Word Reading

• Apply their growing knowledge of root words (lovely), prefixes (unhappy) and suffixes (slowly) both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words that they meet (see spelling section below).
• Pupils should be encouraged to work out any unfamiliar word. They should focus on all the letters in a word so that they do not, for example, read ‘invitation’ for ‘imitation’ simply because they might be more familiar with the first word.
• When teachers are reading with or to pupils, attention should be paid to new vocabulary – both a word’s meaning(s) and its correct pronunciation.

Comprehension

Pupils will 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

Pupils should 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 (making a conclusion based on evidence) of characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives
• predicting what might happen from details stated and implied
• summarising the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph
• 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.