This video from Teachers TV follows the practice of a Year 2 teacher who has been involved with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education's Power of Reading project. It includes interviews with the class teacher, and Olivia O'Sullivan from the CLPE in which each discusses the approach and how it supports children's reading and their writing. Throughout the video there are excerpts from the teacher's classroom in which she can be seen working with her class at different stages of the reading and writing process. She uses the story, Grace and Family by Mary Hoffman.
During 2007-08 a great deal of press and government attention has been given to the teaching of reading in KS1, particularly to skills training such as Synthetic Phonics. This video focuses on a completely different aspect of Literacy teaching and learning: that of reading for meaning and enjoyment. It suggests practical ways in which teachers can promote children's understanding of ‘good' literature.
The aims of the resource
The purpose of the resource is to share the philosophy that underpins the Power of Reading project, and to widen awareness of practices that the CLPE regards as effective. The project has currently been running for three years and is working with 350 schools to implement teaching strategies aimed at involving children in the reading process and increasing their enthusiasm for literature.
Key findings or focusThrough the CLPE project, the teacher featured has become committed to Literacy teaching that integrates reading, drama and writing. The emphasis in this approach is primarily on children's response and enjoyment, but there is a sense that it also leads to a deepening of their understanding of plot, characterisation and of the nuances of stories.
In the course of the programme the teacher:
- reads aloud to her class,
- involves them in discussions, interactions and role play,
- demonstrates writing a diary,
- provides children with their own diaries to write.
The pupils are encouraged to make inferences from the text and to consider how a character might feel in a particular situation by acting out part of the story. They are engaged in talking through their ideas with each other and in pooling their views onto a class mind-map. Olivia O'Sullivan describes it as a ‘sequence of activities' that consistently enhances children's learning.
The quality, authority and credibility of the resource
CLPE has a long established reputation in the field of Literacy teaching, and the teaching strategies used in the video have been well-researched by respected academics such as Olivia O'Sullivan. The integration of drama and role play with reading and writing is viewed by many academics and practitioners as an appropriate way to bring texts to life and to enrich the learner's experience and interpretation. This way of working has gained credibility amongst practising teachers through their involvement in this and similar staff development projects in other areas of England (for instance, the We're writers and The Creativity and Writing projects in Kent.) As a consequence, there are many teachers who share the teacher's commitment to Literacy teaching that encompasses a range of connected experiences.
However, perhaps the most convincing testament to the approach is the children's eagerness and delight. In each of the scenes in the classroom the majority of the class appear involved and motivated. On several occasions they make thoughtful, perceptive comments about the characters in the story and demonstrate an impressive level of empathy. They are also able to predict from small details in extracts of the story.
The opportunity to role play the part of the main character - and, as Olivia O'Sullivan says, "to step inside the story" - seems to enable the children to write confidently as Grace. The diary entry that is shared with the class, and therefore the viewer, is well expressed and evocative. Although it would be unfair to assume that this typifies the quality of all the writing, the task does seem meaningful to the pupils.
The implications for ITE tutors/mentors
For ITE tutors, the video material would provide an interesting resource for debating Literacy teaching. It would be particularly useful to stop at intervals so that students have opportunities to reflect on, question and evaluate the content.
The impact it has may be affected by government or press attention to the teaching of reading, but timing its use soon after students return from teaching placements would ensure they had some context for their understanding. It may offer an alternative to the practice they have seen or help them to articulate their views about being a reader. It would provide a valuable forum for students to consider ways of supporting child readers.
The relevance to ITE students
Although the Rose Review of 2006 emphasised that young children should be taught reading skills as part of a "rich and broad language curriculum", it appears not to have received as much emphasis in some primary schools as the teaching of Synthetic Phonics. Viewing material such as this video offers the opportunity to see another approach to Literacy teaching and to formulate a wider understanding of how reading is perceived. It provides practical ideas for an integrated and coherent approach to developing reading, writing and speaking and listening. It would be useful to discuss both the possible long term and short term effects of such methods.
In addition, there are examples of ways to nurture ‘higher order' thinking skills such as inference and deduction which students could consider. These are considered essential skills at KS2 and part of standardised testing but can be developed alongside other reading skills from Foundation Stage.
Reviewed by:
Sue Hammond
Related Resources:
The following might be useful to read in conjunction with this resource:
Gamble, N & Yates, S (2007) Exploring Children's Literature: Teaching the Language and Reading of Fiction SAGE
Goodwin, P (2005) The Literate Classroom (2nd edition) David Fulton Publishers
Grainger, T, Goouch, K and Lambirth, A (2004) Creativity and Writing Routledge
Hall, K (2003) Listening to Stephen Read Open University Press
Harrison, C (2004) Understanding Reading Development SAGE
Rose, J. (2006) Independent Review of the Early Teaching of Reading DfES
UKLA (2005) Submission to the Review of Best Practice in the Teaching of Early Reading UKLA booklet