While observing a literacy block it was interesting to watch a number of early years teaching practices put into place. It was evident that this teacher used a whole- small- whole approach. This was used in one-hour sessions. In both one-hour sessions the class started as a whole, then moved into smaller groups where they concentrated on focused areas or guided writing, then reconvened into the whole group where their work was often shared or reflected upon.
The whole group activity began with a brief revision of letters previously learnt, then with more of a focus on the letter of the week, which in this case was the letter ‘g’. Cued Articulation was the main method used in this classroom when introducing and learning a letter. This method gave children clear visual and sound recognition techniques in which to identify letters. The teacher next used smart board technology, Sunshine Online (http://sunshineonline.com.au) was the website used by this school. A short story based on the letter ‘g’ was shown, children individually were asked to come and identify the letter of focus. Activities on the smart board included letter recognition, forming the letter ‘g’ and recognizing the letters sound.
Children then moved into small groups where they focused on a particular literacy based activity. The teacher explained these activities; there were five activities that were rotated daily, but with a new focus every week. As described in Chapter 4 of Hill this is a form of a scaffolded approach to literacy. Scaffolding is a method in which students receive support until they can apply new skills and strategies self-sufficiently.These groups included; the listening post, children would listen to a CD twice then were asked to identify and mark familiar words on copied, laminated pages from this book. Sorting activities, children had a piece of paper with different letters marked on it, they would then have to sort through pictures, say what they were and listen to the beginning sound placing it on the correct letter. Memory games, this was cards placed with their pictures downwards, two cards were turned up at a time and the child would say what they were using cued articulation to identify the beginning sound. These activities were basically self-tutored by the children, with the class aide overviewing. While these activities were taking place, the teacher would take a focus group for guided reading. Guided reading is where a teacher takes a group of 5-6 children ‘reading individual copies of the same text.’ (Hill, S 2012 p. 95) Children receive ‘problem solving strategies’ (Hill, S 2012, p. 95) and guidance while reading these texts. Texts usually progress in difficulty as the students improve with their ability to read. Towards the end of this first hour, children are gathered back into a whole group where a few children will be selected to share what they had been doing with their peers.
The second hour of the literacy block was centred on writing. On this day the teacher used shared reading to read a big book about going to Grandmas, this book coincided with the focus on letter ‘g’. Hill discusses shared reading on page 83. ‘It is usually a whole-group activity… children can participate in the reading in various ways.’ (Hill, S 2012 p. 83) Children were asked why they liked going to their grandmothers and ideas where written on the white board. Children moved back to their tables where they were instructed to paste into their story writing books a sentence starter, which used channeled writing. Channeled writing is where the letters are formed in a tubular way and children can be guided to form the letters correctly (see appendix 1). The sentence starter began with, I like going to Grandmas because… children were then asked to write their own ending to the sentence or use words from the white board as a guide. Once finished this task, children completed some photocopied handouts on the letter ‘g’. (See appendix 1, 2, 3, 4 for examples) On completion of these activities children were once again recalled as a group to share what they had done.
The one method, which I will reflect on, that was widely used in all aspects of this classroom is the use of Cued Articulation. Cued Articulation is a collection of hand signals each letter of the alphabet. Each hand signal represents one letter and the cue provides indications as to how and where the sound is created. Though very similar to sign language it only represents a singular letter. Cued Articulation was devised by Victorian Speech Pathologist Jane Passy. In early school years it facilitates the development of Sound Awareness - now seen as basic to the acquisition of literacy skills. Cued Articulation is easy and fun to learn, when taught alongside an understanding of the patterns involved in normal speech development. Cued Articulation works well with numerous literacy schemes presently used at this school. Including THRASS, where, for each phoneme, there is a corresponding cue and M100W Magic Words, cues importantly improve the ability to pronounce certain words. Instruction in phonics, phonological awareness and phonemic awareness are fundamental parts of a classroom literacy program. ‘Phonological awareness refers to the ability to mentally manipulate words, syllables and sounds in spoken language.’ (Hill, S 2012, p. 133) Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds. It helps improve a students reading of words and comprehension as well as their ability to spell words.
The children responded exceptionally well to this method, which the teacher used in every aspect of her teaching. It was used while identifying letters, in reading books and when teaching the children to try to read a word on their own. During story writing, the children were encouraged to sound out a word and figure out what sounds they could hear within the word. As the children identified a sound they would then find the corresponding letter and the spelling of a word then began. I found this a fascinating technique to watch in progress and the children responded extremely well to.
Hill, S 2012, Developing early literacy: 2nd edn, Eleanor Curtain, Prahran, Victoria.
While observing a literacy block it was interesting to watch a number of early years teaching practices put into place. It was evident that this teacher used a whole- small- whole approach. This was used in one-hour sessions. In both one-hour sessions the class started as a whole, then moved into smaller groups where they concentrated on focused areas or guided writing, then reconvened into the whole group where their work was often shared or reflected upon.
The whole group activity began with a brief revision of letters previously learnt, then with more of a focus on the letter of the week, which in this case was the letter ‘g’. Cued Articulation was the main method used in this classroom when introducing and learning a letter. This method gave children clear visual and sound recognition techniques in which to identify letters. The teacher next used smart board technology, Sunshine Online (http://sunshineonline.com.au) was the website used by this school. A short story based on the letter ‘g’ was shown, children individually were asked to come and identify the letter of focus. Activities on the smart board included letter recognition, forming the letter ‘g’ and recognizing the letters sound.
The second hour of the literacy block was centred on writing. On this day the teacher used shared reading to read a big book about going to Grandmas, this book coincided with the focus on letter ‘g’. Hill discusses shared reading on page 83. ‘It is usually a whole-group activity… children can participate in the reading in various ways.’ (Hill, S 2012 p. 83) Children were asked why they liked going to their grandmothers and ideas where written on the white board. Children moved back to their tables where they were instructed to paste into their story writing books a sentence starter, which used channeled writing. Channeled writing is where the letters are formed in a tubular way and children can be guided to form the letters correctly (see appendix 1). The sentence starter began with, I like going to Grandmas because… children were then asked to write their own ending to the sentence or use words from the white board as a guide. Once finished this task, children completed some photocopied handouts on the letter ‘g’. (See appendix 1, 2, 3, 4 for examples) On completion of these activities children were once again recalled as a group to share what they had done.
The one method, which I will reflect on, that was widely used in all aspects of this classroom is the use of Cued Articulation. Cued Articulation is a collection of hand signals each letter of the alphabet. Each hand signal represents one letter and the cue provides indications as to how and where the sound is created. Though very similar to sign language it only represents a singular letter. Cued Articulation was devised by Victorian Speech Pathologist Jane Passy. In early school years it facilitates the development of Sound Awareness - now seen as basic to the acquisition of literacy skills. Cued Articulation is easy and fun to learn, when taught alongside an understanding of the patterns involved in normal speech development.
Cued Articulation works well with numerous literacy schemes presently used at this school. Including THRASS, where, for each phoneme, there is a corresponding cue and M100W Magic Words, cues importantly improve the ability to pronounce certain words. Instruction in phonics, phonological awareness and phonemic awareness are fundamental parts of a classroom literacy program. ‘Phonological awareness refers to the ability to mentally manipulate words, syllables and sounds in spoken language.’ (Hill, S 2012, p. 133) Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds. It helps improve a students reading of words and comprehension as well as their ability to spell words.
The children responded exceptionally well to this method, which the teacher used in every aspect of her teaching. It was used while identifying letters, in reading books and when teaching the children to try to read a word on their own. During story writing, the children were encouraged to sound out a word and figure out what sounds they could hear within the word. As the children identified a sound they would then find the corresponding letter and the spelling of a word then began. I found this a fascinating technique to watch in progress and the children responded extremely well to.
Hill, S 2012, Developing early literacy: 2nd edn, Eleanor Curtain, Prahran, Victoria.
Cued Articulation posters, Jane Passey, retrieved 25 May 2012.
<https://shop.acer.edu.au/acer-shop/product/A403CUE/111>
Sunshine Books 2012, ‘Sunshine Online’, retrieved 2 May 2012 <http://www.sunshineonline.com.au>.
Jane Passy explains Cued Articulation, retrieved 28 May 2012.
<://youtu.be/YBJ9-SBe2eI>