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Ahoy Matey! The Reading Pirates Have Invaded Year 1

29th November 2013 | Year 1

One of the best ways to improve a child’s capacity to both learn and to enjoy reading is to listen to them read everyday. Even just five minutes will have a significant impact on their progress and reading development. This term, our Year 1 children have become Reading Pirates as they work their way around the treasure map to discover what the Pirate Captain has hidden in his treasure box. To complete this task, each child has been sent home with a pirate reading chart which is then coloured in indicate that they have read at home every day. Back at school, each coloured area of the chart allows them to move around the treasure map, getting closer to the buried treasure with every book they read. First Mate of the Good Ship Year 1, Miss Jess remarked: “Mr Matt and I wanted to find a way to motivate and encourage the children to take ownership for their reading initiative at home. We have been thrilled by the children’s response to our Pirate Reading programme and by the excitement and enjoyment for reading which this initiative has created in our classroom.” For more information on how to encourage your children to enjoy reading at home and to help support your child’s reading and comprehension, please see Miss Jess' top tips for parents below. These techniques can be used in addition to reading each night, or as a legitimate learning activity instead of reading:
  • Parents - write out a sentence from the book. Cut it up into words. Mix up the words. Ask your child to put them back in the correct order.
  • Children – write words and sentences from the story, independently and by sounding out the words.
  • Children - Think of an alternative ending – write words and draw.
  • Take sentences from the story / words from the story and hide them around the house – hunt for the words and put them back together in the correct order.
  • Create your own story board – story in pictures and words.
  • Play word snap with words and phrases from the story.
  • Find all the ’tricky’ words (words which can’t be sounded out) in the story then using a highlighter pen try and find them in a magazine/cut them out.
  • Make alternative sentences with the words and phrases from the story.
  • Find a special reading partner – a favourite toy etc. Children love to teach others!