Example books to read together#

'Splash' and 'Follow Me' are examples of the kinds of books your child will be reading in the first year at school. You can use the slides below to read them with your child.

The slides are best viewed full screen. Select the 3 dots at the bottom of the slides and then select 'Enter full screen'.

Splash#

Follow Me#

Reading books your child brings home from school#

In Year 1, your child is learning the way sounds match with letters and how to use this knowledge to read and spell words. They will start with simple sounds and letters, then move on to more complex ones.

Practising sounds and letters in Year 1

The books they may bring home will include decodable texts that give your child the chance to practise reading words with the sounds and letters they have been learning. These may include books at the Seed, Seedling, and Sapling levels of the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series.

Ready to Read Phonics Plus series – Tāhūrangi – New Zealand Curriculum

Once your child can read words with some long vowel patterns, they may also bring home carefully selected books with a wider range of words and sentences. These books may be from the Ready to Read Colour Wheel series. Books they bring home will be at an appropriate level for their year and may have already been read in class.

Practise is important when learning letters and sounds. Practising the skills your child has learned for up to 10 minutes a day will help them remember what has been taught at school. Reading the books together is a great opportunity to develop your child’s reading accuracy and fluency.

Before reading#

• Find a quiet place to read together. Choose a time when you both have the energy to enjoy it.
• Be positive about this time. "Great! A new book."
• Encourage your child so that reading is a positive experience. "I like hearing you read."
• Activate their thinking. "What’s your book about today?"
• Look at the cover to make connections. "Remember when we played follow the leader?" Or, "Our cat has a bell on her collar like this cat".
• Make predictions about the story, linking your child’s prior knowledge to the text. "I know that cats like to chase birds, so I think the cat is going to chase the bird."

Reading the book#

• Encourage your child to start reading. "Okay, let’s go. Read the first page for me."
• If your child is reluctant, acknowledge their feelings and offer encouragement. "I can see you’re getting better each time." Offer alternatives. For example, read the first page to get them going or take turns to read a page.
• Talk to your child about the words (new vocabulary) in the book and give definitions if they’re unsure of the meaning.
• Ask questions. "What was that about?" "Why do you think she did that?" "What did you like about that story?"
• End on a positive note and give praise. "Thanks for that. You’re sounding great. Well done! I’m looking forward to the next book. You did really well at sounding out some of those new words."

After reading  #

• Link the story to your child’s life and experiences.
• Help your child retell the story.
• Talk about the characters, the setting and the main idea of the story.
• Encourage your child to reread the story to build their accuracy and fluency.

Supporting reading at home#

• All children like to be read to, so keep reading to them. You can read in your first language.
• Visit the library together and help them choose books to share.
• Read messages from family aloud.
• Play games together and discuss any unfamiliar words that come up during them.
• Talk about pictures in books.
• Sing songs, read poems, say nursery rhymes and make up rhymes together. The funnier the better.
• Be a role model. Let your child see you enjoying reading and talk about what you are reading.
• Talk about content that you both might read or watch or that your child reads and watches, ask about characters' personalities, storylines and events.
• Point out words on signs, shops and labels.
• Play word games like ‘I spy’ and ‘Simon says’.