What level of reading are fighting fantasy books
And currently we are sharing a Fighting Fantasy book. Once we are sufficiently refreshed we turn our attentions to the task at hand: reading. We begin with a drink and snack and just a bit of general chatting to allow us to wind down after the school day, and I aim to introduce some book talk later, eg What are you reading at the moment? What do you like about it? etc. The club meets once a week after school for one hour. It was important that the children were of a similar reading ability as I didn’t want anyone made to feel inferior, especially given that, despite being of average reading ability for their age, it seemed that confidence was an issue with this group of children. My aim was to take a group of eight handpicked children who did not enjoy reading and try to instil in them the idea that reading is enjoyable. Recently, I set up an after-school club for reluctant readers in Year 4. How can we help them to develop a love of reading? It is these children in whom I have become increasingly interested. However, sometimes we come across children who can decode, read fluently and talk confidently about what they’ve read, thereby demonstrating good understanding, but who, frustratingly, still do not enjoy reading. These children need clear modelling that ‘reading’ is not just about decoding the words on the page that it is about connecting with those words. Their comprehension of the text is minimal, so they take little pleasure in reading. On other occasions, upon closer inspection it becomes clear that although decoding is not an issue for children, they do not actually appear to listen to what they are reading. With intervention, it’s easily remedied – in most cases.
So, when we discover this is the case, it’s actually a relief because, as teachers, this is what we do: build confidence and help children to develop their skills. It is hardly surprising that if they are struggling, they don’t enjoy it.
Sometimes it’s simply because the children in question find reading difficult. Yet, this is an attitude that remains stubbornly elusive to foster in some children. There is a whole plethora of facts, statistics and research about the impact of reading that indicates that reading for pleasure, from a young age, is one of the biggest predictors of success in later life.