Use these vocabulary worksheets for your mixed-ability paired reading. One helps pupils clarify vocabulary with which they’re unfamiliar, and the other provides short tasks for those children who might finish their reading out loud early.
Clarifying vocabulary suggestions
- Picture the scence
- Finish the sentence/paragraph/page
- Put another word in its place. Does it make sense?
- Remove the root word (remove suffix or prefix)
- Ask your partner
- Look at pictures in the book
- Think about the story mood
- Identify the word class
- Use the glossary
- Use a dictionary
Finisher paired reading activities
- Summarise what you’ve read in 10 words
- Predict what will happen next
- Discuss your favourite characters
- Write your favourite word or phrase and why you like it
- Check you haven’t missed any words to clarify
- Re-read a section with your best intonation
- Find an ambitious adjective
- Write the first line of the next page
What is paired reading?
Paired reading involves pairing a more advanced reader with a less experienced one, creating a supportive and collaborative reading environment.
This not only fosters a sense of camaraderie but also provides an opportunity for the more experienced student to serve as a reading mentor.
As they read together, the more skilled reader can offer guidance, encouragement and help with tricky words, while the less experienced reader gains confidence and improves their reading skills.
It’s a fantastic way to build a strong sense of community within your classroom, promote literacy skills and instil a love for reading.
Lucy Jarvis is an assistant headteacher, Y6 teacher and English lead at a primary school in Lincolnshire. See Lucy’s full explanation of how she uses these worksheets in her class to help develop pupils’ reading skills.
