From the Head of Primary 01.05.2021
I have written about the importance of children reading, and being read to before, but with Book Week just around the corner, I thought it would be useful to share the reading comprehension objectives for each year group with you. Below you will also find some questions to support and extend your child’s reading and reading comprehension.
Year 1
| Comprehension |
| Listen to and discuss texts beyond current independent level |
| Link texts to own experiences |
| Retell familiar stories |
| Recognise and join in with predictable phrases |
| Discuss word meanings and link to known words |
| Understand texts based on prior knowledge or provided information |
| Correct inaccurate reading and check for sense |
| Discuss the significance of title and events |
| Make inferences and predictions |
| Explain understanding of what is read to them |
Questions to support and extend their reading:
∙ Which words do you recognise (know) in this text? Where have you seen them before?
∙ What sound does this letter make? Can you use these sounds to read this work?
∙ Point to a CVC word (consonant, vowel, consonant) – can you sound this word out?
∙ What is the name of the dog/the boy/the girl? How do we know? Can you find the word in our book?
∙ When re-reading the text, ask children what happens next? Can they join in when you read the story?
∙ What do you think will happen next in the story? Use the pictures to help you
∙ What has happened so far? How do you know this? Look back to the beginning of the story, can you remember what happened?
Year 2
| Comprehension |
| Discuss and express views on a wide range of poetry, stories and non-fiction |
| Discuss the sequence of events in books |
| Retell a wider range of familiar stories |
| Recognise simple recurring literary language in stories and poetry |
| Begin to describe the structure of non-fiction books |
| Discuss and clarify the meaning of words |
| Discuss favourite words and phrases |
| Perform and read aloud with appropriate intonation |
| Understand texts based on prior knowledge or provided information |
| Correct inaccurate reading and check for sense |
| Answer and ask questions on what is read |
| Make inferences and predictions |
Questions to support and extend their reading:
∙ Can you read these sentences without making any mistakes?
∙ Can you break down the words you are unsure of or read on to find out what the word might be?
∙ Can you go back and check that word? Does it make sense in the sentence?
∙ Can you spot a question mark, exclamation mark and comma? What do we use them for?
∙ Think about what has happened so far can you make a prediction about what will happen next?
∙ Can you tell me what the purpose of a blurb is? Why do books have a front cover?
∙ Look at the front cover. What is the book going to be about? How do you know?
Year 3
| Comprehension |
| Read, listen to and discuss a wide range of texts that are structured for different purposes |
| Retell a wider range of familiar stories |
| Identify themes and conventions in a range of books |
| Use dictionaries to check the meanings of words |
| Perform plays and poetry aloud using intonation, volume and action |
| Recognise different forms of poetry |
| Discuss words and phrases that capture reader interest |
| Check that a text makes sense, including explaining the meaning of words in context |
| Make inferences about feelings, thoughts and motives and predictions based on implication |
| Identify and summarise ideas from more than one paragraph |
| Identify how language and structure contributes to meaning |
| Retrieve and record information from non-fiction texts |
| Discuss reading with others |
Questions to support and extend their reading:
∙ Can you find any adjectives (describing words) in the text? Why has the author used them? Can you find any similes or metaphors in the text? Why has the author used a simile?
∙ Can you find a comma in the text? Why do we use commas? When reading, what do you need to do when you see a comma?
∙ Have you ever read a story like this before? What happened?
∙ When reading a nonfiction text e.g. a newspaper… How is this presented? What do all newspapers have?
∙ What types of stories are there? (scientific, historic, mystery)
∙ How did … (insert character’s name) feel in the story? Why did they feel this way? How would you have felt/
Year 4
| Comprehension |
| Read, listen to and discuss a wide range of texts that are structured for different purposes |
| Retell a wider range of familiar stories |
| Identify themes and conventions in a range of books |
| Use dictionaries to check the meanings of words |
| Perform plays and poetry aloud using intonation, volume and action |
| Recognise different forms of poetry |
| Discuss words and phrases that capture reader interest |
| Check that a text makes sense, including explaining the meaning of words in context |
| Make inferences about feelings, thoughts and motives and predictions based on implication |
| Identify and summarise ideas from more than one paragraph |
| Identify how language and structure contributes to meaning |
| Retrieve and record information from non-fiction texts |
| Discuss reading with others |
Questions to support and extend their reading:
∙ How does the build-up of a story make the reader want to read on?
∙ Why do we have chapters and paragraphs?
∙ What are the features of an adventure story? How are these different to a story from another culture? What are the features of a newspaper? What are the features of a diary? How do these two differ?
∙ Can you make a prediction of what will happen next in the story? Use parts of the story so far to support your prediction and write this down in note form.
∙ What is your opinion of the book you have just read? Why?
∙ What is the author’s opinion of (insert character’s name)? How do you know this? What language does the author use to show this?
∙ What is (insert character’s name) opinion of the … (take an event from the story)? Use parts of the text to support your answer.
Year 5
| Comprehension |
| Increase familiarity with a range of texts structured for different purposes |
| Recommend books and give reasons for choices |
| Make comparisons within and across books and discuss conventions across a range of writing |
| Prepare and perform plays and poetry aloud using intonation, volume and action |
| Check that a text makes sense, including explaining the meaning of words in context |
| Make inferences about feelings and motives and make predictions based on implication |
| Identify and summarise ideas from more than one paragraph |
| Discuss how the author’s use of language affects the reader |
| Distinguish fact and opinion |
| Retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction texts |
| Discuss reading with others, building on and challenging the views of others |
| Provide reasoned justification for views |
Questions to support and extend their reading:
∙ Write a blurb for this story summarising the plot.
∙ What problems occur in this story? How are they resolved?
∙ What is a key? What is a glossary? What is an index? Where would we find them? How do we use them? Why would we use them?
∙ What is (insert character’s name) opinion of the … (take an event from the story)? Use parts of the text to support your answer.
∙ How would you feel if you were (insert character’s name) when (take an event from the story)? Have you ever been in the same situation as them?
∙ What is a simile? What is a metaphor? Why do we use them in our writing? Can you find an example of each in your story? Why has the author used these phrases? What image do they create?
Year 6
| Comprehension |
| Increase familiarity with a range of texts structured for different purposes |
| Recommend books and give reasons for choices |
| Make comparisons within and across books and discuss conventions across a range of writing |
| Prepare and perform plays and poetry aloud using intonation, volume and action |
| Check that a text makes sense, including explaining the meaning of words in context |
| Make inferences about feelings and motives and make predictions based on implication |
| Identify and summarise ideas from more than one paragraph |
| Discuss how the author’s use of language affects the reader |
| Distinguish fact and opinion |
| Retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction texts |
| Discuss reading with others, building on and challenging the views of others |
| Provide reasoned justification for views |
Questions to support and extend their reading:
- What will happen next? Why do you think…….? Use the text to support your answer.
- How does………. make you feel? Why do you think that happened?
- What is the theme in this text? Have you read any other books with a similar theme?
- What techniques does the author use to describe characters, settings and actions?
- Can you skim and scan this page and tell me what it is about?
- Who is your favourite author? Why?
- What strategies could you use to work out a word you can’t read? What are root words? Which spelling patterns do you know?
- Can you find a complex sentence in this text and explain how it adds to the text?
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
Mrs Joanne Smith
Head of Primary
