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Some ideas for literacy activities involving primary-age
children, and sometimes their parents. Projects with a particular reading
focus are indicated with R.
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The Better Reading Partnership was developed by Bradford Local Education
Authority (LEA) in 1996 and is based on the Reading Recovery Programme
pioneered by Marie Clay in New Zealand and trialled in England by
Bradford LEA, and others. Bradford has a significant minority of
its school population of South Asian origin, mainly from Pakistan,
India and Bangladesh. Many children from these families speak little
or no English when they start school.
The Better Reading Partnership involves children, parents, teachers
as well as adult volunteers from the business and wider community,
recruited by Volunteer Reading Help, who are trained through a rigorous
training programme with on-going support from a classroom teacher
to become reading partners. A strong feature of the training is
the use of direct observation of teaching where the trainees observe
the 15 minute session being delivered through a one-way facility,
get involved in role-play, with trainer-led support, to ensure the
training is accessible for all.
Through the ten-week intervention programme the reading partners
work for 15 minutes a day three times a week (although this varies
depending on how much time the volunteer can give) using a range
of approaches to help the children improve their reading. As a result
of the intervention, children make an improvement of between 150%
- 250% on previous reading scores, an average gain of six months
in reading age after the ten-week intervention. The adult volunteers,
as well as the children, develop confidence and self-esteem. Through
North and West Yorkshire Open College network, the adults can get
accreditation of competences they have learned, an important first
step as many have no formal qualifications.
The Better Reading Partnership has been replicated in many ways
in many areas, and is also run by FAST
LANE and ROWA!
Links
Book Buddies are secondary school pupils trained to support younger
children in reading, including through FAST
LANE in Kirklees. In this way the reading ages of both pupils
improve, as well as their confidence and self-esteem. They also
improve their social and communication skills; older pupils respond
to the tutor role and develop good listening and empathy skills,
while younger children develop a more positive attitude towards
reading. Good relationships are built between the different year
groups and schools.
Books.fun was a literacy scheme that was established to inspire
children in Dundee to become strong, motivated readers. It was aimed
specifically at children who struggled with their reading and would
not normally read for pleasure in their spare time. Books.fun was
a partnership project run by two national charities, Reading Is
Fundamental, UK and Education Extra (now ContinYou), working closely
with Dundee Education Department and Dundee Schools Library Service,
with funding from the New Opportunities Fund (NOF). This funding
has now come to an end, but the reading clubs established as part
of Books.fun have proved so successful that it is hoped at least
some of them will continue to run.
All ten secondary schools in Dundee, along with Kingspark Special
School, established a reading club for approximately 30 S1 (age
11-12) children. These clubs met weekly and engaged the children
in a variety of literacy-related activities as well as providing
a stock of books from which they could borrow titles. In addition,
as in all RIF,UK projects, the children in the clubs were able to
choose three brand new books a year to keep at special book distribution
events, which further highlight the fun of reading.
What went on
Coordinators worked hard to ensure that the clubs were attractive
and accessible to those children who did not find reading easy and
would not normally read outside of school. A variety of non-threatening
activities were organised and books were provided for children with
a very broad range of reading abilities and interests. Activities
included creating comic strips (with the help of the Beano cartoonist!),
holding quizzes and treasure hunts, naming top ten desert island
books and writing about favourite books on a graffiti wall.
External speakers, such as authors, illustrators, journalists and
even local footballers were invited into school to talk to children
about why being able to read well is so important and to further
highlight the fun of books. Children were also taken on trips to
theatres, festivals, and other local places of interest.
The project ran for three years, and feedback from participating
schools was very positive. Evaluation in 2002 found that all eleven
schools reported that the project increased the amount that children
read outside school and that library use had gone up among pupils.
Ten of the eleven schools agreed that the scheme significantly improved
children's attitudes towards books and reading. One reported that
it improved their attitudes slightly.
Further comments included:
"The children who don't come to the club don't talk about
books to the same extent, nor do they swap books. The girls who
come are the ones who make suggestions to non-club members; 'Why
not try this?' The groups of boys who come to the club are now
able to sustain talks in class for longer and to a better level
than before." English Teacher
"My daughter has attended the book-it! club since first
year. Not only has she enjoyed this activity, but her confidence
and knowledge with regards to books and authors has increased
greatly." Letter from parent of book club member
"Many of our pupils come from homes without books and their
delight in being given books of their choice was evident."
Project coordinator
Links
Reading Is Fundamental, UK
ContinYou
Part of the programme of activities at the Children's Library at
Bristol Central Library are sessions with a local Dyslexia School,
aimed at teaching children how to find information books in the
library.
About 12 children come to each session, where they are introduced
to the Dewey classification system with visual aids and games. They
are then taught the skills to find their way round the library to
the books that they want, perhaps also using the subject index and
online catalogue.
The sessions have been internally evaluated and are thought to
increase the children's knowledge of and confidence in using the
library. They become more aware of what the library has to offer
and are able to discover new topics of interest to them, as well
as forming a relationship with the library staff. The Dyslexia School
has also been able to form a good partnership with the library as
a result of the sessions.
Link
Sure Start and
libraries in Bristol
This is a Reading is Fundamental, UK (RIF) project, in partnership
with volunteers from United Parcels Service (UPS) supported by Volunteer
Reading Help (VRH), and the London Borough of Hounslow. It is aimed
at all children in years 1 and 4 in selected primary schools in
the Feltham area of London; like all RIF and VRH projects it is
targeted at an area of the country in which pupils, on average,
are doing less well in standard tests than other children their
age and are less likely to have books of their own at home.
The children take part in three motivational events a year which
promote the fun aspects of reading, often involving authors, illustrators
and storytellers. Three times a year they also have a free choice
of a book to take home, and are not required to do any follow up
work after they have received it: the aim is to get books into children's
homes and encourage a culture of reading. Parents are encouraged
to attend events whenever possible and are also given tips on helping
their children with reading. In addition, approximately 20 children
in one school, who need extra support with reading, benefit from
one to one sessions with volunteers from United Parcels Services,
a company located near the school. These sessions aim to boost the
children's reading ability and confidence. There are a number of
men from ethnic minorities among the volunteers, who provide excellent
role models for the children on the VRH part of the programme.
Library use has increased, and both Hounslow Schools Library Service
and the Public Library Service have been very supportive of the
scheme. Many of the schools involved take their children to the
local library for RIF events, and a whole programme of library visits
in the autumn term of 2003 will be organised. The project is also
successful in bringing local companies into closer contact with
primary schools. In addition to the UPS volunteers who support the
programme on a regular basis, several other employees have attended
RIF events.
The project is currently funded by RIF, Hounslow LEA, Single Regeneration
Budget and UPS. It has also received a grant from Arts and Business,
dependent on the success of a bid for continuing funding from the
UPS Foundation. The project was due to be evaluated in September
2003.
Links
Pictures from this project
Reading Is Fundamental,
UK
Volunteer Reading Help
LEAP is an early intervention scheme for Reception class children
judged to be at risk of struggling with literacy, which improves
their skills and confidence. Two children per class are targeted,
and teaching assistants make weekly home visits throughout the Reception
year, helping parents to help their children with literacy. The
teaching assistants, who already know the children through the school,
use creative ideas, different from those met in the classroom, to
make literacy fun.
Ideas for making
literacy fun
- Making giant letters from play dough, or painting them with
water-based paints on pavements or walls, to familiarise the children
with letter forms
- Using a Storysack to tell the story of the Gingerbread Man,
then baking gingerbread men
- Manipulating a hand-puppet from a Storysack - the child joins
in while being read a story
- Word fishing game - the child and parent 'fish' for keywords
or letters, using a rod and magnet; the child gets to keep words
correctly identified, while the parent keeps the others
- Making an alphabet book - using the child's drawings and photographs
to illustrate words with alphabetically arranged initial sounds
- Shopping list game - matching pictures of food items to words
on a list
- Alphabet puzzle - recognising individual letters and fitting
them into the appropriate spaces.
The flexibility and non-judgemental attitudes of the teaching assistants
are also judged to be important.
LEAP is based on a small study (1) which found that three of four
children targeted made measurable gains in their literacy skills
compared with the rest of their class. A teacher commented:
"Oh, brilliant. I just don't think they would have
achieved what they have if it hadn't been for the project, and the
progress they made is phenomenal really."
LEAP is run by the University of Bristol and Bristol Education
Action Zone (EAZ), with funding from the British Academy and the
EAZ to run in five schools from September 2003 - July 2004. A funded
Teacher Researcher will be based in a Bristol EAZ office.
Reference:
(1) Feiler, A. (2003) Early literacy and home visiting during the
Reception year: supporting 'difficult to reach' families. The European
Journal of Special Needs Education, Volume 18, Number 2
The Helicopter
Technique
The 'Helicopter Technique' of storytelling and story acting is an
approach which uses the arts to raise self-esteem among children
of all ages from 3 upwards, and was developed by US educationalist
Vivian Gussin Paley. A child tells a story and an adult writes it
down word for word. The adult then tells the story while the child
acts it out, with their classmates taking other roles or forming
the audience. This allows even shy and withdrawn children to express
themselves, interact and feel that their voice has value; what the
child says is accepted, shared and enjoyed. One reception class
teacher commented that children who never before took much interest
in whole class activities felt compelled to join in and tell stories.
The following is an example of a story by a four-year-old:
"Once upon a time there was a girl, and she was very
married. And she danced to the music with her marrier. And there
was big bad wolf sneaking while she was dancing. And then they looked
behind them and they saw the wolf and the wolf gobbled them up.
And then they was alive again. And they went home and then they
saw a broken chair. So much they like the broken chair it broked
to little pieces and they then sitted on their new settee."
Theatre and
literacy
MakeBelieve Arts is an independent theatre and education company
which works with teachers and children, using drama to develop children's
skills and confidence in speaking, listening and literacy. It has
already used the Helicopter Technique in schools, and is now running
a trial of the approach with boys aged 8-9 in Lewisham who are becoming
disillusioned with education, in an attempt to engage and encourage
them in learning.
Under the Peer Group Education Programme, which is run by MakeBelieve
Arts in Lewisham schools, children from years 5 and 6 are trained
as scribes for the younger children. While some of the older children
find this difficult and chaotic, teachers evaluating the programme
have noticed that the older children's confidence in writing has
improved, perhaps as a result of less pressure to write neatly,
spell correctly or to think as they write. The older children are
taught techniques such as making eye contact, opening up to children,
giving thanks and praise after hearing a story and using their voice
to add excitement.
The company has also developed a Drama in the Literacy Hour package,
which suggests interesting ways of bringing texts to life. This
scheme has been supported through Neighbourhood Renewal funding
and runs in the Bellingham and Downham Education Action Zone.
Other funding for the activities comes on a project by project
basis, from Excellence in Cities, Sure Start and individual schools.
MakeBelieve Arts provides training and consultancy on these techniques
and how they can be used in schools.
Links
www.makebelievearts.co.uk
Article on the Helicopter Technique
from Literacy Today
Article from the Basic Skills Agency website by a teacher who uses
the Helicopter Technique - visit www.basic-skills.co.uk
The 'Read It' project promotes literacy by making learning fun,
ensuring that children have access to books in settings other than
schools, and ensuring that they have someone to read to and with.
Particular children, often those seen as 'hard to reach', are invited
to join their school's 'Read It' club, which they see as a treat,
but all children from years 3, 4 and 7 in the schools involved become
'Read It' members. They are given a launch pack, dictionary, activity
books and the 'Read It' newsletter, encouraging them to enter literacy-based
competitions and to send in work. Children receive prizes, letters
and certificates, and may feature in the newsletter itself.
Children in the 'Read It' club receive weekly one-to-one literacy
support from volunteers, some of whom are young people on the national
Millennium Volunteers scheme. The 11 primary schools and two high
schools hold regular 'Read It' assemblies to promote literacy and
encourage children to get involved. Children are invited with their
parents or carers to termly celebration events with entertainers.
Most of the schools run a 'Read It' after-school club, where volunteers
work alongside the children in an informal atmosphere; these clubs
are set up and resourced by the project with books, literacy games
and activity planning packs. There are also four community clubs
running in local venues and open to children aged 7-13.
The project has been evaluated through annual internal reports,
parent and carer feedback and National Foundation for Educational
Research reading test results over six months (from the community
clubs), and has been seen to improve children's' skills and confidence,
as well as their behaviour and willingness to engage with others
and the community. Library use has also increased. Children in the
area are familiar with 'Read It' and want to become part of the
project - even those from schools not directly involved.
'Read It' receives funding from the Single Regeneration Budget
and businesses (for the community clubs). Club coordinators are
supported by the Learning Partnerships, and libraries, publishers,
and community groups are also involved; there are around 200 active
volunteers, reaching 1,000 children.
Links
Learning
Partnerships
Millennium Volunteers
Article on Learning Partnerships
and 'Read It' from Literacy
Today
For Millennium Volunteers visit www.mvonline.gov.uk/index.cfm
Reading Friends are volunteers with an interest in reading and
children, and the project is run by FAST
LANE in Kirklees. Volunteers can be retired people, community
workers such as community police officers, parents, students, lunchtime
supervisors or school support staff. Volunteers receive six hours
of training followed by ten weeks' continued training in working
with children and putting the theory into practice. Reading Friends
groups are supervised by a trained support worker. The projects
provide an excellent link between schools and the community, and
Reading Friends often have the pleasure of sharing other school
activities. Reading tests have shown that on average, a child's
reading age improves by approximately six months over a ten-week
period.
In Talking Partners, teachers and support staff are trained to structure
activities which encourage and support pupils' speaking and listening
skills. This enables children to listen more attentively, to ask
questions for clarification, to participate in role play and discussion,
to relate stories and to report on activities carried out. Children
have become more confident in using English, more engaged in their
class work and have begun to speak, listen and write more. Teachers
have seen noticeable gains in children's use of descriptive language
and accurate sentence structure. Behaviour at school has much improved.
The scheme is run by various initiatives, including
FAST LANE in Kirklees, ROWA! and by
Education Bradford.
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