National Curriculum Reading Aloud

The most basic way you are assessed at school for your national curriculum key stage 2 and 3 speaking and listening is by reading aloud.

A lot of parents think (wrongly) that because their child is a fluent and enthusiastic reader, they'll be able to read aloud well.
Unfortunateky this is not always the case.

When we read to ourselves our eyes and our brain do all the work and they can both work very quickly.

However, when we read aloud our organs of speech also have to work and they don't work as quickly!

We have 5 organs of speech

• The tongue
• The lips
• The soft palate
• The hard palate
• The teeth

More details about organs of speech can be found here.

When we read aloud we have to give our mouth time to move. If we want the sound coming out of our mouth to be quite loud, we need to open our mouth wide and this also takes time.

You need to pause when you come across a comma or full stop. A little trick is to say 'comma' or 'full stop' to yourself when you get to one. It's also the ideal time to take a breath.

Slowing down and pausing not only helps the speaker become less tongue tied but just as importantly it gives the listeners a chance to take in what has been said. If you never stop and you speak very quickly your listeners will stop trying to listen to you.

When you see the word 'the', make sure that you pronoince it 'thee' if the next word begins with a vowel.

Examples are:

The Apple - thee apple

The book - the book

The egg - thee egg

Make sure that when you read aloud that your words are not being directed into your book, desk or floor.

Practice reading aloud at home by reading from books, magazines, the labels on a packet of food - anything!

Read to the cupboard, the microwave, a teddy or your pillow. (Pets are ideal for this and they love every minute). This way you get used to directing your words.

If you live in the South of England and would like to arrange lessons for your children please read this page.

If you'd like to find out how you can help your child at home read this.

Return from national curriculum reading aloud to home page

Go to Key stage 2 and 3 page