5 Reading at home: mirroring RfP pedagogies

In Session 5, you read about the RfP pedagogy, which encompasses reading aloud, reading time and book talk in a social reading environment. This is also key, as Figure 1 denotes, for supporting readers at home.

Maximise

Figure _unit8.5.1 Figure 1 Supporting readers at home

Show description

Supporting readers at home poster including the covers of the books: A Kind of Spark, Lubna and Pebble, Julian is a Mermaid, Here We Are, and the magazine Beano.

Open University research suggests there are three important ways to support readers and a love of reading:

• Read aloud - reading aloud to your children shows them reading is a pleasure, not chore. Older children can read to younger ones too.
• Family reading time – making time to read alongside one another helps develop children’s stamina and interest. Let them choose what they want to read and relax together.
• Book chat – book chats encourage readers. Invite them to make connections and share their views. Join in with your thoughts too!
  • I wonder if … why … what … who.

Children who read, and are supported as readers, develop strong reading skills and do better at school.

Figure 1 Supporting readers at home

In Session 5, you also read about the RfP pedagogy checkLIST which can help teachers ensure their practice is planned with the goal of developing children’s desire and motivation to read (Cremin, 2019). Pedagogies and practices in school that are learner-led, informal, social and with texts that tempt (LIST), have been found to be effective in motivating young readers by promoting positive attitudes and inspiring children to read more frequently.

It is noteworthy that the checkLIST model that is promoted in the classroom, is often implicitly discernible in children’s Reading for Pleasure at home. Their reading might involve a hobby magazine, a recipe, a video game blog or a novel, but it is clear that children’s home reading tends to be learner-led, informal, social and with texts that tempt.

Activity _unit8.5.1 Activity 2 Reflecting on reading at home

Timing: Allow approximately 15 minutes for this activity

Listen to Audio 1 of an adult–child book chat in which 10-year-old Bruce talks about his reading at home. As you listen, make a note of the ways in which the reading Bruce describes is learner led, informal, social and with texts that tempt this young reader.

Download this audio clip.Audio player: Audio 1

Click or press enter to start the media player

Audio _unit8.5.1 Audio 1

Show transcript

Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).

Reveal discussion

Discussion

You might have noticed that Bruce has a clear understanding of his own reading preferences and explains why Marcus Rashford and Bear Grylls’ books appeal to him so much. At this point in time, he seems to prefer non-fiction and is motivated by books that might not be available to him at school. So, Bruce’s reading at home is clearly ‘learner -led’ and with ‘texts that tempt’. His motivation to read these books appears to be intrinsic, in that his personal interest in the subject matter is evident. He is not reading for the purposes of an assessed piece of work or a book report, this is ‘informal’ Reading for Pleasure. Bruce talks about reading with his dad at home and his enthusiasm in this book chat is clearly apparent, exemplifying the social nature of reading.