LITERACY FOR LEARNING

Geoff BartonHeadteacher

King Edward VI School

Bury St Edmunds

21 April 2023

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

3

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

1 How can we reinvigorate

whole-school literacy?

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

2 What are the important bits of

literacy?

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

3 What could we do to have an impact?

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

Basic assumptions

We are part of the literacy club

Literacy today is different from when we were younger

Literacy is taught - it

doesn’t just happenEvery

teacher in English is a teacher OF

English (like it or

not)

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

We are part of the literacy club

We forget our own privilege at our peril

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

GUESS THE TEXT TYPE

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

Proud mum in a million Natalie Brown hugged

her beautiful baby daughter Casey

yesterday and said: “She’s my double miracle.”I FIBRES

1

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

The blood vessels of the circulatory system,

branching into multitudes of very fine tubes (capillaries),

supply all parts of the muscles and organs with

blood, which carries oxygen and food necessary for life.

2

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

Ensure that the electrical supply is turned off. Ensure the existing circuit to which the fitting is to be connected has been installed and fused in accordance with current

L.L.L wiring regulations

3

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

Language oddities

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

DOGS MUST BE CARRIED

ON THE ESCALATOR

Please don't smoke and live a more healthy life

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

PSE Poster

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

Sign at Suffolk hospital:

Criminals operate in this area

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

ICI FIBRES

Churchdown parish magazine:

‘would the congregation please note that the

bowl at the back of the church labelled ‘for the sick” is for monetary

donations only’

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

Why does literacy matter?

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

The literacy imperative...

• A 1997 survey showed that of 12 European countries, only Poland and Ireland had lower levels of adult literacy

• 1-in-16 adults cannot identify a concert venue on a poster that contains name of band, price, date, time and venue

• 7 million UK adults cannot locate the page reference for plumbers in the Yellow Pages

BBC NEWS ONLINE:

More than half of British motorists cannot interpret road signs properly, according to a survey by the Royal Automobile Club.

The survey of 500 motorists highlighted just how many people are still grappling with it.

According to the survey, three in five motorists thought a "be aware of cattle" warning sign indicated …

an area infected with foot-and-mouth disease.

Common mistakes

•No motor vehicles - Beware of fast motorbikes

•Wild fowl - Puddles in the road

•Riding school close by - "Marlborough country"  advert

English Review 2000-05

October 2005: Key findings

English is one of the best taught subjects in both primary and secondary schools.

October 2005: Key findings

Standards of writing have improved as a result of guidance from the national strategies Some teachers give too little thought to ensuring that pupils fully consider the audience, purpose and content for their writing.

October 2005: Key findings

Schools do not always seem to understand the importance of pupils’ talk in developing both reading and writing. Myhill and Fisher: ‘spoken language forms a constraint, a ceiling not only on the ability to comprehend but also on the ability to write, beyond which literacy cannot progress’. Too many teachers appear to have forgotten that speech ‘supports and propels writing forward’. Pupils do not improve writing solely by doing more of it; good quality writing benefits from focused discussion that gives pupils a chance to talk through ideas before writing and to respond to friends’ suggestions.

October 2005: Key findings

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2003: although the reading skills of 10 year old pupils in England compared well with those of pupils in other countries, they read less frequently for pleasure and were less interested in reading than those elsewhere.

NFER 2003: children’s enjoyment of reading had declined significantly in recent years

A Nestlé/MORI report : ‘underclass’ of non-readers, plus cycles of non-reading ‘where teenagers from families where parents are not readers will almost always be less likely to be enthusiastic readers themselves’.

October 2005: Key findings

Despite the Strategy, weaknesses remain, including:

the stalling of developments as senior management teams focus on other initiatives lack of robust measures to evaluate the impact of developments across a range of subjects a focus on writing at the expense of reading, speaking and listening.

LITERACY

IMPACT

LITERACY IMPACT!

Key conventions

Link to speech

Sentence variety

Connectives

Importance of reading

Teach composition

Demonstrate writing.

Know your connectives

Adding: and, also, as well as, moreover, too

Cause & effect: because, so, therefore, thus, consequently

Sequencing: next, then, first, finally, meanwhile, before, after

Qualifying: however, although, unless, except, if, as long as, apart from, yet

Emphasising: above all, in particular, especially, significantly, indeed, notably

Illustrating: for example, such as, for instance, as revealed by, in the case of

Comparing: equally, in the same way, similarly, likewise, as with, like

Contrasting: whereas, instead of, alternatively, otherwise, unlike, on the other hand

LITERACY IMPACT!

Reading needs teaching: skimming, scanning, analysis

Use DARTs: prediction, jumbled texts, pictures and graphs

Presentation and framing can make texts more accessible

Teach research skills, not FOFO

Teach and display subject-specific vocabulary

Read aloud.

Demystify spelling

LITERACY IMPACT!

Break tyranny of Q&A No hands up

Thinking time

Get teachers watching teachers who manage S&L well

Reflective groupings

Rehearsing responses

Key words / connectives

LITERACY IMPACT!

Don’t call it literacy

Know your key players

Less is more for students

Build into school systems

Use students and TAs for feedback

Less is more for teachers

Use visuals to circumvent the teacher

Remember “the disappeared”.

LITERACY LATEST!

Characteristics: 2/3 boys. Generally well-behaved. Positive in outlook. “Invisible” to teachers. Keen to respond but unlikely to think first. Persevere with tasks, especially with tasks that are routine. Lack self-help strategies. Stoical, patient, resigned.

Reading: they over-rely on a limited range of strategies and lack higher order reading skills

Writing: struggle to combine different skills simultaneously. Don’t get much chance for oral rehearsal, guided writing, precise feedback

S&L: don’t see it as a key tool in thinking and writing

Targets: set low-level targets; overstate functional skills; infrequently review progress

“The Disappeared …”

Reading Writing Speaking & listening Use layout and language to make texts accessible –

eg white space, typographical features,

summaries, bullets, short paragraphs

Be clear and explicit about the conventions

of the writing you expect from students – eg audience, purpose,

layout, key words and phrases, level of

formality

Using a variety of groupings for structured

talk – pairs, same-sex, friendship, triads, ability

groups

Using a range of strategies to support students’

reading – eg reading aloud, key words and glossaries,

word banks, display, paired reading, talking about texts

before answering

Providing assessment criteria and models of appropriate text types

Setting objectives for talk and providing language

models – eg level of formality, key words and

phrases

Spelling – marking no more than 3-5 key

spellings per work, writing the correct spelling in the

margin with the error identified; students putting these into spelling pages in

the middle of exercise books; using starters /

word games / mnemonics / display / rules / words

within words to support students’ spelling

Using shared composition to show students how to write

Providing alternatives to traditional Q&A

approaches – eg open questions, thinking time, big questions, no-hands, paired consultation time,

dealing with answers, prompts, answer starters

Essential literacy rooted in professional development

An example …

So …

1. Which bits of this are relevant to your school context?

2. What’s going on at your place that’s effective in developing literacy skills?

3. What will you do tomorrow?

LITERACY FOR LEARNING

Geoff Barton

“Every teacher in English is a teacher of English” (George Sampson, 1922)

geoffbarton@mac.com