• The Formative assessments assess what the learner can do and where their needs lie
• They are used to set Catch Up Literacy Targets and to identify the appropriate starting point for teaching

• Catch Up has graded more than 5000 books* into 12 gradually increasing levels of difficulty (including 500 in Welsh medium)
• The aim is to help select books that the individual struggling reader can read with a high degree of success

* A complete list of the books graded to Catch Up Literacy Levels is available to members of the Catch Up Community on the Catch Up online booklist

Individual teaching session part 1:
Prepared reading (3 minutes)

• To give the learner an overview of the story, so that they can concentrate on reading for meaning
• To introduce unfamiliar vocabulary
• To give the learner more confidence to tackle the text

Individual teaching session part 2:
The learner reads and text is discussed (6 minutes)

• To give an opportunity to identify which reading strategies the learner uses
• To encourage the learner to take responsibility for tackling any less familiar words
• To provide an opportunity to discuss the text and to ensure that the learner understands the content, can infer meaning and express opinions

Individual teaching session part 3:
Linked writing (6 minutes)

• To provide focused teaching based on observed miscues
• To enable the learner to benefit from the reciprocal gains of reading and spelling
  

• The record kept of each Individual teaching session gives valuable information about the learner’s needs and progress
• Learners are further assessed using the Catch Up Literacy Formative assessments at the mid-point and end of the year
• We recommend that progress is also monitored by means of a standardised reading test