Newsletter – 18 June 2021

An Renaissance Learning international study (2015 – 2016), has found that fifteen minutes of daily reading seems to be the ‘magic number’ at which students start seeing substantial positive gains in their reading achievement. Unsurprisingly, children who read for longer than fifteen minutes per day see even greater gains. The study found that children who read infrequently, averaging under fifteen minutes per day, saw the lowest levels of reading achievement and growth.

At RGLPS, we encourage our students to engage in Independent Reading on a daily basis, both at school and as part of their home learning. At school, each student has a book box where they can store texts for their personal independent reading. Students select items for their book boxes which are ‘good fit’ or ‘just right’ for them, in terms of both the text complexity and interest level. Each student is encouraged to have a balance of fiction and non-fiction texts that are ‘just right’ for them, and these texts are swapped on a regular basis.

In the first few years of school, we teach all students to use the ‘five finger rule’ to determine if a book is too easy, too hard or ‘just right’ for them. There is little point in reading a book if the child is unable to decode the words and concepts because it they are too difficult – we all know the ultimate purpose of reading is comprehension and understanding! Once children have control of decoding, the focus shifts to comprehension. As teachers, we often find that students (sometimes encouraged by well-meaning parents), attempt to read books with big words which are really aimed at an older audience. It is important to help children understand that just because they can decode and read the words aloud, this does not mean that they understand the text and that it is right for them. Hence, is also important that children are given age appropriate books.

The ‘five finger rule’ works is outlined in the graphic below: