Language Development
Reading strategies
All children are encouraged to read with fluency, accuracy, understanding and
enjoyment and are taught to use a range of strategies to make sense of
their reading materials.
Reading goals include:
* Phonemic awareness and phonic knowledge
* Hear, identify, segment and blend phonemes in words
* sound and name the letters of the alphabet
* Link sound and letter patterns, exploring rhyme, and other
sound patterns
* Identify syllables in words
* Recognize that the same sounds may have different spellings and that the
same spellings may relate to different sounds
* Word recognition and graphic knowledge
* Read on sight high-frequency words and other familiar words
* Recognize words with common spelling patterns
* Recognize specific parts of words, including prefixes, suffixes,
inflectional endings, plurals
Grammatical awareness
* Understand how word order affects meaning
* Decipher new words, and confirm or check meaning
* Work out the sense of a sentence by rereading or reading ahead
Contextual understanding
Focus on meaning derived from the text as a whole
Use their knowledge of book conventions, structure, sequence and
presentational devices
Draw on their background knowledge and understanding of the content.
Reading for information
* Children should be encourage to use the organizational features of
non-fiction texts, including captions, illustrations, contents, index and
chapters, to find information
* Understand that texts about the same topic may contain different information
or present similar information in different ways
*Use reference materials for different purposes.
Literature
* Children should be encouraged to develop their understanding of
fiction, poetry and drama
* They are taught to identify and describe characters, events and settings
in fiction
* Use their knowledge of sequence and story language when they are
retelling stories and predicting events
* Express preferences, giving reasons
* Learn, recite and act out stories and poems
* Identify patterns of rhythm, rhyme and sounds in poems and their effects
* Respond imaginatively in different ways to what they read [for example,
using the characters from a story in drama, writing poems based on ones they
read, showing their understanding through art or music].
Language structure and variation
Children are encouraged to read texts with greater accuracy and
understanding, pupils should be taught about the characteristics of different
types of text [for example, beginnings and endings in stories, use of captions].
Comprehension
Skills
During their primary years, children should be taught knowledge,
skills and understanding through the following ranges of
literature and non-fiction and non-literary texts.
Literature
*The range should include stories and poems with familiar settings and those
based on imaginary or fantasy worlds
* Stories, plays and poems by significant children's authors
* Traditional folk and fairy stories
* Stories and poems from a range of cultures
* Stories, plays and poems with patterned and predictable language
* Stories and poems that are challenging in terms of length or vocabulary
* Texts where the use of language benefits from being read aloud and
reread.
Non-fiction and non-literary texts
The range should include information texts, including those with
continuous text and relevant illustrations, dictionaries, encyclopedias and
other reference materials.