bridging the gap. as secondary school teachers, we frequently find ourselves struggling to teach...
TRANSCRIPT
Bridging the Gap
As secondary school teachers, we frequently find ourselves struggling to teach students who do not have the
ability to decode texts and orchestrate a range of cues whilst reading.
Aims
O The aims of training will be:O To provide opportunities to develop
professional knowledge about teaching and learning, with a focus on supporting the less able reader
OutcomesO Expected outcomes:
O For teachers of weak readers to gain some understanding of the learning needs of less able readers
O Weak readers become engaged and make meaning from their reading so that they make progress
O Teachers gain new strategies, to meet the needs of the less able readers, and continue the development of their own skills
Level 2 Reader
O Low level 2 – students who are at a very early stage of competence with a basic and incomplete grasp of phonic
O Mid level 2 – have a stop and start feel to their reading
O Upper reaches of 2 – sometimes pause to look ahead, sometimes look at context and guess at word. Impatient reader, sometimes leap over words
Level 3 Reader
O Level 3 - Pupils read a range of texts fluently and accurately. They read independently, using strategies appropriately to establish meaning. In responding to fiction and non-fiction they show understanding of the main points and express preferences
Level 4 ReaderO A Level 4 reader attends to the ‘sense’ of
what they are reading and this becomes their prime motivation to read. They see images of events, identify with characters and anticipate what will happen next. They also take a giant stride forward and read between the lines.
The acquisition of inference and deduction is the
defining moment of Level 4 reading.
Why are they stuck?Surely they’ve had lots of
intervention?O Emotionally and cognitively weak O Still grappling with the mechanics of reading O Teachers leave off teaching them reading
skills at primary because they have attained a certain amount of independence
O For some pupils this does not work. They start to generalise
O Appropriate text provision does lead them to the next stage but …
Something more is needed
Perins InterventionO Accelerated Reader programme - paired
reading for Level 2/3 readersO Literacy support - small class teaching for
Level 2/3 readersO Accelerated Learner programme, Level 3/4
students removed from across the English classes
Level 5 ReaderO The acquisition of inference and deduction
in Level 4 reading will propel pupils into Level 5 where they will recognise (and study) the text as something
created by a writer
O Comparable with others O Beginning of literary criticism
How can we help these students access texts across the
curriculum?O Imaginative participation is the core to
the continued development of readers
KEY MESSAGEO The task for us as teachers is to develop
their capacity to interact with the text, animating the words in their minds so that they create a virtual world in which the events or information are played out
How do we do this?O Our aim is to create active readers who
see images as the text unfolds:O Why is she doing that?O What’s going on here?O Make links with characters/places/historical
figures/scientific factsO What will happen next?O They make judgementsO Compare textual experience with own life
experienceO Reread and revise opinions
How?O In literacy support, we work with these
students spending time on a range of reading strategies:O VisualiseO Think as you go – as you read, ahead, backO Getting involvedO Read between the linesO Get the GistO Choose and use informationO Spot the writer making choices
Across the Curriculum
These strategies can be used across the curriculum to help these students
access your texts.
Seeing what you readO See what you readO Use cluesO Imagine what happens
Good readers see pictures in their mind
when they read
Thinking aloudO Hear your mind thinking about what
you readO Ask yourself questions about what you
readO Be an active reader
Reading like a detective
O Find clues and put them togetherO See things you are not told in so
many wordsO Picture what is happening
Sounding out words you don’t know
O Sound out wordsO Look for the root wordO Read clusters of letters
Working out words you don’t know
O Break a word into easy bitsO Work out the word from the
sentence/contextO Work out what parts of a word mean
Reading longer sentences
O See the shape of a long sentenceO Find its main meaningO Chunk it up for reading
Making notesO Decide what to keep as notesO Make the notes shortO Choose a good way to show them
In ConclusionO In English, we will identify less able
readers.O We will continue to provide intervention
using a range of reading strategies
O As the students reading ability increases, these strategies, when deployed in other subjects, can help them access texts across the curriculum