Reading for pleasure and understanding - govt style.

Bearing in mind how hard-pressed teachers, writers, parents, children, students don't usually spend hours combing through documents on the Department for Education's website, I've copied up all the passages on 'Comprehension' for primary schools.

I'm doing this for several reasons. First of all, it's because people who work in schools often seem to find that they don't have room or time for many of the activities described below. So should any teacher, writer visiting schools, student or parent need back-up on why they are, let's say, relating children's experience to something they are reading, you can use this document to say that it's a legal requirement for you to do so.

Second reason - the past four years have involved a polarisation - in particular coming from the Sec of State about such things as 'the Blob', about the dangers of 'progressive methods' and so on. However, a close reading of what follows will find that a good deal of it contains what 'progressives' would claim as having come from the progressive school of learning and teaching. So, for people interested in the weird politics of all this, we can see that it's quite possible for two things to go on at the same time: a vilification of teachers, people, researchers, teaching methods and the like, even as the ideas from this school or camp (if that's what it is) are freely plundered and promoted!

Anyway here are the year by year statutory guidelines on 'Comprehension' for maintained primary schools in England - that's to say for schools 'maintained' by a Local Authority. This does NOT apply to Academies and Free Schools. They can choose to adopt these if they want to. Or not.

I hope that whoever you are you can use them and adapt them to help children enjoy books and reading.

Year 1

Pupils should be taught to:

- develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by:

listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently

being encouraged to link what they read or hear to their own experiences

becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics

recognising and joining in with predictable phrases

learning to appreciate rhymes and poems, and to recite some by heart

discussing word meanings, linking new meanings to those already known

- understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to by:

drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher

checking that the text makes sense to them as they read, and correcting inaccurate reading

discussing the significance of the title and events

making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done

predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far

- participate in discussion about what is read to them, taking turns and listening to what others say

• explain clearly their understanding of what is read to them

Year 2

Pupils should be taught to:

  develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by: 

  listening to, discussing and expressing views about a wide range of contemporary and classic poetry, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently 

  discussing the sequence of events in books and how items of information are related 

  becoming increasingly familiar with and retelling a wider range of stories, fairy stories and traditional tales 

  being introduced to non-fiction books that are structured in different ways 

  recognising simple recurring literary language in stories and poetry 

  discussing and clarifying the meanings of words, linking new meanings to known vocabulary 

  discussing their favourite words and phrases 

  continuing to build up a repertoire of poems learnt by heart, appreciating these
and reciting some, with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear 

  understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by: 

  drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher 

  checking that the text makes sense to them as they read and correcting inaccurate reading 

  making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done 

  answering and asking questions 

  predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far 

  participate in discussion about books, poems and other works that are read to them and those that they can read for themselves, taking turns and listening to what others say 

  explain and discuss their understanding of books, poems and other material, both those that they listen to and those that they read for themselves. 

Years 3 and 4

Pupils should be taught to:
 develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by:

  listening to and discussing a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks 

  reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes 

  using dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have read 

  increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including fairy stories,
myths and legends, and retelling some of these orally 

  identifying themes and conventions in a wide range of books 

*    preparing poems and play scripts to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action 

  discussing words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination 

  recognising some different forms of poetry [for example, free verse, narrative poetry]
 understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by: 

  checking that the text makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and
explaining the meaning of words in context 

  asking questions to improve their understanding of a text 

  drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence 

  predicting what might happen from details stated and implied 

  identifying main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarising
these 

  identifying how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning 

 retrieve and record information from non-fiction

 
 participate in discussion about both books that are read to them and those they can read for themselves, taking turns and listening to what others say. 

Year 5 and 6

Pupils should be taught to:
 maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by:

  continuing to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks 

  reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes 

  increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions 

  recommending books that they have read to their peers, giving reasons for their choices 

  identifying and discussing themes and conventions in and across a wide range of writing 

  making comparisons within and across books 

  learning a wider range of poetry by heart 

  preparing poems and plays to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone and volume so that the meaning is clear to an audience 

  understand what they read by: 

  checking that the book makes sense to them, discussing their understanding
and exploring the meaning of words in context 

  asking questions to improve their understanding 

  drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence 

  predicting what might happen from details stated and implied 

  summarising the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph, identifying
key details that support the main ideas 

  identifying how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning 

  discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader 

  distinguish between statements of fact and opinion 

  retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction 

  participate in discussions about books that are read to them and those they can read for themselves, building on their own and others’ ideas and challenging views courteously 

  explain and discuss their understanding of what they have read, including through formal presentations and debates, maintaining a focus on the topic and using notes where necessary 

  provide reasoned justifications for their views.