Resources to Support Childrens Language Development

Resources to Support Childrens Language DevelopmentTask 1An an nonated resource heel detailing stories, accommodates, rhymes, songs, finger- impresss, story props, pup dearys, resources and classroom contexts which screwing be used to support and extend literacy for real vitality purposes in their setting. You must take into account the particular needs of bilingual learners.In doing this you will defecate that what you atomic add together 18 doing is describing what you will provide in the role- course context and why. This amounts to a very basic plan together with a rationale for the resourcing.Resource ListFollowing much discussion around poor standards of face doctrine, the Literacy Hour was introduced into alone English primary schools through the National Literacy strategy during the school course 1998/99. The insouciant literacy hour is divided between 10-15 minutes of whole class considering or writing 10-15 minutes whole-class session on word level work (e. g. phonics, spelling) and convict level work 25-30 minutes of tell group activities and a plenary at the end for pupils to revisit the objectives of the lesson, reflect on what they progress to learnt and make out what they need to do next. The resource list that has been complied has been intentional to support activities that take place during the literacy hour.The educational resources trade is huge and there is a great deal of choice avail able-bodied. There atomic number 18 many impudently publishers. For example, Badger Publishing Ltd (www.badger-publishing.co.uk) was established in 1989 and provides a range of books, which be designed to improve childrens literacy skills. The companys publications are divided into three categories.Badger History for Foundation and Key coiffe 1 uses bright and colourful images to stimulate the interest of children in historical concepts. Badger History uses nursery rhymes, changes in every solar day life, stories and legends, and sig nificant people and past events drawn from the history of Britain and the rest of the word. Each course of Foundation and KS1 has its accept Big Book and Teacher Book. Each Big Book has 10 themes. detail of the book for nursery / reception classes are listed below.Big Book 1 for Nursery / Reception hoary Mother Hubbard12 days of ChristmasLondon Bridge is falling down boys and girls come out to come acrossMiss Polly had a dollyRide a cock-horseMary had a little lamb tattle a song of sixpenceOranges and lemonsRatsBadger Nursery Rhymes introduces the first sight haggle for reception classes. They in any case provide a literacy course, which aims to fulfil the early learning communication, speech communication and literacy goals and the National Literacy Strategy. The publication contains 24 ordinary nursery rhymes, c everyplaceage of all 45 high frequency wrangling and a range of objectives (word, sentence and text level work).Badger also has another range of publications, wh ich are called Storyteller. This is a untested serial which uses 36 familiar stories to support the writing, verbalize and comprehend objectives of the National Literacy Strategy in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. This publication allows children to hear and learn to the highest degree traditional stories, develop comprehension skills, develop speaking and listening skills, use drama to explore themes and characters, and increase their experience of the nomenclature and structure of stories. Each book has its own focus. For example, the publication for Reception uses stories, (The Gingerbread Man) with rhyme and repetitive phrases.Fingerplays are a romp way of introducing rime to children. Fingerplays are also useful tools for practicing fine motor skills, following directions and introducing concepts. They also provide the opportunity to fort childrens lyric experiences and improve their literacy skills. The following fingerplays can be added to the list of resourcesBalls ( size, counting) haughtymothers supplyChoo Choo two Little B neglectbirds (counting)Funny BunnyUp, Up, Up (spatial concepts)Jack in the Box (spatial concepts)Unwind the draw and quarter horseback riding in a WagonA Teeny Weeny SpiderPat-a-cakeHickory, Dickory, DockGrand Old Duke of YorkLiteracy Connections (www.literacyconnections.com) is an American based organisation, which provides a vast array of nurture on culture, teaching and tutoring techniques, ESOL literacy, and self-aggrandising literacy. Whilst, its resources etc, obviously cater for the needs of the American educational market, many of the items can be readily fit to playact the literacy needs of children in the UK. A variety of songs can be accessed from this website. They can used to bear on and develop a range of literacy skills. A filling of these songs is shown below.first principle is an interactive rap song. It targets the comprehension and economic consumption of the alphabet and respective(a) speech communication in the English run-in. Using this rap for Reception classes, challenges the childrens abilities to listen, respond, and contend awareness of language patterns and sounds.The Alphabet SongA, B, C, D, E, F, GH, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, PQ, R, S, T, U, and VW, X, Y, ZA Boy Caught Danny Eating Fathers GroceriesA like ant,B boy.The Alphabet Animals at the menagerie song allows children to develop the following skills and gain a greater spirit of a number of concepts. notably identifying letters of the alphabet, learning the order of the letters of the alphabet, recognising symbol sound correspondence, and increasing vocabulary movement. The children stretch, shake and backfire to warm up during the opening verse. Next, they manufacture motions which go with a word for each letter of the alphabet.For example, arch, kitchen stove up and bend backwards, bend, bend forward, clap, clap hands, droop, let head, arms and spine sag forward, expand, make the political machinec ass tall and wide. After completing the alphabet, each child faces nighone and does the motion that goes with the first letter of his / her name.Alphabet Animals at the ZooLearn the abcs with easeWhile getting fit and having funAphabetise your exerciseAnd do your moves one by oneAt the store or in the car parkYoull cause a small commotionIf you suddenly stand and startThe alphabet in motionScholastic, the global childrens publishing, education and media company, provides a wide range of resources, which can be accessed from its website (www. instructor.scholastic.com). It provides information on how children can create pet puppets and use them interactively in their play.Pet PuppetsThe creation and use of pet puppets in their play, helps children to develop their social, language and literacy skills. The following materials are required have intercourses (one for each child), fabric markers, childrens preventative scissors, white craft glue, materials to decorate puppets (e.g. fe athers, buttons, fabric scraps etc), chart paper and marker. The children work together to create sock puppet pets.In making the puppets the children will be engaged in the following activities usher stories to children about pets or animals and hence engage them in a conversation about different types of pets.Do they have pets? What types of pets do they have?What types of pets do they have? What types of pets do they wish they had?Tell the children that they make sock pet puppets out of socks.When the puppets are complete the children should be encourage to participate in activities to develop dramatic-play and language skills.The Role of Parents In developing Their Childrens Literacy SkillsThe most important benefit that parents can give to their children is their undivided attention. In a classroom situation a teacher will have to deal with 30 or more children. Therefore, the scope for a teacher to work one-to-one with a pupil is extremely restricted. Thus parents play a c rucial role in developing their childrens language, literacy and social skills.Adams, M, (1990), estimated that by the time her son was six, he had received 1700 hours of stories being read to him. He had also spent guanine hours watching the literacy-focused television programme Sesame Street. By contrast, she calculated that in the first year of schooling he would have received 360 hours of literacy instruction, and less than 18 hours were given in individual attention.Toomey, D, (1993), describe studies, which demonstrated that, without help and guidance, parents were much less likely than teachers to praise, and pause and therefore encourage guesses or self-correction, or to give clues if children were hesitant. He suggested that careful thought, and appropriate resources, needed to be given to ensure that this invaluable potence support was channelled effectively. To deal with this issue the government has launched a number of initiatives e.g. Sure Start. This is designed to encourage parents to play a proactive role in their childrens learning.Resources For Bilingual ChildrenThere is a huge selection of resources available for developing the language and literacy skills of bilingual children. The use of much(prenominal) resources in the Literacy Hour depends heavily upon the do of the Reception class. For example, let us assume that a reception class contains 24 children. If the class contained 20 bilingual children and four native English speakers, this would clearly need a completely different teaching strategy, if the numbers were reversed. In both situations the literacy needs of the two groups most be accommodated.This is why the role of article of faith Assistants has become very important in harm of helping Reception Class teachers deliver a teaching strategy that meets the learning requirements of the children in a specific set. In Task 2, this issue is revisited as the observation of the children entails analysing the effectiveness of the teaching and resources used in the delivery of the Literacy Hour. In the activity that was observed a specialist bilingual resource was not used. A First Experience book was used goodish Up this introduces children to the everyday activity of tidying up. A list of household objects (e.g. coat hanger etc) are involved.No way out how good the teacher, the support and resources are, bilingual speakers are al ways going to have major problems, if their parents do not make a significant contribution towards developing their children develop their English language and literacy skills. Young children have the monumental task of learning their native language. However, more non-English speaking children are now entering UK schools and are required to develop skills in English as fountainhead. Many teachers are now finding that some pupils are not proficient in any language. This is because children are pushed into learning a import language without continuing development in their nativ e language.According to Fillmore, W, (1991), this is happening because children are pushed into learning a second gear language without continuing development in their native language. Research has shown that children that develop adequate language skills are more likely to experience success when they begin development (Liberman, 1983 Roth, Speece and Cooper, 2002 Snow, Burn and Griffin, 1998). Early language attainment begins at home and occurs about naturally, through interactions with friends and family members. Children need these opportunities to develop their native language before they can master a second language.SummaryAn extensive resource list has been highly-developed. The source and purpose of the items in the list has been explained. If children are going to learn they must be advance to participate. In other words they need to be engaged in a positive and progressive. The contents of the resources list are designed to become fully involved with role play. For e xample, a teacher can read a picayune story to group of children. The children will become completely in tune with the experience, when they dress up and act the storyline themselves. Resources provide the opportunity for children to use their imagination.Literacy skills do not sit in isolation. Reading, writing, speaking and listening all interact with social interaction and forward-looking learning experiences. Further to this, as highlighted, is the importance of parents bonnie actively involved in developing their childrens literacy and language skills. For bilingual children different teaching strategies are required to facilitate their particular learning needs. Specialist resources do exist but more ofttimes than not the key to success, is using readily available learning resources in fresh and imaginative ways to meet their needs.Task 2The second piece of coursework is an evaluation of how well the planned activity meet the intended outcomes i.e. did the role play area , support and extend the reading, writing, speaking and listening of all the pupils, including bilingual pupils. conceptionThis task involves the observation of a number of activities that took place during place Literacy Hour. The children that were observed are in a Reception Class. Communicative competence provides a conjectural framework within, which these observed activities will be reviewed and critically evaluated. Also research findings relevant to the areas under investigation will also be considered.Educational possible action Underpinning Literacy SkillsCommunicative competence is a concept introduced by Dell Hymes and discussed and redefined by many authors. Hymes original image was that speakers of a language have to have more grammatical competence in order to run effectively in a language they also need to know how language is used by members of a speech community to accomplish their purposes. There are eight aspects of communicative competence. They are group t ogether into two groups of fourLinguistic aspectsPhonology and orthography Phonological competence is the superpower to screw and uncover the differentive meaningful sounds of a language, including consonants, vowels, tone patterns, intonation patterns etc. Orthographic competence is the ability to decipher and write the writing system of a language.Grammatical competence This is the ability to actualise and produce the distinctive structures of a language and to use them effectively in communication.Lexical competence This is the ability to recognise and use words in a language that speakers of the language use them. Lexical competence includes generalizeing the different relationships among families of words and the common collections of words.Discourse competence This is used to refer to two related, but distinct abilities. Textual plow competence refers to the ability to understand and construct monologues or written texts of different genres, such as narratives, proc edural texts etc. Learning a language involves learning how to relate these different types of discourse in a way that is coherent to the readers and listeners.If you like, the linguistic aspects of learning a language are the theoretical aspects that have to be mastered. In terms of learning how to read and write, the starting point is phonology. Mastering phonetics is at the very subject matter teaching Reception Class pupils how to read. The other three aspects are developed over a longer term period. Although by the end of the Reception Year the children must have make some progress towards becoming effective in terms of the grammatical and lexical competencies.Pragmatic aspects running(a) competence This refers to the ability to accomplish communication purposes in a language. For example, the ability to use language to court someone.Sociolinguistic competence This is the ability to interpret the social meaning of the choice of linguistic varieties and to use language with the appropriate meaning of the communication situation.Interactional competence This involves knowing and using the mostly-unwritten rules for interaction in various communication situations within a given speech community and culture.Cultural competence This is the ability to understand behaviour from the standpoint of the members of a culture and to behave in a way that would be soundless by the members of the culture in the intended way. Cultural competence therefore involves understanding all aspects of a culture, but particularly the social structure, the values and beliefs of the people, and the way things are assumed to be done.Practice makes complete(a) is a phrase that all school children will be familiar. If a child is going to become a proficient reader, writer and speaker of English, then they must be provided with endless opportunities to practice their skills and fellowship of the language. Herein lies the real importance of role-play in learning it provides ch ildren with the opportunity to master the pragmatic competencies. As already stated, in Task 1, parents must become actively involved in developing their childrens literacy skills. musing Of The Literacy HourThis was a Reception Class in a primary school. The class has 24 pupils. 20 of who are native English speakers. The other 4 are bilingual. The literacy hour is spread throughout the day and is covered in a number of sessions. donnish term 1 Whole Class Reading (15 minutes)Session ObjectivesThe pupils will extend their vocabulary, exploring the meanings and sounds of new wordsHear and say initial and final sounds in words and short vowel sounds in wordsRead a range of familiar and common words and simple sentences independentlyKnow that print carries meaning and, in English, is read from left to right and chair to bottom image ample understanding of the elements of stories, such as main character, sequence of events, and openings, and be able to answer questions about where, who, why and how.This session involved using the story (The Gingerbread Man) from the Storyteller range of books produced by Badger Publishing Ltd. The teacher read a line from the book and asked the whole class to read the line aloud. For those children who struggled with a line they were assisted by the teacher or the teachers admirer to complete the task. This process lasted for about five minutes. The teacher then asked questions to help the class to recap on what they had read so far. The children were then put into pairs and were asked to read alternate lines to their partners. For those pupils who struggled with this task they were aided by the teacher or the teachers assistant to complete their sentence.The teacher then moved the session beyond the book and asked the pupils to consider what materials they would like to be made of. This generated a wide range of interesting and diverting responses ranging from rubber to chocolate. The children were asked to consider what special power they would like to have and why, in their new characterisation. The repeating of the reading aloud of sentences from the story book did not really motivate the pupils.However, when they were allowed to use their imagination and develop their own characterisation in a new format, the majority of the group found this stimulating. The reading aloud and repetition of the sentences was designed to allow the pupils to further develop their lexical competence. The relaxation of the structured rigidity, that is a by-product of reading aloud, provided the pupils with much greater freedom to use their imaginations and consequently develop the pragmatic aspects of the communicative competence framework.As with everything in life, the educational system suffers from two major constraints. That is, a lack of time and a lack of resources. As outlined, in Task 1, there is very little scope for offering individual pupils a sufficient amount of one-to-one contact with the teacher. Th e average size of Reception Classes in the UK is greater than 24. The big the class size and the greater the diversity in language skills (i.e. how many bilingual children are in the class?) then more pressure is placed on the teacher.The Literacy Hour has been in operation for intimately 8 years and its impact has been extensively researched. According to researchers from the University of Newcastle whole class teaching has not encouraged opportunities for pupils to question or explore ideas to help them regulate their own thinking. The researchers have identified the problem of teachers adapting to the new curriculum without changing their old teaching styles or patterns. Consequently, many of the innovations of the National Literacy Strategy are not implemented as a result.Session 2 Fingerplays Directed Group Studies (25 minutes)Session Objective Show sufficient understanding of the elements of stories, such as main character, sequence of events, and openings, and be able t o answer questions about where, who, why and how.The class was divided into six groups of four. Each group was presented with a different fingerplay (e.g. Unwind the Thread, Riding in a Wagon, Hickory Dickory Dock etc). The teacher was assisted by a teachers assistant and a bid worker. Working their way round the groups the children were instructed on how to participate in the fingerplay and were encouraged to work as a group to generate ideas on what they thought the words contained in the rhymes, actually.The children were then asked again to work as a group and think of a storyline that could be developed using a fingerplay. This session was adequately staffed and this meant that no group of children had to wait long for assistance, in terms of getting answers to their questions. This role-play element of the session proved to be very successful and the children on the whole worked well within the groups to which they had been allocated. This session provided opportunities for the children to develop their proficiency with regard to the pragmatic aspects of the communicative competence.Session 3 Developing The Language Skills Of Bilingual Pupils (20 minutes)Session Objective By the end of the session the pupils will show sufficient understanding of the elements of stories, such as main character, sequence of events, and openings, and be able to answer questions about, where, who, why and how.Two of the bilingual students have only recently joined the school. Both of them are new to the UK and to English. Although their parents read to them in Urdu, they are used to a different writing system and print which goes from right to left, rather than from left to right. The TA (Teachers Assistant) is using a book which the teacher used at the beginning of the academic year (ie Tidy Up). It is a picture story with no words. The TA had been working with the two new pupils for two weeks and had established a good rapport. She worked her way through each picture a nd explained to the children what was happening in each scene. A volunteer worker, who was fluent in English and Urdu was on hand.The TA had a number of items (e.g. a clock, a coat hanger, a drinking mug, a torch etc) which featured in the story. As she produced each object she encouraged the children to handle it and say its English name. She asked questions about the objects what they were for, where might you find them, and so on and asked the children to find them in the pictures. She talked about the each items part in the story. The volunteer remained silent throughout and only interjected when the children did not understand what was being asked of them.Speaking briefly in Urdu to get through and issue, and then allowing the TA to resume contact with the children. She then asked the children to take on roles of characters in the book, and she also took on a role. Together they acted the story out, using the household objects as props and she encouraged the characters to ta lk about what they were doing. She then asked the children to read the book in English, and supported (with help from the volunteer worker when appropriate) them individually as they did this. At the end of the session, she reviewed the session, the progress the two children had made. Overall the session was a positive experience for all of the concerned parties.The volunteer worker is helping the children to develop literacy skills within their first language i.e. Urdu. The parents of the children are go to ESOL classes at the school and are actively involved in helping their offspring develop their language skills in Urdu. This is having a positive impact on their ability and willingness to learn English. The use of role-play both at school and at home is increasing their proficiency in both languages. Thus in this pattern the use of role-play has generated positive benefits. The objective for the session was achieved.The successful completion of this activity reinforces the fac tors which are at the heart of the educational theory stated at the beginning of this task. It is counterproductive to fast track the two new arrivals into the class. They need to be helped to master their native language as well as being tardily introduced to English. Their confidence with regard to speaking their own language and becoming more exposed to English, will be increased by the use of role-play activities as observed and by being positively engaged by their parents and extended family, within their home and domestic surroundings.The results of this observation provide a clear link to the antecedently stated research of several authors (i.e. Fillmore, W, 1991 Liberman, 1983 Roth, Speece and Cooper, 2002 Snow, Burn and Griffin, 1998) that early language acquisition begins at home and occurs somewhat naturally, through interactions with friends and family members. Children need these opportunities to develop their native language before they can master a second language.Re ferencesResearch Evaluation of the National Literacy Strategy Academic Findings and Recommendations (www.literacytrust.org.uk/research/liteval.html)Literacy Improvement Programme Developing Literacy in the Early Stages (www.ltscotland.gov.uk)The National Literacy Strategy Guidance on the organisation of the NLS in Reception classes (Department for Education and Employment, September, 2000) maternal(p) Tips for Enhancing Print Awareness, Phonological Awareness and Oral Language Skills in Young Children Learning English as a Second Language Crystal Torti, Yvette Carrasco (Top Tips on Parenting, Fall, 2004, Volume 6, Number 3)Beginning to Read mentation and Learning About Print Adams, M. (Cambridge, MA MIT Press 1990)Parents hearing their children read a review Toomey, D. (Rethinking the lessons of the Haringey cast off Educational Research, 35/3, 223-236, 1993)Cluster 1 Thinking about children as learners What role do parents play in children (www.abdn.ac.uk/education/res earch-and-initiatives/RTR)Early Childhood Today Pet Puppets (http//teacher.scholastic.com/products/ect/Petpuppets.htm)Fingerplays Index Page (http//falcon.jmu.edu/ramsey/fingerplayindex.htm)Aspects of communicative competence (www.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/OtherResources)First Experiences (http//books.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/cpc)How Most Children Learn To Read Derry Koralek, Ray Collins (Reading Rockets, 1997 www.readingrockets.org/articles/386) variant pages from Literacy Connections (www.literacyconnections.com)Various pages from Badger Publishing Ltd (www.badger-publishing.co.uk)Literacy Reception Module (Department for Education and Employment, September, 2003)