LITERACY IMPACT! Geoff Barton November 20, 2015 Literacy Across the Curriculum: Maintaining the Momentum.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

LITERACY IMPACT!

Geoff Barton

April 20, 2023

All resources can be downloaded at www.geoffbarton.co.ukAll resources can be downloaded at www.geoffbarton.co.uk

Literacy Across the Curriculum:

Maintaining the Momentum

LITERACY IMPACT!QuickTime™ and a

TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

1 Where are we with “literacy” & the Strategy?

2 Evaluating your literacy strategy: what impact have

you made so far, and how do you know?

3 What are the essentials for colleagues …

•In reading?

•In writing?

•In spelling?

•In grammatical knowledge?

… and how will you achieve it?



2 strands …

LITERACY YOUR ROLE



By 3pm you should …

•Be clearer about your own role

•Know the priorities for your school

•Have learnt some useful literacy knowledge

•Be happier, wiser, and re-invigorated

L.O.



SECTION 1:

Where the heck are we?



The story so far …



•An inclusive education system within a culture of high expectations •The centrality of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum •The infusion of learning skills across the curriculum •The promotion of assessment for learning •Expanding the teacher’s range of teaching strategies and techniques

•No child left behind•Reinforcing the basics•Enriching the learning experience•Making every child special•Making learning an enjoyable experience

AI

MS

English Review 2000-05

October 2005: Key findings

English is one of the best taught subjects in both primary and secondary schools.


Standards of writing have improved as a result of guidance from the national strategies. However, although pupils’ understanding of the features of different text types has improved, some teachers give too little thought to ensuring that pupils fully consider the audience, purpose and content for their writing. Schools also need to consider how to develop continuity in teaching and assessing writing.


• Schools do not always seem to understand the importance of pupils’ talk in developing both reading and writing. • Myhill and Fisher quote research which argues that ‘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’. Too many teachers appear to have forgotten that speech ‘supports and propels writing forward’. • Pupils do not improve writing solely by doing more of it; good quality writing benefits from focused discussion that gives pupils a chance to talk through ideas before writing and to respond to friends’ suggestions.


• The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), published in 2003, found that, 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. • An NFER reading survey (2003), conducted by Marian Sainsbury, concluded that children’s enjoyment of reading had declined significantly in recent years. • A Nestlé/MORI report highlighted the existence of a small core of children who do not read at all, described as an ‘underclass’ of non-readers, together with cycles of non-reading ‘where teenagers from families where parents are not readers will almost always be less likely to be enthusiastic readers themselves


The role of teaching assistants was described in the report as ‘increasingly effective’. Many of them are responsible for teaching the intervention programmes and this work has improved in quality as a result of improvements in their specialist knowledge.


The Strategy has improved some teachers’ understanding of the importance of pupils’ literacy in developing their subject knowledge and to some effective teaching, especially in writing and the use of subject-specific vocabulary. Despite this, weaknesses remain, including:

• the stalling of developments as senior management teams focus on other initiatives• lack of robust measures to evaluate the impact of developments across a range of subjects• a focus on writing at the expense of reading, speaking and listening.



From To Departmental strategies Whole-school strategy Departmental development School improvement National launch Local consolidation /

embedding Directed training Selected training and support

Key principles of Literacy Across the Curriculum



• Good literacy skills are a key factor in raising standards across all subjects

• Language is the main medium we use for teaching, learning and developing thinking, so it is at the heart of teaching and learning

• Literacy is best taught as part of the subject, not as an add-on

• All teachers need to give explicit attention to the literacy needed in their subject.



• Literacy skills are taught consistently and systematically across the curriculum

• Expectation of standards of accuracy and presentation are similar in all classrooms

• Teachers are equipped to deal with literacy issues in their subject both generically and specifically

• The same strategies are used across the school: the teaching sequence for writing; active reading strategies; planning speaking and listening for learning

• Teachers use the same terminology to describe language.

Consistency in teaching literacy is achieved when …

• Senior managers are actively involved in the planning and monitoring

• Audits and action planning are rigorous

• Monitoring focuses on a range of approaches, e.g. classroom observation, work scrutiny as well as formal tests

• Time is given to training, its dissemination and embedding

• Schools work to identified priorities.



Ofsted suggests literacy across the curriculum is good when …



Literacy strategy: The next phase

Self-evaluation:

So where are you up to in your school?

NO PROGRESS

GOOD PROGRESS

0 3 5


Headteacher

Your role

Senco

Teachers

Teaching assistants

Governors

NO PROGRESS

GOOD PROGRESS

0 3 5


Key player Progress rating Priority

Head

You

SENCO

Teachers

Teaching assistants

Governors


0 3 5NO PROGRESS

GOOD PROGRESS

HeadteachersIn the most successful schools, headteachers and deputy headteachers have:_ had direct personal involvement in the implementation of the Literacy andNumeracy Strategies;_ worked in partnership with local schools to share good practice_ given strong support for the literacy and mathematics coordinators including,where possible, providing non-contact time;_ worked with coordinators to establish curriculum targets;_ monitored directly (with colleagues in senior management teams in largerschools) the teaching of literacy and mathematics to gain an overview of strengthsand weaknesses, to identify and address the continuing professional developmentneeds of colleagues and to review the school’s success inachieving curriculum targets set.


0 3 5NO PROGRESS

GOOD PROGRESS

Literacy and Mathematics Coordinators:_ supporting teachers in setting and focusing on a realistic number of curriculumtargets;_ leading school-based training on how to judge and support progress through theeffective use of plenaries in the literacy hour and daily mathematics lesson;_ working with colleagues on a shared understanding of progression in writing, inthe application of reading skills, in mental and written calculation strategies and inproblem solving;_ making clearer to parents school policies on writing and calculation.


0 3 5NO PROGRESS

GOOD PROGRESS

SENCOs:_ supporting teachers build clear curriculum targets into any additional supportprovided to individuals and groups;_ ensuring targets in individual and group plans link closely to the objectives in theliteracy and mathematics Frameworks for teaching;_ tracking the progress of children with SEN in reading, writing, mental andwritten calculation and problem solving;_ showing parents key aspects of what their children are being taught andassociated resources that support children in their learning, such as writing on acomputer screen and the use of empty number lines.


0 3 5NO PROGRESS

GOOD PROGRESS

Teachers:_ talking with children about both the teacher’s and child’s assessment of how wellcurriculum targets are being met;_ including in their planning key questions that will be included in lessons;_ explaining to children the objectives for individual lessons and the expectationsof their progress over each half-term;_ ensuring that homework provided is self-explanatory to parents.


0 3 5NO PROGRESS

GOOD PROGRESS

Teaching assistants:_ attending training on supporting children with particular potential barriers toachievement and providing this support in school, including running ‘catch-up’programmes;_ providing feedback to teachers on specific misunderstandings or strengthschildren demonstrate;_ joining discussions with teachers about expectations of children in different agegroups;_ targeting for additional support children who have difficulties completinghomework.


0 3 5NO PROGRESS

GOOD PROGRESS

Governors:_ working with the headteacher to set challenging performance targets;_ sampling the progress of a few particular pupils and comparing it with theprogress expected nationally;_ monitoring and reviewing the impact of policies to ensure progression in writing,the application of reading skills, mental and written calculation strategies andproblem solving;_ supporting staff by taking opportunities to talk with parents about the importanceof homework and how they can help their own children.



KS3 IMPACT!

•What have been the successes in your own school?

•What do you need to do next?

Talking Point



SECTION 2:

(re)Motivating the key players?

Focus relentlessly on T&L

“Schools are places where the pupils go to watch the teachers working” (John

West-Burnham)

“For many years, attendance at school has been required (for children and for teachers) while learning at

school has been optional.” (Stoll, Fink & East)

‘Standards are raised ONLY by changes which are put into direct effect by

teachers and pupils in classrooms’

Black and Wiliam,

‘Inside the Black Box’

Key players

Strategy manager Working party

Headteacher

Governors

Teaching assistants Subject

leadersStudents!

Librarian

Key players

Strategy manager

Focus, tailor, customise

See as professional development rather than delivery

Differentiate training

Emphasise monitoring more than initiatives

Use pupil surveys for learning & teaching

Reading Writing Speaking & listening Use layout and language to make texts accessible –

eg white space, typographical features,

summaries, bullets, short paragraphs

Be clear and explicit about the conventions

of the writing you expect from students – eg audience, purpose,

layout, key words and phrases, level of

formality

Using a variety of groupings for structured

talk – pairs, same-sex, friendship, triads, ability

groups

Using a range of strategies to support students’

reading – eg reading aloud, key words and glossaries,

word banks, display, paired reading, talking about texts

before answering

Providing assessment criteria and models of appropriate text types

Setting objectives for talk and providing language

models – eg level of formality, key words and

phrases

Spelling – marking no more than 3-5 key

spellings per work, writing the correct spelling in the

margin with the error identified; students putting these into spelling pages in

the middle of exercise books; using starters /

word games / mnemonics / display / rules / words

within words to support students’ spelling

Using shared composition to show students how to write

Providing alternatives to traditional Q&A

approaches – eg open questions, thinking time, big questions, no-hands, paired consultation time,

dealing with answers, prompts, answer starters

Essential literacy rooted in professional development

An example …

Headteacher

Must be actively involved as head TEACHER

Eg monitoring books, breakfast with students, feedback to staff

Must be seen in lessons

Must be reined in to prioritise

Librarian

Key part in improving literacy

Include in training

Part of curriculum meetings

Library should embody good practice - eg key words, guidance on retrieving information, visual excitement

Active training for students, breaking down subject barriers

Get a library commitment from every team

Then sample to monitor it

Governors

Visit library, get in classrooms, talk to students

Clearly signal the “literacy” focus

Emphasise s/he’s discussing consistency

Sample of students and feedback

Part of faculty reviews on (say) how we teach writing

Working party

Maintain or disband?

Less doing and more evaluating - questionnaires, looking at handouts, working around rooms, talking to students

Asking questions: “What do teachers here do that helps you to understand long texts better?”

Work sampling

Creating a critical mass

Students

Tell us how we’re doing

Build into school council

Small groups work with faculty teams to guide and evaluate

Audit rooms for key words, etc

Teaching Assistants

Make them literacy experts

Let them lead training

Make their monitoring role explicit

Publish their feedback

Subject leaders

Help them to identify the 3 bits of literacy that will have the biggest impact

Prioritise one per term or year

Join their meetings at start and end of process

Help them to keep it simple

Provide models and sample texts

Evaluate

Build literacy into their team’s performance management



1. Don’t call it literacy - call it good learning & teaching, or writing, or reading

2. Build it into lesson observation sheets

3. Build it into performance management

4. Keep it in the public eye

5. Emphasise increased student motivation

6. Talk to your Head about core skills for all teachers



7 Show before & after models

8 Don’t focus on grammar knowledge needed by staff

9 Show it’s part of a whole-school strategy

10 Celebrate every small-scale success

11 Quote students’ feedback

12 Make it fun! ….

13 Make it non-negotiable



KS3 IMPACT!

•What have been the successes in your own school?

•What do you need to do next?

Talking Point



SECTION 3:

Evaluating and planning

(“We should measure what we value, not value what we measure” John

MacBeath)

Since September …

1 (low/poor) 2 3 4 (high/good)

1 How would you rate the performance of our computer

system?

2 2

18 32

56 46

24 20

2 How helpful has the ICT Support Team been?

2 3

6 12

37 38

55 47

3 How well have we managed cover?

0 2

30 13

45 50

25 35

4 How would you rate student behaviour?

2 3

11 9

78 78

9 10

5 How visible has the leadership team been?

7 12

29 23

46 43

18 22

6 How would you rate Geoff Barton’s leadership?

0 5 15

66 46

29 39

Staff …

7 Has a member of the leadership team visited your tutor group?

86 79

14 21

8 Has a member of the leadership team visited one of your lessons?

59 64

41 36

9 Are expectations on uniform clear?

91 87

9 13

10 Are our expectations about behaviour clear?

93 92

7 8

11 Do you find Monday staff briefings useful?

97 94

3 6

12 Do you find the Barton Bulletin useful?

96

4

13 Do you find the weekly bulletin useful?

98 2

14 Do you feel well informed about things that are happening i n school?

98 79

2 21

15 Do you agree about doing mock exams in classrooms next year?

76 24

Yes No

TUTOR GROUP: Do all students have coats off?

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

Are students wearing proper school sweatshirt/polo shirt?

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

Are all students wearing shoes (ie no trainers except with doctors’ notes)?

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

Is jewellery acceptable (ie no facial piercings, no bracelets, only thin metal necklaces)?

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

Is the tutor …

Talking to students? Signing planners? Taking the register? Doing admin? Other?

1 Do you enjoy being at school?

2 Do you feel proud of being at this school?

3 Do you think behaviour here is good?

4 Are our expectations about behaviour clear?

5 Are our expectations about uniform clear?

6 Do you feel you are treated with respect?

7 Do we give enough praise and encouragement?

Never Rarely Mostly Always 13 25 53 9

Never Rarely Mostly Always 10 18 67 5

Yes No 69 31

Yes No 86 14

Yes No 78 22

Yes No 65 35

Yes No 49 51

Yes No 74 26

Student …

Book sampling…

Name Year / Set

Teacher Cover clean Y N

Homework evident

Y N

Homework marked

Y N

Presentation G F P

Types of writing General comments

Kate Elsom HISTORY

9

WD

Y

Y

Y

G

• Thinking • Notes • Extended

Clearly sequenced, challenging, high-level; exemplary feedback –

positive, precise, personal

Thomas Robotham HISTORY

9

WD

Y

Y

Y

G

• Thinking • Notes • Extended

V different ability of student – but same strong

expectations; tangible progress in student’s

work; supportive, positive marking

Chesney Ward? GEOGRAPHY

9

YE

Y

Y

Y

G

• Notes • Exercises

Good positive feedback; evidence of regular

marking; good range of writing

Scott Simpson GEOGRAPHY

9

HS

Y

Y

Not

consistently

G

• Notes • Exercises • Some extended

work

Clear and well-used overall; good to note some

extend worrk; marking appears to end in late Sept

1 What grade did you get in English? ®English Literature? ®

2 Think of all the subjects you studied last year. Circle one of the numbers below to show where you would place English in a rank order of the subjects you studied

1 (high) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (low) 3 Without naming teachers, please name ONE thing you liked most about English lessons 4 Without naming teachers, please name ONE thing you liked least about them 5 Looking back, how did you feel about your usual group for English for …

(a) getting on with other people? (liked it a lot) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (liked it a little)

(b) learning effectively?

(liked it a lot) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (liked it a little)

Of all the ways the teacher gets you to learn about things which do you enjoy the most?

• Activities – not writing, nothing intimidating. More discussion, needs to be variety (maths now = all from books)

• Biology = copy from board – don’t even read it • VA Ki in French to analyse own learning • If teachers drone on = some of us don’t have the attention span • Unfairness about time given to complete coursework ie some = meet deadlines. Others = 3 months

late so have extra 3 months to work on it • Too many tests in short space of time • Would help if dif ferent subject teachers could talk to each other so we do not get all coursework

assignments at the same time. Of all the ways the teacher gets you to learn about things, which do you enjoy least?

• Vague questions that you don’t know what it means • I think we should be setted for English because it could be more challenging too long on one piece

of work would be helpful, disruptive people were in difficult group • Humanities – go round and round in circles because don’t have specialist teachers. Spend time

trying to manage behaviour

Student perception interviews Year 9 4 girls 4 boys Sets: 1 4 2 3 1 3 2 Rank order: 8 7 3 3 9 3 10 3 What do you like about MFL lessons? What activities do you enjoy? Why?

• Fun, li ke ICT interactive whiteboard, playing games, practical and group work What activities do you not enjoy? Why? What do you find difficult? What would help?

• Tests – some are useful and some are not • Practical lessons are good • Don’t li ke teachers constantly talking in French. I get behind and de-motivated • Don’t li ke having to speak in front of the class – feel under pressure and worried • Panic when asked to speak and don’t know how

How do you learn best? What helps you learn in other lessons?

• Objectives are sometimes set – but doesn’t make any diff erence • I li ke to have some group work and some formal writing • Reinforcing the talking with writing rather than just talking and then moving on and talking

some more • Group work • Games • When behaviour is good. Behaviour is good in languages

How do you feel during MFL lessons? What makes you feel this way?

- Bored – 1 student - Interested – 1 student - Enjoy – 1 student - Tired – 1 student - Don’t know – 4 students

Consensus from interviews - languages is “ok” but not a subject which students would wish to choose to take further. Group consensus that about 30% of the lessons are enjoyable. Most students preferred languages in the Middle School – more practical, games, etc



KS3 IMPACT!

•What evaluation have you done?

•What could you do next?

Talking Point


IMPACT!


Your Head of History wants to focus on whole-school literacy in a Year 9 project on medicine. How might you help …

… in identifying key areas of literacy?

… in planning?

… in training?

… in evaluating impact?





Geoff Barton

April 20, 2023




The 13 most important bits of literacy knowledge

needed by effective teachers



WRITING

Teaching sequenceKey conventions

Connectives Sentence variety



READING

Subject-specific vocabulary

Approaches to reading

Active research process, not FOFO Using DARTs



SPELLING

Having 4 approaches Mnemonics

Word webs

Rules

Starters



WRITING

Teaching sequenceKey conventions

Connectives Sentence variety



1

Know the writing sequence:1. Establish clear aims

2. Provide examples

3. Explore conventions of the text

4. Define the conventions

5. Demonstrate how it is written

6. Compose together

7. Scaffold first attempts

8. Independent writing

9. Draw out key learning



2Know the dominant text-types for your subject:

Purpose: What is its purpose? Who is it for? How will it be used?

Text level: Layout? Structure? Sequence?

Sentence level: Viewpoint? Prevailing tense? Active/passive? Sentence types and length? Cohesion devices?

Word level: Stock words and phrases? Specialist vocabulary? Elaborate or plain vocabulary choices?



3Know 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



4Encourage sentence variety

1. Start with an -ing verb (Reaching 60 these days is ..)

2. Start with an -ed verb (Frustrated by ….)

3. Start with an adverb (Well-done chicken leads to …)

4. Start with a preposition (Within the city limits you will …)



5

Students must see you writing



So …

What have you done?

What are you going to do?



READING

Subject-specific vocabulary

Approaches to reading

Active research process, not FOFO Using DARTs



Subject-specific vocabulary:

•Identifying

•Playing with context

•Actively exploring

•Linking to spelling

6



Approaches to reading:

• Scanning

• Skimming

• Continuous reading

• Close reading

• Research skills, not FOFO

7



Using DARTs:

•Cloze

•Diagram completion

•Disordered text

•Prediction

8

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

CHRONOLOGICAL

Versus

NON- CHRONOLOGICAL



Fiction is more personal. Non-fiction has fewer agents:

• Holidays were taken at resorts

• During the 17th century roads became straighter


Children’s fiction tends to be chronological.

Fiction becomes easier to read; non-fiction

presents difficulties all the way through


Non-fiction texts rely on linguistic signposts - moreover, despite therefore, on the other hand, however.

Learners who are unfamiliar with these will not read with the same predictive power as they can with fiction


Non-fiction tends to have more interrupting constructions:

The agouti, a nervous 20-inch rodent from South America, can leap twenty feet from a sitting position

Asteroids are lumps of rock and metal whose paths round the sun lie mainly between Jupiter and Mars


Fiction uses more active verbs.

Non-fiction relies more on the copula (“Oxygen is a gas”) and use of the passive:

Some plastics are made by …

rather than

We make plastics by …


PREDICTION FUN

Brian Moore, Cold Heaven

The wooden seats of the little pedal boat were angled so that Marie looked up at the sky. There were no clouds. In the

vastness above her a gull calligraphed its flight. Marie and Alex pedalled in unison, the revolving paddles making a

slapping sound against the waves as the pedal boat treadmilled away from the beach, passing through ranks of bathers to move into the deeper, more solitary waters of the

Baie des Anges. Marie slackened her efforts but Alex continued determinedly, steering the pedalo straight out into

the Mediterranean.

1

‘Let’s not go too far,’ she said.

‘I want to get away from the crowd. I’m going to swim.’

It was like him to have some plan of his own, to translate idleness into activity even in these few days of vacation. She now noted his every

fault. It was as though, having decided to leave him, she had withdrawn his credit. She looked back at the sweep of hotels along the

Promenade des Anglais. Today was the day she had hoped to tell him. She had planned to announce it at breakfast and leave, first for New

York, then on to Los Angeles to join Daniel. But at breakfast she lacked all courage. Now, with half the day gone, she decided to postpone it

until tomorrow.

2

Far out from shore, the paddles stopped. The pedalo rocked on its twin pontoons as Alex eased himself up from his seat. He handed her his

sunglasses. ‘This should do,’ he said and, rocking the boat even more, dived into the ultramarine waters. She watched him surface. He called out: ‘Just follow along, okay?’ He was not a good swimmer, but thrashed about in an energetic, erratic freestyle. Marie began to pedal again, her hand on the tiller, steering the little boat so that she followed close. Watching him,

she knew he could not keep up this pace for long. She saw his flailing arms and for a moment thought of those arms hitting her. He had never hit her. He was not the sort of man who would hit you. He would be hurt, and cold,

and possibly vindictive. But he was not violent.

3

She heard a motorboat, the sound becoming louder. She looked

back but did not see a boat behind her. Then she looked to the right where Alex was swimming and saw a big boat with an outboard

motor coming right at them, coming very fast.

4

Of course they see us, she thought, alarmed, and then as though she were watching a film, as though this were happening to

someone else, she saw there was a man in the motorboat, a young man wearing a green shirt; he was not at the tiller, he was standing in the middle of the boat with his back to her and as she watched he bent down and picked up a child who had fallen on the floorboards.

‘Hey?’ she called. ‘Hey?’ for he must turn around, the motorboat was coming right at Alex, right at her. But the man in the boat did not

hear. He carried the child across to the far side of the boat; the boat was only yards away now.

5

‘Alex,’ she called. ‘Alex, look out.’ But Alex flailed on and then the prow of the motorboat, slicing up water like a knife, hit Alex with a sickening thump, went over him and smashed into the pontoons of

the little pedal boat, upending it, and she found herself in the water, going under, coming up. She looked and saw the motorboat churning off, the pedal boat hanging from its prow like a tangle of branches. She heard the motorboat engine cut to silence, then

start up again as the boat veered around in a semicircle and came back to her. Alex?

6

She looked: saw his body near her just under the water. She swam toward him, breastroke, it was all she knew. He was floating face down, spread-eagle. She caught hold of his wrist and pulled him towards her.

The motorboat came alongside, the man in the green shirt reaching down for her, but, ‘No, no,’ she called and tried to push Alex toward him. The

man caught Alex by the hair of his head and pulled him up, she pushing, Alex falling back twice into the water, before the man, with a great effort,

lifted him like a sack across the side of the boat, tugging and heaving until Alex disappeared into the boat. The man shouted, ‘Un instant,

madame, un instant’ and reappeared, putting a little steel ladder over the side. She climbed up onto the motorboat as the man went out onto the

prow to disentangle the wreckage of the pedalo.

7

A small child was sitting at the back of the boat, staring at Alex’s body, which lay face-down on the floorboards. She went to Alex and saw blood from a wound, a

gash in the side of his head, blood matting his hair. He was breathing but unconscious. She lifted him and cradled him in her arms, his blood trickling onto her breasts. She saw the boat owner’s bare legs go past her as he went to the

rear of the boat to restart the engine. The child began to bawl but the man leaned over, silenced it with an angry slap, the man turned to her, his face sick with fear.

‘Nous y serons dans un instant,’ he shouted, opening the motor to full throttle. She hugged Alex to her, a rivulet of blood dripping off her forearm onto the

floorboards as the boat raced to the beach.

8

PREDICTION FUN

Brian Moore, Cold Heaven

It was on a bright day of midwinter, in New York. The little girl who eventually became me, but as yet was neither me nor anybody else in particular, but merely a soft anonymous morsel of humanity – this little girl, who bore my name, was going for a walk with her father. The episode is literally the first thing I can remember about her, and therefore I date the birth of her humanity from that day. QuickTime™ and a


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 13th-century castle because Urquhart has earned the reputation of being one of the best spots for sighting Loch Ness’s most famous inhabitant

Jake began to dial the number slowly as he had done every evening at six o’clock ever since his father had passed away. For the next fifteen minutes he settled back to listen to what his mother had done that day



So …

What have you done?




SPELLING

Having 4 approaches Mnemonics

Word webs

Rules

Starters

Literacy Across the Curriculum

Spelling approaches:

9RULES (eg “writing/written”, “I before e”, using etymology [auto+bio+graphy], f amilies of words [muscle/muscular]) PRACTICAL STRATEGIES (eg mnemonics [necessary = one collar, two sleeves], spelling logs) VISUALS (eg break into syllables [re+mem+ber], words within words [parliament-I A M], look-cover-write-check, break into affixes [dis+satisfied]) SOUND (eg break into sounds [d-i-a-r-y], say it as it sounds [FebRuary])


Mnemonics Fun

Necessary = never eat chips eat sausage sandwiches and raspberry yoghurtWords within words

enviRONment

buSINess

deFINitely

sePARAte

Got any others?

10


Sign

Consign

Consignment

Consigned

DesignDesignerDesigningDesignedDesignationDesignateRedesign

Resign

Resignation

Resigning

Resigned

Signature

Signatory

Assign

Assignment

Assignation

Reassign

Signal

Signalling

11



12

RULES:

I before e

Effect of final ‘e’: hop - hope



13

Kick-start learning

Don’t aim for false links with main lesson content

Do aim for coherence across starters

Avoid writing

Emphasise collaboration & problem-solving

Avoid the temptation to extend the activity

No Blue Peter badges

www.geoffbarton.co.uk

Mr B’s New Year Spelling Frolics

-our words -re endings -able / -ibleendings

-ous endings Single/doubleconsonants

colourhumourrumourarmourf lavour

humorous

centimetrecentretheatre

Availablelikeablesociableconsiderablelaughablesensibleincredibleterriblepossibleresponsible

t rem end ous

enor mouspoisonous

myst eri ous

cont inuousprec ious

f ero cious

del icious

ca ut ious

ambit ious

beginning

ups e t t ing

f org ot t en

commit t eepermittedoccurred

visit ed

reg r e t f ul

developing


-ible -able


Homophones

Sound of Music Kylie Beethoven

their therethey’re

too two to

pray prey


Homophones

Freeze Stand

advice advise

practice practise

effect affect

It’s its

Hard


Activity

I’ll say some sentences containing homophones. You tell me whether it’s list A or list B.

Make up sentences – eg “The pilot of the aircraft was really rather plain”)

A – stand up B – under tableplain Planeweak Weeksteal Steelmain Manerows Rowsfare Fairbreak Brakesew Sodue Jewwhether whether



So …

What have you done?




1. If it’s a priority, do something

2. Customise and simplify ruthlessly

3. Identify the essential (simple) skills of reading - eg by asking students

4. Build into school systems of training, observation, performance management

5. Don’t forget reading for pleasure: keep it in the public domain

So ..



LITERACY IMPACT!

Have a safe journey home




LITERACY IMPACT! Geoff Barton November 20, 2015 Literacy Across the Curriculum: Maintaining the Momentum.

Documents

literacy strategy

centrality of literacy

reading skills

momentumliteracy impact

enjoyment of reading

importance of pupils

key findings schools

cycles of nonreading