At Ashworth Nursery School we have chosen specific ‘core books’ which we want our children to know well by the time they leave nursery. These books are the type of books that can be re-visited again and again, on different levels to support language development. The idea is that children will develop language and increase vocabulary in addition to gaining a love of books and will become very familiar with these known texts so that they can remember and re-tell them. Our shared reading plan includes strategies which encourage the children to join in, so that the experience of reading becomes interactive and the children begin to learn the story as they are read to. In each book there is lots to discuss so that the children understand the vocabulary as well as what is happening.

All of our core books have pictures, which support the text but also compliment and add to it. We discuss the pictures and what is happening in them as much as the text. We find our children learn parts / all of the books word for word after a while, which can give them great confidence as early readers in terms of fluency when reading.

Our core books are:

Pre-Foundation Core Books

Goat goes to Playgroup - Julia Donaldson	Maisy goes to Nursery - Lucy Cousins	Where's Spot? - Eric Hill	Spot bakes a cake - Eric Hill
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? - Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle	Where's my teddy - Jez Alborough	Wow! said the owl - Tim Hopgood	Snail trail - Ruth Brown
Dear Zoo - Rod Campbell	Spot goes on holiday - Eric Hill

Pre-School Core Books

Room on the Broom - Julia Donaldson	Goldilocks and the three bears - Susanna Davidson	Polar Bears - Nat Geo Kids	Jasper's Beanstalk - Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen
All about plants - Peter Riley	The Very Hungy Caterpillar - Eric Carle	Insects - Nat Geo Kids	The Train Ride - June Crebbin
A place called home - Kate Baker

We hold fortnightly story times in Key Person groups. Our Core Books and other stories are shared with children and their parents along with another activity.

We also have ‘core rhymes’ which support language development. Each week, the children recite or sing the rhyme at group and carpet times. By the time the children leave nursery they are familiar with each core rhyme. Our core rhymes are:

• Twinkle, twinkle little star
• Hickory dickory dock
• Jack and Jill
• Hey diddle diddle
• Humpty dumpty
• Incy wincy spider
• Baa Baa black sheep
• Mary Mary quite contrary
• I’m a little tea pot
• Tommy thumb
• 12345 once I caught a fish alive