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What is literacy?
Literacy is: the ability to create and make sense of symbolic forms of communication;
the ability to encode and decode messages and the ability to take action based on
information. For teachers, literacy is about improving students speaking, listening,
reading and writing skills. This guide is focusing on how students access text and
transfer skills and strategies from subject to subject.
Isnt literacy an English teachers job?!
Any subject which uses text has a responsibility to help students overcome difficulty
with understanding ideas and concepts and must explicitly teach them how to transfer
reading and writing skills that they use in English and other subject areas.
Why?
It encourages shared thinking and verbalised learning. It is immediate; all students
can participate no matter what level of literacy; it creates opportunities to recognise,
share and value different experiences and knowledge from a wide range of
backgrounds and cultures, and key ideas and vocabulary can be introduced within a
supportive context.
Ground rules:
Everyone must participate
Everyone must know the answer, i.e. anyone in the group should be able to
explain the groups thinking, and talk, acting as spokesperson.
They must use three key questions: what do you think? Why do you think
that? What do you mean by that?
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Rules: there are no rules. The more colour, the better. Students will be used to using
mind maps from Opening Minds. Encourage students to also use symbols where
possible.
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Concept maps
Why?
o Theyre a rough and ready way to assess a student or groups progress.
o Brainstorming/concept-mapping can be used both before and after a unit of work,
which will allow the maps to be compared.
o Students can add new learning in a different colour pen.
How?
o The teacher can provide the headings already in place and students can brainstorm
around each heading.
o Students can be given words or phrases connected to the topic scattered at
random and students link any words which they see as having a connection. This
strategy has the advantages of not only activating prior knowledge but also of
giving teachers evidence of misconceptions or partial knowledge.
o Students can also identify gaps in their own knowledge as they can place a question
mark against any words they are unable to link in any way.
Interactive reading
Build opportunities for ten-minute reading sessions into lesson times; set dedicated
subject reading homework; ensure a wide range of library-type information books are
available and used within subject classrooms; have an in the news notice board with
current newspaper and magazine articles about your subject.
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This is an easy way to get students thinking about a topic (prior knowledge) and is
easily accessible to SEN/EAL students. These strategies make students explicitly
aware that learning is an active process as they are constantly making links between
what they are seeing/reading/hearing and what they already know.
How?
Give students a new picture, diagram, graph or artefact to examine and discuss.
They write what they have learnt from it.
Students can brainstorm around a picture or artefact, listing what they can see
and what they think it tells them. Then they list any questions they want to ask.
The picture is then passed on to another pair/group who adds further
observations/comments/questions (think/pair/share).
Students watch a few minutes of a video. Then get them to discuss and note what
they have learnt so far, anything it makes them think of and predictions about what
else will be covered in the tape.
What do I know?
What do I want to
know?
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words
2. Creating word banks: After brainstorming/concept-mapping, key words from this activity
are identified and written on strips of card by students. These are sorted alphabetically
around the room. New key words are added each lesson. Constantly
revisiting the lists in this way reminds students of their extent and
purpose. Students can also create their own word lists in the back of
their books.
3.Word and definition cards: students match key words with
definitions related to the unit.
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Why?
When students interact with texts, their reading comprehension
improves. They also become more aware of how texts are
constructed. As students' understanding of how text is constructed
improves, so too does their own writing. Research has shown that
interacting with texts also improves students' cognitive development.
How?
Certain words from a passage in a text are deleted and the students are asked to
complete the text. Note: it is an activity best used in pairs or groups rather than a
solitary activity because much of its value lies in the discussion or possibilities.
Ideas:
Table completion (Fill in the cells of a table that has row and column headings,
or provide row and column headings where cells have already been filled in.)
Prediction activities (Write the next step or stage of a text, or end the text.)
Text marking (Find and underline parts of the text that have a particular
meaning or contain particular information.)
Text segmenting and labelling (Break the text into meaningful chunks and label
each chunk.)
Table construction (Draw a table. Use the information in the text to decide on
row and column headings and to fill in the cells.)
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Summarising
Analysis activities
If the text
described a process
a flow chart.
a flow chart.
a branch diagram.
described an object
a labeled diagram.
presented an argument
Use how you interacted with the text as a basis for your DART. For example, if you
developed a flow chart while reading the text and you want your students to do a
reconstruction activity, develop a relevant flow chart and then delete some of the
information from the chart. Your students must fill in the missing information as they
read.
Sequencing
In text sequencing, jumbled up text is given to students who have to re-order it into a
coherent, logical or sequential text. In doing so they must read and re-read the text
to confirm their choices. This can be differentiated by careful selection and size of
text and is best done as a collaborative activity. Students reconstruction may not be
quite the same as the original order so students must justify their reasoning. It is also
best done as a kinaesthetic activity so students can physically move it around and try
out possibilities.
The guide flows from
understanding texts and
moves onto analysing text,
breaking down information,
memorising and
remembering content.
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Text-marking
Why?
These activities help students to understand that
reading is an active, not passive process.
How?
Highlighting/underlining information/numbers or writing in the margins of a text
(annotating). Students can use different colours to differentiate categories of
information.
Text-marking the main idea/summaries
Students can be asked to underline what they think is the sentences that tells you
most about the passage or a sentence which sums up each paragraph.
Text-marking making notes in a margin
This can be further information or questions they have. You must model this.
Text-marking numbering text to show a sequence of events
Struggling readers may lose the thread of basic events, so when the text is sequenced
it can be recreated in a flow diagram of the process.
Text restructuring
Students read information and then show the information in some other way. In doing
so, they have to understand it. This is a good activity for homework. Students can
restructure texts as:
o A news report or science story
o A grid
o A visual representation which is annotated
o A labelled diagram
o Pictograms, graphs or Venn diagrams
o A cartoon/comic strip
Teachers can just say show me that information in another way for more able classes.
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Note-taking
Why?
It is an important skill in gathering and synthesising information and consolidating
learning. As students progress through the education system, note-taking becomes
increasingly important and they can use it to:
Bring about an active engagement with the text, e.g. underlining something
because they think it is important
promote concentration and focus by making notes as reading progresses;
create a recode for later use, e.g. for revisiting a few weeks later;
act as a brief aide-memoire which will be discarded, e.g. as a prompt for a talk.
How?
Teacher modelling is the best way to introduce note-taking. Make notes from a source
in front of the students whilst explicitly discussing what it is you are doing and why.
Make the focus for the note-taking explicit.
It is imperative that students know why they are taking notes and who it is for, such
as:
Example:
Were looking at food so Im going to
note down anything about food, cooking
and meals. As you read and annotate,
you must also demonstrate that:
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Answer
Details
Source
Using headings
Lists and skeleton written outlines can be broken up with headings.
Initially you may wish to supply the headings, plus a set number of
empty bullet points to support students.
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Differentiating a text
Break a text into smaller chunks for weaker readers.
Use headings and draw their attention to how the text
is broken up.
Matching it requires no writing but enables the learner
to show they can read, understand and evaluate.
Sequencing as above.
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Approaches to spelling
Have you tried these ways to help yourself?
Sound out the word
Think about how it looks
Think about a similar word
Is there a memory sentence for this word? (e.g. big elephants cannot always use
small exits)
Find the word in a list
o Key words list
o Frequently used words list
o Your own word bank
Look it up in a dictionary/spellchecker
Ask a friend or teacher
Once youve solved it, dont forget to add the correct spelling to your own word bank if its
a word you think will be useful at other times.
Why?
Language and thought are intimately linked and students cognitive development depends a lot
on the forms and context of language which they have encountered and used. All students
should have the opportunity to think and express their ideas.
How?
The handbook
constantly aims to include
Blooms Taxonomys levels of
critical thinking. The depth of
each level is evident in the
different activities.
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Helpful tips:
Give at least 7 seconds after asking a question and 7 seconds after. This encourages
students to really consider an answer and respond.
Ask open questions more than closed.
Get other students to build on other students answers.
You can allow students to collaborate before answering.
It is important that students contributions are listened to and taken seriously by both
the teacher and the class. You should model this by ensuring that you make appropriate
responses to contributions and are not critical. You could also model making mistakes
yourself to show that being wrong is acceptable.
Use questions to develop collaborative work
Begin a lesson by giving pairs of students a question to answer from the last lesson
Ask pairs to discuss a question for a minute before they answer it
Make questions a normal part of the lesson. Earlier this lesson I asked you two
questions. Turn to your partner and see if you are ready to answer them yet
Get one group or pair to set questions for another group or pair to answer.
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