Literacy

Writing

During the autumn term we will be using different texts to inspire our Writing; 'Gorilla' and 'Zeraffa Giraffa'. We will recapping and developing skills learnt in Year 2 as well as developing Year 3 literacy skills.

The skills that the children should be applying are:

  • Use conjunctions (when, so, before, after, while, because).
  • Use adverbs (e.g. then, next, soon).
  • Use prepositions (e.g. before, after, during, in, because of).
  • Experiment with adjectives to create impact.
  • Correctly use verbs in 1st, 2nd and 3rd person.
  • Use perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause.
  • Use inverted commas to punctuate direct speech.
  • Group ideas into basic paragraphs.
  • Write under headings and sub-headings.
  • Write with increasing legibility, consistency and fluency.

Reading

The children will recieve daily reading lessons in which they will work on their comprehension skills and understanding. The main skills I am aiming to develop in the children’s reading are:

  • Discussion of words and phrases which capture the readers interest
  • Identifying the message of a book
  • Checking words make sense and explaining the meaning
  • Independently ask questions to improve their understanding
  • Making inferences about a characters thoughts and feelings
  • Making predictions
  • Summarising what they have read

Although we do lots of reading at school, it is important that the children have opportunities to read aloud and practise their comprehension skills out of school too. A super reading resource to use at home is Oxford Owl, on here you can sign up and have access to an eLibrary of lots of age appropriatre books. Some good questions to ask your child whilst they are reading are:

What has happened in the story so far?

What do you think will happen next?

Who is your favourite character? Why? / Who is the character you like least? Why?

Do you think the author intended you to like / dislike this character? How do you know?

Does your opinion of this character change during the story? How? Why?

Which part of the story was the funniest/scariest/ saddest/ happiest?

What is the purpose of this book? How do you know?

Pick three favourite words or phrases from this chapter. Can you explain why you chose them?

Did this book make you laugh? Can you explain what was funny and why?

What is the genre of the book: sci-fi, mystery, historical, fantasy, adventure, horror, comedy? What are the features that make you think this?

Find two sentences which describe the setting.

Would you like to read another book by this author? Why/ why not?