Downland School Literacy Handbook Literacy at Downland School is a top priority that transcends throughout all subjects and is the responsibility of all teachers. The purpose of this booklet is to provide teachers with quick and easy Literacy strategies that can be incorporated into most lessons. Please feel free to contact The English Department for any clarification of any of the strategies detailed within this handbook: [email protected] What is Literacy? Literacy is the ability to create and make sense of symbolic forms of communication; the ability to encode and decode messages and the ability to take action based on information. It is the rudimentary skill that is required to access and understand English language and communicate with it. Literacy at Downland School is about improving students’ writing, reading, comprehension and speaking and listening skills. More finitely, it is the intention at Downland School that students can competently and confidently access text and transfer skills and learning strategies from subject to subject. Isn’t literacy an English teacher’s job? Any subject which uses text has a responsibility to help students overcome difficulty with understanding ideas and concepts and must explicitly teach them how to transfer reading and writing skills that they use in English and other subject areas.

Downland School “Approaches that involve curriculum areas other than English, together with work done in English departments, are more likely to be successful than initiatives that are confined to English or SEN departments”.

June 2014 Volume 1, issue 2

Improving Reading, Improving Writing Use this booklet to help you differentiate your lessons.

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Literacy is based on ten key principles (THE EXIT MODEL)

Established through classroom Learning Objectives/ Learning Goals. Teacher modelling of appropriate reading or writing strategies.

Teacher reading aloud to students, modelling thought processes and identifying next steps/ judgements.

1. Elicitation of Previous Knowledge. 2. Establishing Purposes. 3. Locating Information. 4. Adopting an Appropriate Strategy. 5. Interacting with Text. 6. Monitoring Understanding. 7. Making a Record. 8. Evaluating Information. 9. Assisting Memory. 10. Communicating Information

Usually established during starter Q & A’s. Student previous knowledge should be ascertained at the start of the lesson. Must be taught explicitly.

See all the activities below/ refer to table.

Refer to ‘Discussion’ section. Refer to ‘Communicating Information section below.

The EXIT Model

Process stages Elicitation of prior knowledge

Establishing purposes

Locating information

Possible teaching strategies • • • • • • • • • • •

Discussion. Brainstorming. Concept mapping. Using pictures or artefacts. KWL grids. Children’s own drawings. Teacher modelling. Using pictures or artefacts. KWL grids. QUADS grids. Graphic prompts.

•

Teacher modelling in whole class or group guided reading sessions, using big books or group sets. Setting up contextualised learning situations. KWL grids.

• •

Prompt questions

What do I already know?

What do I (specifically) need to find out? What will I do with the information?

Where and how will I get this information?

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Adopting an • appropriate strategy

Using big books to model book structure and types of reading. Teacher modelling within a learning context.

Interacting with the text

Group reading. Shared reading. Reading pictures and videos. DARTs activities (directed activities related to text). Text marking (underlining, numbering, notes in margin etc.) Text restructuring. Teacher modelling. Reciprocal teaching – the teacher models how to make sense of part of a text and then invites a student to take over.

•

• • • • •

Monitoring understanding

Making a record Evaluating information

Assisting memory

• • •

• • • • • •

Teacher modelling. Grids/tables/frames. Text marking. Teacher modelling of a ‘questioning’ read. Use text written from different viewpoints. Use text from different eras, societies.

•

Working with information in several different ways. Revision and revisiting soon after initial learning. Restructuring information.

• •

Communicating information

• • • •

Oral presentations e.g. drama, in role presentations, debate, assembly presentations. 2D & 3D presentations. I.T. presentations. Written presentations e.g. book making, writing in different genres, writing frames.

How should I use this source of information to get what I need?

What can I do to help me understand this better?

What can I do if there are parts I do not understand? What should I make a note of from this information?

Should I believe this information?

How can I help myself remember the important parts? How should I let other people know about this?

Discussion Why? It always encourages shared thinking and verbalised learning. It is immediate; all pupils can participate no matter what level of literacyIt creates opportunities to recognise, share and value different experiences and knowledge from a wide range of backgrounds. Key ideas, concepts and vocabulary can be introduced within a supportive context.

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Discussion Ground Rules: • • •

Everyone must participate. Everyone must co-operate. All participants should be able to follow/ see how the discussion devolves or evolves. Key Questions to enable effective discussionsWhat do you think? Why do you think that? What do you mean by that?

Discussion PitfallsDiscussion is ephemeral- usually no record of what was said remains. Use plenaries or a summative session at the end of discussions to re-acquaint the main ideas discussed, reiterate student opinions and draw together conclusions. It is suggested that the teacher should encourage students to write the outcomes immediately after discussions so that they evidence both their spoken learning and comprehension of the topic areas discussed. Brainstorming (Topic Webs/ Word Webs) Why? This activity stimulates further ideas and more details can be added to evidence students existing knowledge. Brainstorming as a Literacy strategy can also provide teachers with an opportunity to introduce subject specific vocabulary. Brainstorming activities are appropriately pitched during the Main Body of three-part lessons which explore students’ knowledge and can be expanded and developed. How? Students discuss what they know about a topic. This can then be developed from an initial discussion during the starter activity to writing down the initial brainstormed ideas- into Concept Mapping. Students that are encouraged to concept map evidence very quickly the extent of their existing knowledge and start to build upon it. Students can see words, ideas, images and phrases that are linked in some way that enables their wider understanding. EBD/ ASD students should be encouraged to support their Brainstorms or Concept Maps with visual aids/ pictures.

Literacy Loves Mind Mapping & Concept Mapping

Rules: There are no rules! Students are encouraged to freeflow their own ideas, examples and make their own connections and inferences!

Teaching Strategies!

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Remember! EBD & ASD students should be encouraged to express their ideas in a visual / creative / expressive way to encourage literacy acquisition/ development.

Literacy TOP TIP! Brainstorming, Mind Mapping, creating Concept Maps etc. develops students’ ability to gain understanding of wider concepts/ ideas/ context etc. Students will actively and passively acquire subject literacy as teachers offer learning opportunities to explore topics.

Subject Specific Literacy can easily be taught through Mind Mapping/ Concept Mapping!

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Geography & Literacy- Mind Mapping Example

EBD/ASD FRIENDLY!!

Science & Literacy Concept Map Example

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Why?

• • •

• They’re rough and ready way to access a student or group’s progress. Brainstorming/ Concept Mapping can be used both before and after a unit of work. Students can add new learning in a different coloured pen and use the original work as a working document. They can be used to assess amount of student knowledge in starter activities and can evidence learning in plenary sessions.

How? • •

• •

The teacher can provide the headings already in place and students can brainstorm around each heading. Students can be given words or phrases connected to the topic scattered at random and students link any words which they see as having a connection. This strategy has the advantages of not only activating prior knowledge but also of giving teachers evidence of misconceptions or partial knowledge. Students can also identify gaps in their own knowledge as they can place a question mark against any words they are unable to link in anyway. Use the teaching strategy to task pairs of students- Try Time, Pair Share! Allocate a

Time

allowance- Pair up your students- Get then to Share their collective ideas to the rest of the class. PSHEE/ SMSC & Literacy Concept Map Example:

Media Studies & Literacy Concept Map Example:-

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Literacy Teaching Strategy-Interactive Reading

Build opportunities for ten minute reading sessions into lesson times; set dedicated subject reading tasks which familiarise students with subject vocabulary consistently. ensure a wide variety of subject specific texts/ literature / books are available and used within lessons. Have an ‘In the News’ notice board and magazine articles about your subject.

in learning spaces that displays current newspaper

Use SCATTER WORD BANKS in learning spaces to acquaint students with difficult subject vocabulary see ART1 with Ms Hocquard. Why scatter the words? ASD/ EBD students turn off at word lists- Scattering the words is ASD friendly!

Explaining a spelling whilst displaying it helps auditory and visual learning- This type of exposure to literacy terms- particularly vocabulary displayed is known as Spelling Elicitation. Create a Literacy & __your subject here_______ Display board in the teaching space to highlight the aspects of Literacy that is covered within your topic focus.

Using visual sources/ artefacts Why? This is an easy way to get students thinking about a topic(prior knowledge) and is easily accessible to SEN/ EAL/ EBD students. These strategies make students explicitly aware that learningis an active process as they are constantly making links between what they are seeing/ reading/ hearing and what they already know.

How? • •

•

Give students a new picture, diagram, graph or artefact to examine and discuss. They write what they have learnt from it. Pupils can brainstorm around a picture or artefact, listing what they can see and what they think it tells them. They can list any questions they want to ask. The picture is then passed on to another pair/ group who adds further observations/ questions (think/ pair/ share). Students watch a few minutes of a multi-media clip. Then get them to discuss and note what they have learnt so far, anything it makes them think of and predictions about what else will be covered in the rest of the MM clip. Students are encourage to FORESHADOW.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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Using Grids- KWL/ KWEL grid

Example:

What do I Know?, what do I Want to know and what have I Learnt- Optional-What Evidence have I got?

Why? It is both a written record and the format of the grid acts as a structured organiser, helping pupils see more clearly the stages of their learning. The procedure is based on three Cognitive Stages- accessing prior knowledge, determining what needs to be learnt, recalling what has been learnt. The final column is a summary after the pupils have undertaken some research.

How? What do I

What do I

know?

Know?

What do I know?

What do I know?

want to

want to

What have I

What evidence have I got?

learnt?

What have I

learnt?

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10 Literacy Strategies for use with Key Words

1.

2.

Subject Specific Dictionaries: Pupils can locate words more quickly within these other than in large, general dictionaries. Discuss and clarify meanings/ definitions to get students to explain the word in their own words. Creating Word Banks: After Brainstorming/ Concept Mapping, key words from this activity are identified and written on Post-It notes/paper…by pupils. These are sorted alphabetically and displayed around the room/ in exercise book. New key words are added each lesson. Constantly revisiting the lists/ vocabulary in this way will remind pupils of their extent and purpose. Students could also create their own word lists in the backs of their exercise books. In English, each lesson has a

Literacy Check that lists unfamiliar or

3.

difficult words it is also used to highlight topic vocabulary or author of a text as a reminder to students. Word & Definition Cards: Students match key words with definitions related to the Unit of study.

4.

Creating Interactive Glossaries: An empty glossary is given to students with Key Words in alphabetical order which they glue into their books. Another A4 sheet with the key word definitions is provided, however the definitions are jumbled up. As students discover a new key word, they find the definition and write it in. This must be continuously revisited and revised.

5.

Key Word Crosswords/ Word Searches: exactly what it says on the tin. These can be created online and then kept as a permanent resource for the department. Alternatively, students can be given a completed crossword and are asked to write the clues.

6.

Creating Word Clusters: Draw pupils’ attention to patterns to be found in words (e.g. equal, equalise, equate. equilateral, equality, equation, equidistant, equilibrium and so on) pointing out their root (equa/ equi, from the Latin meaning to make even) and how that helps both spelling and meaning. Students can create word cluster posters and display them in subject rooms.

7.

Creating Mnemonics: Mnemonics are sentences or words that can assist students remember something e.g. Richard of York gave battle in vain (r ,o, y, g, b, i, v- the colours of the rainbow). Calligrams can be used to remember subject specific vocabulary.

8.

Creating Calligrams: Calligrams are visual representations of a word that reflect its meaning. Students could create their own Calligrams using subject specific vocabulary.

9.

Using Icons: Icons and symbols used alongside key words can act as a memory prompt and are particularly useful for students struggling with Literacy.

10. Playing Word Games: a) Key words are displayed on the board. The teacher reads out the definition and two students compete to choose the correct key word.

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b) Half a word can be put on the board and students have to complete it. c) Hangman d) Teacher provides the definition and students write the words. Teacher (Meta-Cognitive) Modelling

Why? To make explicit the thought processes of an effective reader, processes that are usually invisible.

How? Read aloud to students in a variety of ways and from a variety of texts as well as textbooks. Try to show thought processes you employ to demonstrate how to actively interrogate and respond to a text- ‘I wonder what that means?...Well that surprises me…I never knew that!’- as well as demonstrating scanning or tackling difficult words.

Understanding Text DARTS ( Directed Activities Related to Text): Activities that require students to reconstruct a text or diagram by filling in the missing words, phrases or sentences or by sequencing text that has been jumbled.

Why? When students interact with texts, their reading comprehension improves. They also become more aware of how texts are constructed. As students’ understanding of how text is constructed improves, so too does their own writing. Research has shown that interacting with texts also improves students’ cognitive development.

How? Certain words from a passage in a text are deleted and the students are asked to complete the text. Note: It is an activity best used in pairs or groups rather than as a solitary activity because much of its value lies in the discussion of possibilities. • • • • • • • • • •

• •

Ideas:

Text completion (Fill in missing words, phrases or sentences). Sequencing (Arrange jumbled segments of text in a logical or time sequence). Grouping (Group segments of text according to categories). Table completion (Fill in the cells of a table that has row and column headings or provide row and column headings where cells have already been filled in). Diagram Completion (Complete an unfinished diagram or label a finished diagram). Prediction Activities (Write the next step or stage of a text or end the text). Text Marking (Find and underline/ highlight parts of the text that have a particular meaning or contains particular information). Text Segmenting and labelling (Break the text into meaningful chunks and label each chunk). Table Construction (Draw a table. Use the information in the text to decide on row and column headings and to fill in the cells). Diagram Construction (Construct a diagram that explains the meaning of the text, for example, draw a flow chart for a text that explains a process or a branch diagram for a text that describes how something is classified). Questioning (Answer the teacher’s questions or develop questions about the text). Summarising.

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Strategies in Literacy- Analysis Activities

If the text…

You may have developed…

…compared and contrasted two or more things …described a process …described a fictional or non-fictional sequence of events …described how something can be classified …described an object …presented an argument

A table or Venn diagram A flow chart A flow chart A branch diagram A labelled diagram A spider diagram or mind map

Use how you interacted with the text as a basis for your DART, for example, if you developed a flow chart while reading the text and you want your students to do a reconstruction activity, develop a relevant flow chart and then delete some of the information from the chart. Your students must fill in the missing information as they read.

Sequencing In text sequencing, jumbled up text is given to students who have to re-order it into a coherent, logical or sequential text. In doing so they must read and re-read the text to confirm their choices. This can be differentiated by careful selection and size of text and is best done as a collaborative activity. Students’ reconstruction may not be quite the same as the original order so students must justify their reasoning. It is also best done as a kinaesthetic activity so pupils can physically move it around and try out possibilities.

Text Marking Why? These activities help students to understand that reading is an active not passive process.

How? Highlighting/ underlining information/ numbers or writing in the margins of a text (annotating). Students can use different colours to differentiate categories of information. Text Marking- The main idea/ summaries Students can be asked to underline what they think are the sentences that tell you the most about the passage or a sentence that sums up each paragraph. Text Marking- Making notes in a margin This can be further information or questions they have. Teachers model this. Text Marking- Numbering text to show sequence of events Struggling readers may lose the thread of basic events so when the text is sequenced it can be recreated in a flow diagram of the process.

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Text Restructuring Students read information and then show the information in some other way. In doing so, they have to understand it. This is a good activity for paired work. Students can restructure text as:

• • • • • •

A news report or science story. A grid. A visual representation which is annotated. A labelled diagram. Pictograms, graphs or Venn diagrams. A cartoon or comic strip.

Trash or Treasure Introduce the idea of ‘Trash’ words (words you don’t need) and ‘Treasure’ words ((vital words). Treasure words to be emphasised in some exciting way such as a zig zag outline. In the English Department students would be very familiar with this- to contract the sentences they would drop the trash words and to expand the sentence they would add more interesting vocabulary to increase the treasure words.

Note Taking Why? It is an important skill in gathering and synthesising information and consolidating learning. As students progress through the education system note taking becomes increasingly important and they can use it to:    

Bring about an active engagement with the text e.g. underlining something because they think it is important. Promote concentration and focus by making notes as reading progresses. Create a recode for later use e.g. for revisiting a few weeks later. Act as a brief aide-memoire which will be discarded e.g. as a prompt for a talk.

How? Teacher modelling is the best way to introduce note-taking. Make notes from a source in front of the pupils whilst explicitly discussing what it is you are doing and why. Make the focus for the note taking explicit. It is imperative that students know why they are taking notes and who it is for, such as: Example:

“We’re looking at types of Media in today’s society and how they advertise products to certain audience groups so I’m going to write down anything about media types, products and people. As you read and annotate you must also demonstrate that”. 13

 “Notes don’t have to be in your best handwriting.  Layout, writing size, asterisks, underlining etc. Can be used for emphasis rather than punctuation.  Headings and other forms of graphic organisers can help organise the notes.  Annotated drawings, visual prompts, rough graphs etc. can be included.”

“Next, use your notes to demonstrate their purpose. Use them for oral recall or to create a piece of report writing.”

Gradually hand over some of the process to the pupils in shared sessions before asking them to make notes for independent work. A useful intermediary stage can be for an adult (Teaching Assistant) to read the text aloud to pupils.

Helping to scaffold their understanding of what is being read by: 1.

Finding Key Words/Phrases

2.

Text highlighting, underlining or writing on a sheet alongside the text. Decide on those words that are crucial to the content. Summarising Find a key sentence to summarise each paragraph. Students put these ‘main ideas’ together to create a précis (summary).

3.

Deleting Leave out unimportant sentence creating words (e.g. ‘and’ and ‘the’) as notes do not need to be sentences. Leave out redundant material (e.g. repetition, unneeded details).

4.

Substituting Combine lists or groups of items when possible (e.g. ‘apples, pears and grapes’ could be written as ‘fruit’).

5.

Abbreviating Use standard abbreviations and signs (e.g. BBC, =, etc.).

6.

Grids Physically restricting the amount of space for recording reminds students to use words rather than sentences. QUADS grids are handy. Question

Answer

Details

Source

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Using Headings Lists and skeleton written outlines can be broken up with headings. Initially you may wish to supply the headings plus a set number of empty bullet points to support students.

Diagrammatic Representations (Graphic Organisers) Spider diagrams and tree diagrams help to organise key ideas. Follow the mind-mapping and Concept Mapping steps. P.E & Literacy Spider Diagram Example:

Mind mapping great for teachers too!

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Playing the ‘Notes Game’

Students must summarise a lesson or unit in the fewest possible words. This can be used as a plenary activity. The teacher must constructively comment on students’ note-taking attempts. Although succinct the notes must contain sufficient detail to evidence what they’ve learnt and the core aspects of the unit. Challenges can be set at varying difficulty by providing a small number of post-it notes for the evaluation task.

Differentiating a Text    

Break a text into smaller chunks for weaker readers. Use headings and draw students’ attention to how the text is broken up. Matching-it requires no writing but enables the learner to show they can read, understand and evaluate. Sequencing- As above.

ASD & Dyslexia Friendly Tips for Supporting Writing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

17. 18. 19. 20.

Use Lucida Handwriting or Comic Sans font- they’re easier to read. Writing Frames & Writing Maps. Writing checklist to tick off as writing progresses. Close texts/ sentences to complete. Sentence/ text/ picture jumbles to rearrange. Multiple choice questions. Mapping/ Drawing a line to link. Personalised word books with useful phrases/ vocabulary (Link to type of writing e.g. persuasive words/ descriptive words). Highlighting/ underlining texts/ words etc. Word mats for useful/ tricky vocabulary. Visual prompts in learning environments- scatter word banks/ punctuation pyramids etc. Spelling cards/ posters. Coloured paper/ coloured acetate overlays. Tramlines and margins to aid height and placement of writing on the page. Mini-whiteboards for ‘guessing’ before checking in the dictionary. Pictorial dictionary to assist visual learning aspects of ASD- Electronic dictionaries/ reading pens. Word processing with Spell Checker. Writing Buddies. Word Magnets (http://www.triptico.co.uk/ is really handy to create these. Cut and Paste word tasks to access kinaesthetic learning styles of ASD students.

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Whole School Approach to spelling Have you tried these ways to help yourself? Sound out the word. Think about how it looks. Think about a similar word. Is there a memory sentence for this word? (e.g. Big elephants cannot always use small exits-Because).  Find the word in a listo Key words list o Frequently used words list o Your own subject specific word bank/ scatter word bank  Look it up in a dictionary/ spellchecker  Ask a friend before the teacher. Once you’ve solved it, don’t forget to add the correct spelling to your own word bank if it’s a word you think will be useful at other times.

   

Classroom Talk: Questioning

Why? Language and thought are intimately linked and students’ cognitive development depends a lot on the forms and context of language which they have encountered and used. All pupils should have the opportunity to think and express their ideas. Bloom’s Taxonomy- Levels of Critical Thinking

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How? There are four types of classroom talk, but please try not to rely on IRF: • • • •

Dialogic Talk. Exploratory Talk. IRF (Initiate, Response, Feedback). Socratic Talk.  In Dialogic teaching there are five principles:

•

Collective: Teachers and students work together on a task E.g. Modelling and shaping an answer together for an essay on the causes of the First World War.

•

Reciprocal: Teachers and students listen to each other and share ideas E.g. Evaluation of a product and how one might improve it in Design and Technology.

•

Supportive: Articulate ideas freely without embarrassment of wrong answers. E.g. Valuing individual and alternative perspectives in poetry analysis.

•

Cumulative: Teachers and students build on their own and each other’s ideas and change them to coherent lines of thinking. E.g. Use of discussion and brainstorming leading to completed pieces of writing.

•

Purposeful: Plan and facilitate dialogic talk with a particular educational goal. E.g. Hot seating characters in Drama to improve understanding.

Questions to consider: When planning your lessons. • • • •

Are you structuring questions so as to provide thoughtful answers? When you ask questions, how long do you wait for a response? What strategies do you use to create a climate for questioning? Do you see that answers can promote further questions and can be seen as the building blocks of dialogue rather than its terminal point.

Helpful Tips! • • • • • •

Give at least 7 seconds after asking a question. This encourages students to really consider an answer and respond. Repeat the question for ASD students or students with expressive language disorders. Ask the student to repeat the question first before answering it. Ask open questions moreover closed questions to elicit a more expansive response. Get students to build on other students’ answers. Ask the same questions again at different stages of the lesson to embed the learning. Rote question and answering is ASD friendly as they are exposed to the Q & A’s frequently. This overlearning supports their knowledge acquisition.

Remember! It is important that students’ contributions are listened to and taken seriously by both the teacher and the class. You should model this by ensuring that you make appropriate responses to contributions and are not critical. You could also model making mistakes yourself to show that being wrong is acceptable.

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Use questions to develop collaborative work

•

• •

•

Begin a lesson by giving pairs of pupils a question to answer from the last lesson. This will elicit prior learning and promote shared discussion and open questioning. Ask pairs to discuss a question for a minute before they answer it. Make questions a normal part of the lesson- E.g. “ Earlier this lesson I asked you two questions. Turn to your partner and see whether you are ready to answer them yet” Get one group or pair to set questions for another group or pair to answer.

Supporting reluctant Writers: The DOM Approach Dump – Organise - Map 1. Generate Ideas- Dump or brainstorm ideas about the topic. Emphasise ‘Get it out’ not ‘Get it right’.

2. Sort ideas into themes- Rearrange the Dump words into groups. Sort the groups by shared features.

3. Organise the themes-organise the groups of words hierarchically. Find the main words to label the main branches (smaller branches). Continue until all the words are organised. Add more words too. Use the diagram as a ` working document for students to continually add to.

5 Rehearse the plan by talking it through- place the map between the pair of students. In pairs and in sequence students explain personal maps to each other. Add additional details as you talk to them.

4. Sequence the themes into paragraphsPut the branches into the order you will use them. Each main branch can be a paragraph or section of several branches.

6. Write out the plan- Place the map in front of the pupil. Write according to the plan. Include the extra details mentioned in the talk.

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Supporting Creative Ideas

Art & Design and Literacy

This Literacy Handbook is intended for use by all staff at Downland School; in supporting all departmental areas with student acquisition of key Literacy skills. Many of the strategies contained herein are successfully implemented in the English Department. All of the strategies are ASD and EBD friendly that will enable SEND students to successfully access Literacy within each subject area. For any assistance relating to any of the Reading, Writing and Speaking & Listening strategies do not hesitate to contact the English Department for further guidance. [email protected]

Aide-Memoire

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Addendum

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EBD/ ASD Literacy resources currently used in the Literacy Department here at Downland School

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Subject/ Curriculum Addendum Literacy/ Art crib sheet contribution from Denise Hocquard

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