Active Literacy

Monday 29

th

September

What is Active Learning?

•Active learning is learning which engages and challenges children and young people’s thinking using real-life and imaginary situations. It takes full advantage of the opportunities for learning presented by: •spontaneous play •planned, purposeful play •investigating and exploring •events and life experiences •focused learning and teaching.

A Curriculum for Excellence Building the curriculum 3-18 (2) 2007

Active Learning/Play and the four capacities

Active learning can support learners' development of the four capacities in many ways. For example, they can develop as: successful learners through using their imagination and creativity, tackling new experiences and learning from them, and developing important skills including literacy and numeracy through exploring and investigating while following their own interests confident individuals through succeeding in their activities, having the satisfaction of a task accomplished, learning about bouncing back from setbacks, and dealing safely with risk responsible citizens through encountering different ways of seeing the world, learning to share and give and take, learning to respect themselves and others, and taking part in making decisions effective contributors through interacting together in leading or supporting roles, tackling problems, extending communication skills, taking part in sustained talking and thinking, and respecting the opinions of others .

Active learning/play supports literacy development by being:

 Fun  Interactive  Meaningful  Broad and balanced  Structured/unstructured  Responsive/planned  Observed  Evidence based.

Active Literacy

Includes: •Storytelling •Phonics work based •Guided reading and active literacy •Daily writing, taught writing •Spelling and dictation

•Active literacy works alongside our existing Jolly Phonics programme.

•Letter sounds taught first and names later •Initially simple three letter words can be made from the sets of letters.

•Children are encouraged from the outset to listen for the sounds and decide where they come in the word – beginning, middle or end.

Order of sounds taught • s a t i p n • c k e h r m d • g o u l f b • j z w v y x q/qu Sounds are taught 2 or 3 per week.

Storyline and action

  Each letter sound introduced with a story Children hear the sound and see the action

We know our Jolly Phonic actions!

Learning the letter formation

Pencil hold    Tripod grip Movement of pencil from thumb and first finger Knuckles to go in and out – ‘froggy legs/fingers’

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Letter formation

Finger Phonic books     Grooved letters Following arrows Follow example of teacher forming letters in the air/on the ground Pairing and sharing with shoulder partners

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Letters with joining tails

Trace dotted lines following arrows Check correct formation and accuracy Joining tails prepare for joined up writing

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Blending

Blending is when children are beginning the skill of reading Blending is:    Looking at the letters Saying the sound Hearing the word

s – u – n m – ou – s e f – i – sh

Say, Make/Break, Blend, Read, Write

     Say the word Make/break the word using magnetic letters Blend the word Read the word Write the word

Common and Tricky Words

   Children are given 3 common words every week. Some of these words may be tricky words – these are mostly irregular keywords (not easy to blend).

These tricky words need to be learned by heart.

Buddy Reading

What is Buddy Reading?

•Buddy reading is a fun way to help pupils learn to

read.

•In buddy reading, an older child shares reading

sessions with a younger pupil.

•Together they practise reading skills through

discussion of class reading texts, library books and other language activities.

•Buddy Reading is an excellent activity for

developing literacy outcomes, in particular those relating to listening, talking and reading.

What will they learn/consolidate during Buddy Reading?

Concepts of print

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How to hold a book

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Front and back of book Recognition of where to start when reading Left to right sweep and return Comprehension Strategies

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Using the title and front cover as a prediction tool

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Use of picture clues to aid understanding Recall of the story Identification of main characters Identification of main events Identification of setting Sequence events

Support from Home

  Research shows that reading to your child is the single most important thing you can do to help your child's education.

How can you make sure your child gets off to a good start, gains independence and enjoys reading? There are lots of simple things you can do at home to help .

          Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.

Make a regular time together.

Find the right level.

Take time to listen, listen and listen again!

Strike a balance between connection and perfection.

Talk about what you’ve read.

Enjoy reading everywhere.

Think outside the book.

Have fun!

Ask for extra help if you think your child needs it.

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Support from Home

Daily revision of sounds 2 new sounds each week and 3 words Reading Book  Identify sounds in words  Fun word games – I spy / matching games  Encourage a love of books and read together regularly

Learning is hard work!

How you can help in School

• • • • • • Photocopying resources Making games Making booklets Laminating resources Preparing craft resources Book banding If you think you can help with any of these things please talk to Mrs Littlejohn, Mrs McKenzie, Mrs Banfield/Mrs Booth.

Visit to Room 2

Set up in room 2 are a number of activities your child/children may take part in during an Active Literacy Lesson.

Please come and try some of them for yourself.

Thank you for coming today.