Implications of high-quality phonic work for shared and guided reading

Part 1 of this overview explained that schools and settings should put in place a systematic, discrete programme as the key means for teaching high-quality phonic work. Shared and guided reading sessions should not be used to replace discrete phonics teaching but they can provide opportunities to reinforce children's developing phonic knowledge and skills, in the context of achieving the ultimate goal of the sessions, which is the development of comprehension. Guidance is given below.

Shared reading

Shared reading has a number of specific functions in the teaching of early reading:

• inducting children into the world of literature, meaning and response
• providing rich opportunities for increasing children's stock of words and teaching early reading behaviours
• serving as a vehicle for extending children's understanding of what is being read, that is their language comprehension
• providing opportunities to apply acquired decoding skills in context, reinforcing children's developing phonic knowledge and skills gained from discrete, daily phonic sessions

When engaging children in shared reading, teachers need to be clear which aspect of reading they are addressing. They will need to consider carefully the purpose of each session, the relevant learning objectives and the opportunities the selected text provides to support this work. Discussion of the text also offers opportunities to underpin other aspects of the curriculum such as personal, social and emotional development.

Reinforcing decoding skills (see the principles of high-quality phonic work described on page three)

If the purpose of the shared session is to encourage children to apply acquired phonic skills, then their attention should be focused on decoding words rather than the use of unreliable strategies such as looking at the illustrations, rereading the sentence, saying the first sound or guessing what might 'fit'. Although these strategies might result in intelligent guesses, none of them is sufficiently reliable and they can hinder the acquisition and application of phonic knowledge and skills, prolonging the word recognition process and lessening children's overall understanding. Children who routinely adopt alternative cues for reading unknown words, instead of learning to decode them, later find themselves stranded when texts become more demanding and meanings less predictable. The best route for children to become fluent and independent readers lies in securing phonics as the prime approach to decoding unfamiliar words.

In order to reinforce decoding in shared reading, practitioners and teachers should adhere to letters and sounds already taught so that children experience how to apply their knowledge in the context of reading texts. Words, phrases and/or even whole sentences from a Big Book or other enlarged texts can be used to demonstrate this skill, as well as exploiting opportunities in the environment such as words in labels, captions and displays.

Developing comprehension (see also separate document on Comprehension)

'When children learn to read, the comprehension processes they use to understand written texts are the same as those they already use to understand spoken messages. The main difference is that the language of written text is accessed via the eyes rather than the ears.'
Independent review of the teaching of early reading (the Rose Report), Appendix 1, paragraph 62, page 90

If the focus for the session is the development of comprehension, then practitioners should concentrate on plot, character, and motive, and features of language such as vocabulary, figurative language and sequence. Children benefit if they can make links to their previous experience, or they are supported where the text deals with matters that are beyond their immediate experience. Over time, the practitioner will model how readers predict, question, clarify, summarise and imagine as they read; and in time, children should internalise these mental activities. Modelling one or two strategies really well is preferable to overloading children with multiple approaches.

Guided reading

Guided reading is a carefully structured session in which a small number of children are helped to apply their freshly learned skills in context. It is tailored to the specific needs and ability of the individual, or a group of individuals working at the same level. In the session, the teacher guides the children through a text, prompting them to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned elsewhere in the reading curriculum. The aim is to encourage and extend independent reading skills on new and increasingly challenging texts.

Children gain most from guided reading when they have already developed a sound understanding about how texts work, about the alphabetic code, and when they have considerable experience of listening to and talking about texts. Guided reading sessions offer a good opportunity for children to practise their developing phonic knowledge skills in texts that are carefully chosen to match their abilities. Where the focus is on honing phonic skills, the practitioner's role is to support and prompt children to decode, recognise and say words as they read, thus helping them to access the meaning of the text.

The success of the guided reading session depends on the teacher being clear about the purpose of the session and its specific learning objectives. Early on, new readers will be focused on the application of phonic skills and word recognition, but as they grow in confidence and skill, the emphasis will shift to comprehension. The practitioner makes an important decision at the planning stage about the focus of the session, and this decision is largely determined by close observation of what the children know, understand and can do.

Guided reading sessions should be pitched carefully to the level and needs of the children in the session at the time. This implies a high level of knowledge about the exact state of each child's phonic learning. This is achieved through observation, robust assessment and regular contact during phonic sessions.

In deciding what to teach in guided reading sessions, teachers might start by considering the four types of reader identified in the 'simple view of reading':

• those who have good comprehension but poor word recognition skills
• those who have good word recognition skills but poor comprehension
• those who are weak in both the above
• those who are strong in both the above

Clearly, the child who has good levels of comprehension but weak word recognition needs to consolidate their phonic knowledge and to apply that knowledge in practice. Conversely, children with strong word recognition skills but poor comprehension need to be focused on meaning.

The choice of text for the guided reading session is particularly important. The text should be within the child's current capabilities in order to exercise the new skills without becoming frustrated. The text must also be carefully chosen to appeal to a child's age, ability, interests and circumstances. For example, a child who is new to English may be able to decode quickly, but limited familiarity with English vocabulary may limit his or her immediate comprehension.

Guided reading is a wonderful opportunity for teachers and learners to engage with texts in the most personalised way. It deserves the best possible planning for the best possible return on the investment of precious time.