There is no reason why EVERY child should not achieve Level 5 in English at Key Stage 2, including those for whom Level 2 is predicted. The consensus view that only those who achieve Level 5 in English (about one third) are fully equipped to tackle the secondary school curiculum and about one fifth of pupils will leave school less than functionally illiterate!
If we do not change the way we teach reading, that horrendous statistic will never change.
‘Hot Reading’ is radical and guarantees 100% literacy at Key Stage 2. We need to start by giving teachers a better understanding of the reading process.
Programme One.
1. Starting in September, children predicted to achieve Level 3 complete a computer exercise from the Electronic Library on their own without adult intervention, every day from September to the Christmas break.
2. Each of these children reads their prepared exercise to a teacher or T.A every day from the printouts.
3. Completing 24 titles by Christmas, unequivocally guarantees Level 4 in English at Key Stage 2. No pupil who has completed 20 titles in this library has ever achieved less than a Level 4 in English.
Programme Two.
This programme starts in January.
The whole class is involved at this stage including those children for whom a Level 3 was predicted and ensures that these children gain a Level 5.
1. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays the children complete a randomly selected Reading Comprehension exercise at the computer.
2. On Tuesdays and Thursdays each child completes a randomly selected Dictation exercise at a computer into a dedicated exercise book.
3. All children sitting in their normal table groups, take turns reading one of their passages to the table group, not to an adult. The adult simply moves among the table groups keeping them focused on the task.
4. Completing 36 comprehension and 24 dictation exercises before the Key Stage 2 test unequivocally guarantees Level 5 in English. No pupils who has completed this number of exercises has ever achieved less than Level 5.
‘Hot Reading’ is radical and guarantees 100% literacy at Key Stage 2. We need to start by giving teachers a better understanding of the reading process.
Programme One.
1. Starting in September, children predicted to achieve Level 3 complete a computer exercise from the Electronic Library on their own without adult intervention, every day from September to the Christmas break.
2. Each of these children reads their prepared exercise to a teacher or T.A every day from the printouts.
3. Completing 24 titles by Christmas, unequivocally guarantees Level 4 in English at Key Stage 2. No pupil who has completed 20 titles in this library has ever achieved less than a Level 4 in English.
Programme Two.
This programme starts in January.
The whole class is involved at this stage including those children for whom a Level 3 was predicted and ensures that these children gain a Level 5.
1. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays the children complete a randomly selected Reading Comprehension exercise at the computer.
2. On Tuesdays and Thursdays each child completes a randomly selected Dictation exercise at a computer into a dedicated exercise book.
3. All children sitting in their normal table groups, take turns reading one of their passages to the table group, not to an adult. The adult simply moves among the table groups keeping them focused on the task.
4. Completing 36 comprehension and 24 dictation exercises before the Key Stage 2 test unequivocally guarantees Level 5 in English. No pupils who has completed this number of exercises has ever achieved less than Level 5.
Ask any questions and the author will respond, usually within the hour eddiecarron@btconnect.com
An online book detailing the Hot Reading strategy is available by clicking here.
Access a less sophisticated version of the programmes by clicking here. The access code is ure132ty This approach guarantees that no child graduates to secondary school with only Level 3 attainment in English. For a perspective on stress levels among children taking the tests click here.
