class, or be from the next band up from which children are working on in class. They’re not expected to be able to read these fluently but they’re there to widen their vocabulary knowledge, to challenge and to enrich the reading experience at home.
eLibrary
All children in school have access to the eLibrary that contains all of the books linked to our phonics scheme, in a familiar format that is also used in class. By sharing these at home on a device, it will give the children additional opportunities to apply their new learning and deepen their reading experiences. We’ve assigned the books to children linked to the sounds that the children have already covered and we allocate these books on an ongoing basis. They are intended to form part of your regular reading routine at home.
While this is in no way intended to replace ‘real’ books, we know that many of our children like to read using technology and while on the move and we’re happy to give them more opportunities to do so.
The website that children access this through has changed over the summer but the content is exactly as it was previously. Children were provided with logins last year. If you haven’t got access to your login, please approach a member of staff or send an email to the year group email address. Your child’s login gives them access to hundreds of interactive books with quizzes at the end of each one; they can win a star for each quiz completed. While they will have open access to the library, we’ll also be using the eLibrary for specific homework tasks in certain year groups.
eLibrary: https://boost-learning.com/
Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XKYkm8ewH1wMZWoAlUrMRdO0_nFKuNcfAb8y5Hy3QvI/edit
If you have any questions regarding reading, phonics, or access to the eLibrary, please contact a member of staff.
Thank you for your continued support.
Miss Byrne
