Teaching pupils to read, particularly those who have reached secondary school with ongoing reading needs, can feel like a very complex task, however, it doesn’t need to be. With a clear approach, is can be simplified into three key steps.

Step 1- Find out who

Many secondary schools have systems in place for screening pupils as soon as they enter Year 7. Whichever screening assessment you decide to use, the first step is to identify which pupils are not meeting age-related expectations in reading.

A range of data can support this process, including reading ages, stanines and standard age scores (SAS). However the information is gathered, it should always begin with a screening to find out who would benefit from additional reading support.

Step 2- Find out what

Once pupils with reading needs have been identified (those not meeting age-related expectations), the next step is to understand what their specific reading needs are.

When we think of Scarborough’s reading rope, we know to be a skilled reader there needs to be an intergration between the strands of language comprehension and word recognition.

To identify which strand (or stands) would benefit from additional teaching and support, a diagnostic assessment would be the most useful tool. This is when careful categorisation comes in.

The next step would be to list all of the pupils with reading needs and then group according to their areas of need(s), for example:

• Word reading need
  • Alphabetic code knowledge
  • Decoding skills
  • Knowledge of common exception words
• Reading comprehension need
  • Conceptual understanding
  • Vocabulary knowledge
  • Inference skills
  • Language structures and Literary concepts
• Fluency need
  • Accuracy
  • Automaticity
  • Prosody

Some of these needs are easier to identify than others. Developing a clear picture takes time and requires getting to know pupils, listening to them read, oberving their accuracy and fluency, and discussing texts with them to uncover areas where further support would be beneficial.

 

Step 3: Provide targeted support

Once the pupils and their specific gaps have been identified, the next logical step is to fill in those gaps with targeted support.

For pupils with word reading needs, the best strategy would be to use explicit phonics teaching. This should develop pupils’ understanding of the alphabetic code, decoding skills and knowledge of common exception words together.

For reading comprehension skills to develop, programmes designed for pupils who require comprehension support:

• May include targeted sessions with a clearly defined structureto support comprehension development.
• May focus on expanding vocabulary to enhance understanding of texts.
• Must carefully consider the texts chosen and prior knowledge of the pupils.
• May explicitly model and teach the use of short-term comprehension strategies.

Research supports the effectiveness of strategies such as predicting, questioning, and summarising when integrated with content. Where schools use comprehension strategies, this should be short-term, and should be accompanied by an ongoing focus on continuing to develop comprehension by increasing and activating pupil’s background knowledge.

Finally, fluency. It is a myth that we become ‘fluent readers’ as our fluency is text-specific. The aim is to ensure our pupils reach a stage where they can fluently read age-appropriate texts, without excessive effort.

To support pupils with fluency development, lots of support can happen within the lessons and with repeated readings of the same text. Programmes designed for pupils who require fluency support:

• Should promote reading fluency (i.e. reading accurately, at an appropriate speed without great effort, and with appropriate stress and intonation).
• Must include targeted sessions with a clearly defined structure.
• Should practice expressive reading, focusing on intonation and phrasing based on punctuation, in clause and sentence units.
• May implement techniques such as echo reading, choral reading and partner reading.

 

As I mentioned at the beginning, learning to read is a complex task, however we can provide effective support by following the three simple steps: find out who, find out what and fill in the gaps.