Here are some tips to help you become a fantastic reader!

* Read every day, even if it is only for a few minutes.

* Read out loud to someone else as often as possible.

* Read into a tape recorder or MP3 recorder so that you can hear yourself and listen for ways to improve.

* Vary what you are reading, sometimes stories, sometimes non-fiction and sometimes poetry.

* When you have finished a book, tell someone about it in your own words.

* Scan ahead and figure out tricky words before you get there. If you don't know what they mean, look them up in a dictionary.

* Use the pictures to give you clues when you can.

* Use a bookmark to track the words - this helps you to focus on them.

* When you are reading a non-fiction book, think of some questions you would like answered. Then you can look out for the answers while you are reading.

* Challenge yourself. Read books that are a little bit harder. Find some new words and learn their meaning. Make wordsearches and crossword puzzles using unfamiliar words and challenge your friends!

For parents.

If you have a younger child, why not read books together? Read alternate sentences, this way you can model expression and increase fluency. You could allocate characters and read their dialogue in funny voices. Or this is fun - choose a common word such as 'the' and every time it occurs shout 'BANG!' instead!

To increase word building skills, write words (this week's spellings are perfect!) onto paper, then cut them up into either syllables or individual letters, depending on the length of the word. Help your child to use their phonics to put the word back together.

As you are walking to school or the shops, choose a passing car at random and look at the letters on the numberplate. How many words can you both make using those three letters? This is a brilliant way to improve your child's vocabulary, because if they don't know the meaning of a word you have found, you can look it up in the dictionary together when you get home.