Using short rhymes and other texts to enhance reading comprehension in Year 4 The school The school is a large junior school in the West Midlands that accommodates 500 pupils. It is situated in an area of local authority housing, but there are some surrounding pockets of owner-occupied property. About 20% of the pupils come from ethnic minority backgrounds. 27% of the pupils receive free school meals and 34% of all pupils are on the special needs register. The school has attached great importance to developing and sharing resources for learning and teaching, in the form of artefacts, technical facilities, electronic and paper-based materials. It is perhaps the best equipped primary school with ICT in the local area. It was one of the pilot schools in the National Grid for Learning and has a significantly greater number of computers in the school than average. Instead of distributing computers in each classroom, most of the computers in the school are kept in four computer suites. Part of the reason for this is for security, though it also supports the school s approach to targeted group and whole class teaching. Four in Y6. Other suites are used by whole classes in weekly timetabled sessions, or to support subject learning more selectively. The teacher The teacher in the project has more than twenty years of teaching experience. He has special responsibility for science and the school curriculum as a whole. His personal preference is for teaching mathematics and science rather than language and literacy, and he has a strong interest in children exploring areas of knowledge and learning how to solve problems. He sees himself as a thoughtful and reflective practitioner, not afraid if necessary to make substantial changes in the way he teaches. We talk about the things that we feel we want to keep for future planning and about things that did not go well, which we may drop or adapt to make them more successful. He places high value on making learning exciting for children: I like to think that my teaching motivates the children, and I think that really is at the heart of all learning, that the children want to be motivated and enjoy what they do. You get better results if that happens... I think that an exciting activity makes the children better motivated than purely working from a worksheet or a book. The school commissioned a local artist to disguise the security features of the computer rooms. One of the suites is dedicated to work with an Integrated Learning System, which is used by all pupils thought to need extra support if they are to achieve NC Level While believing it is important for teachers to lead lessons according to well-prepared plans and in which whole-class teaching features strongly, the teacher has the longterm aim of children becoming independent learners. Effective pedagogy using ICT for literacy and numeracy in primary schools 74
For example, when they're writing something and using ICT, we'll show them the outline of how to do certain things, but then I want them to go further forward, develop their own strategies, because children can often find other ways of doing things, rather than me telling them exactly what to do. The school wanted to involve other teachers in the school in the development work, believing that this would add momentum and bring greater benefits to the school and its pupils. In the first year three other teachers in Year 4 became involved, one of whom was the ICT co-ordinator. From the following autumn the development work was expanded to include Year 5 as the ICT co-ordinator changed year group. This reflects the school curriculum coordinator's view that development is best supported by colleagues working together and keeping everyone informed. I think the staff that I've worked with have been a very important influence on me. Also local and national initiatives have been important. You need to keep up to date with all the different things that are going on. I think support from colleagues is really important in this. The school was also part of the National Literacy Project piloting. The teacher feels this has supported his teaching of English and is an example of what has supported his development. I think a good example is the National Literacy Project which we've been doing for two years here. Initially there was a lot of planning to make sure that the children would benefit from it. Now that it's up and running I think it's a very effective way of teaching language, where everything's linked together. He felt that the NLP linkage between text, sentence and word level work was beneficial. Taking both the main activity and the grammatical skills activities from one text adds cohesion to the teaching of language skills. He does not consider that he has exceptional skills in ICT though both before and during the project he worked hard to ensure that he could use ICT effectively in his teaching. When we had our main ICT suite opened two years ago all the staff were given training after school so we actually had our hands on regularly. Also we went through the material produced by the ICT co-ordinator, so we became more confident. Although it meant perhaps just keeping one step ahead of the children, at least we knew we were on safe ground, we knew where we were going. The teacher also saw that it would be beneficial for his professional development if he had his own computer. At the same time I bought myself a PC for home use which I thought I needed to. I also felt it would be useful to do things at home that I could then translate back into school. The pupils The intake of pupils spans a wide range of ability. For example there were four children with SEN (Stages 3-5) in the target class and four came from families where English is not the first language. However the school tackles raising standards of all pupils effectively and this has been recognised in the school s latest OFSTED inspection, with excellent being one of the frequent descriptors used in the report. Similarly, the PIPS results indicate that the school as a whole achieves high pupil learning gains. The aims of the project Following an OFSTED recommendation, the school wished to help develop pupils' comprehension skills in ways that were relatively open-ended. Accordingly they welcomed the idea of pupils generating questions, since it emphasised thinking and discussion rather the completion of mechanical exercises. The aim was to have pupils engage at a deeper level with texts and for them to talk about meaning and language in the process. Accordingly they Effective pedagogy using ICT for literacy and numeracy in primary schools 75
used a variety of cloze texts presented on OHP and discussed options for the gaps, as well as doing comprehension work with prepared passages and previous test papers. Several lessons were also spent in the classroom without using ICT to focus on the use of activities which involved question generation. This was intended as preparation for later work in which computer-presented reading material would be followed-up with similar question generation worksheets and discussion. The activities were aimed at enhancing pupils reading comprehension at word, sentence and text level. 4. Making use of reasoning and inference to extract, summarise and predict on the basis of ideas contained in the text. In addition to the focus on comprehension, it was planned to use speech-supported electronic text more generally to support literacy development, both in reading and writing. The multimedia version of Textease/Softease and TextHELP!/Lorien were selected as the main vehicles for this. Both were introduced to teachers, but were not used for the presentation of speechsupported text during the summer term. It is important to note that these plans fitted in with other aspects of developing policy and practice in the school. For example, overhead projectors were being extensively used by all teachers, paired work and the use of writing frames were being encouraged, and in Year 5 there were daily 15-minute periods of sustained reading when children were encouraged to ask and answer questions. The teacher s choices All the teachers in Year 4 tried out some question-generation material, using overhead projectors to display short rhymes and to model the formulation and answering of questions. To introduce the procedure in a structured way two worksheets were used. They directed pupils to work on the aspects below: 1. Reinforcing vocabulary and comprehension skills by responding to, devising and answering factual questions about the texts. 2. Understanding the conventions of language and graphics. 3. Encouraging pupils to make up and discuss prompted but relatively openended questions about the short rhymes and to suggest answers. Question Time [1]Write down a word from the rhyme and say what it means. = [2]Make up and then answer a question about the rhyme and the picture.? Answer: [3]Finish the question: Why when you are tired? Finish the answer: You stretch. [4]Make up a how? question:? Answer your question using the rhyme: An example of one of the rhyme and question generation activities Pupils generally performed quite well in the first two aspects. This indicated good understanding of the vocabulary and the linguistic conventions at word and phrase level. Initial performance in question generation varied between pupils, with factual questions proving easier than reasoning and more open-ended questions. About half of the pupils had difficulty in generating an appropriate answer to a question they made up with a 'What kind? prompt. Some pupils made a statement or gave an answer when the task required them to generate a question. However, about 85% of the pupils were able to give a sensible answers to the questions they devised. The teachers felt that the activity had been both enjoyable and thoughtprovoking and could lead to greater understanding of text through devising, sharing and evaluating a range of suggested questions and answers. Effective pedagogy using ICT for literacy and numeracy in primary schools 76
Teachers received some training in the use of the Textease software, but it was not introduced to pupils for classroom use in the first term. The planned change of computer platform to PC's was the main reason for this. They decided to wait before introducing the software to pupils to avoid having to adapt to different version of the software Pupils continued the pattern of established practice of going to the ICT suite for a weekly ICT lesson to support the development of ICT skills and their application to curricular areas. Targeted groups of five pupils from each class who needed to improve their literacy skills also continued to have their own daily literacy hour which included work on the Integrated Learning System software Global English. The rhymes and related worksheets were also available to these pupils in electronic and paper form. In addition, the school encouraged pupils to work on educational software outside of school hours. The results from the testing - summer term Over the eight-week summer term intervention period, both the target class and another using similar approaches an which was included in the testing made most impressive gains of 14 months on our chosen measure of reading comprehension, the Hodder Reading Progress Test (RPT4). This suggested that the school's emphasis on developing comprehension was already bearing fruit, as both classes were ahead of national norms by the end of the summer term. On the 10-minute writing task 'On My Way to School' both classes made significant gains in the number of words written, as well as a significant improvement in spelling in the second class. The written work of both classes compared well in quantity, quality and accuracy with that produced in other project schools situated in more favourable catchment areas. Developing this approach The teachers in Year 4 and 5 were keen to develop the approach in the following academic year, in particular through the use of Textease, both for reading and writing, including writing down the questions they generated in response to texts. However, it was agreed that a start would not be made until November 1998, as a new computer suite and new equipment had to be set up. In preparation for this, three members of staff attended a training day organised by project staff and the ICT co-ordinator provided in-school training for all staff in the use of Textease, as well as in the use of the new PC's. In the second phase of the project, after the installation of new equipment, the school extended the paired work they had started in the classrooms to work on the computers. Pupils wrote collaborative stories and completed stories that other pairs of pupils had begun. The teacher felt that speech support was especially helpful in the process of redrafting as both the author and a 'critical friend' would know if the composed text sounded right. At the same time, the teacher believed that the finished product should sometimes be hand-written, as good handwriting was also a valued part of established practice throughout the school. Using the computers was also found to help pupils in their understanding of the question generation activities, as they could use the speech to help them read words, sentences and whole texts as they chose. Reading challenging texts with the support of computer speech was an important feature of the project for all pupils and became a special focus with a Year 5 class. With the permission of the publishers, the project team had prepared electronic versions of a number of the FunFax/Henderson books, using a selection of the original graphics and adding spoken definitions of harder vocabulary items. The teachers felt that the pupils found the activities, based on short rhymes and the FunFax materials, were exciting and enjoyable and that the speech function focused pupils' attention on the text as well as providing support in reading. When speech was used to support writing, they noted that some of the pupils preferred to use this facility to check at the end when their work was completed whereas others relied upon it more heavily to reassure them that what they were writing made sense. Effective pedagogy using ICT for literacy and numeracy in primary schools 77
An example of one of the Funfax pages. Pupils could use speech support to help read the text and get definitions read for some of the words placed on the right hand side The spell-checker function in Textease can be set to work automatically and identify words it does not recognise by highlighting them. This encouraged pupils to correct their work as they completed it. However, it should be noted that, because of the delay in beginning phase 2 of the project, relatively little speech-supported writing had been done before the final progress assessments were completed. The results from the testing - autumn term easier for teachers to use and exchange resources. They will also use TextHELP to provide speech support for applications where text can be selected, especially CD roms. This will make more challenging text accessible to all pupils. Other areas prioritised for development are the use of the Internet and e-mail communication. Staff will also be looking for more effective ways of using ICT to support numeracy and mathematical understanding. Improving motivation and performance in spelling has been identified as an area of concern by the teachers. The intention is to introduce personal reference cards of highfrequency hard-to-spell words. These will be kept in electronic form so that they can be updated and printed out for the pupils on a regular basis. The target Y4 class again showed an impressive mean gain in reading comprehension, amounting to 18 months over a four-month period that included the Christmas break. A mean gain of 15 months was recorded both for another Y4 class (not taken by the original phase 1 teacher, who had left) and for the Y5 class. There was also evidence of statistically significant improvement on each aspect of the writing task, although the pattern across classes was not consistent. Low-attaining pupils from the three classes who had been using ILS in addition to the ICT project work made a significant improvement in the quantity and quality of writing produced in 10 minutes, and according to our tests made a mean reading comprehension gain of six months over the four-month period. Future plans The school has recently updated its computers in the computer suite with multimedia PC's and has installed over 80 Internet access points. The teachers in the school have identified a number of areas for further development which includes having networked versions of software to make it A smaller computer room where the decoration has turned security into a feature. Pupils use computers individually and in pairs. The school is also fortunate in that, towards the end of the project, it has been loaned an interactive whiteboard (Promethean/ Research Machines). As the teachers are used to using overhead projectors in their classrooms they are keen to develop an interactive approach in whole-class teaching using this form of ICT. All of the teachers are now using the equipment in weekly timetabled sessions. The teachers involved in the project use it to support their work in discussing texts, in shared writing (sometimes using speech support) and in numeracy. Even after a comparatively short Effective pedagogy using ICT for literacy and numeracy in primary schools 78
period of time they acknowledge the potential that this technology offers for effective demonstration and whole class interaction. Features of ICT Working in pairs, pupils were felt to have benefited from the interactivity which the speech feedback and highlighting of incorrect spellings offered them. Similarly the computer s ability to read their writing so they could improve it and the way the prepared materials offered definitions of words to extend vocabulary and comprehension were aspects of this interactivity. The provisional nature of text during the planning and drafting stages was felt to be of particular benefit, especially where more than one pupil contributed to the final product. Summary This was a successful project, in a school where high value-added learning gains were already being achieved in many classes. The culture of the school is 'cando', supported by reflection and evaluation in weekly year-group planning meetings. Throughout there are many signs of outstanding leadership and staff commitment. The teachers shared their thinking with the project team and enthusiastically adopted, adapted and extended a number of the ideas which were suggested. They saw the project as enabling them to develop existing pedagogy in directions that had already been agreed. They extended the project to include another year group and the involvement of two key co-ordinators ensured that the project was not seen as a 'bolt-on' accessory. The class teachers particularly valued the information provided by the standardised tests and the writing activity completed by the different pupils. This reflects the school's approach to successive development and more precise individual targeting, informed by both research and data on pupils attainment. Further reading Medwell, J. (1998) The Talking Book Project: some further insights into the use of talking books to develop reading, Reading, 32, 1: 3-8. Medwell, J. (1998) Overhead projection in the literacy hour, Reading, 32, 3: 36-40. Morgan, N. and Saxon, J. (1991) Teaching, Questioning and Learning, London: Routledge. Effective pedagogy using ICT for literacy and numeracy in primary schools 79