Developing the Literate Child

develop the Lite send kidIntroductionEarly- age educators affiliate what is being taught to what kidskinrenalready know. In order to blossom all(prenominal) pip-squeaks learn they body forthand guide children through each clean stage of skill. They knowthat the abilities and attitudes that young children develop in theearly years atomic number 18 an important dispel of a life-long journey during whichchildren bequeath compulsion to acquire all the quarrel skills necessary tointerpret, manipulate, control and organize language for their ownpresent and future purposes.(Browne 1996, vii)The above quote neatly summarises the call for to ensure that young childrens language development is fostered in the outflank possible way by educators. What children learn now f press downpot waste a life-long impact upon how they interact with the world in future. It is the childs teacher, who has the capacity to greatly influence how a child acquires and riding habits language, t o assess what the child already knows, and to utilise this knowledge to foster and guide the child through, each new stage of learning, (Browne 1996, vii). It was with this sink intention in mind, with which the following think over was under tax returnn. The bring forth, to assess one childs current oral presentation and sense of stressing, course session and constitution skills, to analyse any observations c ar all-encompassingy, and to use the information gathered as a backside for planning the childs future learning needs. The child elect, a female, was aged 5 years and 9 months at the time of the study and does not have any prized particular educational needs. She will, henceforth, be referred to as, infant A, for the remainder of the report. development Analysis apprehend to churl A read on a one-to-one basis was highly informative. She is pay offing to use some expression in her voice, and is attempting to require the text sound much like natural language, ho wever, she has little mavin of express boundaries, and consequently, potentiometer often sound stilted. She regularly has to decode language on a word-by-word basis, precisely is not always successful in her attempts, meaning that the language does not flow. There were frequent extended pauses during the drill of each sentence. On a number of occasions minor A was unable to decode a word but had a bound number of alternative strategies available to her, in order to help her to stop training.The case analyses showed that sister As average negative miscue rate was 8.06% for the control of accounts chosen from her particular teaching stage. It is recommended that when matching a reserve to a reader the negative miscue rate should brood somewhere between 3% and 8%, with a miscue rate of 10% representing frustration aim, (Moon et al. 1994, 116).This evidence may suggest that the text was as well as difficult for tyke A, resulting in a negative effect on her confidence and interest. only wheat flour and Kelly propound that, Surprising insights into childrens practice session can emerge in the one-to-one conversitions which you have with them, (Graham and Kelly 1997, 115). I talked at position with electric razor A and we discussed her breeding habits and attitudes towards books. It quickly became obvious that kidskin A loves books in many forms. She confided that she often imagines that she is the princess in the stories which are read to her. squirt A likes to look at the renders in books and tell her own stories from these, but feels unable to read the speech alone. It became receptive that sister A has regain to many books at home, and Mum and Dad evidently read a lot. She delighted in recounting her first experience of visiting a library, which occurred recently, and she was given(p) ample time to choose a book to take home. youngster A proudly confided that she knew the book by heart as she had read it that often. It was evide nt that Child A, not only enjoys reading, but in any case sees herself as a good reader.Observation of Child A during some(prenominal)(prenominal) manoeuvre reading sessions with her categorize teacher, presented a different picture. Child A frequently became easily distracted, and failed to focus on the text which was in movement of her. She appeared to be restless and anxious to move off onto different activities. Child A was positive when attempting to read a word she thought she knew, however, when she came crosswise an unfamiliar word she would not attempt to read it. With prompting she would take down to sound a word out, but often gave up in front completing the word. Again, Child A seems over reliant on picture cues and was attempting to tell the story from the pictures. She remained unfocused throughout each guided reading session and while early(a) children were turning the pages of their books, Child A sat with her book shut. She was unable to participate in the company discussion concerning the book and was unable to relate the main points of the story to the teacher when learned.Child A was to a fault observed during shared whole-class reading sessions. While she did not openly volunteer answers to the questions asked, she did move once the class teacher asked her a at once question.In consideration of the above evidence, and in conjunction with the level descriptors provided by the subject area Curriculum (www.nc.uk.net), it is possible to suggest that Child A is working(a)s at Level One in terms of her readingPupils recognise familiar haggle in simple texts. They use theirknowledge of letter and sound-symbol relationships in order toread words and to establish meaning when reading aloud. In these activities they sometimes require support. They express their response to poems, stories and non-fiction by identifying aspects they like.(www.nc.uk.net)However, it is clear that Child A meets only part of this level descriptor, as she is not only using her phonic knowledge to read words, and to use the words to comprehend the story.Implications for tenet and training ReadingIt is clear from the evidence given above that Child A is not a confident of smooth-spoken reader. She is working in the early stages of National Curriculum level 1, and will need specific support if she is to begin to work in the later on stages of the level, and indeed to start to work towards National Curriculum level 2.The problems with Child As use of expression and want of awareness of phrase boundaries, could perhaps be addressed by bighearteds modelling the reading process. Graham and Kelly suggest that this is a viable way of first introducing a book to a child, before they are given the opportunity to read the book for themselves, (Graham and Kelly 1997, 105). This could give Child A the confidence she needs and will collapse her to the way books should be read, using lots of expression. It will also attending her awareness of phrase boundaries, particularly if the pornographic traces the text with their finger as they read and patch ups exaggerated pauses when full stops or commas are encountered.Child As reluctance to join in group and class discussion about books could be a result of a lack of confidence in her own abilities, or perhaps she is unsure of how to respond correctly and does not want to risk, getting it wrong. Again, one-one-one reading sessions could be an exaltation way to address this problem. Graham and Kelly (1997) suggest that there should be a specific pattern to one-on-one reading sessions with young children, this pattern consists of phoebe bird separate steps. Warming up the text, allows children to look at the book chosen with an adult, handling it and making links with their own experiences, making them feel more comfortable before they begin reading (Graham and Kelly 1997, 105). Reviewing the book, is also an important part of the confidence haveing process, and would a llow Child A to give her assent on the book without fear of failure, (Graham and Kelly 1997, 106). These strategies will hopefully help to build Child As self confidence and she should then lastly be able to give her opinions in shared and guided reading sessions.The miscue analyses also indicated that the books from Child As shelf, were perhaps alike difficult for her, resulting in boredom and frustration, this could also have been the case during the guided reading sessions. Child A should be given books from a lower shelf, to read in order to build up her self confidence. In addition to this, being placed with children of a similar, or slightly lower, talent for guided reading sessions could also have a positive impact. disquisition and Listening AnalysisDuring whole-class, teacher-led activities Child A did not speak unless she was asked a direct question by the class teacher. On such occasions, Child A would sometimes respond accurately, at other times she would not respond at all. When the children were asked to respond to questions by raising their hands, Child A would not dictate up her hand. During such teaching sessions, Child A was often observed to be very restless, although she was keen to sit account powerfulness at the front. The children were regularly asked to work with talking partners, during the direct teaching, it was observed that Child A never responded to her partner in such situations, simply refusing to speak.During self-employed person activities, Child A was observed to ignore other children on her table. practically her peers attempted to draw her into their activity or conversation, however, she did not respond to them in anyway, and indeed seemed to ignore them.Child A was also observed during free- course, situations. primarily Child A would remain on her self-chosen task and did not educate conversation with her peers. The exception to this being conflict situations, where Child A was extremely vocal in expressing her unhappiness to another child. When surrounded by other children, Child A still did not join in with their chatter. During free-play Child A would occasionally respond to a direct question from an adult observer, but at other times would attempt to ignore them. now and again Child A would address a direct comment to an adult observer, in relation to her self-generated task, but did not then flummox engaged in conversation.Play-times seemed to present a different view of Child A, in terms of her speaking and take heeding ability. She was observed on several occasions playing, with another girl from her class, a variety of different position and singing games. The two girls demonstrated different games to each other, and were evidently listening and responding to each other.Pupils talk about matters of immediate interest. They listen to othersand usually respond appropriately. They convey simple meanings toa range of listeners, speaking audibly, and begin to extend their ideasor a ccounts by providing some detail.(www.nc.uk.net)This level descriptor indicates that, although Child A only meets part of the criteria for National Curriculum level 1, she is working at the lower end of this level. The observations made in the playground show that Child A is able, when the opportunity presents itself, to, talk about matters of immediate interest, (www.nc.uk.net).Implications for Teaching and Learning Speaking and ListeningThe evidence collected suggests that although Child A is confident when speaking to her peers at playtimes, she is not comfortable during class or group situations on and often prefers to remain silent. It is important to develop her ability to, listen to others, and to, respond appropriately, if Child A is to work towards National Curriculum level 2 for speaking and listening (www.nc.uk.net ).One of the come across learning objectives for speaking and listening for children in Year One is, to ask and answer questions, make relevant contributions, offer prompts and take turns, (DFES 2003a, 24). The document Speaking, Listening, Learning working with children in divulge Stages 1 and 2 (DFES 2003a), offers some good suggestions for teaching towards this learning objective, and recommends a great deal of diametrical work, and teacher modelling of how to ask and answer questions. If Child A was able to observe adults modelling paired work, or some of her peers engaged in discussion work, she may start to feel sufficiently confident enough to join in herself. An excess strategy to help Child A during paired work, might be to try her with a variety of different partners to see if she responds better to a certain child.All areas of the syllabus offer distinct opportunities for developing childrens speaking and listening, (DFES 2003b, 11) and consequently it may be possible to engage Child B more fully in speaking and listening activities when think to a subject she enjoys. The use of paired discussion, could be better suitable to a science lesson, for example, rather than confining such discussions to English lessons. penning AnalysisSeveral conversations with Child A led to the conclusion that she does perceive herself as a good writer. She enjoys writing for a purpose, she explained that she regularly writes lists and stories at home, giving them to her parents to read.It is clear from examining the writing samples, that while Child A is confidently identifying the initial and final phonemes in words, and writing these down, she appears to be having more trouble with medial phonemes, as many of these are missing from the words she has create verbally down. For example in Appendix III, the writing clearly shows that Child A has attempted to write the word, wonderful, however she has clearly identified the sounds at the inauguration and ends of the word, but the middle sounds have not been clearly audible to her, resulting in the word, wunful.The three samples of Child As writing which were examined ( see Appendices I, II and III), indicate that she is making phonetically plausible attempts at words as the writing can be clearly read without the aid of the child in most places. Child A does show an awareness of how to use full stops, although these are not consistently in the correct places. She does not yet seem aware that it is necessary to leave a clear space in between her words, and only does so in a gallus of places. The evidence listed above, in conjunction with the writing samples contained within Appendices I, II, and III, indicate that Child A is working at National Curriculum level 1Pupils writing communicates meaning through simple words andphrases. In their reading or their writing, pupils begin to showawareness of how full stops are used. Letters are usually clearlyshaped and correctly oriented.(www.nc.uk.net )It is clear from the above level descriptor, that although Child A is working at National Curriculum level 1, she does not meet all of the listed criteria an d, therefore, should not be assessed for level 2.Implications for Teaching and Learning WritingThe evidence given supports the suggestion that Child A is doing through National Curriculum level 1 and into level 2. There are several things that could be done to support this transition. It could be said that her main development point is to improve her recite and to start to recognise medial sounds in words. Child A also needs to start leaving finger spaces in between words and to start using full stops correctly.The publication, Progression in Phonics materials for whole class teaching, (DFES 1999) provides lots of suggestions for improving Child As ability to hear medial sounds. For example, the game, Croaker, develops the childrens ability to hear and identify phonemes in a specified part of the word, using a puppet, (DFES 1999, 26). Such a game could improve Child As ability to hear and identify medial phonemes with the aim of improving her spelling.Reid suggests that shared and modelled writing are effective ways of supporting young childrens writing development, (Reid in Bentley and Burman et al. 1999, 103-104). This could be a good way of improving Child As use of finger spaces and full stops. If the teacher models the correct use of full stops and finger spaces, and also makes lots of deliberate mistakes which the children can help to correct, Child A will begin to understand how to use full stops and finger spaces effectively in her own writing. endpointIn conclusion, the evidence presented above indicates that Child A is working at National Curriculum level 1 for her reading, writing and speaking and listening skills. It has already been suggested that effective teachers use what children already know as a basis for developing their language skills and facilitating their progression. The evidence collected has been carefully analysed with this aim in mind, and areas for the development of Child As literacy skills have been identified. liberal modell ing of the reading and writing process should play a key part in this development, if Child A is to make good progress towards National Curriculum level 2. Peer modelling could also play an important role, and could also help to foster Child As self confidence. It is important that all these suggestions are linked to other areas of the curriculum in order to engage and interest Child A, although this should also be of paramount importance when teaching all children. If all these suggestions are put into action, Child A should start to make sound progress and will, in addition, be playing an important part in this progression herself.BibliographyBrowne, Ann (1996) Developing Language and Literacy 3-8. capital of the United Kingdom Paul Chapman Publishing Limited.DFES (1999) Progression In Phonics Materials for Whole-Class Teaching (The National Literacy Strategy) capital of the United Kingdom Department for Education and EmploymentDFES (2003a) Speaking, Listening, Learning working wi th children in Key Stages 1 and 2 Teaching objectives and classroom activities. London Department for Education and EmploymentDFES (2003b) Speaking, Listening, Learning working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 Handbook. London Department for Education and EmploymentGraham, Judith and Kelly, Alison (1997) Reading Under Control Teaching Reading in the Primary School. London David Fulton Publishers Ltd.Moon, Cliff and Bourne, Jill (1994) The promiscuous University Resource Pack Learning to Teach Reading. Milton Keynes The Open University.Reid, Dee Writing at Key Stage 1 in Bentley, Diana, Burman, Christine, Chamberlin, rosemary et al. The Really Practical Guide to Primary English ( 1999) London Stanley Thorne Publishers Ltd.www.nc.uk.net