Together for Good/BTHCC Reads
Here at BTHCC, we believe that reading is essential for all students to succeed. They must be equipped with enough vocabulary to access the pleasure of reading, the excitement of writing and the confidence to explore new subjects. Our ‘BTHCC Reads’ programme ignites students’ love of reading through the exposure of engaging extracts from a range of well-known fiction and non-fiction texts. Using student's voice, we respond to students’ recommendations and alter the texts accordingly.
Texts include: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Nisha’s War by Dan Smith, City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab, The Disconnect by Keren David, Terror Kid by Benjamin Zaphaniah, The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson and I 'am Malala by Malala Yousafzai.
Across Years 7-11, students are immersed in a twenty-five-minute reading session, where each Together for Good teacher uses the ‘Responsive Reading’ strategy to interest and motivate students by modelling reading out loud. At the end of each extract, students are given small tasks to complete that develop their vocabulary, comprehension and inference skills. Each of these aids itself to all subjects across our BTHCC curriculum, and through reading, students are encouraged to use their knowledge to develop these vital skills.
Research suggests that as oracy and reading are intertwined, reading aloud to our students is essential to the development of their vocabulary. Students are susceptible to the expression and intonation of reading and are provided with opportunities to stretch and extend their own oral comprehension. As part of our ‘BTHCC Reads’ programme, we believe that our students should be exposed to challenging vocabulary so that when they come to reading independently, they will have the benefit of knowing more of the words that they are trying to read.
By exposing students to a wide range of literature through our BTHCC Reads programme, we encourage them to develop a depth of knowledge that supports them to comprehend independently and provides them with the motivation to continue to read widely themselves.