In 2016 Year 7-9 students at VUSC will continue to take part in reading for 10 minutes at the beginning of every lesson in all subjects except Mathematics. All teachers will expect students to be engaged in the reading of fiction and non-fiction texts, and our classrooms are equipped with classroom libraries to support students in selecting ‘just right books’. We will make books available to students in their classroom libraries, although students are also welcome to bring reading material from home.
How important is reading practice?
Students who read:
- Less than 1 min/day read 8,000 words/year
- 6 mins/day read 282,000 words/year
- 20 mins/day read 1.8million words/year
Students who read more than 20 minutes a day have a greater chance of accessing learning across all subject areas, and successfully developing as academic learners.
How Parents Can Help
Parents can help by ensuring their children have an independent reading book in their bags at all times. Parent involvement during home reading is an essential element in developing life-long readers. Encourage your child to read on a nightly basis, record their reading in the student planner and work with your children to complete regular written responses. It is fantastic to be able to listen to your child read, either for part of their nightly reading time or on a few occasions each week, however, when that isn’t possible, a conversation about their reading is also effective.
English teachers have one reading lesson per fortnight in the library which is focused on building students’ reading comprehension skills; students are also expected to read for at least half an hour each night, and they are able to choose the books they read as long as they have chosen a ‘Just Right Book’.
If your child needs assistance with choosing a ‘Just Right Book’ encourage them to speak to their English teachers as well as the school librarians. Our librarians do a fantastic job recommending books to students as they have a vast knowledge of past and new books that are sure to spark student interest. You can also join the local library and it is free! Brimbank library is on the corner of Station Rd and Neale Rd near the Brimbank shopping centre.
You and your child may also like to browse through the books that have appeared on the Children’s’ Book Council Awards – visit http://cbca.org.au/winners-2015.htm ; The Premier’s Reading Challenge lists,
http://www.premiersreadingchallenge.sa.edu.au/prc/pages/books/challenge/?reFlag=1
Or The Inky’s list (voted on by students) http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/books.cfm?award=89
There is also a great website, www.goodreads.com which has a variety of lists available alongside detailed descriptions. Please be mindful some of these books may be more appropriate for mature students.
Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s English teacher if you have further questions.
Athena Vass
Literacy/English Leader
Junior and Senior Campuses
