The texts selected for instruction, which the students will be able to read largely by themselves, include:
- a greater use of dialogue;
- a variety of text forms;
- settings in other times and places;
- longer, more complex sentences;
- visual language forms and features that complement and extend the written text;
- sequences of events or information.
It is expected that students will be reading at Purple in the Ready to Read series after two years of instruction.
These texts will be selected for instructional reading purposes although, for recreational and social purposes, students will also be engaging with texts that have a wider range of features.
Students are able to make appropriate book choices for independent reading.
Students read silently, but when asked to read aloud can read known texts with fluency and expression
Duckling Palace by Philippa Werry
Ready to Read, Purple
As they read, students build on their expertise and demonstrate that they:
- use their knowledge of phoneme–grapheme relationships (including long vowel sounds, consonant and vowel combinations, and digraphs) to decode words;
- apply strategies in order to work out words, e.g., by using consistent chunks and rimes, analogy, knowledge of word structure (e.g., of prefixes and suffixes), and visual memory;
- recognise between 300 and 500 words (including compound words) on sight;
- use some strategies to find the meanings of unknown words, including:
- rereading
- looking for definitions in the text
- using clues in the sentences before and after
- inferring;
- use fix-up strategies when the word read does not fit the context and/or the visual information;
- use comprehension strategies to:
- get the gist of a text
- respond to the themes, plot, and characters
- locate and interpret ideas and information (including information in diagrams and charts) when they are directly stated in the texts being read
- summarise the main points
- identify a sequence;
- have an increasing awareness of what to do and how to do it when comprehension breaks down;
- understand that texts have purposes and are written for audiences.
As they write, students build on their expertise and demonstrate that they:
- can generate ideas alone and by brainstorming with peers or the teacher;
- use some simple planning strategies to organise their ideas;
- use a plan to turn ideas into connected sentences;
- generate words and grammatical structures as they plan, write, and review (reread) their texts;
- experiment, when they write, with words and language structures they have encountered in their reading and talking;
- consciously draw on their oral vocabulary and known book language to make more precise word choices in their writing;
- use their knowledge of phoneme–grapheme relationships (including long vowel sounds, consonant and vowel combinations, and digraphs) to encode words;
- can apply strategies in order to work out words when writing, e.g., by using consistent chunks and rimes, analogy, knowledge of word structure, visual memory, and some common spelling patterns and rules;
- can spell most words from essential word lists1 1 to 3 accurately;
- revise their writing (often from feedback) and edit it for clarity and accuracy;
- proofread their writing, e.g., by recognising some spelling errors and applying some fix-up strategies.
1 Spell-write – Revised Edition (Croft, 1998)
The writing that students do in classroom contexts, largely by themselves, will:
- include detail or personal comment;
- include varied sentence beginnings;
- use vocabulary that indicates sequence;
- include sentences with subject–verb agreement and noun–pronoun agreement;
- use capital letters correctly to begin sentences (and in frequently encountered proper nouns) and use full stops to end sentences;
- be in legible writing;
- include some visual symbols that represent and support meaning (e.g., life cycle diagrams, Venn diagrams, and charts).
Letter formation is expected to be correct, automatic, and efficient.
