Reading lessons can be hard to make interesting and enjoyable for children. Reading a story and then answering written comprehension questions or completing written activities is boring. This blog post is to share some ideas for reading lessons.
Predicting
When beginning a new story- display the title or show a picture from the cover of the book. (You can search google images for a cover of most books)
Show the children the picture
Some questions;
- What do you think this book will be about?
- Who do you think this person is?
- Who do you think the main characters are?
- What do you think the title might be?
- Where do you think the setting is?
Read the title and ask questions about it.
Read the blurb
This often adds suspense as the children are now interested to find out what might happen in the story.
Model asking questions
Oh I wonder where jack will go on the adventure? How will he get there? Will it be dangerous? I wonder will anybody help him to get the ring back?
Read
Use a variety of different approaches when reading;
- Teacher reads
- Child reads for whole class
- Children read silently
- Group of children reads
- Whole class reads
- Pair reading with a partner
Pause after a few pages and ask some questions based on what has been read. What did you think about __________? What will happen next?
Model asking questions about the text.
Character study
Draw a picture of a character from the book. (This can be done at the beginning when we only know 1/2 little things about the characters – children can use their inferencing skills to draw a picture using the knowledge they have so far)
Write words/phrases to describe the character around the picture. (This can be added to as we learn more about the character when reading).
Group Discussion
When something exciting happens – allow the children to work in small groups to discuss what has happened. Was it a good idea? Will things work out? Who will help them? What would you do if you were in the situation?
Story Map
The children can draw a picture showing the main events in the story. This is great for retelling the story in their own words and summarising/picking out the main points of the story.
