Novel Studies

 

In Adventurers and Navigators (Year 3, 4, 5 and 6), the majority of our learning in English stems from our class novels. Pathfinders (Year 1 and 2) begin novel study when they have secured their phonics knowledge.

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We recognise the power and opportunity created from reading engaging texts, which we always choose with great care. It is human nature to love a good story; our aim is to excite and engage our learners in deep thinking about reading comprehension strategies.

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The main benefits of novel study for us are (in no particular order):​

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1. Engagement and excitement for learning (at the end of a session, we want to leave the class wanting more);

2. Expanding reading skills (including word recognition and retrieval, but focussing mainly on inference skills and locating evidence to back up our ideas);

3. Improving speaking and listening skills (we love having intelligent conversations and debates about the themes we come across in books);

4. Increasing knowledge of language and vocabulary (we hardly ever leave a word or phrase unexplored);

5. Developing social skills (we learn how to empathise with the characters in our book, often putting ourselves in their shoes);

6. Exposing pupils to other cultures, periods of history or simply circumstances outside of their own (we believe that a good novel can open the door to all of this).