English
It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).
Literacy progression of skills, knowledge, questions and vocabulary
Semantic Field Vocabulary
Some pupils, especially those who speak English as an Additional Language, need more explicit teaching of vocabulary. To develop and extend children’s language takes careful, deliberate planning in each area of learning or subject, with opportunities built in for plenty of repetition. At St Paul’s the teaching of vocabulary runs through all learning in the Early Year’s curriculum. Staff use semantic fields to identify key vocabulary which will form part of back and forth talk as well as Word Aware to explicitly teach vocabulary. In addition, Early Year’s staff need to consider:
What do we want children to know and think about?
What vocabulary is associated with this knowledge and thinking?
How can we engage the children in back and forth talk that supports their knowledge and thinking?
What photos could we take that would reinforce the vocabulary and language after an activity or visit?
Which books could be read aloud and share to support the learning in this subject.
(books are rich sources of vocabulary and knowledge.)
Which songs might introduce or reinforce the vocabulary?
As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension. Extending children’s familiarity with words across domains is particularly important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who might not otherwise meet such vocabulary.
Talk for Writing
Throughout the year, the children read core books relating to our topics throughout the school year. The children then "act out" the beginning, middle and the end of the story. The Talk for Writing approach enables children to read and write independently for a variety of audiences and purposes within different subjects. A key feature is that children internalise the language structures needed to write through ‘talking the text’, as well as close reading. The approach moves from dependence towards independence, with the teacher using shared and guided teaching to develop the ability in children to write creatively and powerfully.