In this video, I debunk common myths about developing English skills and provide tips to improve comprehension and creative writing at home.

Starting with the basics, I explain what you need to comprehend a passage and how to improve reading accuracy. I also discuss how vocabulary relates to comprehension and share ways to build your vocabulary at home.

Additionally, I cover how to broaden your general knowledge and provide four steps for working on comprehension at home. If you’re struggling with creative writing, we’ve got you covered with tips to improve your skills.

Finally, I offer advice for reluctant readers.

Watch now to take the first step towards improving your English skills.

KEY SECTIONS:

Common myths around developing English skills – 00:00

Background – 01:00

What this session will cover – 04:08

HOW TO IMPROVE COMPREHENSION

What do you need to be able to comprehend a passage? – 05:10

How to improve reading accuracy – 06:30

How does vocab relate to comprehension – 10:05

How to build vocabulary at home – 12:55

How to broaden general knowledge – 21:20

4 STEPS FOR WORKING ON COMPREHENSION AT HOME – 27:54

IMPROVING CREATIVE WRITING AT HOME – 34:54

TIPS FOR RELUCTANT READERS – 39:04

To access the resources list mentioned in the video, head here: https://link.wordier.online/recommendedresources

The best and easiest 11+ comprehension technique is to understand the vocabulary in the passage. Steal my 2 favourite vocabulary strategies to boost your 11+ comprehension scores. These strategies have been used with thousands of 11+ students, so you know they really work! ✨

Did you know you need to understand at least 95% of the words in a passage to comprehend it? Some clever scientists say that figure is actually as high as 98%. 🤯

Below 95%, comprehension drops dramatically! 📉

That’s why children need to understand the vocabulary in comprehension passages BEFORE they start reading.

This video walks you through the only two strategies you need to learn the tricky vocabulary featured in 11+ comprehension passages. Armed with a better vocabulary, you’ll be conquering 11+ comprehension passages in no time!

The passage from this video has been taken from a CSSE 11+ past comprehension paper but these strategies will work for any passage.

CONTENTS:

0:24 – Deciding which vocabulary technique to use

0:31 – Method One: Becoming a Word Mechanic – understanding morphemes and how to use them

1:00 – How to use the Word Mechanic approach to decode “attentively” using morphemes

3:23 – Understanding common Latin roots and affixes to decode new vocabulary 📝

Download our FREE Morpheme List to Get Started with Word Mechanics – https://link.wordier.online/rootwordsdownload 📝

4:30 – Method Two: How to Learn and Remember New Vocabulary

5:00 – Using a picture-based approach to vocabulary

5:40 – Our 3-step process for learning new vocabulary

6:40 – Explaining the importance of a word-learning system for the 11+ and comprehension

Our Favourite Children’s Dictionary – https://amzn.to/3NFMLTN

HOW TO USE VOCABULARY FLASHCARDS

0:30 – DAY 1 – Introduce New Vocabulary

3:48 – DAY 2 – Review the Vocabulary Flashcards from Day 1

4:58 – DAYS 3 and 4 – Take a Break or Learn Different Vocabulary

5:45 – DAY 5 – Review the Words from Earlier in the Week

6:24 – DAY 6 – Review Synonyms

Extension Tasks:

6:50 – Learn Collocations – these are word pairings or groups of words that are commonly used together

7:18 – Use Collocations in Example Sentences

To read these tips in article form, visit the Wordier blog here – https://wordier.online/how-to-use-vocabulary-flashcards/.

In this video, we’ll go through a few easy tips that you can use to improve your child’s English 11+ score (hopefully without a battle breaking out in the process). These small adjustments to how you work can help your child to get more from the comprehension and spelling work they’re already doing.

Resources mentioned in this video:

The Illustrated First Aid in English – http://amzn.to/2jrWkun

The Essential Spelling List by Fred J. Schonell – http://amzn.to/2jtMfgo (this book can be hard to get ahold of but it’s a great list of high frequency spellings)

Tips to Improve English Scores in the 11 Plus:

Most parents know that their child needs to read more in order to improve their 11+ English scores, however, few know about the little things you can do at home to help your child.

Simply encouraging a child to read or do their homework isn’t enough. By spending just 5-10 minutes a day on some of our tips, you’ll be able to help your child to absorb and retain the information they’ve learnt from practice papers.

These techniques include:

• Hearing your child read – you should continue to have your child read aloud throughout their time at primary school. This is to make sure that they are correctly sounding out words and also giving you the opportunity to discuss new words and phrases.
• Discussing books – even if you’re not confident in English yourself, you can encourage your child to tell you about the books or passages they’ve been reading. This will teach your child how to summarise, draw links between different materials and also develop their understanding of the character’s emotions. If your child has read a short passage in an 11 plus practice paper, ask them to predict what happens next. If they particularly enjoyed the passage, perhaps consider getting the full book for them to read.
• Spelling – keep a list of words that your child has had trouble spelling and return to this regularly. Review your child’s practice papers and look for words that they have misspelt. Select 3 or 4 words and use the “Copy, Cover, Write” method to practise these. Remember, not all 11+ exams test spelling so you may wish to check your local exam requirements before spending too much time on this.
• Vocabulary – developing vocabulary will improve your child’s comprehension and vice versa. Keep a word bank of new words and encourage your child to add to this when necessary. Your child should occasionally use a printed dictionary to look up these words to practise looking up words in alphabetical order. Improving general knowledge – general knowledge provides context with which to understand comprehension passages. By having a good general knowledge, your child can make more appropriate assumptions and draw more accurate conclusions when completing English work. Improve general knowledge by embracing a variety of different activities, including day trips, hobbies, crafts and even watching television.