How should we read texts in lessons?

At Michaela, our pupils read thousands of words every day. A typical day for a pupil (of any ability) might look a bit like this:

7.55am: Silent reading in form time.

8.15am: English lesson: read 1000 words of the Odyssey.

9.15am: Maths lesson: read 200 words about a new mathematical concept.

10.30am: Science lesson: read 500 words about the International Space Centre.

11.30am: Humanities lesson: read 800 words about ancient Mesopotamia.

1.30pm: French lesson: read 500 words in English, translated into French.

2.30pm: Silent reading in form time.

Pupils in our reading club would read for half an hour after school with me.

All pupils read at home for 30 minutes each night.

Assuming that pupils read about 1000 words in morning tutor time, another 2000 in afternoon tutor time, and around 2000 in the evening at home, I would estimate that our pupils are reading around 8000 words a day. The weakest readers- those with the lowest reading ages, and who attend reading club- would read closer to 10,000 per day.

This amount of reading practice is essential for improving reading ability and motivation. I can already see the difference in the weakest readers. Kids regularly grab me at lunch and tell me about the book they are reading- something that I could only have dreamed of in my last school. There is a buzz about reading at Michaela. The library is always packed with kids after school, and many of them regularly ask their teachers for book recommendations.

Some of our teachers read books aloud to the pupils during tutor time. These books aren’t on the curriculum, but are read purely for a lovely afternoon treat. Olivia Dyer, our wonderful Head of Science, has her form in stitches reading Adrian Mole, which was the talk of the school for a long time: “PLEEEEEEASE can we read Adrian Mole like Miss Dyer’s class, Miss!?” was a common refrain. Jonny Porter, our tremendous Head of Humanities, reads Gombrich’s ‘A Little History of the World’ to his form, which is also a lovely treat for them in the afternoon.

In this post, I want to outline how we structure reading lessons at Michaela. Our pupils are so fortunate in that every one of our teachers and senior leaders- regardless of subject- cares deeply about reading and sees it as a vital part of the curriculum. As a SENCo, I really couldn’t ask my colleagues to do any more. They make my job so easy!

A good reading lesson should take the following principles into account:

In any lesson, reading should primarily be for comprehension. Pupils need to understand what they are reading, and so the teacher should pause at appropriate moments and check for understanding.
Reading is an opportunity to improve pupils’ fluency and ability to read with expression. Teachers should therefore model good reading and ask pupils to read aloud (year 7s love this, so get them into that habit then- it’s harder as you go up the school, in my experience).
Reading is an excellent opportunity to improve pupils’ vocabulary. Teachers should pause to explain the meaning of key words, and may want to give further examples of new words used in context.

To demonstrate what this might look like, I’ve written an example lesson script below. This is a lesson reading Pullman’s beautiful ‘Northern Lights’, but the principles could be applied in any subject, with any text.

Step 1: Story Version 1

A ‘story version 1’ is an introduction to the text in which the teacher outlines some of the things that will happen in the story. This enables and deepens comprehension because, whilst reading the story, pupils have something to ‘hook’ the new text onto. I tend to make quite a big deal out of it, making a few jokes, ALWAYS showing them how excited I am to read it, and using dramatic voices and over-the-top gesticulation to bring it to life a bit. By the time I’ve finished, they are usually desperate to get started.

Teacher: I’m so excited about this chapter, because everything that happens feels so intense! So, in this chapter, Lyra sees what Lord Asriel shows on the projector. What she sees is very strange: for the first time, Lyra learns about something very important: dust. We are going to find out what this ‘dust’ is, and the adventure it might take Lyra on. Are you ready?

Step 2: Modelled/Shared/Guided reading

This can be done in a number of ways: the teacher may wish to read aloud, or nominate pupils to read. Depending on the nature of the class, the teacher may decide to split the group up: perhaps lower attainers work with the teacher, middle with the teaching assistant, and higher independently. I prefer to start by modelling some reading aloud, then handing over to pupils to read.

“Lord Asriel”, said the Master heavily, and came forward to shake his hand. From her hiding-place Lyra watched the Master’s eyes, and indeed, they flicked towards the table for a second, where the Tokay had been.

Teacher: Jason, why do the Master’s eyes flick towards the table?

Jason: His eyes flicked to the table because that’s where the poisoned drink was.

Teacher: That’s spot on! Now, let’s pause for a second. Who can show me what the master did with his eyes? Who can deliver an Oscar-winning performance to the class? [Call on student]

Let’s continue reading:

“Master,” said Lord Asriel. “I came too late to disturb your dinner, so I made myself at home here. Hello, Sub-Rector.

Teacher: A ‘subrector’ is a person in charge of certain universities or schools.

Glad to see you looking so well. Excuse my rough appearance; I’ve only just landed.

[Continue reading in the same manner until end of chapter,]

Step 3: Post-reading Vocabulary

Teacher: In this chapter, we saw the word ‘Scholar’. A scholar is a person who has very special, detailed knowledge of something because they spend a long time reading and studying about it. When I was at university, I was a scholar of philosophy. In this class, we are scholars of English.

So, Jamie, is a person who studies history a scholar? Why?

Kate, is a person who reads books, but doesn’t study them a scholar? Why?

Darren: True or False? I don’t know anything about poetry; I am a scholar of poetry.

Pete: true or false? I spend a long time reading about and studying chemistry, and I know a lot about it; I am a scholar of chemistry.

Who can finish this sentence for me? To become a bible scholar she had to….

The key thing with vocabulary is that you get pupils thinking about the words in different contexts. There is much to say on this, so I will write about this in more detail soon, but the above is just a little taster for now.

Further reading

I would highly recommend taking a look at the books/articles on the list below. In my next post, I will address the teaching and assessment of vocabulary in more detail.

Applegate, A and Applegate, M.D. (2004) The Peter Effect: Reading habits and attitudes of preservice teachers The Reading Teacher: Vol. 57, No. 6

Bambrick-Santoyo, B. , Settels, A., Worrell, J. (2013) Great Habits, Great Readers San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Beck, I., McKeown, M., Kucan, L. (2013) Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction New York: Guildford Press

Fenlon, A., McNabb, J., & Pidlypchak, H. (2010). Developing meaningful literacy routines for students with multiple disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43(1), 42-48.

Hasbrouck, J. (2006) Drop Everything and Read- but How? American Educator: Accessed online at [http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/summer2006/hasbrouck.cfm] 24.4.2014

Hirsch, E.D. (2003) Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge- of Words and the World. American Educator. Accessed online at [https://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/spring2003/AE_SPRNG.pdf] 24.4.14

Kameenui, E. and Simmons, D. (1990) Designing Instructional Strategies: The Prevention of Academic Learning Problems. New Jersey: Macmillan

Lemov, D. (2010) Teach Like a Champion: 49 techniques that put students on the path to college San Francisco: Jossey Bass

Morrison, T. G., Jacobs, J. S., Swinyard, W. R. (1999). Do teachers who read personally use recommended literacy practices in their classrooms? Reading Research and Instruction, 38 (2), 81-100.