Reading & VIPERS

We use READING VIPERS as a framework for questioning, and children begin practising VIPERS style questions from Reception.  This approach can also be used by parents at home to help children develop their reading comprehension.

When reading books the following accuracy rates are used as a guide to ascertain the appropriate level: 

Home/individual reading:

95%-100% accuracy with no more than one mistake in twenty words.  Children should find their home reading ‘easy’ so they achieve and enjoy their books!

Guided reading with a teacher in a group: 90%-94% accuracy, no more than two mistakes in twenty words.

This happens at the end of our phonics lessons in EYFS and Key Stage 1.

Shared reading: 80%-89%, three or four mistakes in twenty words.

e.g. a harder text read as a class as a whole class novel, or during WCR (Whole Class Reading) in Key Stage 2.    This will happen when exploring a shared text to develop children’s reading, writing and comprehension skills.

Children need to be able to read fluently in order to develop their comprehension skills effectively. 

Reading Fluency

Fluency is defined as the ability to read with speed, accuracy and proper expression and prosody. In order
to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently. When reading aloud, fluent readers read in phrases and add intonation appropriately. Their reading is smooth and has expression. 

Children are encouraged to select reading books within their fluency range.  In Key Stage 1, children follow colour banded books, linked initially to their phonics progression through fully decodable texts.  In Key Stage 2, we use Accelerated Reader (AR) - this includes a ‘Star Reader’ assessment (to assess fluency regularly) and directs children to select books within a particular range in order to help progress their development - which can sometimes be colour banded books, or main library books that have been levelled for guidance using AR ‘Book Levels’.