i-read

The teaching materials provide for a four-part teaching and learning process:
1. Demonstration or modelling of reading strategies and behaviours by the teacher, using e-texts on the interactive CD-ROM ('I'll show you how.')
2. Shared and scaffolded application of those skills, using activities on the CD-ROM ('Let's have a go together.')
3. Independent and guided practice by the children to consolidate learning, using either the anthologies or the PDF printouts of e-texts and shadow texts. ('Now have a go on your own.')
4. Review and consolidation of learning in the plenary ('What have we learned . and where do we need to go next?')

i-read provides one unit each of fiction, non-fiction and poetry per term.
This breaks down as follows:
• 10 sessions for fiction for each term (equating approximately to a 2-week period);
• 10 sessions for non-fiction for each term (equating approximately to a 2-week period);
• 5 sessions for poetry (equating approximately to a 1-week period).
• So, each CD-ROM provides enough material to teach for up to 5 weeks per term or 15 weeks a year. Of course, some classes may need more time on certain aspects and others may move more rapidly through a unit. This has to be at the teacher's discretion, but should fit alongside most medium-term planning that you already have in place.

The units are all built around a main text. In each unit, all sessions except the last focus on the interactive teaching of reading skills. This ranges from applying techniques such as sounding out, re-reading and looking at the context in order to decipher the words on the page, to general enjoyment and appreciation of the texts. Focus 5 introduces the notion of preparing to write. This offers a starting point for independent writing in the genres or text types under study in the unit.

i-read has been developed in line with the Primary National Strategy recommendations promoting the use of ICT texts as an integral part of children's reading and of teachers' tools for teaching. The following points have therefore been kept in mind:
• the fact that teachers do not want to abandon previously effective use of resources when offered all that a whiteboard offers;
• the need to offer teachers a resource that supports the exploration of the technical possibilities offered by the board but keeps the focus on what the children need to learn;
• the need to maintain a balance between the whole-class part of the lesson and time for the children's independent work;
• the need to enable children to apply to their own work what they have learnt from working with an interactive whiteboard.
• The greatest potential for ICT, however, is in presenting 'ICT texts', which allow the reader to shape the text by making choices along the way. i-read offers one ICT text of this kind per CD-ROM.

The guided/independent activities in the Teacher's Notes offer ideas and guidance on how to use both the e-text and the shadow text for a guided reading session. Many of the demonstration and shared sessions include suggestions that could equally apply to a guided reading session: reading, analysing, searching for clues, discussion and so on. i-read can help effective guided reading in the following ways:
• by actively engaging pupils with reading, through interactive features;
• by providing a range of opportunities for reading, from the teacher-led whole-class sessions to application of the skills learned in the whole-class session in group and independent work;
• by encouraging discussion of the focus texts in pairs or groups;
• by offering different texts within a single text type to encourage a range of reading;
• by encouraging children to re-read familiar texts.

The e-texts have been levelled for each year group, but take account of the fact that they are most likely to be used by the teacher working with the children. The shadow texts have also been levelled for each year group, but take account of the fact that they are most likely to be used by the children in a group or working independently; they are slightly simpler. The teaching in any of the i-read sessions should build on what pupils know and can do, and on their ability to apply new strategies independently. Teachers must have a clear idea of pupils' current levels of attainment and the specific reading skills and strategies that, if developed, would enhance pupils' ability to read, to understand and to reflect on what they are reading.
i-read presents a programme of cumulative skills and strategies based around quality texts from which the teacher may select appropriately. Once pupils are reading at NC level 3/4 there is no single correct order in which to work through the aspects of a particular level descriptor, but a programme such as i-read can help teachers to make choices about which aspects of the level descriptors certain groups of children need to work on next.
i-read assumes the ongoing use of school guided reading records, supported by teacher observation and record-keeping systems, and acknowledges that these remain the best source of information needed to make decisions about where groupings of pupils should head next.

A unique feature of the programme is that it is based upon the explicit recognition of children's differing preferred learning styles. For instance: on-screen annotation of texts, which appeals to kinaesthetic and visual learners; the use of voice-overs, music and sound effects to draw in aural learners; high-quality photographs, artwork, maps and charts for visual learners; the explicit teacher-modelling of strategies in shared reading to support both visual and aural learners; high-quality texts, written for the specific target age group, to motivate interpersonal and intrapersonal learners, who are sensitive to nuances of text and cognitive demand; the strategy-led, cognitive approach developed through the teacher resources, to interest logical learners, who like to reason and solve problems.

When they first begin to read, children's reading is mainly based on decoding the words on the page and interpreting meaning on the simplest level - that involving plot, characters, etc. i-read both supports the development of these basic skills and enables maturing readers to refine their reading skills, looking at aspects such as the style and effectiveness of an author's choice of words, and how these features - and others - help the author to achieve their aim. To this end, the questions provided onscreen and in the Teacher's Notes are built around five specific skills - literal, deductive, inferential, authorial and evaluative comprehension.
Whilst some classes may need more scaffolding, the materials are sufficiently flexible to allow you to move through a unit at your own pace. It is suggested that children should be encouraged to read and reread carefully - the first read providing an overall understanding and the second allowing for more detailed and interpretative thinking. The use of the shadow text provides a strategy for the average or more able group to work independently from the teacher, whilst the anthology provides a strategy for the weaker group to work with the teacher on a 'seen' text. Of course, this may vary considerably according to different classes and groups.

The interactive, shared and guided approach to developing reading is built around the central role that talk plays in deepening comprehension and appreciation. Indeed, the programme is built around direct demonstration of specific strategies and also allows for the tentative exploration and development of meaning.
There are open questions for discussion, drama activities to help children imaginatively engage with the world of the text, as well as suggestions for debates and presentations. Children are given opportunities to form their own questions, and to discuss their own reading strategies and approaches to develop metacognition.
Right/wrong feedback on the interactive activities is not offered; questions remain open in order to encourage debate within the session. This allows the teacher more freedom to orchestrate responses. References to speaking and listening opportunities are provided in order to demonstrate where previously taught speaking and listening objectives can be consolidated.

Essentially, i-read is a programme that focuses on reading strategies but it leads into a final session in each unit which sets the class up for writing their own piece in a similar style. It may be useful to refer back to the original e-texts to remind children of different language structures and features that they may wish to imitate in their own writing.

i-read is an easily accessible programme for practitioners to use. A Teaching Assistant who is familiar and confident with using an interactive whiteboard may be able to lead a lesson using the Teacher's Notes and on-screen prompts. A less ICT-confident assistant may be better employed working with groups: either those revisiting the e-text with support or those trying to apply their new-found skills to the shadow text. As with all resources, the material is merely the starting point - it is the skills of the teacher or Teaching Assistant that will make i-read really great in the classroom!