Developing Early Comprehension Skills Through Picture Books demonstrates how strategic 'picture reading' and playful sensory learning can develop young children's explicit and implicit comprehension skills, regardless of their decoding ability.

Donna Thomson is a primary reading skills specialist, researcher, and educational author with a background in SEN, reading recovery, and early literacy skills development. She is also the founder of Think2Read, an e-learning not-for-profit platform which offers primary schools early inference skills teaching and assessment provision for all abilities.

Acknowledgements

Preface

Part 1 - Theory: Early Reading Comprehension and Sensory Learning Instruction

1. Introduction

2. The 'Developmental Bridge': from reading pictures to understanding text

3. Engaging the Senses to Make Meaning

4. Teaching Children How to Think, Speak and Question (for themselves)

5. Nurturing Family Reading and Learning (case studies)

Part 2 - Putting Theory into Practice: Teaching and Reviewing Skills

6. Planning Comprehension Activities Using Picture Books

7. Assessment and Procedure (baseline, intermediate and end-of-reception year)

Section 1: Planning assessment: EYFS reading goals and Year 1 comprehension objectives.

Section 2: Assessment procedure: frameworks, marking and analysis.

Part 3 - Reception Resources: Teaching and Assessing Comprehension skills.

8. Foundation Teaching and Assessment Framework

9. Teaching and Assessment plans, guidance, and resources (Units 1 - 4)

Section 1: Pre-planned teaching sequences and activities (Units 1 - 4)

Section 2: End-of-Unit review plans (Units 1 - 4)

Section 3: Learning Support Resources: frameworks, graphic organisers, posters, picture booklets, graphic multisensory aids.

Glossary and Index