Lincewood Primary
"The Reading Record booklet provides home tasks as well as focussed reading tasks. These tasks can be used both at school and at home and it conveys to the parents that reading goes beyond the literal".Lincewood Primary implemented the Reading Record and Evaluation Tools booklet published by JellyJames. They have found the booklet a useful home-link liaison that conveys higher reading skills once the technicalities of reading are grasped.
Research at Jelly James has shown that the current practice used by a vast majority of schools in monitoring reading at Key Stage 1 and 2 is done by logging the book being read, the date that the child begins reading, completion date and a space for parents comments. The disadvantage with this practice is that the child's understanding of the text is not gauged and the natural progression from reading towards independent writing is mainly left to the school.
Sandra Clay, the Literacy Co-ordinator at Lincewood Primary, commented that "the current reading record booklets indicates to the parents that they can only be involved by hearing to children read aloud." Parents can motivate and empower their child to read a varied repertoire of books to make them successful readers. The Reading Record booklet allows the parent to directly engage, encourage and support the child to becoming an independent writer and read for meaning.
The National Literacy Strategy recommends that children should be reading for meaning. A successful reader is one who can read aloud accurately with expression, read silently with understanding and get to the meaning of the text. Understanding the text is the foundation skill on which the child builds his/her independent writing skills.
Research by Jo Weinberger a Senior Research Fellow in Education at the University of Sheffield has found that children's literacy performance can be positively affected by the contribution parents make (Tizard et al., 1982, Snow et al., 1991). Parents' knowledge about literacy teaching in school, and their interactions with teachers, can help children's literacy learning (verson et al., 1981, Epstein, 1991). http://www.shef.ac.uk/education/staff/Weinberger.shtml
The Reading Record and Evaluation tools booklet bridges the reading with quick review tools and moves the child beyond the technical operation of reading to develop the skills to write independently. For instance one of the evaluation tools "Feelings Review", allows the child to match the facial expressions on JellyJames with feelings experienced whilst reading the text. This activity is supported by a word bank, where the child draws on appropriate words to express his/her thoughts in writing within the context of the text. Children will also access to the website for additional word databanks and an online dictionary.
Other
higher level tools include:
1. Observing characters through five W's and One H
2. Describing a character using Features, Build, Movement.
3. Predictions
4. Differentiating Facts and Opinions
5. Identifying the relationship between characters etc.
The booklet gives a focus for shared and guided reading and follows some key objectives throughout the Key Stages.
Sandra Clay remarked, " the Reading Record booklet provides home tasks as well as focussed reading tasks. These tasks can be used both at school and at home and it conveys to the parents that reading goes beyond the literal".
The booklet is well presented, jargon free and extends the home-school relationship to directly benefit the child.
The
book contain five sections:
1.
A series of logs of the books that the child is reading.
2. Learning tools that support the National Literacy Strategy, consolidate
the reading, give meaning to the text and develop independent writing
skills.
3. 'High and Medium Frequency Words' from the National Literacy Strategy.
4. A record of both new and frequently used words.
5. Bronze, silver and gold certificates of achievement. As
the child attains certificate of achievement the teacher and the child
agree and log the next target.
The colour coded books gives the teacher flexibility in meeting the varying needs of children at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
Case Study