early reading bigbooks

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EARLY READINGWITH BIG BOOKS

Developed by

Lorraine Inwood

1 Course Documentation

This documentation includes both the learners materials and thetrainers notes. The learners handout is included as an appendix (1)

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and appendix 2 is a copy of the power point presentation used duringthe workshop.

1.1 Table of Contents

Cover page 1Course documentation 2 Table of contents 2Course overview 3Introduction 3Aims 3Objectives 3 Target group 4Scheme of work 4Evaluation 4Follow up 4

The course 4Appendices 5References 5Evaluation form 5History of changes 5Appendix 1 6Appendix 2 7Appendix 3 11Appendix 4 16Appendix 5 17

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2 Course Overview

The course was presented to Year 1 teachers who were unsure how to

incorporate Big Books into their classroom teaching. The teacherswere invited to observe a lesson in a Year 1 class taught by me forapprox 45 minutes. Following this we adjourned to the TeachersActivity Centre for discussion and follow-up activities. The workshopincluded a power point presentation on both Big Books and Reading aswell as many ideas for games, activities, songs and rhymes. Animportant component of the course was the material I had prepared inthe form of Big Books made from a variety of materials, mostly cheapand recycled. The five different lessons taught in each Centre wererecorded and, at the time of writing, are being reproduced on CDwhich will be distributed to all Primary Schools in the Tampin/Rembau

District. This will enable Year 1 teachers who didnt attend the courseto familarise themselves with the technique of teaching with a BigBook as a focus.

2.1 Introduction

In my initial visits to Primary Schools in the Tampin/Rembau District, itwas my impression that many of the problems that students werehaving later in Primary School and in Secondary School werebeginning in Year 1. My feeling was that if they could be comfortablespeaking the language in the early years it would be much easier as

they got older. My experience teaching these early years has alwaysfocused on the Big Book. I found that this Shared Reading approachhad been implemented by CDC in 2002, however, some teachers hadmissed the inservice and many were just unsure about how to actuallybegin to teach using this approach.

2.2 Aims

Participants will observe a lesson taught with a Big Book as thefocus

Participants will have an opportunity to discuss and

constructively criticize the lesson observed Participants will revise the theory of learning to read

Participants will be exposed to a variety of games, activities,songs dances etc that they may adapt for use in their ownlessons

Participants will be shown hands on material which will allowthem to produce their own class reading books

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Participants will be expected to teach a lesson in their ownschool to be observed by DELC

2.3 Objectives

Participants will use a Big Book as the focus of their lesson

Participants will read to their class every lesson

Participants will speak in English at all times in their class andencourage children to do likewise.

Participants will introduce a new activity into their lesson eg agame, song, dance or similar

Participants will arrange their classroom to enable an interactiveenvironment where every child is able to see the focus of thelesson

Participants will encourage dialog in English between students

2.4 Target group

This workshop is aimed at teachers presently teaching Year 1 inPrimary Schools.

2.5 Scheme of work

The course was held for one half day session.

Demonstration lesson in Year 1 classroom - 1.00 hrBreakfast - .30Participants Introduction game - .10Discussion of observed lesson - .20Game Memory - .10Power Point presentation Big Books followed byPresentation of hands on material - .30Game Beetle - .10 The value of songs, rhymes and chants - .20Game Have-a-go - .10Power Point presentation Reading - .30

Game Battleships - .10Group evaluation - .20Group pool evaluation and discussion - .20Total 4.30

hrs

2.6 Evaluation

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See Appendix for Group Discussion Evaluation

An important part of the evaluation is the follow-up visits to eachschool and the observation of lesson. All teachers are given amplenotice of my visit and they are told during the workshop the activities I

expect to see when I visit.

2.7 Follow up

As above

The Course

Each workshop was preceded by a demonstration lesson taught byme. The lessons were recorded on digital camera and, at the time of

writing are being reproduced on a set of CDs which will be distributedto schools. The workshop also included a lot of materials prepared byme in the form of Big Books I used cheap, often recycled materials togive the teachers ideas about making their own reading materials. Theremaining course materials are included in the appendix.

Appendices

Appendix 1 - Presenters notesAppendix 2 - Power Point Presentation Big Books

Appendix 3 - Power Point Presentation ReadingAppendix 4 - Evaluation formAppendix 5 Participants handout

4.1 References

The English Hour Training Module Ministry of education MalaysiaPusat Perkembangan Kurikulum

2002

4.2 Evaluation Form

4.3 History of Changes

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Appendix 1

WORKSHOP FOR YEAR 1 TEACHERS8.30 Demonstration lesson in Year 1 classroom, observed byworkshop participants.

(See attached lesson plan)

9.30 Breakfast

10.00 Participants Introduction game

(Stand in circle, throw ball to each other, on catchingparticipant introduces

themselves and says one thing they would like to learn fromthe workshop)

10.10 Discussion of observed lesson, question, comments fromparticipants. In depth

questions may be deferred, as they will most likely beanswered in workshop

content

10.20 Demonstration of game Memory may be adapted to use invariety of

situations and for small group activity

10.30 Power Point presentation Big Books followed by presentationto teachers of a

variety of big book ideas prepared by DELC. I have made andpresented ten

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different ideas using everything from conventional materialsto paper plates and

chopping boards!

11.00 Game Beetle (Point out many ways to adapt this game)

11.15 The value of songs, rhymes and chantsRead along as you sing alongThree little monkeysHouchi Kouchi Dance

11.30 Game Have-a-go! A game to have fun with spelling!Play in pairs

11.40 Power point presentation Reading includes discussion ofLiteracy Hour

including shared reading, guided reading, independent workand summing up.

12.10 Game Battleships The name for this game may beinappropriate and could

easily be Find-the-treasure or Find-my-house

12.20 Group discussion see attached sheet

12.40 Groups return to main discussion area and pool ideas,concerns,

misunderstandings and how DELC can meet their needs

Appendix 2

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BIG BOOKS

Presented by Lorraine

Inwood

What is a Big Book?

Just as the title suggests a big book is alarger than usual book, big enough to be

seen by everyone in the class and therefore

to be the focus of the English language

lesson.

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Why use Big Books?

They are the focus of your lesson andthrough them you include the syllabuscontent that you want to teach.

Using big books enables you to model all thestrategies that the children will use tobecome independent readers.

Children learn that reading is purposeful andenjoyable and teacher/pupil interaction is

high.

What can I use?

You can use any book big enough for the wholeclass to see.

It may be commercially produced or you could make

it.

You can use texts adapted from a story or you may

use texts written by the pupils or negotiated with

them.

Any suitable book can be the focus of your lesson.

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To learn to read English pupils must -

Be trained to be able to see the separatesounds in words.

Learn the English sounds of letters andcombinations of letters.

Learn to sound out the separate parts in aword eg sit/ting.

Reinforce the reading cues by writing wordsas they sound.

In Year 1 pupils should -

Be aware of sounds of letters, know somephonic rules and spelling.

Beginning to be aware of rules of English

grammar eg plural etc.

Understand that print carries meaning,

comprehends storyline, writes words and

short phrases.

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Why is the teachers modellingimportant?

Modelling means that the teacher will set an

example as to how something is done

correctly.

The teacher will read at a good speed, read

fluently, pronounce words well and follow the

punctuation marks in the text.

The teacher reads with expression eg angry

when character is angry.

RULES!

Focus on what pupil has achieved not onwhat is not achieved! BE POSITIVE!

GO SLOWLY! Do not give too many things at

one time.

Enjoy you lesson have fun the children

will enjoy it and be enthusiastic.

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Appendix 3

READING

The aim of reading is to

get meaning from the

words contained in a

text.

WHAT DOES READING INVOLVE?

Reading involves many separate skills

combined together. They are not learned

singly but in the context of a whole language

activity.

It is an active and continuous process.

It should be purposeful.

It requires an understanding of the grammar

of the language.

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THE TEACHER SHOULD -

Create a language rich environment

Read to the pupils every day

Make books available to the pupils

Make sure that the pupils read something

every day

Model good reading strategies and

encourage the pupils to use them

A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER -

Does not rush, but proceeds slowly ensuring

skills are mastered

Encourages children to comment and values

their opinions

Encourages risk taking in making guesses

about the meaning of words/texts

Provides a stimulating variety of activities ineach lesson

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THE ENGLISH HOUR

The first half of the lesson is focused on the

big book the teacher reads and then does

some focused word work eg spelling, word

attack skills

For the next 20 mins the children work

independently, with one group working with

teacher, possibly guided reading.

The last 10 mins is summing up.

SHARED READING

The atmosphere is accepting

Mistakes are accepted and corrected without the pupil being aware of it

The teacher reads slowly, word by word andwith expression

She points to the words she is reading

She may read a sentence more than once

The teacher makes the text interesting

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THE TEACHER FOCUSES ON -

Comprehension understand the storyline

The progress and sequence of the story

Characters in the story

Meanings of words

Word level skills

Use of reading cues to check on meaning

Self-correcting skills

Grammatical awareness

Punctuation Understanding of sentence construction

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITIES

Independent reading

Phonic study and spelling practice

Study of grammar, punctuation and sentence

construction

Vocabulary and dictionary work

Sentence building

Doing written work by having to refer to story

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SUMMING UP

Teacher sums up main teaching points

Teacher re-emphasises and reinforces

teaching points

Pupils revise and practise new skills learned

Pupils reflect and clarify their thinking

WHY THE PROGRAM WORKS

There is lots of talk between teacher and

pupils

Pupils feel valued and important

Class time is used to the full

Teachers are confident and expect success

Teachers show pupils (model) how to dosomething and guide them to success

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