Two factors before
What are the two factors that a child must come to terms with before tackling a comprehension activity?
By and large, if an activity is enjoyable children find it easier to understand. And indeed vice-versa.
To put this into the context of a lesson, if a child understands what she or he is reading, then they will enjoy the reading.
So it is vital that children are given passages to read that they can both understand and enjoy – passages that are appropriate, engaging, varied and grab their attention.
This is the thinking behind the activities in our reading comprehension series. The aim is to give children reading that they will enjoy. And in order to enhance the experience we have varied the type of material provided from newspaper articles and dialogues, to plays, stories and poems.
But there is more, for within this collection we not only ask for simple factual recall and vocabulary work but also for personal responses to open-ended questions so children can learn that not everyone has the same view of each piece of literature.
In short, they are also learning that the literature that they enjoy may not be the same as the literature that others enjoy – and that there is nothing wrong or strange with that.
By addressing the Programmes of Study for reading comprehension in the 2014 National Curriculum for England for primary schools this series of books encourage children to develop their ability to read for meaning and use a range of strategies to engage with the text.
You can read more on our website about the six books for Years 1–6 in the Brilliant Activities for Reading Comprehension series which can be ordered as a money saving set. You will also notice the ‘brilliant’ cover artwork: the Year 4 cover has been used for this post.
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