shows a preference for particular reading material.

looks at books and chooses favourite ones.

independently and with others, chooses and engages with texts for enjoyment and interest.

chooses and enjoys favourite books from a range of genres expressing preferences.

explicitly shares reasons for their book choices.

can identify and select books of interest that are readable by them.

chooses books from a range of genres◊ identifying a favourite  genre Genre
Genres are types of multi-sentence oral or written text structures that have become conventionalised for particular purposes with expected organisational patterns, as well as language features related to register e.g., narrative, informational, persuasive, and multi-genre. Simply put, genre refers to a selection of writing forms in order to recount, explain, entertain, inform, give instructions, narrate, persuade and justify opinions.  or type of book and shares reasons.

enjoys sharing experiences with texts on an area of interest, with others and uses key points from texts for a specific purpose.

chooses and engages with texts for specific purposes and evaluates texts with a purpose/ project in mind.

confidently selects texts based on own interests, reading ability, and for specific purposes.

identifies texts which will extend reading skills and interests.

chooses and evaluates texts to facilitate learning across the curriculum.

evaluates the choices made while selecting texts for own reading preference or for a specific purpose.

explores books and demonstrates book handling skills.

recognises and/or identifies that print such as signs, logos, pictures and words carry meaning.

understands that illustrations in books carry meaning.

identifies letters as being different from other symbols and reads left to right, top to bottom, page to page and identifies pictures in books.

demonstrates one-to-one correspondence between written and spoken words, identifies letters, words, sentences, capital letters and full-stops and points out cover, title and author in books.

uses correct word order when reading and adheres to fullstops to punctuate their reading.

uses spaces and question marks to punctuate and add intonation to reading.

uses quotation marks and exclamation marks to punctuate and add intonation to reading.

uses commas and paragraphs to punctuate and add intonation to reading.

identifies, names and uses a range of  conventions of print Conventions of print
Conventions of print are accepted ways of presenting and organising written text so that this text is consistently and easily understood by all readers. The conventions include the following: print carries a message, left to right orientation of print, top to bottom orientation of print, return sweep, appropriate spacing, capitalisation, grammar and punctuation.
Digital conventions include: scrolling, swiping left to right, top to bottom orientation of print.  in context (for example colon, semicolon, dash, apostrophe, hyphen etc.)

examines and discusses various sentence structures (including simple, compound, and  complex sentences Complex sentences
A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator (also known as a subordinate conjunction) such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which e.g. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow.  ) and  conventions of print Conventions of print
Conventions of print are accepted ways of presenting and organising written text so that this text is consistently and easily understood by all readers. The conventions include the following: print carries a message, left to right orientation of print, top to bottom orientation of print, return sweep, appropriate spacing, capitalisation, grammar and punctuation.
Digital conventions include: scrolling, swiping left to right, top to bottom orientation of print.  in texts in English, Irish and other languages.

names, and explains a wide range of  conventions of print Conventions of print
Conventions of print are accepted ways of presenting and organising written text so that this text is consistently and easily understood by all readers. The conventions include the following: print carries a message, left to right orientation of print, top to bottom orientation of print, return sweep, appropriate spacing, capitalisation, grammar and punctuation.
Digital conventions include: scrolling, swiping left to right, top to bottom orientation of print.  and discusses their purpose.

evaluates the impact of various sentence structures and  conventions of print Conventions of print
Conventions of print are accepted ways of presenting and organising written text so that this text is consistently and easily understood by all readers. The conventions include the following: print carries a message, left to right orientation of print, top to bottom orientation of print, return sweep, appropriate spacing, capitalisation, grammar and punctuation.
Digital conventions include: scrolling, swiping left to right, top to bottom orientation of print.  on a readers’ understanding of text.

acknowledges and responds to familiar sounds, rhymes and songs.

identifies familiar sounds.

listens to and participates in familiar sounds, rhymes and songs.

completes missing lines in nursery rhymes and recognises sounds of familiar letters. identifies words as  sound Sound
The term ‘sound’ relates to the sound we make when we utter a letter or word, not to the letter in print. A letter may have more than one sound, such as the letter ‘a’ in was, a sound can be represented by more than one letter such as the sound /k/ in cat and walk. The word ship had three sounds /sh/, /i/, /p/, but has four letters ‘s’, ‘h’, ‘i’, ‘p’. Teachers should use the terms ‘sound’ and ‘letter’ accurately to help students clearly distinguish between the two items.  units within sentences. demonstrates the ability to clap a rhythm.

identifies and generates rhyming words, recognising onset-rime.

distinguishes between two spoken sounds. demonstrates an awareness of changes in sounds of words.

blends onset rime and counts, pronounces, segments and blends syllables in spoken words.

identifies initial, terminal and medial sounds in words of three phonemes and segments and blends spoken words of two, three, four and five phonemes.

divides words into their onset-rime and reproduces common letter patterns and groups.

verbally segments spoken single and multi-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds. verbally deletes and substitutes individual sounds to make new words.

recognises consonant/vowel  sound Sound
The term ‘sound’ relates to the sound we make when we utter a letter or word, not to the letter in print. A letter may have more than one sound, such as the letter ‘a’ in was, a sound can be represented by more than one letter such as the sound /k/ in cat and walk. The word ship had three sounds /sh/, /i/, /p/, but has four letters ‘s’, ‘h’, ‘i’, ‘p’. Teachers should use the terms ‘sound’ and ‘letter’ accurately to help students clearly distinguish between the two items.  patterns in syllables of spoken words.

uses syllables in new words heard to divide and blend.

recognises that some words contain silent sounds which are not spoken.

breaks new words into syllables, with confidence.

identifies and discusses sounds and patterns in words in English, Irish and other languages.

breaks words into syllables and uses their knowledge of consonants and vowel sounds to recognise and blend them verbally.

recognises patterns in spoken words and uses knowledge of existing words to  segment Segment
To split up a word into its individual phonemes in order to spell it, e.g. the word cat has three phonemes: /c/, /a/, /t/ and the word grew has three phonemes: /g/, /r/, /ew/.  and blend new words.

uses knowledge of patterns and sounds to decipher words found in subject/topic specific content.

examines and discusses sounds and patterns in a wider range of words in English, Irish and other languages.

uses knowledge of patterns and sounds to decipher words in subject/topic specific texts.

explores sign, symbol and word recognition.

recognises some letters from own name.

identifies signs, symbols and words.

recognises and names familiar letters such as those in own name and in the immediate environment, and recognises some personal and other familiar words.

links familiar printed signs or names to objects or people. recognises some similarities and/or differences between a pair of pictures/ objects.

recognises, names and sounds some lower-case and upper-case letters and begins to blend phonemes.

recognises a few high-frequency words in familiar contexts and uses one or two letters, often first and last, to identify other words. uses pictorial cues to read some words.

names and sounds all lower- and upper-case letters, recognises short vowel sounds, blends phonemes and recognises some common letter patterns.

reads a range of high-frequency words and CVC words, and reads short, simple sentences. uses cues from pictures and from sentences to read.

recognises some digraphs and blends and reads words containing short and long vowel sounds.

uses their knowledge of sight-words, letter patterns, sounds and cues from surrounding text to read words and uses some  word identification strategies Word identification strategies
Word identification strategies allow children to read unknown words with increasing automaticity. These strategies include: use of the visual or graphic features of a word, use of grapheme-phoneme correspondences, use of knowledge of letter sequences, spelling patterns and associations between words.  with growing confidence.

begins to distinguish between letter  sound Sound
The term ‘sound’ relates to the sound we make when we utter a letter or word, not to the letter in print. A letter may have more than one sound, such as the letter ‘a’ in was, a sound can be represented by more than one letter such as the sound /k/ in cat and walk. The word ship had three sounds /sh/, /i/, /p/, but has four letters ‘s’, ‘h’, ‘i’, ‘p’. Teachers should use the terms ‘sound’ and ‘letter’ accurately to help students clearly distinguish between the two items.  relationships in L1 and L2.

deletes, adds and substitutes letters to create and identify words,

recognises similar sounds from different letter combinations and reads a range of words with digraphs, letter patterns and some with consonant and vowel digraphs.

uses their knowledge of syllables, prior knowledge and cues from the context to read words and uses a growing range of  word identification strategies Word identification strategies
Word identification strategies allow children to read unknown words with increasing automaticity. These strategies include: use of the visual or graphic features of a word, use of grapheme-phoneme correspondences, use of knowledge of letter sequences, spelling patterns and associations between words.  with confidence.

identifies similarities in letter-  sound Sound
The term ‘sound’ relates to the sound we make when we utter a letter or word, not to the letter in print. A letter may have more than one sound, such as the letter ‘a’ in was, a sound can be represented by more than one letter such as the sound /k/ in cat and walk. The word ship had three sounds /sh/, /i/, /p/, but has four letters ‘s’, ‘h’, ‘i’, ‘p’. Teachers should use the terms ‘sound’ and ‘letter’ accurately to help students clearly distinguish between the two items.  relationships in L1 and L2.

reads increasingly demanding digraphs, letter patterns and consonant and vowel digraphs and uses phonological skills flexibly.

uses a range of  word identification strategies Word identification strategies
Word identification strategies allow children to read unknown words with increasing automaticity. These strategies include: use of the visual or graphic features of a word, use of grapheme-phoneme correspondences, use of knowledge of letter sequences, spelling patterns and associations between words.  flexibly and confidently to identify words.

identifies some differences in letter  sound Sound
The term ‘sound’ relates to the sound we make when we utter a letter or word, not to the letter in print. A letter may have more than one sound, such as the letter ‘a’ in was, a sound can be represented by more than one letter such as the sound /k/ in cat and walk. The word ship had three sounds /sh/, /i/, /p/, but has four letters ‘s’, ‘h’, ‘i’, ‘p’. Teachers should use the terms ‘sound’ and ‘letter’ accurately to help students clearly distinguish between the two items.  relationships in L1 and L2.

uses their knowledge of letter sequences, digraphs,  root words Root words
A root word is a form of a word after all affixes and grammatical inflections have been removed e.g. door, run, sad, build, hair. Many other words can be created using root words: inflected words: root + grammatical inflection e.g. doors, running, derived words: root + affix e.g. sadness, builder, compound words e.g. hairdresser.  , syllables, silent letters, prefixes and suffixes to identify a wider range of words.

identifies relationships in L1 and L2.

identifies and discusses vocabulary that is similar in English, Irish, and other languages.

analyses and discusses the origins of words from a range of subject areas.

assesses a wide range of  word identification strategies Word identification strategies
Word identification strategies allow children to read unknown words with increasing automaticity. These strategies include: use of the visual or graphic features of a word, use of grapheme-phoneme correspondences, use of knowledge of letter sequences, spelling patterns and associations between words.  used while reading texts.

uses existing knowledge of language to decipher texts in other languages.

listens to new words and phrases represented by text, modelled by another.

listens to new words and phrases represented by text, modelled by another, and uses them in emerging reading.

acquires new vocabulary listening to a variety of texts read aloud and repeats new words and phrases in their emerging reading.

acquires new vocabulary listening to new words and phrases modelled by the teacher and begins to demonstrate some understanding.

acquires new words and phrases from a variety of instructional and independent level texts and the teacher, and talks about their meaning. uses some new words in responses to texts.

uses a range of strategies to understand and discuss new words in texts and understands that the same idea can be conveyed using different phrases.

explores words that have the same meaning and words that have the same  sound Sound
The term ‘sound’ relates to the sound we make when we utter a letter or word, not to the letter in print. A letter may have more than one sound, such as the letter ‘a’ in was, a sound can be represented by more than one letter such as the sound /k/ in cat and walk. The word ship had three sounds /sh/, /i/, /p/, but has four letters ‘s’, ‘h’, ‘i’, ‘p’. Teachers should use the terms ‘sound’ and ‘letter’ accurately to help students clearly distinguish between the two items.  but a different meaning.

identifies and uses new words and phrases appropriately in a variety of contexts and begins to use dictionaries to find word meanings.

recognises some  synonyms Synonyms
A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word e.g. happy, joyful, elated.  ,  homonyms Homonyms
Homonyms are words that are pronounced but have different meanings e.g. to, too and two, heir and air, soot and suit.  ,  antonyms Antonyms
An antonym is a word opposite in meaning to another word e.g. bad and good.  , prefixes, suffixes and  root words Root words
A root word is a form of a word after all affixes and grammatical inflections have been removed e.g. door, run, sad, build, hair. Many other words can be created using root words: inflected words: root + grammatical inflection e.g. doors, running, derived words: root + affix e.g. sadness, builder, compound words e.g. hairdresser.  .

identifies and uses new words and phrases appropriately in a variety of contexts and begins to use dictionaries to find word meanings.

recognises some  synonyms Synonyms
A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word e.g. happy, joyful, elated.  ,  homonyms Homonyms
Homonyms are words that are pronounced but have different meanings e.g. to, too and two, heir and air, soot and suit.  ,  antonyms Antonyms
An antonym is a word opposite in meaning to another word e.g. bad and good.  , prefixes, suffixes and  root words Root words
A root word is a form of a word after all affixes and grammatical inflections have been removed e.g. door, run, sad, build, hair. Many other words can be created using root words: inflected words: root + grammatical inflection e.g. doors, running, derived words: root + affix e.g. sadness, builder, compound words e.g. hairdresser.  .

uses thesauruses and other references to find and use word meanings across the curriculum.

identifies and explains  synonyms Synonyms
A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word e.g. happy, joyful, elated.  ,  homonyms Homonyms
Homonyms are words that are pronounced but have different meanings e.g. to, too and two, heir and air, soot and suit.  ,  antonyms Antonyms
An antonym is a word opposite in meaning to another word e.g. bad and good.  , prefixes, suffixes, and  root words Root words
A root word is a form of a word after all affixes and grammatical inflections have been removed e.g. door, run, sad, build, hair. Many other words can be created using root words: inflected words: root + grammatical inflection e.g. doors, running, derived words: root + affix e.g. sadness, builder, compound words e.g. hairdresser.  found in texts.

identifies and uses a variety of strategies to understand words in texts.

recognises the link between text and the meaning it conveys.

enjoys listening to stories, rhymes and poems read by others, and indicates favourites.

enjoys listening to different genres◊ expressing preferences and opinions and plays with language in rhymes, riddles, jokes, nonsense words and songs.

enjoys listening to and responding to a variety of genres◊ including informational texts and uses language playfully and imaginatively in personal narratives.

shows understanding of purpose of reading, for example, in play scenarios.

enjoys reading a range of stories, rhymes, poems and non-fictional texts and begins to distinguish between a story and a poem or rhyme.

enjoys reading a wide range of fictional and nonfictional texts and describing differences.

between stories, poems and nonfictional texts, and uses language playfully and imaginatively in response to texts read.

begins to read texts for specific purposes, identifying some differences between genres◊ and begins to justify preferences and opinions.

begins to use a table of contents in simple nonfictional texts to gather information.

reads texts for specific purposes and justifies preferences and opinions.

uses lists and diagrams in simple nonfictional texts to gather specific information.

selects relevant information from a range of features of non-fictional texts and recognises emotive language in texts read.

examines and discusses the validity of sources used to create texts.

identifies and describes features of texts which highlight individual voice.

discusses and explains the purpose of texts.

examines and discusses how Irish culture and identity are portrayed in texts.

Evaluates the validity of sources to create texts.

evaluates and reflects on features of texts which highlight individual voices.

examines and discusses how different cultures and identities are portrayed in texts.

examines and evaluates a variety of opinions, perspectives, and cultures across various genres.

examines and discusses bias, stereotyping and prejudice portrayed in texts.

responds to a range of texts.

responds to a range of texts, indicating preferences.

expresses some thoughts and feelings about what has been read in a variety of ways.

expresses thoughts and feelings about what has been read and identifies the main idea from the text.

expresses thoughts, feelings and opinions in relation to a text and gives reasons for their opinions based on the information provided in the text.

begins to identify, with support and direction, the author’s intent and discusses the point of view being presented in a text.

Begins to use evidence from the text to support their views.

expresses personal opinions about texts and about the ideas presented in texts.

identifies the author’s point of view presented in a text. Uses evidence from the text to support their views.

explains their understanding and interpretation of a text, justifying their responses logically, referring to evidence in the text and discussing the author’s intent and point of view.

interprets and discusses texts, exploring the ways in which the author can use and manipulate language in order to create effect or to engage/affect the reader.

reconsiders an initial response to a text in light of subsequent information that emerges in a text.

conveys personal interpretation of text.

recognises the influence of an author’s identity on messages being conveyed.

discusses and evaluates viewpoints and messages of different texts on the same topic.

evaluates the influence of the reader’s prior knowledge and own identity on interpretation of texts.

assesses the link between the author’s intent and the language register chosen.

demonstrates understanding of one or more signs, symbols or text for enjoyment or practical purposes.

sequences a story read or a personal experience using 2-3 objects, marks, drawings or mimes.

finds specific objects in stories read to them and responds nonverbally and/or verbally to simple statements and questions about a main event or character.

sequences main events using a small number of pictures.

predicts a story based on the front cover and internal illustrations before and during the teacher’s reading of it and makes inferences.

makes connections between points in a story while listening to the teacher read.

responds nonverbally and/or verbally to simple stories and poems and asks and answers questions about main events and characters.

begins to determine the importance of information and retells main points of a story in sequence.

predicts the story/topic based on title while drawing on their prior knowledge and visualises while listening to the teacher read a story or informational text.

retells familiar stories accurately using key details and asks questions about events, characters and setting.

shows some understanding of informational texts read aloud by the teacher.

listens to stories, poems and informational texts and retells main points with some sequencing.

modifies predictions based on new information and draws inferences while listening to stories or informational text.

recounts orally key points of information in  expository text Expository text
Expository text is a type of oral or written discourse where the purpose is to explain, inform or describe.

with others, reads and discusses stories, poems, simple instructions, and informational texts showing understanding.

demonstrates the ability to visualise the story while listening to it, through their modified predictions and inferences during the story and in their retelling of the story.

uses language from texts to retell main points along with characters and setting in sequence and adds key details from the texts.

shows knowledge of the structure of a range of narrative and procedural text genres and identifies the central idea or theme of a text.

takes part in class discussion while responding to narrative and  expository text Expository text
Expository text is a type of oral or written discourse where the purpose is to explain, inform or describe.  , asks questions, discusses predictions and inferences and clarifies their reasons.

with help, uses simple graphic organisers to identify key points in expository texts.

uses language from text to retell main events adding key details.

generates and responds to questions on text in a range of genres◊, clarifies their responses and provides justifications drawing on prior knowledge.

uses some text features such as table of contents and sub-headings, to identify key points of information in text and adds supporting detail using an appropriate  graphic organiser Graphic organiser
Graphic organisers are visual representations of knowledge, concepts or ideas.  .

discusses miscomprehension in a text.

summarises key points from a range of genres determining their importance and omitting any unnecessary information and sequences main points while reflecting on and making sense of information and adding detail.

responds to questions disregarding unnecessary information, infers drawing on prior knowledge and information and cites specific textual evidence to clarify their responses and to support a particular viewpoint.

uses text features such as indexes to locate key facts and information.

uses a range of  comprehension strategies Comprehension strategies
Comprehension strategies are strategies and processes used by readers to make meaning from texts. Key comprehension strategies include: activating and using prior knowledge, predicting, visualising, making connections, questioning, clarifying, determining importance, inferring, synthesising.  flexibly and confidently.

determines importance of information and justifies disregarding of unnecessary information when summarising key points/facts and reflects on and synthesises information.

shows some understanding that language features, images and vocabulary shape interpretation of text and that this may be different to others’ interpretations.

uses text features including bold print, glossaries, electronic menus and icons to locate key facts in a variety of genres efficiently.

questions actions and sequences and accuracy of content.

examines and discusses how various media sources present information on the same event/story.

identifies how language, images, and vocabulary shape interpretation of text.

desrcibes and explains the strategies used to locate key facts and sources.

discusses and evaluates how language, images, vocabulary, sources, presentation, culture, and identity can shape interpretation of text.

synthesises information from various sources and formats and uses this information to  form Form
Form refers to the published formats of a particular genre e.g. poem, short story, play, novel, memo, email, film etc.  opinions about various topics.

participates in using reading material.

handles books and takes part in group activities with familiar text begins to track the direction of reading with their eyes, attending to each page change in books read to them by others.

understands that text tells the same story each time it is read. tracks the direction of reading with their eyes, attending to lines read in books read to them by others.

recognises when a word has been omitted or read incorrectly in repetitive familiar text read to them. begins to track pictures and words using their finger or object.

shows a reasonable pace reading repetitive language patterns and some familiar sight vocabulary.

reads text word by word tracking with finger or object and rereads familiar or independent-level text supported by illustrations, building fluency.

self-corrects using pictorial,  sound Sound
The term ‘sound’ relates to the sound we make when we utter a letter or word, not to the letter in print. A letter may have more than one sound, such as the letter ‘a’ in was, a sound can be represented by more than one letter such as the sound /k/ in cat and walk. The word ship had three sounds /sh/, /i/, /p/, but has four letters ‘s’, ‘h’, ‘i’, ‘p’. Teachers should use the terms ‘sound’ and ‘letter’ accurately to help students clearly distinguish between the two items.  , visual and contextual cues.

tracks words in text read with their eyes. reads text at instructional and independent levels with good pace, phrasing, expression and understanding.

recognises when a line or word is lost and self-corrects using syntactical cues.

maintains a reasonable pace reading text with support from more complex repetitive language patterns, sight vocabulary, common letter patterns and initial  sound Sound
The term ‘sound’ relates to the sound we make when we utter a letter or word, not to the letter in print. A letter may have more than one sound, such as the letter ‘a’ in was, a sound can be represented by more than one letter such as the sound /k/ in cat and walk. The word ship had three sounds /sh/, /i/, /p/, but has four letters ‘s’, ‘h’, ‘i’, ‘p’. Teachers should use the terms ‘sound’ and ‘letter’ accurately to help students clearly distinguish between the two items.  cues.

maintains a reasonable pace with decodable text using phonic knowledge, sight vocabulary and common letter patterns, and rarely loses their place.

maintains appropriate pace and accuracy with lengthier and more complex unfamiliar text using expression and intonation while drawing on a range of phonic, sight and context cues when unknown words are encountered.

maintains appropriate pace and accuracy using intonation and expression for the  genre Genre
Genres are types of multi-sentence oral or written text structures that have become conventionalised for particular purposes with expected organisational patterns, as well as language features related to register e.g., narrative, informational, persuasive, and multi-genre. Simply put, genre refers to a selection of writing forms in order to recount, explain, entertain, inform, give instructions, narrate, persuade and justify opinions.  and  audience Audience
The audience is the intended group of readers, listeners, viewers that the writer, designer, or speaker is addressing.  .

Evaluates and adapts intonation, expression and pace used while reading.