Begin at the beginning - Information and Critical Literacy in Curriculum for Excellence Early & First Level (Nursery & Primary Schools)

The Scottish Information Literacy Project:working with partners to create an information literate Scotland

LILAC 29th March 2010 - Limerick

Begin at the beginning - Information and Critical Literacy

in Curriculum for Excellence Early & First Level (Nursery &

Primary Schools)

Christine Irving, Researcher / Project Officer,

Scottish Information Literacy [email protected]

Information Literacy is for everyone

“In an era of lifelong learning, this effectively means that information literacy has relevance for all ages from primary school to senior citizens. Information literate people understand more than how to find information, they understand its limitations and the need to examine how they use information, and they understand how to manage and communicate information. Information literacy is an essential and discrete dexterity – everyone relies on information everyday.” CILIP

www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/advocacy/learning/information-literacy/pages/introduction.aspx

Projects aims and objectivesCreate a quality CPD Information and Critical Literacy

resources pack for Primary 1, 2 and 3 teachers providing / identifying:

• background information on Information Literacy

• learning and teaching approaches – how primary schools were engaging with information and critical

literacy and what learning and teaching approaches they were using.

– information literacy skills and information literacy opportunities within Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes specifically at early and first levels (Primary 1, 2 and 3).

• supporting resources

Curriculum for Excellence &

Information & Critical Literacy Curriculum for Excellence

Literacy across learning experiences and outcomes

• Finding and using information - includes, reading, critical literacy skills within the Listening and Talking, Reading and Writing sections

• Understanding analysing and evaluation - within the Listening and Talking, Reading and Writing sections

“encourage progression in understanding of texts developing not only literal understanding but also higher order skills”

• Organising and using information – within the writing section.

Curriculum for Excellence Literacy across learning experiences and outcomes http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/Images/literacy_experiences_outcomes_tcm4-539998.pdf

Curriculum for Excellence &

Definition of Texts “the medium through which ideas, experiences, opinions and information can

be communicated’ which covers all different formats as the table below demonstrates”.

Examples of texts:

– novels, short stories, plays, poems– reference texts– the spoken word– charts, maps, graphs and timetables– advertisements, promotional leaflets– comics, newspapers and magazines– CVs, letters and emails– films, games and TV programmes– labels, signs and posters– recipes, manuals and instructions– reports and reviews– text messages, blogs and social networking sitesweb pages, catalogues

and directories

Information and critical literacyEarly Level: pre-school years & P1

Literacy across learning experiences and Outcomes – e.g.

I enjoy exploring and choosing stories and other texts to watch, read or listen to, and can share my likes and dislikes. LIT 0-19a

To help me understand stories and other texts, I ask questions and link what I am learning with what I already know. LIT 0-07a/LIT 0-16a/ENG 0-17a

As I play and learn, I enjoy exploring interesting materials for writing and different ways of recording my experiences and feelings, ideas and information.

LIT 0-21b

I listen or watch for useful or interesting information and I use this to make choices or learn new things.

LIT 0-04a

I use signs, books or other texts to find useful or interesting information and I use this to plan, make choices or learn new things.

LIT 0-14a

Information and critical literacyFirst Level: P2 to end of P4

Literacy across learning experiences and Outcomes – e.g.

Using what I know about the features of different types of texts, I can find, select, sort and use information for a specific purpose. LIT 1-14a

To help me develop an informed view, I am learning to recognise the difference between fact and opinion. LIT 1-08a

I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in a logical sequence and use words which will be interesting and/or useful for others. LIT 1-06a

As I listen or watch, I can identify and discuss the purpose, key words and main ideas of the text, and use this information for a specific purpose. LIT 1-04a

As I listen or watch, I am learning to make notes under given headings and use these to understand what I have listened to or watched and create new texts. LIT 1-05a

To show my understanding across different areas of learning, I can identify and consider the purpose and main ideas of a text. LIT 1-16a

Looking @ PracticeInformation Literacy in Junior (Primary) 1

St Margaret’s School, Edinburgh

Looking @ Practice

Finding and using information: Early Level

I listen or watch for useful or interesting

information and I use this to make choices to learn new things. LIT 0.04a 

Information Literacy in Junior (Primary) 1

St Margaret’s School,

Edinburgh

Looking @ Practice

Finding and using information:

selecting books in groups to find

information about a particular night animal

that the group had chosen i.e. a fox, badger,

bat.

Information Literacy in Junior (Primary) 1

St Margaret’s School,

Edinburgh

Looking @ Practice Art of the week Rodin’s Thinker

Children look at the piece of art and say what they think it is

about.Teacher scribes their

thoughts.

Information Literacy in Junior (Primary) 1

St Margaret’s School,

Edinburgh

- children and parents are introduced to the benefits of questioning. Questions were based on Bloom’s Taxonomy and produced in conjunction with the parents linked to familiar fairytales.

Looking @ PracticeBlooms Taxonomy in the Nursery

Questioning – Kilmacolm Nursery’s innovative Blooming Blooms approach 

Looking @ Practice Research &

Evaluation

Information Literacy in Junior (Primary) 2

St Margaret’s School, Edinburgh

By investigating the range of foods available I can discuss how they contribute to a healthy

diet. HWB 1-30a

Research activity – ‘Facts about our topic’ – working in pairs the children research a topic (fruit, vegetables, bread, dairy products) finding interesting facts about their topic using a selection of books from the school library that the teacher had picked and displayed in her classroom.

Evaluation Exercise- working in pairs the children had to discuss with their partners and use the evaluation form (see attached photo) to carry out an ‘Evaluation of my Picallili Monster’.

Looking @ PracticeCritical Literacy @ Lasswade Primary School 

School formed a working group to plan and implement Critical Literacy which is seen as “the way that we interact with and make meaning from different texts” and “involves the reader analysing and engaging with a text”.

• Primary 1 - Goldilocks and the Three Bears to look at the text from different points of view – What would you do? Using role play and looking at moral issues. What would they (the children) have done in her (Goldilocks) shoes: Goldilocks went into a house that she didn’t know – would you? She sat in chairs which broke etc.

• Support for Learning Teacher - Language programme for Scots Focus present Day:

– Primary 3 – What do we know about Water

CPD Resource Pack for Teachers (CfE Early & First Level)

• Information and Critical Literacy – importance of + definitions

• Curriculum for Excellence – information and critical literacy components, identification within early & first level experiences and outcomes

• Literacy across learning – information and critical literacy skills and competencies what and how – Planning– Finding and using information– Understanding analysing and evaluation – Organising and using information

• CPD Resources– Information and Critical Literacy Material, Websites, Articles– School Librarians and Local Authority Library and Information Services /

Education Resource Services

Real and Relevant: Information and Critical Literacy Training – a guide to Information and Critical Literacy skills

for second – third level learners.

• 2010 - One day full day’s in service - Presentation slides, Workshop activities, Learning and Teaching Opportunities:

1st session - Introduction 2nd session - Examines Planning & Locating3rd session - Examines Gathering and Evaluation, Creating and

Sharing

• Material and framework for second – third level (P6/P7 – S1)

• Developed by Louise Ballantyne Primary School Teacher on secondment to Curriculum for Excellence Literacy Team as Development Officer

• Devised basic framework from a teachers point of view which

“takes cognizance of established frameworks; however it, it adapts them to fit more closely with Curriculum for Excellence

and to strike a chord with the target learners and practitioners.”

Real and Relevant - Information Literacy Skills for the 21st century Learner - 2008 Scottish Learning Festival 2009 National Literacy Conference

School Libraries and Local Authority Education Resource Services or Library and Information Services

• Important resource that teachers may not have used or thought of :

– Services such as Early Years and Young People’s Librarian, Primary School Librarian, Information Literacy Officer.

Scottish Library and Information Council (2009) Improving Libraries for learners: how good are we at supporting learning and meeting learning needs? How good can we be? http://www.slainte.org.uk/slic/schoollibs/performance.htm

– Resources such as - Project Boxes or Kits, Activities, Internet Access, Borrowing, Homework, Summer Reading, Project Kits, Paired Reading Collections, Artefacts, Story Stacks, Multi-media, Reading group collections, Extra Stock for “special themes” and “research topics”, Information Literacy skills support material:

• City of Edinburgh Information Literacy Model – ExPLORE

• North Ayrshire Information Literacy Toolkit – Primary Schools

• Aberdenshire’s Schools toolKit for Information Literacy – Nursery – primary 7 (12 year olds)

produced for primary schools based on 5-14 guidelines but being relooked at to support Curriculum for Excellence

DisseminationCurrently through:

Project website www.caledonian.ac.uk/ils/

Project blog http://caledonianblogs.net/information-literacy/

National Information Literacy Framework (Scotland) http://caledonianblogs.net/nilfs/

Planned:

Curriculum for Excellence Sharing Practicehttp://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/sharingpractice/index.asp

Journal articles