Primary 1 - 2019

1. Primary 1 - 2019 Literacy

2. Emergent Literacy The skills children require before they are ready to read and write. This can include: • fine motor skills (holding a pencil) • interest in texts ('reading' - following picture clues) • mark making (beginning to 'write' and explain what they have written)  • phonological awareness (beginning to hear and recognise the different sounds letters make)

3. Ways to develop early Literacy skills • Shared reading – children able to see an adult modeling how a book works. Developing an understanding that the letters have a meaning.  • Finger Gym Areas – different tasks aimed at improving fine motor skills  • Mark making areas – children able to 'write' in their own time. Discussing what they have written. Developing an understanding that texts carry meaning.  • Writing in context – during role play (taking an order in a restaurant) children can see the purpose of writing, why do we write. 

4. Active LiteracyPhonics • Phonics is taught in an interactive manner using a multi-sensory approach that provides: *An order for the teaching of phonics *Guidance on consolidation *A wide range of activities • Phonics is taught daily and introduced through Jolly Phonics.   • Two new sounds a week with a consolidation week regularly to revise the previous sounds . All sounds have actions – ask your child or see sound booklet. (This will be sent home shortly) • Sounds not letters, eg.ssssss not ‘es’ •  Examples of resources used -Magnetic boards and alphabet overlays

5. Task Example • Can you find these sounds: s a t p i n • Put them on your alphabet board • With your ‘Shoulder Partner’ say and check the sounds are correctly placed.

6. Blending • Use knowledge of sounds to begin blending and reading simple words, eg. sat • Follows on from learning and securely identifying the initial sounds. • Blending is the process of saying the individual sounds in a word and then running them together to make the word e.g. c-a-t makes cat. • It is a technique that every child will learn and it improves with frequent practice. • Some children take longer than others to hear this. 

7. Common Words • Along with the learning of sounds most children will be introduced to 3 new common words each week. These words may not necessarily follow the blending method and are sometimes called sight words. For example ‘the’, ‘I’, ‘me’ • Runs hand in hand with spelling and writing. • Children learn these sight words by repetition  • Please practise these words your child takes home on a regular basis. Regular practice is key, but not a chore! 

8. Active LiteracyReading • Reading is taught throughout the week, this can be learning and revising common words, games to reinforce sounds and new words, a variety of books,  and reading tasks related to books already read. • Take time to share books, not just ‘hear’ reading • Clues – picture, shape of word, sounding out, context • It is important to read and understand the text and both are vital skills to progress in this area. • Books – variety of both fiction and non fiction.

9. Writing • Writing takes place daily in the classroom. • This can be: Daily writing e.g. phonics, handwriting Taught writing e.g. introducing new skills and writing for a purpose this will also include black line drawings Learning Across the Curriculum e.g. opportunities to write in many curricular areas eg Writing Tables

10. An example from the Writing Table

11. Teaching Literacy Summary • Ensuring children have Emergent Literacy Skills.  • Teaching specific letter understanding through daily phonics sessions.  • Ensuring children can blend letter sounds together which will lead into reading. • Explicitly teaching common words that do not follow usual spelling rules.  •  Children progressing from mark makers to independent writers by applying their skills learned within phonics lessons.