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Reading Passports

The purpose of the reading passport is to encourage children to read a wide range of genres. Research has shown that exposure to a diverse range of genres is more beneficial to building a variety of literacy skills than always reading the same genre and/or author.

There are three passports; Sprout, Seedling and Sapling. Children will aim to complete one passport per term. However, if it takes a child longer than a term to complete a passport they will carry on into the following term. At the same time, if a child completes a passport sooner, they will be able to move onto the next one.

The child will record the title and author in the reading passport and the child will give it a star rating. The star rating is out of 5, with 5 meaning that the child enjoyed the book, and would highly recommend it to others. A rating of 1 would mean the child did not enjoy the book and would not recommend it to others.

As part of a discussion with their class teacher about their reading, a child may be asked to justify their rating, for example they may rate it 2 because they feel that the story was too slow, or they may rate a book 5 because it had a fantastic story that kept their interest. There is no right or wrong answer, it is the child’s own opinion and this is an opportunity for them to practise justifying their opinions and engage in book talk.

 Part of the passport is to read books based on a theme/genre. This could coincide with the topics covered in class and themes may be suggested by the year group. If required, staff will support children in selecting a book for the different genres.

Please see the passports attached below alongside explanations of each genre.

Reading genres and their definition

Genre

Definition

Diversity A text that reflects different world views, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, ability, age, religion and culture.

Traditional tales/stories

Fairy Tales

A story about magical creatures and magic. Usually told by handing down through many generations.

Non-fiction

Factual writing about a specific topic.

Poetry

Is verse that uses sound, rhythm and word choices to inspire thoughts and feelings.

Stories from around the world

A story which is written about a different geographical location or cultural setting from ours.

Myths and legends

A Myth is a folktale that attempts to explain how things came to be.

A Legend is based on a real person but cannot be proven.

Fantasy

A story about imagined places and people not based on reality.

Mystery

A fictional story that revolves around discovering secrets or solving crimes.

Historical fiction

A fictional story that is made up of real and fictional characters that is set in the past.

Play script (Script)

The manuscript of a play prepared to be used by actors to perform it.

Traditional poetry

A poem that adheres to a definite verse structure or set of characteristics.

Non-fiction (History)

A factual book written about a historical event.

Picture book

A book where the meaning  is told through both the written text and the visual images.

Autobiography

Gives the history of a person’s life, written by that person.

Biography

Is a written account of another person’s life.

Classic texts

Well-established texts that have stood the test of time and are well written.  The definition is left open to allow us to include modern classics and children’s classics.

Modern classic

A book which has been written in the last century by a well-known author and is agreed to be quality writing.

Adventure

A story in which the characters go somewhere exciting and dangerous.

Comedy narrative (Comedy)

A book which uses humour in the telling of the story.

Science fiction

Stories that are based around scientific knowledge.

Action

A fast paced story which involves tension and suspense and which moves through lots of locations.

Short stories

A book which has a brief story in each chapter

Fables

A folktale that often teaches a moral or a lesson using animals as characters.

Comic poetry

Verses telling funny short stories. They may or may not rhyme.

Diary

A Diary is a record with entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period.