Whats in it for us? What do we need to do? need to do? Presenters - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Embedding Literacy, Session 2

What’s in it for us? What do we need to do?

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need to do?

Presenter’s Name

X X . X X . X X

Aims and outcomes

Aims

• Appreciate the rationale for promoting literacy across the

curriculum.

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Outcomes

• Make a commitment to take positive practical action to

promote literacy across the curriculum.

• Become members of the school’s literacy learning community.
• Go away equipped with practical literacy strategies that you can

experiment with in your classroom and gain success.

Pupils not eligible for FSM Overall 62.0% Boys 58.3%; Girls 65.8% White British 61.8% Pupils eligible for FSM Overall 34.6 % Boys 31.4%; Girls 37.9% White British 28.8%

Achieving 5 A*-C grades at GCSE including English and mathematics:

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White British 61.8%

• Boys 58.5%; Girls 65.6%

Mixed Race (all) 63.2% Black Caribbean 52.0% White British 28.8%

• Boys 26.0%; Girls 31.7%

Mixed Race (all) 39.5% Black Caribbean 37.8% Looked-after children 15%

National concerns about literacy

‘This year’s annual skills survey from the CBI found that more than two-fifths of firms are not satisfied with the basic literacy of school and college leavers.’ DfE press notice, May 2012

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DfE press notice, May 2012 ‘..secondary school teachers identified 57% of their pupils as having weak or very weak literacy skills..’ Report on the inquiry into overcoming the barriers to literacy, 2011

Ofsted, March 2012

‘The expectation in the revised Teachers’ Standards is

that all teachers will promote literacy and use Standard English.’

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English.’

Language is for learning

• Literacy needs to be taught – it’s not just caught
• Every teacher in English is a teacher of English

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• Every teacher in English is a teacher of English

Literacy supports learning in your subject

• Pupils need vocabulary, expression and organisational control

to cope with the cognitive demands of subjects.

• Reading enables us to learn from sources beyond our

immediate experience. Through language we make and revise meaning.

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• Through language we make and revise meaning.
• Writing helps us to sustain and order thought.
• Responding to higher order questions encourages the

development of thinking skills and enquiry.

• Better literacy leads to improved self-esteem, motivation and

behaviour.

• It allows pupils to learn independently.

Quick wins 1

Create an accessible language-friendly environment in classrooms:

• Use either or font for all home

produced materials, and white board displays - they’re

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produced materials, and white board displays - they’re dyslexia friendly

• Don't justify writing – it makes some word shapes unfamiliar
• Don’t use ALL CAPITALS or underlining – use bold for

emphasis (the others are difficult to read)

• Use buff colour as background for electronic whiteboards, or

unbleached paper for worksheets – less glare.

‘Finding ways to engage students in reading may be

• ne of the most effective

ways to leverage social Extend reading in your subject:

• Post relevant articles,

news items etc. closely

Quick wins 2

The reading buzz

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change.’ PISA International Report, Ofsted, 2002 news items etc. closely linked to current learning, on the school VLE for pupils to read for homework.

Quick wins 3

Spelling and vocabulary Explicitly teach the key vocabulary of your subject.

• Display key vocabulary in the classroom within useful sentences

for reference.

• In teams play ‘match the term to the explanation’.

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• Introduce easy spelling techniques, for example highlight the

most challenging part of a word to spell, for example parliament to trigger visual memory.

• Ask pupils to find words within a word, for example parliament

– I am.

• Ask pupils to find words in the same family (muscle – muscular).
• Trigger visual and oral memory: Look cover say write check.

Quick wins 4

Spoken Standard English Support pupils to use Standard English when speaking in class

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Model spoken Standard English to pupils at all times. Ask pupils to use the language you use when giving answers, making comments etc. Ask pupils how they could say that in a more formal, academic way by suggesting they ‘speak like an expert’. Explain that it’s oral rehearsal for writing. If they say it, they can write it.

‘where staff had included

an objective for literacy in all the lessons, senior managers noted an improvement in outcomes across all subjects’ For each lesson include a literacy objective alongside your subject learning objective.

For example,

Quick wins 5

Literacy objectives

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improvement in outcomes across all subjects’ Removing barriers to literacy, Ofsted, 2011

For example,

• Speak like an expert when

reporting back in class, or in pair and group discussion.

• Use the correct subject

terminology when speaking and/or writing