Teaching Higher Order Literacy Skills through the LNF: Primary Course

1. Teaching Higher Order Literacy Skills through the LNF: Primary Course

2. Agenda • Higher Order Literacy Skills: an introduction • Literacy in Action • Children as Researchers: a non-fiction unit • Higher Order Literacy Skills and the LNF • The Power of Story: a fiction-based unit • Building a Literacy Rich School

3. Higher Order Reading Skills – What Are They? • Location • Re-organisation • Inference • Evaluation • Appreciation

4. Reading Detectives and the LNF

5. Reading and Writing for Real Providing children with: • An engaging and motivating ‘hook’ • A clear purpose for reading and writing • A strong context for applying literacy skills • Authentic audiences for reading and writing • An unfolding narrative to retain their interest

6. Real, Realistic or Pure Fantasy? • Real • Realistic – could be real – but it isn’t! (or maybe there are elements of truth?) • Fantasy – developing the imagination – having fun!

7. Creating Reading and Writing for Real experiences Classroom based e.g. artefacts, letters, visitors, teacher/TA in role School based e.g. playground or field event Out of school e.g. visit or trip

8. Children as ResearchersDinosaur Discovery

9. Key questions • What did they look like? • Where did they live? • How did they move? • What did they eat?

10. Research process • Activate prior knowledge • Identify research questions • Set a purpose for reading • Navigate non-fiction texts • Interrogate the text • Record and evaluate information

11. Skimming and scanning • Skimming – to quickly identify the main ideas in a text • Scanning – to find specific information

12. Skimming • Read the title, headings and sub-headings • Look at visuals • Read first and last sentences of paragraphs and sections • Keep thinking about the meaning of the text

13. Scanning • Know what questions you are trying to answer • Don’t try to read every word • Read vertically rather than horizontally • Visualise key words • Look for clues e.g. capital letters, spelling patterns, word shapes, numbers • Use signposts e.g. sub titles, headings, headers • Use textual organisational devices e.g. alphabetical order

14. Interrogate the text • Unknown words – to work out word meanings • Stop and think – to monitor understanding • Check the text – to interpret visuals • Text marking – to identify key information • Read, write, read – to read for meaning • Ask the teacher – to formulate questions and monitor understanding • Analyse the question – to answer different types of question • Find the main idea – to identify key information

15. Record and evaluate information • Key words • Notemaking • Change the form • Children’s quiz • Next steps

16. Phase 1 Reading Immersion Analysis Reading as a writer Read texts -enjoy, -discuss vocabulary -language features -effect on audience Create an experience - to hook pupils in - give reason to write Phase 2 Speaking & Listening Capturing ideas Drama Oral rehearsal • Explore language • use it • explore content • empathise Try out ideas Explore further texts, videos etc Phase 3 Writing Writing as a reader Presenting Allow adequate time to complete writing task and present work Plan Model the writing process

17. The unfolding narrative

18. Children as Researchers:Benefits in relation to LNF • Provides a meaningful context for learning to take place • Opportunity to practise and apply skills for a clear purpose and audience • Mixes literacy skills with subject content • Focuses on active learning • Flexible and transferable – can tweak existing programmes of work

19. Understanding the LNF Key Issues for Primary Schools

20. The LNF: Some Key Messages • Focuses mainly on planning and assessment • Establishes national expectations year on year • Guide to progression in key aspects of literacy • Cross-curricular (all subjects, incl. English) • Cross-phase (5-14)

21. The LNF: Some Key Issues • What definition of literacy are we using? • What is the relationship between English (or Welsh) and Literacy? • At primary level, should literacy be taught in English lessons, then practised across the curriculum, or taught in the context of subjects/themes? • How/where do we bring together the ‘whole picture’ of a school’s reading programme, or a child’s competence as a writer?

22. Definitions of Literacy Literacy is not narrowly about the mechanics of being able to decode the words on a page or write a grammatically correct sentence, although these are essential skills in their own right. It is about the skills needed to understand written and spoken language, to interpret what has been written or said, and draw inferences from the evidence that surrounds us. It is also about being able to communicate in our turn – fluently, cogently and persuasively.

23. Extracts from LNF Handbook • The LNF focuses on the learner’s acquisition of and ability to apply the skills and concepts they have learned in order to complete realistic tasks appropriate to their stage of development. • Teachers will be able to use the LNF to integrate literacy … into their teaching whatever the subject matter

24. Extracts from LNF Handbook • Literacy is not the same as English/Welsh; as a consequence the LNF expectations do not address all aspects of the English/Welsh subject orders and need to be used in combination with other forms of assessment to develop a comprehensive picture of learner achievement. • The literacy component of the LNF will help teachers to address the literacy skills requirements of the English/Welsh programmes of study but not the more literary/creative aspects of the subject orders.

25. The Power of Story

26. The Power of Story • Central importance of stories, rhymes and oral storytelling in developing language • Role of reading in developing writing: ‘it’s good readers that make good writers’ • Need to balance experience of fiction and non-fiction in children’s experience

27. The Power of Story:Leon and the Place Between

28. Reading as a Reader

29. Book Talk – First thoughts Likes ? Dislikes ? Puzzles ? Patterns ? From: Tell Me: Children, Reading and Talk by Aidan Chambers, published by Thimble Press 2011

30. The Journey • Reading as a Reader An experience - The ‘hook’ Book Talk Storytelling Loitering with the text • Reading as a Writer Boxing up Drama into Writing Shared writing • Writing as a Reader Springing off the Page Writing for Real

31. Reading as a Writer

32. Read as a Writer. • The BIG pattern - box up the story - into 5 key scenes. • Story type and focus? • The smaller patterns - read as a writer.

33. The Writing Process Draw on original model and ‘toolkit’ Refer to story map and boxed up plan Draw on other books and previous teaching Model the writing task Shared writing Guided/independent writing.

34. Springing off the Page

35. Leon’s Problem

36. Phase 1 Reading Immersion Analysis Reading as a writer Read texts -enjoy, -discuss vocabulary -language features -effect on audience Create an experience - to hook pupils in - give reason to write Phase 2 Speaking & Listening Capturing ideas Drama Oral rehearsal • Explore language • use it • explore content • empathise Try out ideas Explore further texts, videos etc Phase 3 Writing Writing as a reader Presenting Allow adequate time to complete writing task and present work Plan Model the writing process

37. Reflection How can this approach help to take children from reading into writing? How can this approach be applied to other texts you have used in the classroom?

38. The Literature Spine

39. Building a Literacy Rich School

40. What would Estyn hope to see? • A rich and dynamic literacy environment, where speaking, listening, reading, writing have high status • Plenty of good opportunities for pupils to show higher-order reading skills and good quality writing in all areas of the curriculum • Good quality displays of a wide range of texts illustrating the forms and purposes of writing, and pupil-generated examples celebrating best work • Practitioners who are good language role models for oracy, reading and writing • Practitioners who support the development of good literacy skills in all areas of the curriculum

41. Pupil perception survey • Do you enjoy writing? Yes, no, sometimes. • Why? • What sort of writing do you prefer to do and why? • What sort of writing is your least favourite and why? • Are you a good writer? Yes, no, sometimes. • How do you know? • What helps you when you are writing? • Think of 3 top tips that you would give a new teacher to help children become better writers.

42. The Professional Literacy Company • E-mail: info@theplc.org.uk • Website: www.theplc.org.uk • @ProfLitCo