Languages and literacy

Reading vocabulary and strategy bookmark

Keep a strategy bookmark in a reading book to prompt prediction, clarification, questioning and summarising. A second page provides word bookmarks for recording meanings, words that create an image and words looked up. Keep it close during independent reading.

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Reading vocabulary and strategy bookmark, first page preview — **Pupils aged 7 to 11 · Cards/display**2 pages · First page preview

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The pupil task

What pupils will do

Cut out the strategy and word bookmarks. Read the four strategy prompts and ask pupils which one could help with the current text.

Learning objective

Choose a useful reading strategy, use a prompt to apply it and record vocabulary with a meaning or example for later reading.

When to use it

Use this alongside a text pupils can reread. The first page offers sentence starters when they predict, clarify, question or summarise. The second supports collecting vocabulary over time. Prepare the bookmarks so pupils can keep them with the book they are reading.

What’s included

Strategy bookmarks remind pupils to predict, clarify, question and summarise. Paired vocabulary prompts provide space for meanings, words looked up and a sentence, keeping a useful reading strategy beside the word record.

A teaching sequence

Choose a useful reading strategy, use a prompt to apply it and record vocabulary with a meaning or example for later reading.

Choose a reading strategy prompt

Choose a strategy prompt and use its sentence starter, such as “I think ___ will happen because ___”. Explain how the prompt connects to the reading.

How does this starter help with the section being read?

Record the strategy used

Tick the strategy used and initial the bookmark as directed.

Which action did the pupil actually try before ticking it?

Collect a useful word and meaning

On a word bookmark, record a word and its meaning, an image-creating word or a word looked up.

What nearby words help explain this selected word?

Make and use the two-sided bookmark

Glue one strategy bookmark and one word bookmark back to back, then keep it in the reading book. Try the prompt during reading, then note which words or details helped the pupil understand the next section.

Which word or detail helped with the next section after using the prompt?

Before you teach

Look for the thinking behind an answer, choose the support your class needs and leave room for an independent response.

What to look for

Look for a pupil to name the strategy they used and show where it helped with the text. Ask, “What did this prompt help you do?” If the pupil records a word without a meaning or context, invite them to add a sentence or source from the reading.

Give a little support

Offer one strategy prompt that matches the reading challenge and model a response. Pupils can point to the prompt or say an answer aloud before recording it; then fade the prompt as they become familiar with it.

Take the idea further

Ask pupils to compare which strategy helped at two different points in a text. They can choose one vocabulary word and write a new sentence that shows its meaning with a partner.

Things to keep in mind

The bookmark supports strategy use but does not assess comprehension on its own. Pupils may need a suitable book, scissors and glue. Do not require a pupil to look up every unfamiliar word if that interrupts the reading goal.

Keep the idea. Make it yours.

Bring your topic, learning goal and class context to PLAI™, then review what you create.

Make one for my class

Ideas to try with your class

Sample teaching perspectives on what to try, what to adapt and what to watch for.

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Gentle Reminder

These two-page bookmarks prompt readers to predict, repair a confusing part, ask about the text, retell in order and record vocabulary. The cut-and-keep format lets a pupil keep a strategy cue in a reading book.

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Quietly Curious

Each prompt offers language for a specific reading move, such as rereading or using a clue to guess a word. The retell strip, “First … Then … Finally,” supports concise sequencing.

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Paperclip Perspective

Choose one bookmark prompt that fits the current text and model it aloud. A pupil can point to a question or record one unfamiliar word before trying the full written response.

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One Last Sticky Note

A prompt is a strategy reminder, not proof that the reader understood the text. Check the answer against the passage and let the pupil switch strategies when the first one does not help.