programming and planning using the sacsa companion documents

Programming and planning

using the SACSA Companion Documents

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This program is planned for Early Years Standard 1 English

Texts and contexts

Language

Strategies

Planning can be done using the Key Ideas, Outcomes and descriptors in the Companion Documents. This program on morning talks is based around the speaking and listening mode and also addresses the Essential Learning, Communication.

There are many ways to plan programs—this is one example.

Begin by finding the Key Ideas, Outcomes and descriptors relevant to your task.

Use all three strands when planning

Speaking and listening


Uses a variety of greetings

Texts and contexts Thoughts:•What does this mean for us? •Do we need to reassess morning talks? •Is 'Good morning, boys and girls' still appropriate?

Action: Discussion and brainstorming with kids around greetings.

This teacher is planning a program for morning talks. She has begun by looking at a descriptor from texts and contexts to see what implications it might have for her programming.

Uses a variety of greetings


Still looking at texts and contexts, she looks back at the Key Idea.

Texts and contexts

…communicate their ideas and feelings to a familiar audience.

Key Idea:

With an awareness of purpose, they produce a range of spoken texts in order to communicate their ideas and feelings to a familiar audience. ID T C KC2

Thoughts:•Ideas and feelings—must therefore be about things that kids can understand•Familiar audience— that’s OK… that’s our class


She now looks at the language strand. Here she is looking first at the Key Idea.

… to communicate with a range of audiences in the home, school and community.

Key Idea:

Children listen to and interact with familiar audiences for different contexts, and learn about some aspects of spoken language. They produce spoken texts, experimenting with language to communicate with a range of audiences in the home, school and community. T C KC2

Thoughts:Every now and then we need to have someone else listening

Action: Get parents, principal, student teacher to come and watch. Also use a video camera.

Language


She looks at the Key Idea again.

Key Idea:

Children listen to and interact with familiar audiences for different contexts, and learn about some aspects of spoken language. They produce spoken texts, experimenting with language to communicate with a range of audiences in the home, school and community. T C KC2

Language

They produce spoken texts, experimenting with language to communicate…

Thoughts:We need a range of topics…and it can’t just be what they did at the weekend because they won’t experiment with language—it will just be the same thing.

Action: •Brainstorm a list of things with which children are familiar…allow them some choice, eg my favourite toy.•Get them to think of other things they wouldn’t usually have spoken about at morning talks.


She now starts to formulate a plan.

Emerging plan:

Work with children on morning talks, leading to a performance in week 10, which is videoed and to which parents are invited to come and watch.

Preparation:

Prepare children to

•give a performance

•in front of a video

•with parents invited to watch.

Talk about what makes a good speaker

Timetabling—start working towards week 10 and discuss time management


She returns to the language strand, this time looking more closely at descriptors.

Language

Thoughts:With assistance—so there definitely needs to be some help from me here.

Plans and delivers, with assistance, oral presentations to a small range of audiences.


She looks at a further descriptor in the language strand.

Language

Thoughts:The children are going to need to learn this skill.

Maintains a topic while elaborating a central idea

Action: Explicit teaching of concept webs and tying this into different areas.

NB The class later utilised this skill further in writing.


She finds another descriptor in the language strand relevant to morning talks.

Language

Thoughts:The children are going to need to learn this skill.

Includes when, who, where and what in oral recounts

Action: Explicit teaching of concepts of when, who, where and what.


She pauses to reflect on this exercise of program planning.

ThoughtsIt occurred to me that I had never really planned oral language before! You tend

to think ‘Oh, we do lots of talking! We do lots of this sort of stuff!’

This exercise caused me to be very self-reflective. I wondered whether at the end of the year it was still only my good speakers who remained good speakers. Generally that is the case—the good speakers get better, and those who don’t want to speak stay about the same.

I also recognised that, in the past, I had always made morning talks an option—this time it was non-negotiable. But I provided lots of scaffolding for the reluctant speakers and sat out front with them when it was their turn.


Having now gained an idea of the type of ‘texts’ children should be constructing and the type of language they should be using, it was time to look at strategies.

Plans spoken presentations (eg describing who, what, where, when, why, how, feelings).

Thoughts:If kids need to learn how to plan, they need time to do that planning.

Action: •Explicit teaching on developing a plan •Timetable every Monday to be a planning day when I model. For example, for a talk on ‘my family’, I will model a talk on my own family and demonstrate strategies, like bringing in photos. •I will model structures and write headings on the board.

Strategies


She consulted another relevant descriptor in the strategies strand.

Uses conventions for speaking and listening.

Thoughts:This will need explicit teaching and will require some time.

Action: I will explicitly teach and we will discuss:•Good audiences look like…•Good speakers look like…(eg, eye contact, speaking up, cues, practising, how to show something)

Strategies


The strategies strand contained more descriptors relevant to morning talks.

Thoughts:This was so different! I hadn’t in the past considered rehearsal time and had only ever said ‘Who wants to talk this morning?’

Action: Kids will make plans and take them home on Monday nights to practise. If there is any spare time on Mondays after they have completed their plan, they can rehearse with a partner

Strategies

Rehearses spoken presentations which include the appropriate use of a prop.


There was one more descriptor within the strategies strand relevant to morning talks.

Thoughts:How will the kids understand this? This needs modelling.

Action: I will do lots of modelling by speaking in funny voices!

Strategies

Adjusts speaking to match different situations and audiences (eg adjusting volume, expression, intonation, pace.)


Presentation day

On the day in week 10, the kids gave a variety of presentations including:• demonstrations of science experiments• joke telling, with audience participation• magic tricks, where they called for volunteers from the audience• music and dance performances.

All presentations had to include an oral component, including a greeting, an explanation of what they were presenting and a concluding statement. For students who had been stuck for an idea for a presentation, we had found resources in the library on topics they were interested in, such as science experiments and magic tricks.

We had scorers in the audience, although we didn’t do anything with the scores, but it simulated a purpose. We looked at the things that were important, which we had talked about during the last few weeks:

• Were they confident?• Did they speak clearly?• Did they need to look at their words?

Programming is really quite easy if you look for the key words and tease them out. Although I spend a long time planning, I don’t always write a programming rubric as formally as the one for this learning activity.


Programming rubric

J Baillie – Paringa Park PS, 2003 Based on SACSA Teacher Resources Draft Document, English, Early Years

TOPIC: Oral Language- Morning News

Key Idea Intention Learning Activities ICT Outcome

Texts & ContextsWith an awareness of purpose, they produce a range of spoken texts in order to communicate their ideas and feelings to a familiar audience

Planned morning talks4 days/week7 children per morning presenting on a range of agreed topicsTopics change each weekTalks to last 2-3 minutesAble to respond to at least 2 comments or questions from audienceAble to signal beginning and end of talkEncourage use of propsVideo and peer assessment of performance weekTOPICSWeek3 – About Me4 – My Family5 – My Pet6 - Sports7 – Environmental Talks8 - Toys9 – A Holiday10 - Favourite book11 – Performance (magic trick, jokes, plays, songs etc)

model order by having a daily talk introduce who, what, where, when cards to different students in sharing circle for them to monitor and checkin class meetings formalise a greeting that will signal the beginning of a prepared talk and an ending to signal time for questions and comments. (helps prepare the audience) How do we know the News is beginning or our favourite TV programme?discuss off-limit topics and language in class meetingsall agree to participate. All agree to have-a-go and offer support to reluctant speakers. Use buddies

1.2

Language They produce spoken texts, experimenting with language to communicate with a range of audiences in the home, school and community.

develop a usable easy plan – have headings and room for pictures and/or text to help cue speakers. Model its use in guided writing timemodel staying on a topic/not staying on a topic. What doesn’t go? Brainstorm list for set topics so preparation time is accounted for. Use the who, what, where when cards after some practices to check that they have been included in the oral recountpeer evaluation

-record rehearsal on tape to allow students to evaluate own talk

1.6

StrategiesThey communicate personal ideas and opinions by experimenting with strategies for planning, composing and presenting spoken texts in familiar community situations.

time given for planning every Monday. Roster of days for students sent home in diaries. Planning sheets also used in writing to allow for increased familiarityuse Y, T chart to brainstorm what listeners look likeallow for question or comment time-no more than 2 per speaker and model questions or comments that add information not rehash already givenprogramme for rehearsal time. Rehearse with a friend, with table group and with Yr 5 buddy. Teacher conference for 1 day group per week.model each topic using props eg videos, photos, headings and setting up displaysinform parents/caregivers

-WordArt for headings to accompany displays-operate VCR -intro-duction to PowerPoint-using photos (digital and film) for props

1.10

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