Secondary Years 7-10 - Reading Stage S2

Indicators of progress – Stage S2: Texts and responses to texts

At the end of Stage S2, students can routinely read the following kinds of texts, and respond to them in the following ways:

give a personal response to a short text
retell ideas or events from familiar texts
identify the main idea in short fictional and factual texts using guide questions
locate specific information in fictional and factual texts using guide questions
extract specific information from subject-based diagrams, graphs, and charts
read basic, familiar classroom instructional texts, e.g. simple procedures
begin to read longer, more complex texts with support from teacher
access information from an appropriate ESL ICT resource, e.g. web site, CD Rom
make connections between ideas stated directly and close together, e.g. predict ending, infer feelings, link diagram and label, link cause and effect with support
respond to creative texts, such as accessible poems and short stories showing a developing understanding of key events, characters and issues
choose accessible yet challenging texts for themselves to read and enjoy
read and comprehend a simple teacher modified newspaper article
demonstrate understanding of idea organisation produced by different reference forms, e.g. pronouns, articles
show awareness of how some connectives link and sequence ideas within a text, e.g. then, and so
interpret items of information from a simple unfamiliar text.

At the end of Stage S2, students’ understanding of the contexts and purposes of the texts they read is shown when they:

recognise emotions being expressed by a character in a short narrative
display some comprehension beyond the literal level in familiar texts, e.g. suggest possible explanations for a character’s actions in a short story or extended text such as a film
show awareness that different cultures may have different interpretations of a text, e.g. a character’s motivations
identify different forms of text, such as narrative, factual text, poetry, e.g. through layout of text and content organisation such as the title and chapter headings
make predictions about what will happen in a text and read on to find out if they were correct, e.g. ‘I think … will happen next.’ ‘I hope there is a happy ending.’
recognise different forms of narratives (e.g. horror, romance)
interpret texts by looking for both literal and implied meaning, e.g. use syntactic, logical and cultural clues to work out the meaning of unknown words in the text
adjust reading style in response to the demands of the text and the reading task, e.g. scanning the text to get particular information or skimming to get the gist
interpret the way information is organised in texts, e.g. layout, illustrations, headings.

At the end of Stage S2, students’ understanding of the linguistic structures and features of the texts they read is shown when they:

identify links produced by a range of pronouns, e.g. he, they, these
use basic features of a web site appropriately, e.g. move between pages using the links provided
identify cohesion of ideas produced by related vocabulary
display an understanding of the function of punctuation marks, e.g. when reading aloud, pauses at appropriate points in the text, adjusts speech to reflect dialogue
link reference items on a sample text, e.g. As the moon moves around the earth it controls the tides
read texts that contain compound and complex sentences of two or three clauses
identify some basic organisational features of texts, e.g. procedure, recount, report, argument
identify some basic language features of texts, e.g. imperative in procedures, past tense in recounts
use basic features of a web site appropriately, e.g. move between pages using the links provided.

At the end of Stage S2, students may use the following strategies to assist them to read and comprehend texts:

use a repertoire of strategies to read familiar and basic factual and fictional texts
use background or content knowledge to deduce meanings of words or phrases
use organisational features to access information from appropriate texts, e.g. table of contents, index, headings, main ideas and supporting details
derive meaning of some new words from base words and context, e.g. run, runners, rerun
focus on a text and read silently for an extended period
predict what is coming next, using semantic and syntactic cues within the text
get the gist of an article, e.g. from a magazine, by focusing on subheadings and the first line(s) of each paragraph
make inferences from familiar and new material.