KS1 Reading Comprehension

Year 1 Reading Comprehension in the National Curriculum:

The National Curriculum states that children throughout KS1 and KS2 should be taught not only word reading but reading comprehension too. An important part of this is exposing children to reading material that goes above the level they would be able to read independently in order to foster a love of, and curiosity for, reading.

In Year 1, children should be taught to:

• develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by:
  • listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently
  • being encouraged to link what they read or hear read to their own experiences
  • becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics
  • recognising and joining in with predictable phrases
  • learning to appreciate rhymes and poems, and to recite some by heart
  • discussing word meanings, linking new meanings to those already known
• understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to by:
  • drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher
  • checking that the text makes sense to them as they read and correcting inaccurate reading
  • discussing the significance of the title and events
  • making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done
  • predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far
• participate in discussion about what is read to them, taking turns and listening to what others say
• explain clearly their understanding of what is read to them.

Year 2 Reading Comprehension in the National Curriculum:

In Year 2, children should be taught to:

• develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by:
  • listening to, discussing and expressing views about a wide range of contemporary and classic poetry, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently
  • discussing the sequence of events in books and how items of information are related
  • becoming increasingly familiar with and retelling a wider range of stories, fairy stories and traditional tales
  • being introduced to non-fiction books that are structured in different ways
  • recognising simple recurring literary language in stories and poetry
  • discussing and clarifying the meanings of words, linking new meanings to known vocabulary
  • discussing their favourite words and phrases
  • continuing to build up a repertoire of poems learnt by heart, appreciating these and reciting some, with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear
• understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by:
  • drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher
  • checking that the text makes sense to them as they read and correcting inaccurate reading
  • making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done
  • answering and asking questions
  • predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far
• participate in discussion about books, poems and other works that are read to them and those that they can read for themselves, taking turns and listening to what others say
• explain and discuss their understanding of books, poems and other material, both those that they listen to and those that they read for themselves.

Fun KS1 Reading Comprehension Activities

Reading comprehension doesn't always have to involve worksheets full of questions for the children to answer! There are lots of fun ways to engage children in reading comprehension. Here are some of our favourite ideas:

Follow a recipe:

Challenge children to follow a recipe to make a simple dish or drink, such as a sandwich, smoothie or fruit salad. Children will need to read and understand the recipe in order to successfully make their yummy treat!

Word meaning hunt:

A part of reading comprehension is challenging children to learn and understand new vocabulary. When you introduce text with unfamiliar vocabulary, stick a variety of possible word meanings up around the classroom. As you read a new word out, challenge children to go and find the word meaning they think is correct.

Comprehension quiz:

Create a quiz to test their understanding of a story, poem or non-fiction extract. This could be anything from a multiple-choice quiz for children to complete independently or a whole-class game-show style quiz (give pairs of children a buzzer or bell to ring when they know the answer).

Human sequencing:

Provide children with a different section of a story or poem each. As a group, children then need to organise themselves into the correct order to retell the narrative chronologically.

Spot the mistakes:

Provide children with a copy of a story or poem that they have just read together, but change some of the details so that they are wrong. Children then need to identify the errors and either re-write or retell the story with the correct information.

Write a review:

Challenge children to write a review of a story, poem or non-fiction text. They could include an overview of the content, what they liked or didn't like about it and whether or not they would recommend it to others.

Interview the author:

Ask children to get into pairs, with one child pretending to be the author of a poem, story or book and the other being the interviewer. The interviewer should ask the author questions, such as: 'What is the story about?', 'What is your favourite part of the story?', 'Who are the characters?', 'Where does it take place?', etc.