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Example books to read together#

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

Follow Me#

A Colourful World#

A Colourful World slides

Mya’s Finger#

The King’s Birthday#

The King’s Birthday slides

'Follow Me', 'A Colourful World', 'Mya’s Finger' and 'The King’s Birthday' are examples of the kinds of books your child will be reading in the second year at school. You can use the slides to read them with your child.

Reading books your child brings home from school#

In Year 2, your child is learning about complicated sounds and letters, for example, how a group of letters can be used for just 1 sound and how to combine them to read and spell words. They are also learning about small parts added to words to change meaning. For example: Happy – unhappy, big – biggest.

Practising sounds and letters in Year 2

By reading a range of books, they will become more confident with word reading and discussing their thoughts and feelings about what they are reading.

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 Sapling and Tree levels of the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series.

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

They may also bring home carefully selected books with a wider range of words and sentences. These books may be from our 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.

Practice 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 had a birthday party?" Or, "we have done paintings together like the one in this picture".
  • Make predictions about the story, linking your child’s prior knowledge to the text. "I know that if I accidentally hurt someone, I feel bad, so I think the girl is going to be feeling sad."

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. Remind them about what they did when a similar thing happened to them.
  • 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.
Ideas for when reading is hard

  • If your child is stuck on a word, wait a few seconds, then encourage them to sound it out. They should do this by blending the sounds together.
    • For example, the letters 'm-i-d-n-igh-t' should be blended quickly together to say 'midnight'. (Make sure your child knows what the word midnight means.) If they’re still not sure, tell them the word.
  • Take turns reading a page.
  • Keep it light and positive.
  • If you or your child start to feel stressed, take a break. You could also read the rest of the story aloud to them.

Supporting reading at home#

  • Act out the story you have read with your child. You may want to use things you have around the house as props. For example, toys can be used as characters.
  • Play card games. You can make the cards yourself.
  • Read songs, poems and rhymes and sing them together, too.
  • Take your child to the library and help them choose books.
  • Find other books by the same author or on the same topic or look for more information online. You might have to be the reader for this one.
  • Keep reading to your child no matter how old they are. They can understand more challenging books than they can read themselves.
  • Encourage your child to read all sorts of things. For example, online menus for streaming platforms, street signs and food labels. Simple recipes are great, and you get to eat what you’ve read about, too!