Literacy Zone

World Book Day 2021

As this year's WBD was during lockdown, we had to be creative about how we shared our love of books. During live lessons, teachers read their classes one of their favourite books and initiated book-talk discussions. In Year 6, children delved into the first chapters of Cogheart and took inspirations to design and describe their own mechanimals. Year 4 read an extract from The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse and then created their own piece of art work taking inspiration from Charlie Mackesy. Year 2 heard The Ugly Five and then created character descriptions. Red classes loved listening to Dinosaurs Love Underpants and then designed their own underpants.. Take a look at some of the children's great work completed at school...

All of the children across the school, at home and in the classroom, then focused on their personal favourite book and were challenged to create a potato character and a book review to share their love of this book. We’ve had some wonderful creations sent in from home as well as brilliant entries from those children at school. Take a look below...

Don't forget, if your child is looking for some inspiration about which book to read next they can choose from their classes recommended reads or visit https://www.lovereading.co.uk/ the UK’s leading book recommendation website. It's their mission to promote a love of books and reading to all by offering the tools, advice and information needed to help children find their next favourite book.

World Book Day 2019

Firstly, thank you very much for all of your efforts with the children’s costumes for World Book day – there was a wonderful array of book characters. We have had a fantastic day celebrating all things books. The Book Swap Shop was a huge success with a great assortment of books for the children to choose from and it was lovely to see so many parents popping in this afternoon to read with their children – thank you for your support.

The children have enjoyed a range of activities this morning, exploring a range of books:

“There is a new story called ‘Awesome Man’ which is about superheros so we designed our own superheroes for the story.”

“My new book from the Book Swap Shop is the Girl with the Ink and Stars which I chose because we started it in a guided reading session this year and it intrigued me and I wanted to carry on with the book.”

“We looked at quite a creepy book: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. I want to read more!”

“We read an extract of the book Shouty Kid which was quite funny because the characters were amusing.”

“We made predictions about the book The Graveyard Book which is a horror story. The opening was really intriguing as there is a murder and a baby escapee. I can’t wait to read more”

Reading at home with your child

Reading with your child regularly at home has a remarkable effect on their progress within school. Little and often is usually the best way. Don’t forget to comment in your child’s reading record every time they read.

To support your child understanding of the texts they read you can ask those questions.Can they predict what might happen next in the story? Can they tell you the main parts of the story or something about one of the characters? What did they like / dislike about the book and why? Can they draw a picture about their favourite part of the book or suggest an alternative ending to a story?

Tips for helping your child to enjoy reading books

Encourage your child to pretend to 'read' a book before he or she can read words.
Visit the library as often as possible - take out audio books and DVDs as well as books.
Schedule a regular time for reading - perhaps when you get home from school or just before bed.
Buy or borrow dual-language books if English isn’t your family’s first language - you can talk about books and stories, and develop a love for them, in any language.
Look for books on topics that you know your child is interested in - maybe dragons, insects, cookery or a certain sport.
Make sure that children’s books are easily accessible in different rooms around your house.

Text is everywhere in the world around us so encourage your child to apply their reading skills when they see text in everyday life e.g. reading a shopping lists, magazines or even TV listings.

Websites to help support your child in the early stages of reading

Letters and Sounds

http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/– interactive phonics games and activities to help develop early Literacy skills.

Starfall Learn to Read

http://www.starfall.com/ – a lovely website with lots of phonics games and interactive reading activities suitable for a range of abilities.

Phonics

Phonics Bug website: https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk/login?c=0

Don’t forget that your child can access their online ‘Bug Books’ using the login given. This is a fantastic and interactive way for your child to access books which will fully support them in using phonics to read and write