Literacy Hour and Language Knowledge


Book Description

This text on implementing the Literacy Hour in primary schools includes: a demonstration of how to meet the teaching objectives through well-chosen fiction and poetic texts; appropriate activities at whole text, sentence and word level; and practical ideas to aid the planning of the Literacy Hour.




Teaching English Language Learners


Book Description

This practical text offers guidance on how to provide explicit, systematic instruction on language and literacy to English learners.




The National Literacy Strategy


Book Description

This document details the National Literacy Strategy, a framework for primary school teachers in England helping their students master basic literacy skills in order to reach national literacy standards. This framework sets out teaching objectives from Reception to Year 6 to enable students to become fully literate. The framework is intended for daily reference by classroom teachers to ensure that they have appropriately high expectations for their students, understand how students will progress through primary school, and offer a balance between reading and writing and different kinds of texts. The framework is presented in three sections. Section 1 defines the components of literacy, details the structure of the framework, describes the teaching methods used to teach literacy during the "Literacy Hour," and discusses how medium- and short-term planning emerge from the framework. Section 2 delineates the teaching objectives for word level work (phonics, spelling, vocabulary), sentence level work (grammar, punctuation), and text level work (comprehension, composition) over each term during primary school. Section 3 is comprised of appendices containing planning sheets, a list of high frequency "sight recognition" words for Years Reception-2, a list of medium frequency words to be taught in Years 4 and 5, a summary of specific phonics and spelling work to be covered in Years Reception-2, a summary of the range of work for each term, a technical vocabulary list, and a glossary of terms used in the framework. (KB)




Inside the Literacy Hour


Book Description

The National Literacy Strategy is at the heart of the government drive to raise the standards in literacy in schools. Based on a research project conducted in classrooms during the first year of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS), this book provides a practical analysis of the ways in which successful teachers have implemented the Literacy Hour. Taking a reflective approach, it chronicles how teachers have changed their attitudes and practice over the first year, and questions why these changes have occurred. With various descriptions of teachers' practice and examples of children's writing throughout, this is an in-depth, yet down-to-earth reflective analysis of effective literacy teaching. Ros Fisher looks in detail at issues such as; improving the teaching of literacy; researching classroom practice; children's learning in the Literacy Hour; changing practice at Key Stage One and Two and mixed age classes and literacy for four-year-olds.







Teaching Literacy Effectively in the Primary School


Book Description

This book discusses the implications arising from the authors' research into what constitutes an effective teacher of literacy. They have been able to identify what effective teachers know, understand and do which enable them to put effective teaching of literacy into practice in the primary phase. By identifying the strategies used by these teachers, the authors show how these can be applied by other primary teachers to improve their teaching of literacy.




Literacy & Learning Through Talk


Book Description

Focuses on the inter-relationship between reading, writing and speaking and listening. This work blends theory, research and practice to show how an integrated programme of work can be developed to ensure that literacy is taught in a vibrant and stimulating way. It also examines strategies for developing successful group work.




Research in Young Children's Literacy and Language Development


Book Description

The importance of the early years in young children’s lives and the rigid inequality in literacy achievement are a stimulating backdrop to current research in young children’s language and literacy development. This book reports new data and empirical analyses that advance the theory of language and literacy, with researchers using different methodologies in conducting their study, with both a sound empirical underpinning and a captivating analytical rationalization of the results. The contributors to this volume used several methodological methods (e.g. quantitative, qualitative) to describe the complete concept of the study; the achievement of the study; and the study in an appropriate manner based on the study’s methodology. The contributions to this volume cover a wide range of topics, including dual language learners; Latino immigrant children; children who have hearing disabilities; parents’ and teachers’ beliefs about language development; early literacy skills of toddlers and preschool children; interventions; multimodalities in early literacies; writing; and family literacy. The studies were conducted in various early childhood settings such as child care, nursery school, Head Start, kindergarten, and primary grades, and the subjects in the studies represent the pluralism of the globe – a pluralism of language, backgrounds, ethnicity, abilities, and disabilities. This book was originally published as a special issue of Early Child Development and Care.




The Primary English Encyclopedia


Book Description

‘Do you know your diphthongs from your digraphs? Are you au fait with all the main reading programmes published in the UK? And can you really tell the difference between a legend, a myth and a fable? If you have any doubt about saying yes to any of these questions, fear not; the answers are all in ‘The Primary English Encyclopedia’. This fantastic resource contains such a comprehensive coverage of literacy topics that it will undoubtedly become one of the most regularly consulted titles on your bookshelf’ - Literacy Time Plus This user friendly encyclopedia explains concepts, aims and current requirements in all aspects of the primary English curriculum and is an invaluable reference for all training and practising teachers. Now in its fourth edition, entries have been updated to take account of new research and thinking and now reflect the requirements of the new Primary National Curriculum and particularly The Communication, Language and Literacy Development element. The approach is critical but constructive and supportive of the reflective practitioner in developing sound subject knowledge and good classroom practice. The encyclopedia includes: over 600 entries , including new entries on English in the Early Years, bilingualism, SEN, the use of the internet, synthetic phonics and many more short definitions of key concepts succinct explanations of current UK requirements extended entries on major topics such as speaking and listening, reading, writing, drama, poetry, bilingualism and children’s literature input on new literacies and new kinds of texts for children discussion of current issues and some input on the history of English teaching in the primary years gender and literacy important references for each topic , advice on further reading and accounts of recent research findings a Who’s Who of Primary English and lists of essential texts, updated for this new edition. This encyclopedia will be ideal for student teachers on BA and PGCE courses preparing for work in primary schools and primary school teachers.




Subject Knowledge and Teacher Education


Book Description

Teachers' knowledge of the subjects they teach has been of enduring interest to governments, the profession and the wider society. In this book, Viv Ellis traces the development of three beginning teachers thinking about their subject knowledge in the context of Standards-based teacher education and the practice of auditing student teachers' subject knowledge. Ellis puts forward a theory of subject knowledge development that moves on from the objectivist and individualistic epistemologies associated with Standards and the practices of auditing to more a contextualist and sociocultural understanding of teachers' cognition and learning. An important implication of this study is that if teacher education wishes to have greater impact on the development of beginning teachers, teacher educators need to pay greater attention to the schools and subject department settings in which these beginning teachers learn.