Lancashire Literacy Strategy

Lancashire Literacy Strategy The Learning Environment Developing Display in Your School Developed by the Lancashire Literacy Consultants working with Lancashire Literacy Co-ordinators and Leading Literacy Teachers

The Learning Environment Developing Display in Your School Introduction This booklet will support co-ordinators as they evaluate and develop the learning environment in their school. It was produced by Literacy Co-ordinators and Leading Literacy Teachers in Lancashire over a series of courses delivered in the autumn term 2002. This booklet will help co-ordinators as they use the audit forms in the Literacy Co-ordinators file. Using the audit, they will be able to identify strengths and weaknesses in their schools. This booklet will then help them to develop display and learning prompts in the school. It can also be used by classroom teachers to help develop their own classroom learning environment. The suggestions for learning prompts are identified by year groups and will help teachers identify and develop the prompts they use with their children. 1

Display Ensure that displays are up to date they can become part of the furniture after a time. Bright, cheerful and colourful two and three D displays add interest and variety. Interactive displays can ensure engagement and consolidation. Where space is at a premium, displays can be developed using albums, big books, charts or pictures which children can return to from time to time. Ensure that display is at the eye level of the children wherever possible and involve them in developing the display. This will increase their sense of ownership and they will be more likely to use and refer to the resources. Much of the work created in the shared session e.g. text marking, writing frames can be directly displayed on the walls to give the children immediate and appropriate support as they work independently. What can display do? Display shows the ethos of the classroom. Celebrate children s work ensure that all children are represented Create a lively, colourful, interesting environment Give examples of expectations from children of kinds of work and presentation of work e.g. role model boards Develop interaction with the displayed work to support or encourage the children Show class, group and individual targets and celebrate their attainment What kinds of display? Graffiti walls can children add limericks, powerful verbs, interesting phrases Cross curricular work Table top display for active engagement e.g. magnetic letters/whiteboards Key vocabulary common words, better words for said Pictures, diagrams, samples of writing, examples of text types The process of writing/learning to spell e.g. Look Cover Write Check Annotated writing Speech bubbles Display of library loans related to current work/topics Questions Familiar illustrations/links e.g. Floppy Book characters Pictures/diagrams visual e.g. photographs showing children engaged in the process Challenge boards Can you? How many? Genre check lists 2

Interactive display Lift the flaps Washing lines Achievement boards Children add to displays to enhance and develop e.g. spelling patterns Key questions linked to the displays Learning Prompts Supporting children in their independent work is very important. The work undertaken in the shared and guided sessions of the literacy hour often presents children with prompts to support them in their reading, writing and word level work. Developing the use of these prompts in classroom display will help to ensure that these skills are transferred and that the children have clear examples on which to base their work. The following pages exemplify learning prompts which are year group specific. 3

Reception Text Level Opportunities for children to write/read in the role play area include writing frames appropriate to the theme Book corner where children can read quietly Opportunity for children to read the text shared by the whole class in the book corner Provide pointers for the children to use when they are in the book corner Book of the week, with a voting box for children to respond using a smiley/sad face card Writing table lots of resources, e.g. pens, pencils, felt pens, crayons, coloured paper, envelopes, etc. Books with finger puppets Story boxes decorated shoe box containing small world play resources on a theme e.g. Bob the Builder, the pet shop, dinosaurs, characters from a story Instructions for how to carry out tasks around the classroom, with pictures/photographs and captions Listening area Displays using well known phrases from books Nursery rhymes displayed Arrows to show that reading and writing goes from left to right Lists for the children to sign and tick, e.g. I have been on the computer 4

Sentence Level Label/caption some resources with a full sentence, e.g. The Lego is in here. Simple captions on displays making use of high frequency words Write a daily question for the children to respond to, on a board close to where they come in Sentence makers Sentence starters, e.g. I am, I can, I like, I went Word Level Alphabet washing line Letters on laminated cards, big enough to follow with a finger Tactile letters playdough, magnetic, sand High Frequency Word Tree words on card and laminated, stuck to the tree with Velcro so that the children can remove them and use them as required. Labels on all resources, accompany with pictures (old YPO/HOPE etc. catalogues are an excellent place to find pictures of your resources) Children s names on laminated card use for self registration Matching children s names to photographs Display the days of the week and the months of the year provide opportunities for children to order the words Picture dictionaries Letter/word games and puzzles Upper and lower case letter matching Onset-rime lists interactive displays where the children can change the initial sound 5

Year 1 Text Level Specific prompts to support current literacy focus, e.g. examples of captions and labels, simple checklist reminders of key features of a sentence; Prompts to support the process of writing, e.g. - Talk to a friend before you write your sentence - Good writers in class 2 always think before they write - How to be a good talk partner. Displays which encourage children to engage, e.g. adding words to sentences, putting in full stops using blu-tack, labelling parts of a text title, cover page, blurb etc; A collection of super story starters/ key features of story language taken from texts read e.g. There once lived a wicked Troll Have a WOW board to display children s writing; A list of I will statements for writing, e.g. - I will always try to use some words that I have never used before; A list of Wow words collected from texts read. Pictures of characters from stories read with characteristics described around them; Collect endings of stories for display, e.g. and they all lived happily ever after. Develop a story wall, display children s pictures of a story in sequence and add captions/sentences to tell the story. A collection of outlines of story plots, e.g. captions, pictures, arrows etc to record main incidents in order; 6

Collect simple questions to use as part of an interactive display, e.g. Where is the Little Red Riding Hood? How many? Etc; A collection of favourite poems in a class anthology; A list of poetic sentences ; A writing frame for a recount First, next, after, when etc; Class book about, e.g. Our Day at the Zoo ; Sentence Level A list of SUPER Sentences; Interactive displays where children can change words around in sentences or add to sentences; Reminders to use capital letters and full stops; Question board Is this a sentence or a caption? Children can add stick on question marks; Sentences with words covered so that children can predict what the word might be, let them select from a group of words which would fit; When to use a capital letter display; Word Level A word wall with removable high-frequency words for children to access independently; A word display highlighting key words from literacy lessons; Spelling/phonic prompts, such as table-top laminated alphabet strips, washing line alphabets, families of spellings, class dictionaries, topic word collections, phoneme frames; Reminders of the process of spelling What do we do when we get stuck? How can we find out? Who else can help us? 7

Try it papers/white boards on tables for children to use; Magnetic letters to try words out; Alphabet display situated where children can see it during shared word work; A how to form your letters display; Consonant clusters to add to parts of words displayed on the wall, e.g. ip (sl, bl, tr etc); A list of words and their plurals this could be interactive; Past and present tense sentences; Vowel/consonant wall display for children to refer to. 8

Year 2 Text level Examples of story starters space for children to add their favourites Exciting ideas for interesting endings Appropriate connectives to use to make writing more effective connectives for time How many time words can you use in your story? Have you tried. first after later the next day eventually Writing frames linked to types of writing used in literacy and other curricular areas Prompts for using working/listening partners Use boxes which can be turned with a prompt on each side e.g. SAY WRITE READ Large 3D pencil each side has a different suggestion for the audience of a piece of writing Story wheels with suggestions for the different element of a story Character profiles Sentence level Support writing speech highlight speech in different colours to other parts of the text link with speech bubbles to reinforce. What makes a good sentence? examples 9

Punctuation pointers Word level High frequency words displayed or laminated examples on tables. Months/days/cross curricular vocabulary Suggestions of what to do if you get stuck spelling a word Same sound/different spelling display Interactive phonics work Lists of synonyms Spelling strategies suggestions and examples for self help Juicy words to describe character 10

Year 3 General Objectives for lesson Class and group targets What to do if you finish your work Word Level High frequency words Alphabet chart Word families Spelling Chart: What to do if you get stuck on a word Themed word banks Spelling strategies Spelling rules linked to objectives e.g.: Two syllable words with double consonants Homophones to/two/too Verb endings ed/ing Prefixes and suffixes Sentence level Punctuation prompts: Rules for adding speech marks Conjunctions Time connectives Using commas in a sentence Apostrophe to mark possession 11

Interactive wall displays e.g. Sentence of the day/week Sentence beginnings Rules for capitalisation Plurals investigations List of powerful verbs Interactive verb wall adding ing / ed Adjective banks Text level Writing prompts Shared writing modelled by the teacher Annotated children s work Planning frames for different genres Story starters Story endings Genre checklist linked to text types studied e.g.: Information texts Non chronological reports Instructions Letters Myths and legends Cross curricular links to Literacy Character descriptions Different types of poetry Marking key How to edit your work Book reviews Presentation tips Self help strategies 12

Year Four Word Level Prompts Suffixes machine input root word> root word + suffix Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check Spelling games/cards linked to a spelling rule Spelling challenges e.g. can you spot the small word inside the big word? Topic Words Word Bank posters Sentence Level Prompts Alternative words for said Connectives list Powerful verbs display Tenses machines- input past > present > future Better adjectives flower centre of flower nice children write on petals with improved suggestions Grammar tricky areas display prompts Speech conventions poster Text Level Prompts Text type/genre checklists Book area with children s book reviews Range of texts linked closely to genre range being studied Questions board where pupils can respond to a stimulating display in other curriculum areas Book areas with questions next to topic related books e.g. can you find out about? Poetry boxes with activity prompt cards next to them Role on the wall character studies from text drawn inside silhouette Big books from the shared session displayed on stands with post-it labels pointing out genre features Interactive writing display Shared Writing - Work in Progress examples with annotations/commentary Letter writing frames 13

Writing corner with different writing materials Easy access to dictionaries, thesauri, reference books etc. List of story openings/endings Proof reading/editing checklist Writing prompt sheet Editing Partner prompts e.g. One thing I really liked about your story was...can you tell me more about Self-help Prompts What to do if I get stuck list What to do if I can t spell a word chart I can targets relating to objectives Classroom/School rules Lesson Objectives Clearly labelled resources 14

Year Five Word Level Objectives; Interactive displays adding prefixes and suffixes; adding to lists of spellings; matching tasks; Spelling rules; Spelling tips; Mnemonics; Cross-curricular vocabulary; Spelling caterpillars; Labels; Word walls; Targets Alternatives to said Alternatives to nice, sad, noisy, happy, etc. Amazing adjectives, powerful verbs, astounding adverbs; Topic word lists; Definitions/ glossary poster; Persuasive phrases; Plurals; Sentence Level Objectives; Time Connectives; Sequence connectives; Grammatical terminology silly sentence containing every word class; 15

Targets; Punctuation reminders; Always put yourself last in a list of people Blank speech bubbles to fill in; New sentence displayed each week and written in different ways reordered; Text Level Objectives; Key features of text types; Story starters and endings; Reminders of purposes and audiences; Picture prompts to include senses: What can the character hear, see, feel, see, taste? Work in progress shared writing book; Interactive daily message boards; Class anthologies; Individual writing portfolios; Gallery of work; Book Reviews; Author profiles; Writing partners; Writing frames narrative and non-narrative; Targets Authorial intent prompts and ways to express opinions Editing symbols Writing process reminders for each stage; Questions Have you included Checklist for drafting/editing etc; 16

Examples of expressing moods, characters, feelings; Examples of similes and metaphors; Dialogue layout; Handwriting formation chart; Examples of titles appropriate to week s genre; Collect and classify shades of meaning; Idiomatic phrases; Self-Help Dictionaries; Thesauruses; Genre vocabulary cards fantasy words and phrases; sci-fi words and phrases; How to work independently; Think of a sentence, say the sentence, write the sentence, read the sentence. Planning formats skeletons Timetable; Labelled drawers and cupboards; 17

Year 6 Text Statements to support personal response to texts It makes me imagine, The author is saying, It gives the impression that, It s the author s way of saying,it makes me feel Genre Checklists fiction and non-fiction, identifying key features of different text types. Include specific examples of features taken from Shared Texts. Agreed plan/framework for the current piece of writing. Shared writing/children s writing with key features labelled. Examples of different planning formats for different text types e.g. spidergram, timeline etc Editing symbols to use when editing writing. Character reminders that authors present characters through action, dialogue and description. Collection of examples found in reading. Story openings collections of story openings, sorted into categories, e.g. stories that start with dialogue, stories that start with action, descriptive openings, other devices such as exclamations, questions etc. Paragraphs reminders of when to start a new paragraph. Definitions and examples of figurative language, e.g. metaphor, simile, personification. 18

Word Word roots, prefixes and suffixes lists which children can add to as they come across more examples. Collections of connectives types and examples of usage. Glossaries of technical/historical vocabulary related to text type being studied, e.g. scientific explanation, historical story. Word origins lists of words coming from Latin, Greek, Old English etc. Spelling rules and strategies. Useful mnemonics for commonly mis-spelt or tricky words. Collections of proverbs and idioms with meanings. Sentence A sentence written vertically with word classes indicated beside each word. Sentence building activity (perhaps from Grammar for Writing) involving reordering sentences, or constructing complex sentences. Laminated clauses or words could be rearranged to create new sentences. How to use more sophisticated punctuation colon, semi-colon, dashes, brackets etc. Collections of persuasive words and phrases gathered from reading, e.g. leaflets, holiday brochures, advertisements. Dialogue guidance for setting out dialogue in text. 19

Special Schools and Units There is a difference between what would be expected in one kind of special school compared to another. This is a list covering a range of different types of provision. Symbolic or pictorial timetable Signs, labels and symbols Stimulating displays (not suitable for all children in special schools) A range of different types of writing Multi-sensory displays Children s work Examples of different genre types Displays of books / authors Texts relating to other areas of the curriculum Objects of reference Photographs Tactile objects Children s names Labelled equipment Alphabet strips Key words Topic words Reading scheme characters School rules Days of the week and months of the year Literacy targets 20