The primary goal of a Standard Two Reading programme is to immerse the child in reading and writing experiences, which solidify their existing knowledge and enable growth to take place; refining competencies and developing skills. It is in Standard Two that the educational scaffolding erected in Standard One, can partially be removed, as the children move forward to becoming independent learners, readers and writers.
The presence of a structured, phonic based reading scheme is the root of all reading progress in Standard Two. The teacher controls the scheme, manages and allocates resources and meticulously monitors progress. Teachers should not narrow down reading to a single class reading book. The classroom is the richer for having its own library; preferably, about 50 books. Children can choose books which appeal to them, for home reading and browsing. The pleasure in reading will become apparent as children read both fiction and non-fiction material. Traditionally, reading books focused on narratives. Today, reading books provide a variety of topics, which focus on other content areas: history, geography and general knowledge.
At this level, the skill of reading remains deeply rooted in Phonic analysis and Sight Word Vocabulary. The process is taken further into more complex analysis, as children are encouraged to identify root words, contractions, compound words and plural words. They use their phonic skills and other strategies to recognise and decode words which are unfamiliar. They become aware of word families, multi-syllabic words (e.g. sunshine, happiness.) Phonological awareness needs to be consciously increased; ask questions like, “If I took the ‘th’ out of the word thick – what sound would remain?” Delete syllables from words, and then ask for suggestions in word building, using a provided word bank.
Whilst reading, and during group reading sessions, encourage the children to think about ‘cause and effect’. Make them aware of signal words. e.g. ‘The monsoon started; then it rained’. Ask the question: “When did it rain?” Draw attention to the signal word ‘when’. That gives the clue to the question.
How much, and how often?
Children at this level should have material at their instructional and independent reading level. The number of books read is less important than the range, duration/time and frequency. Children may be using the class reader for group work; add to this the home reader and in addition, high interest story books, which they can take home. Parents need to read to their children every day to encourage the reading habit. When children read widely and in depth at this level, they will do so from at least three different genres. They will need a variety of authors, and experience will be focused on all types, including magazines, children’s newspapers, practical and functional texts.
Higher level readers at this stage will self-select reading material in line with their reading ability and personal interest. Get pupils to move on by offering comments on a text, and talking about a text – get them to provide supporting points for their statements. Further points for development are the ability to demonstrate an understanding of the elements of literature, by describing characters, settings, problems, solutions and major events. Encourage the children to retell the story orally and describe the key events in the story. They need to be able to sequence events.
Try to get Standard Two children to understand the geography of text by noticing and obtaining information from the text features: the table of contents, glossary, charts, graphs, diagrams. For example: “On what page would you find the information about dinosaurs?” Encourage explicitly stated information: “According to this report, what do sharks eat?” If you want to connect evidence within a text, you need to request the comparison and combination of facts and details presented, e.g. “What habitat is shared by both kinds of fish?” Make inference in questions. “Based on this report, do crocodiles make good pets?”
Group work
Group work is another positive way in which children share ideas. They can make informal presentations by the simple method of gathering and organising information. Encourage planning, drafting, editing and publishing/presenting a piece of work; this gives children a great deal of satisfaction. Cooperative reading and learning is very effective, as children love sharing their learning experiences. Groups should not exceed four or five and these members should stay together for at least four to six weeks. Groups should be encouraged to earn merits or certificates for recognition of effort over this period.
Writing at Standard Two will show exciting development. Encourage writing in different modes: narrative, descriptive, persuasive and imaginative. When writing final drafts, teachers need to draw attention to the proper forms of grammar: nouns, verbs and negatives. In this way grammar and punctuation are directly dealt with through the child’s own writing, as an editing process. Furthermore, the curriculum should move towards the use of a simplistic dictionary and the use of a glossary.
In grammar, children should develop their thoughts and ideas in proper grammatical forms. They need to write in grammatically correct, coherent, paragraphs. The concept of metaphor, simile, and analogy with responses to: “What is it like/ what does it remind you of?” – push children forward and broadens their reading experiences.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary development is dependent on how much the child reads. Poor vocabulary, or the lack of understanding, hinders reading, when children are faced with words that they do not understand. Teachers need to be aware of complex, new vocabulary, which will appear in specific texts. They need to devise opportunities for teaching the new words – an idea might be a word wall, or use the words in other contexts, with picture cues.
A simple, personal dictionary, with words and pictures, written and drawn by the children, enables greater understanding. Children need to start enjoying the use of new words, instead of being afraid of words. See if they can read the word in another context; include the word in a word-family; patterns in words enable memorisation.
Background knowledge
One of the best predictors of reading comprehension is background knowledge; this one factor enables effective comprehension strategies and study skills. All efforts of the teacher, at this level, should be directed towards building an increasingly complex content. This is facilitated through effective background knowledge. A child cannot understand a story in a vacuum; the situation needs to be explained to them.
Children in Standard Two benefit by making visualisations of their reading topics. They can make a graphic representation in the form of a chart, a graph, a diagram, an outline, puppets, a mobile or model. They can devise their own question sheets, which they can give to other children. They can discuss and compare their personal experiences with other traditions and experiences.
Teachers need to prepare their pupils for academic success. They need to provide exciting and engaging learning, use expectations to develop units of instruction and plan their delivery. They must think that content alone is not sufficient for academic success. Pupils need to solve problems, generate ideas and make connections between what they learn in class and how to apply this knowledge to their world.
Reading Expectations
The expectations of a Standard Two pupil at the end of the year will include: That the pupils become more competent in sound blending and word recognition. They understand the meanings of words and the alphabetic principles. They will use structural cues to decode words with long and short vowels and recognise irregular words. They will know about long and short vowels: ei, ie, ea, ue. They will be able to recognise at least 220 Dolch Basic Sight Words. Their response to words will be automatic and they will be able to read with punctuation cues; question marks and full stops. They should be able to read aloud unfamiliar text (at their reading level) with a minimum of 90 per cent accuracy in word recognition.
They should be able to describe the similarities of plot and character in literature and identify and describe the basic elements and purpose of a variety of narrative genre, including poetry, fantasy, legend and drama. They should be able to sequence the events in a story. Children should be able to find evidence in texts and be able to discuss and make connections to show understanding of text.
In their written work, pupils need to be able to write a narrative piece, such as realistic fiction, fantasy or a personal narrative, depicting major story events. Children will now consider audiences and use styles and patterns studied. They will draft their work and use the basic foundations of good writing; ie, main idea and supporting details
Whilst developing their personal style children will use more complex and complete sentences, with nouns and verbs, commas, contractions, and capitalisation of proper nouns.
