This year, our school has made a significant push towards improving reading fluency, and the Learning with Parents digital reading logs have been a cornerstone of our success.
(Miss White, Reading Lead and Year 6 Teacher)
A creative approach to using our Digital Reading Log
At The Gainsborough Parish Primary School, reading has been a key focus this year, and the team are working creatively to create a ‘community of readers.’
Miss White, the Reading Lead and Year 6 Class Teacher, is continually thinking of innovative new ways of using our digital reading log to support key skills, as well as promoting purpose for, and a love of reading.
In particular, the team is using the ‘record audio’ feature to create links between the classroom and home, so that families have an insight into what the children are doing at school. Miss White described this as a ‘low threat way’ to engage families in the learning taking place – reinforced by an achievable three days a week reading target.
Linking home and school through audio clips
The audio function has proved especially effective in engaging children and families. The children are encouraged to record themselves reading at home, giving them the opportunity to read aloud and know that the teacher will hear it and celebrate it with classmates.
They also practise reading poems and book extracts in school throughout the week and then record the piece as a whole class. This gives them fantastic motivation and purpose, because they know the recording is being sent to an audience – their families.
Miss White explained that this is creating a community of readers, as children can share the recordings with their nan, granddad or anyone else in their family and this involves them in classroom life in an accessible and informal way. It also has the added benefit of supporting families for whom English is an Additional Language, as it models spoken English and a joy of reading.
We recorded our performance read of a poem called ‘Little Freak’ in class and I was able to share it with my parents when I went home. They really liked listening to it.
(Ramona, Year 6)
To keep children excited by a class book, Miss White uses the audio function innovatively by leaving them with a cliffhanger. By recording herself reading the last chapter instead of reading it in class, the children can then experience the book at home over the holidays and get to leave a comment about the ending. In the future, she hopes to use the feature as a ‘hook’ into a new book by recording an adult reading the first chapter and releasing it to the families.
Creating a ‘buzz around reading’
The school has also made use of the full range of features that the reading log offers to keep engagement levels high. Using the ‘teacher message’ function, the school motivates families through fortnightly reading challenges such as ‘read a story with a relative’, ‘read a story with a scary voice’ etc. which Miss White says maintains a ‘buzz around reading.’
Fun challenges such as ‘read a story on holiday’ have seen families upload photos of children reading in interesting places such as New York and Spain!
We’d like to say a big thank you to Miss White and the team at Gainsborough for sharing their inventive approaches to using our Digital Reading Log and to engaging children and families in reading. Keep up the good work!
Since we started using digital reading logs, we’ve noticed a real boost in how parents get involved with their children’s reading, especially for our Pupil Premium children. It’s made a big difference in bringing reading into the spotlight and creating a strong reading focus across the whole school.
(Miss Peacock, Headteacher)
* The children photographed do not attend Gainsborough Parish
