New Monkland Primary. Active Literacy Primary 4-7. A Guide for Parents

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1 New Monkland Primary Active Literacy Primary 4-7 A Guide for Parents This leaflet will provide you with information on how spelling and phonics, reading and writing are taught at New Monkland Primary and how you can support your child at home.

2 Spelling and Phonics - Stages 4 and 5 The children are taught in a block of four weeks, with two weeks being focussed on teaching phonemes and their representations, one week on strategy spelling and one week on spelling rules. In the first two weeks of the programme, the focus is on teaching the different representations of a phoneme sound. For example, the sound k can be made by c, k, ck and ch. This involves independent and partner tasks to consolidate their phonological awareness. Diacritical Marking As part of the programme, the children are introduced to diacritical marking. Diacritical marking involves investigating words recognising and identifying which phonemes are contained within each word. Children are involved in listening carefully, enunciating the words accurately and using the diacritical marking code to identify individual sounds and blends.

3 Spelling Strategies In week 3 of the programme your child is taught the Thinking Strategies Approach. This involves the children using common word units or making their own personal spelling word list. Spelling Strategies (Week Three) Strategies children are taught: Using Phoneme Knowledge (sounding out). Syllabification breaking words down into syllables. The children can clap out words to identify syllables, e.g. go-ing/an-drew Word Shape Look at letter shape, size, ascending and descending letters. Tricky Letters Looking at the position of tricky letters as an aid to spelling. Compound Words Breaking the compound word into simple words, e.g. into makes in and to. Mnemonic using an aide memoire, e.g. because Big Elephants Can Add Up Sums Easily. Using Analogy If you know how to spell one word you can spell similar words, e.g. if you can spell hill, you can spell mill, will, fill, etc. Week Four This will involve the children in learning and using a spelling rule. Your child will select and revisit all of the problem solving phonics into spelling and thinking strategies they have used over the month.

4 At Home For phoneme words - you can help your child identify words which contain the different representations of the phoneme, e.g. in newspapers, in and around the home, outwith the home. For Common Words - you can discuss what strategy they would use to help them remember to spell each word. Often the funniest ones stick with us! Spelling and Phonics - Stages 6 and 7 Children are taught spelling in 2 main ways at stages 6 and 7. They are taught common words appropriate to their stage, interdisciplinary learning, writing genre features or current school events. Spelling strategies and spelling rules continue to be the focus for teaching these types of words. Children will work with partners to problem solve how they can remember the spelling of these words. Word Building The second part of the spelling programme is looking at word building. Children are taught about affixes and root words and their meanings. In this way children can understand the grammatical elements of word building and deepen their understanding of words by investigating root words, adding appropriate prefixes and suffixes, and understanding how these affect the meaning of a word.

5 Meaning Root word consider to think about re (again) reconsider think about again ate (state of) considerate showing thought As well as affixes, children are taught about homophones and confusions. Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings are called homophones, e.g. ate and eight. Words that can sound or are spelled similarly and are often mixed up are called confusions, e.g. conscience and conscious. At Home You can play games with words by seeing who can make the most words from a root word, e.g. help, helpful, unhelpful, helpless, helpfully, helplessly. Reading Your child is taught through a four part approach to reading, comprising of:- Fluency Comprehension Writing linked to reading/novel Talking and Listening linked to reading/novel

6 The reading texts selected have been recommended by North Lanarkshire Council as they provide quality opportunities for reflection and discussion. Rather than a traditional reading scheme, your child will experience a wider range of texts from different authors, with different styles and contexts. Often there are chapters of the novel for your child to read and prepare at home. The teacher at certain times over the course of the 6 week block will focus on fluency but will no longer solely hear reading. The teacher will instead discuss the text, encouraging higher order thinking and critical literacy skills. These skills are developed through the teaching of 6 comprehension strategies: Prior Knowledge Metalinguistics (understanding/reflecting literal/ implied meaning of words) Visualisation Inference Main Idea Summarisation And at stage 7 Paraphrasing is taught on the

7 Writing and Talking Linked to Reading The four part programme stresses the need for children to be talking and writing about texts they have read in order to improve their ability to identify and comprehend its main messages. At Home You can encourage your child to read at home and for sustained periods of time, ensuring they are covering the chapter(s) which have been identified that week in school. You could assist them if they are unsure about the pronunciation or meaning of a word. You could ask them about what happens in the chapters they have read to check their understanding. Having texts at home or visiting the library can support your child in their development of reading and writing. You might ask about:- The characters What do they think will happen next? What has your child enjoyed so far? What has happened in the chapter they have just read? Where is the story set? Writing Your child has opportunities through the reading programme and interdisciplinary work to write on a daily basis. Daily writing may also be linked to specific events or spelling and can take a variety of forms including note taking, research tasks, fact files, etc. Each week all children are taught the specific features and vocabulary for a specific genre of writing.

8 Genres of Writing include:- Narrative (personal and imaginative writing) Persuasive Explanation Report Recount Instructional 2B Discursive Writing The purpose of discursive writing is to present an argument and information from different viewpoints. The writer should present an argument for and an argument against supported by evidence. Discursive Writing Understand the Purpose and Audience (who and why you are writing) A clear opening statement to explain the subject/issue being discussed Provide background information with some detail Present arguments for and against substantiated by some evidence. State both sides clearly and balance your argument (on the one hand, on the other hand etc). Use words to reinforce an argument Use a formal, impersonal style and write in the third person Use appropriate connectives, eg. therefore, consequently etc. The final section should contain a restatement of the issue and show the writer s point of view The conclusion should bring the argument to a satisfactory closure but should encourage the reader to think further about the subject And, at second level, Discursive Interdisciplinary Writing Your child will have further opportunities to apply what is taught in the writing lesson in different curricular areas. This enables the teacher and child to make connections in their learning and to apply writing skills in different contexts. At Home As your child completes written homework tasks you can encourage them to check and proof read their work. If they have made a mistake, guide them through by giving the clues, You have 1 mistake in the paragraph with a capital letter. You have 1 mistake in punctuation. Check your sentence makes sense.