📚 Helping Your Child Become a Confident Reader at Home
Reading isn’t just about saying the words — it’s about understanding, imagining, and enjoying stories. At school, we teach Reading through a focus on key reading skills that you can use to support reading at home.
Key Reading Skills at Clowne Junior School
Meet the Key Reading Skills to improve your child's reading and understanding.
🎤 Fluency – “Read it like you mean it!”
Support smooth, expressive reading.💬 Try asking:
- How should this line sound?
- Can you read it again more smoothly?
- Can you read it in a happy/sad/angry voice?
- What does the punctuation tell you to do?
👉 Why it matters: Fluency builds confidence and understanding.
🔗 Connecting – “This reminds me of…”
Help your child link the story to their own life or other stories.💬 Try asking:
- What does this remind you of?
- Have you ever felt like this?
- Does this remind you of another book or film?
👉 Why it matters: Connections make stories more meaningful and memorable.
🔮 Predicting – “What might happen next?”
Encourage your child to make sensible guesses.💬 Try asking:
- What do you think will happen next? Why?
- What kind of story do you think this is?
- What might the character do next?
👉 Why it matters: Prediction builds excitement and deeper thinking.
🎨 Visualising – “Picture it in your mind”
Help your child create mental images of the story.💬 Try asking:
- What do you imagine the character looks like?
- Can you draw the setting?
- What did you picture in that scene?
👉 Why it matters: Visualising brings stories to life.
🔍 Retrieving – “Find the facts”
Encourage your child to find key information.💬 Try asking:
- What was the weather like?
- Where did they go next?
- What was the character wearing?
👉 Why it matters: This builds understanding and attention to detail.
🧠 Clarifying – “What does that mean?”
Help your child tackle tricky words.💬 Try asking:
- What do you think that word means?
- Can you find a word that means…?
- Are there clues in the sentence or word?
👉 Why it matters: Builds vocabulary and confidence
✂️ Summarising – “Tell me the main points”
Encourage short, clear explanations.💬 Try asking:
- What has happened so far?
- Can you summarise this in 10 words?
- Can you explain it using your hand (beginning–middle–end)?
👉 Why it matters: Helps children organise their thoughts.
❓ Questioning – “I wonder…”
Encourage curiosity and deeper thinking.💬 Try asking:
- What would you ask the character?
- What questions do you still have?
- What would you ask the author?
👉 Why it matters: Great readers ask questions!
💬 Explaining – “Why did that happen?”
Help your child explain ideas clearly.💬 Try asking:
- Why did the character act that way?
- How did the author create tension or happiness?
👉 Why it matters: Builds deeper understanding.
⚖️ Justifying – “Prove your point!”
Encourage opinions backed up with evidence.💬 Try asking:
- Who is the villain? Why?
- Which character would you be friends with? Why?
- Who is this book suitable for?
👉 Why it matters: Develops critical thinking.
⭐ Evaluating – “Was it effective?”
Help your child judge the text.💬 Try asking:
- Was that a good ending? Why?
- Why did the author choose those words?
- What effect did it have on you?
👉 Why it matters: Encourages thoughtful readers.