Shine in-depth training

Dr Jacqui Dornbrack

Focus on four aspects

1. The complexity of the reading process

2. Teaching phonics

3. Teaching reading

4. Teaching writing

Reading and the brain

• We were not born to read(no genetic disposition)• Recently acquired cultural invention that requires

something new from existing structures in the brain

• Reading can only take place because of the brain’s ‘plastic’ design

• When reading takes place the brain is changed forever both physiologically and intellectually

• Eg a person who learns to read in Chinese uses a different set of pathways to when they read in English. Hence we are what we read

When do we learn to read/

• Process begins as soon as an infant is read to

• ‘how often this happens, or fails to happen, in the first five years of childhood turns out to be one of the best predictors of later reading’ (Wolf, 2007:20).

• By kindergarten a gap of 32 million words already separates some children in linguistically impoverished homes from their more stimulated peers (Wolf, 2007:20)

• Reading for pleasure not modelled (usually associated with school & work)

• Children with a rich repertoire of words and their associations will experience a text/conversation very differently from children who not not have the same stored words and concepts

• We bring our entire store of meanings to whatever we read

• isiXhosa and Afrikaans are phonetic languages (direct link between sounds and letters)

• English is a phonemic language (complex link between letters and sounds; many exceptions and many distinctions between vowel sounds (21 English vowel sounds!!!)

• This makes learning it very difficult

Learning to read a language you don’t know

• Ear-training (auditory memory)

• Discriminate between sounds

• Remember the acoustic qualities of sounds

• Compare sounds with memory images

• Form speech sounds (‘gymnastics of the vocal organs’)

3 cueing strategies for reading

1. Grapho-phonic (grapheme and phonemes)

2. Syntactic (knowledge of language structures)

3. Semantic (Knowledge of the word and the world)

Meaning is in the person not the word!!!

Phonics

• Have to learn to recognise various speech-sounds

• Learn to make sounds with own organs of articulation

• Learn to use these sounds in their proper places

• Learn the sound-attributes (length, pitch, stress)

• Learn to join the sounds

Grade 3 Phonics (CAPS)

• Uses words that are pronounced and spelt the same but have different meanings (homophones) eg trap,

• Uses words that sound the same but are spelt differently (hear, here; bare, bear….

• Builds 3, 4 and 5-letter words

• Sorts letters and words into alphabetical order

• Spells words correctly using their phonic knowledge

Showing the ‘I’ sound

Segmenting sounds

Visual reference for vowels

Need for automaticity

• Working memory (cognitive blackboard) has to work even harder when you are unfamiliar with structures, words, sounds and concepts

• Can lessen the load by: Improving speed (sight words & eye movement (and finger movement!!)

• and scaffolding text more through visuals and prediction

Paired/Independent Reading

• Reads own and others writing

• Reads aloud to a partner

• Reads independently simple fiction

• and non-fiction books and books from different cultures, books read in Shared

Reading sessions, magazines and

comics

Grade 3 reading

• Reads enlarged texts such as fiction and non-fiction big books, newspaper articles, plays, dialogues and electronic texts (computer texts)

• Reads book and discusses the main idea, the characters, the ‘problem’ in the story, the plot and the values in the text

• Answers a range of higher order questions based on the passage read

Grade 3 reading continued

• Reads different poems on a topic

• Uses visual cues to talk about a graphical text, e.g. advertisements, pictures, graphs, charts and maps

• Finds and uses sources of information, e.g. community members, library books• Uses table of contents, index and page numbers to find information

• Uses key words and headings to find information in non-fiction texts

• Uses a dictionary to find new vocabulary and their meanings

Reading for meaning

• Meanings of words, sentences, visuals,

• Importance of prediction

• Inferred meanings

• Use task words such as: identify, point out, describe, show, locate, list, contrast, summarise, classify….

• Draw attention to language structure and punctuation

Grade 2 writing

• Participates in a discussion and contributes ideas• Experiments with words: writes a simple poem or song

• Writes at least two paragraphs (ten sentences) on personal experiences or events such as a family celebration

• Drafts, writes and publishes own story of at least two paragraphs, using language such as ‘once upon a time’ and ‘in the end’

Grade 2 writing continued

• Organizes information in a chart or table

• Uses informational structures when writing (eg recipes)

• Sequences text by using words like ‘first’, ‘next’ and ‘finally’

• Uses correct punctuation (full stops, commas, question marks and exclamation marks) so that others can read what has been written

• Spells common words correctly and attempts to spell unfamiliar words using phonic knowledge

• Uses present, past and future tenses correctly

Writes a selection of short texts for different purposes, e.g. writes recounts, dialogues• Writes about personal experiences in different forms, e.g. writes a short newspaper article• Drafts, writes, edits and ‘publishes’ own story of at least two paragraphs (at least 12 sentences) for others to read• Writes and illustrates six to eight sentences on a topic to contribute to a book for the class library• Uses informational structures when writing, e.g. experiments, recipes• Keeps a diary for one week

Grade 3 Writing

• Writes a simple book review

• Sequences information and puts it under headings

• Summarises and records information, e.g. using mind maps

• Uses punctuation correctly, e.g. capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, invertedcommas, apostrophes in contractions)

• Uses conjunctions to form compound sentences

• Uses phonics knowledge and spelling rules to write more difficult words

• Uses a dictionary

• Writes a simple book review

• Writes at least two paragraphs (ten or more sentences) on personal experiences such as daily news or a school event

• Uses correct grammar so that others can read and understand what has been written

• Uses phonics knowledge and spelling rules to write unfamiliar words

• Uses punctuation correctly; capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks and inverted commas

Writing assessment Grade 3 term 2

Writing you can do at Shine

• Write lists

• Write about family, food, pets, transport

• Write descriptions (house, friend, mom,…)

• Write a card (thank you, birthday….)

• Write a headline

• Write short poem

• Dictate and create sentences