Tag: spelling

Improving Spelling and Handwriting at Antonine Primary School

Clare Casey, depute head teacher at Antonine PS and her class teacher colleagues Lucy Dowds and Alison Todd have been trialling the Wraparound Spelling approach with their primary 7 and primary 4 classes this year. When researching approaches to the teaching of spelling, they were introduced to Wraparound Spelling by Sharon Earacker from Kinnaird PS. They felt that this approach complemented their use of other literacy initiatives such as Word Aware and Colourful Semantics.

Wraparound Spelling was developed by Highland Council literacy support team and is:

“a principled approach to the teaching of spelling based on the phonic code, the meaning of words, and the application of words. The approach makes the connections between decoding (for reading) and encoding (for spelling). The Wraparound Spelling approach to the teaching of spelling can be used universally to support the learning and teaching of spelling for all children, and as a targeted approach.

Click here to learn more.

This spelling improvement focus was instigated by both whole staff self-evaluation and evidence from children’s work. Staff observed that children were not de-coding words correctly or transferring their spelling skills and strategies within literacy work or their wider learning.  Through moderation of the planning of spelling and handwriting, the spelling improvement group noted significant variations across the school.  Staff wanted to feel more confident in planning for handwriting and spelling and to improve their knowledge of strategies and approaches which would support their children’s progress.

Alison and Lucy trialled their interpretation of the programme as a universal spelling approach with their primary 4 and 7 classes. They were thrilled to observe very significant impact with some children in both classes progressing by 1 to 1.5 years when assessed using the Single Word Spelling test. Alison also observed her children talking more frequently about their use of the spelling strategies taught. In addition, Antonine’s House Captains worked alongside the Improvement group to redevelop Antonine’s Spelling Sheriffs. This is a whole school initiative which promotes learners self-checking skills and celebrates success in spelling.

To enable you to explore their approach to planning and assessing spelling as a result of this work, Clare and colleagues have shared documentation here within our Literacy in Falkirk team. (Please contact Yvonne McBlain to join this team) However, here is an extract of Alison’s adaptation of planning using the Wraparound spelling approach.

Termly plan: Each term pupils should be taught a new spelling strategy which will be practised weekly as a whole class.

  1. E.g. Term 1: Mnemonics
  2. Term 2: Rhyming words (looking for similarities in spelling of rhyming words)
  3. Term 3: Stretch with friends (Growing words by adding prefix or suffix e.g. ing, ed, etc.)
  4. Term 4: Vowels and Syllables (How are they related?) Structure of a sentence using Colourful Semantics (create own dictation sentence)

Weekly Plan:

Monday – Practice Whole Class Spelling Strategy & Teach new spelling words to each group:

  • Say the words
  • Split into the sounds (Elkonin boxes or diacritical marking)
  • Look for diagraphs
  • Create sentence of the week (or introduce teacher made sentence)
  • Pupils complete independent spelling task while other groups are being taught e.g. pyramid writing, rainbow writing, etc.

Tuesday – Independent task:

  • Spell words into Elkonin boxes or diacritical marking
  • Practice Dictated sentence
  • Find rhyming words

Wednesday – Grammar:

  • Can you spot the noun, verbs, and adjectives?
  • Play Spelling game- 60 second challenge, tricky word square, etc.
  • Practice Dictated Sentence

Thursday – Independent task:

  • Write words 3 times (perhaps using ipads- notes, stikbot animation, etc.)
  • Practise dictated sentence

Friday – Spelling and dictated sentence test

  • Self-assess – Full stop, capital letter and spelling accuracy
  • Play spelling games- eye spy, boggle, etc.

Clare and all teaching colleagues in Antonine PS will now build on the success of this work by introducing the approach for the teaching of spelling from primary 3 upwards. A draft programme has been developed by the Improvement Group and will be introduced to the whole school through staff CPD next session.  This will then be piloted and evaluated at the end of next session.  Primary 1 and 2 teachers will continue to use Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar to lay the foundations for this work.

The same Improvement Group also developed Antonine’s Handwriting Policy this session. This is a document which details:

  1. the rationale behind teaching handwriting
  2. preparation for handwriting
  3. a planner detailing skills progression
  4. the focus of assessment

This policy has been shared a. cross the school and will be implemented by all next session. Teachers across the school are also supported by their “What Literacy Looks Like at Antonine PS” document. Alongside effective use of the school staff share area, this provides valuable guidance for all staff regarding their teaching of literacy

As a result of all of these improvement actions, staff confidence has increased for all aspects of literacy. Teachers are 38% more confident in their teaching of handwriting, and 24% more confident in their teaching of spelling. Please read this post in the Literacy in Falkirk team to view the “What Literacy Looks Like at Antonine PS” document.

 

Supporting Pupils’ Literacy Progress at Hallglen PS

Over the past 2 school years, staff at Hallglen PS have developed how they support children with their literacy progress. They have identified a selection of programmes and processes which enable them to tailor interventions to children’s individual needs. Diane Ramage, principal teacher, and Samantha Nash, support for learning teacher have also worked with staff colleagues and children to establish new ways of working. This includes the creation of a new support for learning space and the adoption of a range of literacy materials and activities which their support for learning assistant can use with children.

Which Interventions are being used?

The programmes and interventions being used will be familiar to colleagues, and include:

  • Read, Write Inc Phonics (for p 2-5)
  • Read Write Inc Fresh Start (for P 6 & 7)
  • Reading Recovery Wave 3
  • Nessy
  • Story Club
  • Use of tracking and monitoring data to inform specific intervention plans for children
  • Regular dialogue between class teachers, support for learning teacher, support for learning assistant and school leaders
  • Timetabled blocks of literacy support – 6-8 weeks
  • Liaison with Jude Davies, Support Teacher Specific Learning differences
  • Use of the Falkirk Literacy Pathway

How are these being employed?

Sam began to use Read Write Inc Fresh Start last session to help identified groups of children in primary 5, 6 and 7 to raise their reading attainment and build their confidence in reading. Initially this involved 21 pupils but the group gradually dwindled as more and more children “caught up” with their peers and no longer needed specific support. This programme was so successful that less than a third of this original group of children now require support with their reading.

In response to their observation of this impact on the children involved, Diane and Sam planned how to continue to use the Fresh Start programme with children in primary 6 and 7. In order to intervene earlier, Sam also trialled the Read Write Inc Phonics programme to support children in primary 2 – 5.

Both Read Write Inc programmes are helping children to learn the sounds which they need to read successfully. The children benefit from the use of the programme’s flash cards. These support explicit teaching of the links between the visual form of the letter/sound, its memorable and explanatory rhyme and the repetition and consolidation of the sound itself. The pedagogy employed by Sam and colleagues scaffolds the children’s ability to recall their sounds swiftly as they read – gradually enabling them to both de-code and increase their fluency and confidence.

Children progress through the Fresh Start programme at an appropriate pace and the intense, structured approach is re-engaging children with learning to read and reading to learn. Impact on reading for enjoyment is becoming visible also. This is evidenced by children’s voluntary participation in the Story Club initiative which Sam has started to run at lunchtime once a week. This initiative is an intervention designed to support issues with reading skills at the primary 2 stage.

Children choose to opt into Story Club and each session involves her in reading a story to the children then offering an related activity (currently adult initiated). Twenty eight children came to the first session and numbers remain high at this early stage of this initiative. Sam noted the attendance of one child in particular who, following his use of the Phonics programme, is beginning to master reading. This child previously hated and avoided reading so his choosing to attend Story Club evidences a huge change in his attitude to this essential skill.

Diane, Sam and colleagues regularly analyse their tracking data and other intelligence relating to their learners’ reading and literacy progress. They have instigated a 6 week assessment cycle which informs timetable and menu of support changes every 6 – 8 weeks.  This regular review of where children are enables more accurate selection of interventions for children and more intense, structured support.  In addition school processes enable class teachers to liaise with Sam at any point to explore how best to support their pupils.

Staff at Hallglen PS are also using the Nessy online platform and resources in a number of ways. Primary 6 and 7 pupils at Hallglen access Nessy online learning routinely using their digital devices. Sam noted that this independent, on demand access was not possible for primary 4 and 5 children because they don’t yet have individual devices. She set up 4 iPad word spaces within the Support for Learning classroom and primary 4 and 5 pupils now come regularly to use these independently to support their reading and spelling skill development. Teachers are also making use of individual children’s Nessy spelling targets to support more accurate differentiation of spelling tasks. Staff plan to explore other parts of the Nessy platform to consider further applications which may be valuable for their children.

As part of her To Lead or Not to Lead professional learning, Sam is working with primary 2 teacher colleagues to gather data about the comparative impact of the Read Write Inc Phonics and North Lanarkshire Active Literacy programmes on children’s reading. The outcomes of these studies will inform how these literacy interventions are used to support children’s progress in future.

Review and Next Steps

Diane, Sam and colleagues feel that their support for learning processes and intervention “package” has been transformative for their school and children. They have a “menu” of support which is responsive, pacey and is raising children’s confidence and ability to read. By making use of data, intelligence, professional dialogue, assessment and timetabling in combination with effective pedagogy and programmes, they are raising their children’s attainment in, and enjoyment of reading. They plan to consolidate this focus on reading while integrating development of spelling and writing to extend and enrich their menu of literacy support for their children. Diane, Sam and colleagues are rightly proud of their “package” of support for literacy learning and look forward to continuing its development for the benefit of their children.

 

Talking and Listening – Spelling Strategies – Skills for Life.

Larbert High School has produced a new you tube video relating to Talking and Listening highlighting the importance of  literacy skills.

 The short you tube video is a parody of Ant and Dec’s ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rumble’ entitled ‘Let’s Get Ready to Mumble’.

The video can be viewed from this link.

The video was launched at Larbert High’s Literacy week 2014 where there were a variety of literacy activities on offer, including ‘Spelling Bee’ which incorporates Active Literacy spelling strategies introduced in Falkirk Council primary schools. More information about these exciting literacy activities can be found by reading the article in our local newspaper The Falkirk Herald.

The Active Literacy Spelling programme aims to provide children with a range of strategies they are able to apply to tricky words in all curricular areas.

Active Literacy – FAQs

 How can I support my child with their active literacy homework?

What is a phoneme? 

  • A letter or group of letters that make a single sound, for example, ‘oi’ or ‘a’.

What are Elkonin boxes?

  • These are used to teach phonemic awareness. Pupils listen out for the individual sounds and mark where they hear them in boxes.

What is diacritical marking?

  • Diacritical marking is the use of symbols to mark single sounds/ phonemes (e.g. b, p), joined phonemes (e.g. sh, ch) and split phonemes (magic e words). It is a spelling strategy which is used as part of the ‘Active Literacy’ approach in schools. It is usually taught at Primary 4 and 5, though can be continued and developed in the upper stages. There are three parts to the code: a single dot which represents a single phoneme, a line which represents a joined phoneme and an arch which represents a split phoneme.

What is Reciprocal Teaching?

  • This is a strategy used during Active Learning where children will work together to support and challenge each other. They may adopt roles such as ‘word reader’ or ‘word writer’.

Which spelling strategies are taught at school and how I can support my child with this?

  • There are many spelling strategies taught in school. Some of the ‘fun’ spelling tasks which are used to learn common or tricky words include: Rainbow writing, fancy writing, spell-er-cise, bubble writing, big and little writing, type-em-up, rhyming words, newspaper letters and triangle spelling. Other strategies taught are: syllabification, mnemonics, words within words, word shape, spelling rules and compound words.