READING
VIPERS
At Sherrier Primary School we use VIPERS as a whole class approach to teach reading skills from Y1 upwards, which equips pupils with the necessary skills to be successful readers. It focuses on building fluency and embedding comprehension skills with direct, taught sessions. Children are explicitly taught the skills of reading (outlined in the National Curriculum and the KS1 and KS2 test domains) through the use of VIPERS, which were created by Rob Smith (The Literacy Shed).
The Reading Vipers can be used by both KS1 and KS2 with a little adaption. The main difference being in the S.
Sequence- KS1
Summarise-KS2
The table below details how a sequence of VIPERS lesson could look throughout the half term. As it shows, we look at a range of text types, including: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, songs, picture books and short films.
During a typical session the teacher will…
• Share what the content domain/s the children will be focusing on for that session- which of the VIPERS type will be used?
• Carefully select up to 4 key vocabulary words they want the children to learn that week. These will be taught, over learnt and embedded throughout the rest of the week during VIPERS sessions and across the wider school day to allow for children to use these words in different contexts. Where appropriate they are applied during their Writing sessions.
• During these sessions, teachers cover fiction (class novel/text) during week one, non-fiction (books about topic) in week two, poetry, songs, picture books, short films (about the current topic/theme day) in week three and then this repeats to ensure children get access to a wide range of texts.
• Types of text given are appropriate to the age and key stage of the children. These are always challenging texts!
The links below will outline how VIPERS will cover the skills each year group will develop and how they link to the National Curriculum statements, as well as the types of questions you, as parents, can ask the children.