Transcript LITERACY IMPACT!

Somerset English Conference
Geoff Barton
Download free at www.geoffbarton.co.uk (65)
Monday, July 20, 2015
Hello.
What?
How?
… !
HEALTH CHECK
Subject Reviews 2005 & 2009
“English at the Crossroads”
English 2005:
1
2
3
Myhill and Fisher: ‘spoken language forms a
constraint, a ceiling not only on the ability to
comprehend but also on the ability to write,
beyond which literacy cannot progress’.
Although the reading skills of 10 year old
pupils in England compared well with those of
pupils in other countries, they read less
frequently for pleasure and were less interested
in reading than those elsewhere.
Pupils’ writing does not improve solely by doing
more of it.
English 2009:
1
All the English departments visited had
schemes of work for KS3 but, since they rarely
showed them to the students, students could
not see how individual elements linked
together and supported each other.
To many students, the KS3 programme
seemed a random sequence of activities …
English 2009:
2
Some schools persevered with ‘library lessons’
where the students read silently. These
sessions rarely included time to discuss or
promote books and other written material and
therefore did not help to develop a reading
community within the school.
English 2009:
3
Many of the lessons seen during the survey
showed there was a clear need to reinvigorate
the teaching of writing. Students were not
motivated by the writing tasks they were given
and saw no real purpose to them.
English 2009:
4
Ofsted’s previous report on English found that
schools put too little emphasis on developing
speaking and listening. Since then, the
teaching of speaking and listening has
improved.
English 2009:
5
The last English report identified a wide gap
between the best practice and the rest in using
ICT. This gap remains; indeed, some of the
evidence suggests that it has widened.
www.geoffbarton.co.uk
Teacher Resources
“Re-Booting English” (58)
…
1. Emphasise exploratory talk (“how?” and
“why?” more than “what?”
2. Re-think questioning
3. Give thinking time
4. Model good talk
5. Use “rare cover” to watch other teachers
at work
!
1. Get the S&L coursework to the highest
quality – whatever it takes
2. Get everyone understanding exploratory
talk and beginning to use it
…
1. Teach reading explicitly – skimming,
scanning, analysis, research (not FOFO)
2. Re-think comprehension via DARTS
3. Break tyranny of questions after texts
4. Teach vocabulary
5. Read aloud
SKIMMING
Proud mum in a million Natalie
Brown hugged her beautiful baby
daughter Casey yesterday and
said: “She’s my double miracle.”
The climate of the Earth is always changing.
In the past it has altered as a result of
natural causes. Nowadays, however, the term
climate change is generally used when
referring to changes in our climate which
have been identified since the early part of
the 1900's . The changes we've seen over
recent years and those which are predicted
over the next 80 years are thought to be
mainly as a result of human behaviour rather
than due to natural changes in the
atmosphere.
The best treatment for mouth
ulcers. Gargle with salt water. You
should find that it works a treat. Salt
is cheap and easy to get hold of and we
all have it at home, so no need to
splash out and spend lots of money on
expensive mouth ulcer creams.
Urquhart castle is probably one of the most
picturesquely situated castles in the Scottish
Highlands. Located 16 miles south-west of
Inverness, the castle, one of the largest in
Scotland, overlooks much of Loch Ness. Visitors
come to stroll through the ruins of the 13thcentury castle because Urquhart has earned the
reputation of being one of the best spots for
sighting Loch Ness’s most famous inhabitant.
SCANNING
1. Where did the first cell
phones begin?
2. Name 2 other features that
started to be included in
phones
3. Why are cell phones especially
useful in some countries?
1.
2.
3.
Cellular telephones
Where did the first cell phones begin?
Name 2 other features that started
to be included in phones
Why are cell phones especially useful
in some countries?
The first cellular telephone system began operation in Tokyo in
1979, and the first U.S. system began operation in 1983 in
Chicago. A camera phone is a cellular phone that also has
picture taking capabilities. Some camera phones have the
capability to send these photos to another cellular phone or
computer. Advances in digital technology and microelectronics
has led to the inclusion of unrelated applications in cellular
telephones, such as alarm clocks, calculators, Internet
browsers, and voice memos for recording short verbal
reminders, while at the same time making such telephones
vulnerable to certain software viruses. In many countries with
inadequate wire-based telephone networks, cellular telephone
systems have provided a means of more quickly establishing a
national telecommunications network.
!
1. Teach reading!
2. Explore key English (not Lit) genres
3. Do it through starters
…
1. Teach key conventions, especially of
non-fiction genres
2. Demonstrate writing
3. Teach composition
4. Allow oral rehearsal
5. Teach sentence variety and connectives
Know your connectives
Adding: and, also, as well as, moreover, too
Cause & effect: because, so, therefore, thus, consequently
Sequencing: next, then, first, finally, meanwhile, before, after
Qualifying: however, although, unless, except, if, as long as, apart from,
yet
Emphasising: above all, in particular, especially, significantly, indeed,
notably
Illustrating: for example, such as, for instance, as revealed by, in the
case of
Comparing: equally, in the same way, similarly, likewise, as with, like
Contrasting: whereas, instead of, alternatively, otherwise, unlike, on the
other hand
!
1. Teach English
2. Demonstrate the “and” problem
3. Plan writing starters across groups
…
1. Recognise the changed role of Head of English
& Maths: be strategic
2. Rejuvenate whole-school literacy
3. Improvement is in the classroom, not on the
spreadsheet
4. Increase English staffing
5. Teach English!
6. Be less tolerant of inconsistency
•
•
There is a very strong rhetoric of
collegiality in how middle leaders
describe the culture of their
departments or responsibility areas,
and the ways they try to discharge
their responsibilities.
However, this is sometimes more
aspired to than real, and it may
sometimes be a substitute term for
professional autonomy.
•
•
Middle leaders tend to show great
resistance to the idea of monitoring
the quality of their colleagues’ work,
especially by observing them in the
classroom.
Observation is seen as a challenge
to professional norms of equality
and privacy, and sometimes as an
abrogation of trust.
!
1. Don’t overstate intervention: get into
classrooms, look at books, make
moderation ongoing
2. Get teachers watching teachers: CPD at
the heart of improvement
3. Use 1:1 with some students
4. Ensure coursework completion – heavy
mob approach
One last thing.
English Teacher
Petite, white-haired Miss Cartwright
Knew Shakespeare off by heart,
Or so we pupils thought.
Once in the stalls at the Old Vic
She prompted Lear when he forgot his part.
Ignorant of Scrutiny and Leavis,
She taught Romantic poetry,
Dreamt of gossip with dead poets.
To an amazed sixth form once said:
‘How good to spend a night with Shelley.’
In long war years she fed us plays,
Sophocles to Shaw’s St Joan.
Her reading nights we named our Courting Club,
Yet always through the blacked-out streets
One boy left the girls and saw her home.
When she closed her eyes and chanted
‘Ode to a Nightingale’
We laughed yet honoured her devotion.
We knew the man she should have married
Was killed at Passchendaele.
Brian Cox
From Collected Poems, Carcanet Press 1993.
Good luck.
Somerset English Conference
Geoff Barton
Download free at www.geoffbarton.co.uk (65)
Monday, July 20, 2015