English - Whole School Plan

Lisheen National School

English - Whole School plan

Introductory Statement This English whole school plan was prepared by the staff of Lisheen National School during the academic year 2010-2011 and will be presented to the Board of Management for ratification in September 2011. It will be implemented in full from September 2011. It was reviewed in 2013.

Rationale We have decided to formulate a whole school plan at this time as a logical follow-on from having participated in in-service in the Revised English Curriculum.

Relationship to the Characteristic Spirit of the School In Lisheen National School, we are committed to the holistic development of all pupils in order to assist them to contribute and play a fulfilling role in their own community. We see the development of their language sills as being central to this process. We believe that the ability of our pupils to communicate fluently, confidently and effectively will contribute greatly to the development of their self-esteem and their personal growth. We also believe that their academic progress depends to a large extent on their ability to communicate orally and thence through the written word. In our school, we attach a high priority to giving pupils a command of the English language.

General Aims The aims of this policy is to provide a structured and sequential programme for teachers to enable children to:  To enable the children to speak, read and write independently and effectively.  To foster enjoyment and appreciation of the English language.  Read with confidence, functionally and for pleasure.  Locate and retrieve information on a given topic.  Experience success through reading.  Read, appreciate and respond to a wide range of poetry.  Experience and respond to a wide range of texts, expository, narrative and representational.  Develop higher order comprehension skills.  See books as exciting, pleasurable and interesting.  Use a wide vocabulary competently and confidently.  Be aware of and use the correct grammatical structures when writing.  Acquire a love and appreciation of literature, poetry and drama.  Read for pleasure and for information.  Understand the conventions of print.  Use a library. Broad Objectives, Content and Methodologies

Oral Language: Methodologies for Junior & Senior Infants

Note: Many teaching methodologies appropriate to the development of oral language are inherent in the content detailed on the previous page.

1. Giving of instructions in class and wider school context e.g. PE, school playground. 2. Instruction games e.g. ‘O Grady Says’, ‘Follow the Leader’, Drawing and pupils giving instructions to each other in pairs, groups. 3. Elaboration of pupils own news by teacher. 4. Practice of social greetings e.g. introduce self and others, greet and say goodbye. 5. Read to children daily emphasising tone of voice, facial expression in reading story, occasionally inviting outside storyteller / older pupil. 6. Re-read the same story occasionally, pupils choose the story to be read, read stories on particular topics e.g. animals / pets. 7. Pupils continue / finish the story e.g. ‘what do you think happened next?’ 8. Teacher / pupils ask questions based on the story read, pupils invited to tell the story in their own words. 9. Chinese whispers. . Drama – role play and miming based on stories, poetry, rhymes, popular films / videos, home situations, shopping, school etc. . Use of puppets and dress-up box. . ‘Close your eyes and describe what you see’, giving a definite topic e.g. a beautiful garden. . Name objects in the classroom, school bag, home etc. . Expand vocabulary through addition of descriptive words e.g. big / small, heavy / light (Maths language), warm / cold (environmental language), run / walk / skip (P.E.). . Listen to music (e.g. Religion programme) and ask ‘how does it make you feel?’ . Show and Tell, encouraging pupil to use sentences e.g. ‘This is my doll. She has blonde hair...’ . Describe a friend. . Starters e.g. ‘I like…’ ‘After school I…’ . Send pupil on a message e.g. ‘May I have 20 copies please’ . Emphasise appropriate vocabulary / sentence structure when requesting and relating. . Provide vocabulary required to describe people, places etc. . Teasing out situations e.g. ‘If you were lost, what would you do’. . Encourage questions about the world around us (SESE). . Use big books as a springboard for discussion. . Circle Time, Stay Safe, Alive O. . Picture and / or object stimuli to create a story, create a collaborative story. . Listening to rhymes, tapes etc. alerting pupils in advance to listen for specific sounds. . Listen to and learn poems, nursery rhymes, nonsense rhymes, jingles and riddles, reciting individually and in groups (revise regularly). . Listen to, focus on and re-create sounds e.g. animals, imaginary and add sounds to a story. Oral Language: Content for 1st & 2nd Classes

Developing Receptiveness Developing Competence and Developing Cognitive Developing Emotional and to Oral Language Confidence in Using Oral Abilities Through Oral Imaginative Life Through Oral Language Language Language . Experience challenging 1. Talk about and reflect on past and 1. Give a description, recount a 1. Describe everyday experiences and vocabulary and sentence present experiences, and plan, narrative or describe a events. structure from the teacher. predict, anticipate and speculate process, and answer 2. Express feelings in order to clarify . Listen to stories, descriptions, about future and imaginary questions about it. them and explain them to others. instructions and directions and experiences. 2. Listen to other children 3. Tell stories to his/her own words and respond to them. 2. Experiment with more elaborate describe experiences and ask answer questions about them. . Listen to sounds and respond vocabulary and sentence questions about their 4. Listen to, read, learn and recite a to them. structure in order to extend and reactions to them. varied and appropriate repertoire of . Become more adept in using explore meaning. 3. Become increasingly explicit rhymes and poems. appropriate verbal and non- 3. Experiment with word order and in relation to people, places, 5. Re-create stories and poems in verbal behaviour in order to examine its implications for times, processes and events improvisational drama. secure and maintain the meaning and clarity. by adding elaborative detail to 6. Use play and improvisational drama attention of the listener. 4. Focus on the subject under what he/she describes and to sustain imaginary situations. . Use gesture and movement to discussion and sustain a narrates. 7. Listen to and say nonsense words extend the meaning of what conversation on it. 4. Listen to a story or a narrative and unusual words. he/she is saying. 5. Initiate discussions, respond to and ask questions about it. 8. Listen to, learn and tell riddles and . Express in mime various the initiatives of others, and have 5. Engage in real and imaginary jokes. emotions and reactions, and practice in taking turns. situations involving language interpret the emotions and 6. Engage in real and imaginary 9. Clap the rhythms of poems and use. rhymes. reactions of others. situations to perform different 6. Ask questions that will satisfy 10. Listen to, read, learn and recite social functions. his/her curiosity and wonder. more sophisticated nonsense verse and rhymes. 11. Recognise and re-create sounds in the environment. 12. Create real and imaginary sound worlds. 13. Use imaginative play to create humorous characters and situations.

Oral Language: Methodologies for 1st & 2nd Classes

 Talk and discussion.  Circle Time  Consider advertisements, posters, themes of interest.  Role play.  Hotseating – one pupil takes on the role of a story / poem character and the pupils ask questions of him / her.  Brainstorming.  Wordwebs.  Listening games e.g. Chinese whispers, auditory tapes / CDs / activities, Simon Says, clapping games.  Story telling – rich and varied selection of texts.  Cross-age tutoring and sharing stories.  Visitors to school / classroom e.g. garda, priest, storyteller / poet, touring theatre.  Newsboard – newspaper cuttings, photographs.  Reciting poems and rhymes.  Identifying word families, rhyming words, onsets and rimes.  Call out a list of words twice omitting one the second time.  Teacher gives a list of numbers. Pupils repeat. Repeat in reverse order.  Teacher taps rhythm. Pupil repeats.  Twenty questions.  Pupils listen for the silly sentence / word that shouldn’t be there.  Listen to sounds inside / outside the classroom.  Different child presents news / weather / area of interest each morning.  Pupil takes turn for the day for answering phone, door, going with messages.  Introduce new words e.g. night words, scary words, magical words.  List new words on the wall.  Presentations to own / other class e.g. project, poem.  Follow a recipe.  Kim’s Game – identify the missing object.  ‘What would you do if…?’ e.g. found an injured animal, found a €1,000 lottery ticket.  Finish the story.

Oral Language: Content for 3rd & 4th Classes

Developing Receptiveness Developing Competence and Developing Cognitive Developing Emotional & to Oral Language Confidence in Using Oral Abilities Through Oral Imaginative Life Through Language Language Oral Language . Experience the teacher’s use 7. Give and take turns in speaking and 7. Discuss issues that directly affect 14. Describe everyday of challenging vocabulary and experience a classroom environment in his/her life. experiences to the class or sentence structure. which tolerance for the views of others 8. Discuss a story being read and group and discuss them. . Listen to, retell and tape a is fostered. predict future events and likely 15. Discuss favourite narrative or a description, 8. Initiate conversations and respond to outcomes in it. moments, important events taking turns giving the the initiatives of others in talking about 9. Discuss different possible and exciting characters in a account. experiences and activities. solutions to problems. story, play or poem. . Give and follow instructions 9. Present ideas that are relevant to the 10. Discuss what he/she knows of a 16. Express reactions to on how to perform a particular subject in a logical sequence. particular topic or process as a events and characters in task or process. 10. Summarise and prioritise ideas. basis for encountering new stories. . Become increasingly aware of 11. Discuss the meanings and origins of problems. 17. Discuss reactions to the importance of gesture, words, phrases and expressions with 11. Discuss causes and effects in poems. facial expression, tone of the teacher. relation to processes and events 18. Create and tell stories to voice, audibility and clarity of 12. Become aware of new words and new and predict possible outcomes. the class or group and retell enunciation in communicating connotations of words through his/her 12. Listen to a presentation and them after questioning, with others. reading and writing experience. discuss and decide which are the comparing the versions. . Use of mime to convey ideas, 13. Play synonym and antonym games. most important questions to ask. 19. Express feelings and reactions, emotions, desires 14. Become familiar with the functions 13. Learn how to use the basic key attitudes through and attitudes. without necessarily using technical questions. improvisational drama. . Discuss the use and effect of grammatical terms. 14. Make presentations to the class 20. Create and sustain music, sound effects and non- 15. Practice the common social functions in about his/her own particular imaginary contexts through verbal clues in audio tapes, the everyday context of class and interests. improvisational drama. video tapes and film clips. school and through improvisational 15. Justify personal likes and dislikes. 21. React to poems through drama. 16. Argue a point of view and try to improvisational drama. 16. Make lists of local expressions and persuade others to support it. 22. Dramatise stories. words. 17. Explore historical events through 23. Experience and enjoy 17. Use improvisational drama to re-create improvisational drama. playful aspects of language. well-known characters. 18. Explore reactions to ideas 18. Hear, discuss and react to local through improvisational drama. storytellers. Oral Language: Methodologies for 3rd & 4th Classes

 General classroom conversation in all subject areas.  Informal story telling, life experiences, news, current affairs.  Use of alternative words, phrases, sentence structures.  Listen to commercial recordings / own recordings of stories and accounts.  Chinese whispers.  Pass on a story – each child adds on.  Listening to and identifying sounds recorded on tape.  Describing a process e.g. how to make a cup of tea, how to make a photocopy etc.  Listening to and completing tasks e.g. in PE lesson.  Turn down sound on TV – identify moods etc.  Mime – charades.  Use different tones of voice e.g. say ‘I need a cup of tea’ in 5 different ways.  Display anger, sadness, joy, tiredness etc.  Communicate using mime e.g. ‘I’m going out’.  Role play arguments as to why / why not e.g. I need a mobile phone.  Listen to a piece of music, select words to describe it, make up a story behind it.  View a short video clip, turn down the music, select language to describe the extract.  Use drum-tapping to convey moods e.g. happy, sad, angry, agitated, excited etc.  Hotseating.  Word webs.  Collect local expressions.  Act out sections of the class novel.  Relay role play i.e. pupil takes place of existing character in middle of role play.  Engage local storytellers.  Make list of questions – correct use of why, what, where, when as a reaction to a passage.  Making of presentations on project work etc. followed by question and answer session.  Social interactions – greeting / introducing visitor, answering the phone.  Working in groups and introducing members.  Verse speaking.

Oral Language: Content for 5th & 6th Classes

Developing Receptiveness to Developing Competence and Developing Cognitive Abilities Developing Oral Language Confidence in Using Oral Language Through Oral Language Emotional & Imaginative Life Through Oral Language . Experience from the teacher a growing 19. Acquire the ability to give detailed instructions 19. Discuss ideas of major concern. 24. Discuss with elaboration and sophistication in the use of and directions. 20. Discuss ideas and concepts others his/her vocabulary and sentence structure. 20. Converse freely and confidently on a range of encountered in other areas of the reactions to . Listen to expressions, reactions, opinions topics. curriculum. everyday and interpretations and retell or summarise 21. Give and take turns in an environment where 21. Use a discussion of the familiar as the experiences and to them. tolerance for the views of others is fostered. basis of a more formal or objective local, national and . Listen to radio broadcasts and discuss 22. Practise and use improvisational drama to grasp of a topic or concept. world events. what has been learned. acquire a facility in performing more elaborate 22. Use the basic key questions and 25. Discuss the . Follow detailed instructions or directions social functions. checking questions as a means of concerns of other from others in order to test their accuracy. 23. Discuss the positive and negative effects of extending knowledge. children. . Take part in games in which unseen jargon, slang and cliché, and express 23. Listen to a presentation on a particular 26. Discuss ideas, objects are identified from descriptions examples of them in his/her own language. topic, decide through discussion which concepts and given by other pupils. 24. Understand the functions and know the names are the most appropriate questions to images . Be continually aware of the importance of of the parts of speech. ask, and then prioritise them. encountered in gesture, facial expression, audibility and 25. Learn about and name the basic properties of 24. Argue points of view from the literature. clarity of enunciation in communicating nouns and verbs. perspective of agreement and 27. Discuss with others. 26. Become familiar with compound and complex disagreement through informal personal reading . Use mime to convey ideas, reactions, sentences and know and understand the terms discussion and in the context of formal and writing. emotions, desires and attitudes. ‘phrase’ and ‘clause’. debates. 28. Express . Interpret mood, attitude, emotion and 27. Explore the possibilities of language and 25. Justify and defend particular opinions or individual atmosphere in video extracts, sentence structure in expressing increasingly attitudes and try to persuade others to responses to poems advertisements, paintings and complex thoughts. support a particular point of view. and literature and photographs. 28. Discuss the meaning, effect and diversity of 26. Respond to arguments presented by discuss different . Listen to or watch sound tapes, videos and local words and expressions. the teacher. interpretations. films and discuss how sound effects 29. Hear accents and dialects other than his/her 29. Discuss plays, enhance the content. own on tape and on video and discuss them. 27. Discuss the value, truth or relevance of popular ideas, causes and proverbs. films and television . Listen to authors reading and discussing 30. Use improvisational drama to learn how local programmes. their own work. idiom, accent and dialect can influence the 28. Explore and express conflicts of opinion 30. Experience and effect of language in particular situations. through improvisational drama 29. Explore historical contexts through enjoy playful improvisational drama. aspects of language. Oral Language: Methodologies for 5th & 6th Classes

1. Discussion – local, national and global issues, sport, pupils’ concerns and social issues. 2. Debate topical issues e.g. homework. 3. Instructions – giving, receiving, interpreting. 4. Non-verbal communication. 5. Assigning conversation to pictures. 6. Character interviews. 7. Character role plays – creating a story using a selection of characters. 8. News telling. 9. Narratives. 10. Explanations. 11. Story reconstruction – using sets of picture sequences, groups of pupils put the pictures into a logical sequence and practise retelling the story around the circle. 12. Defending viewpoints. 13. Story composition. 14. Questioning. 15. Creative inquiry – ‘What if?’ 16. Questioning and logic. 17. Comparing and grouping. 18. Brainstorming and building knowledge. 19. Description activities. 20. Circle Time. 21. Communication skills – clear, distinct, concise, coherent. 22. Respectful for communication. 23. Etiquette and social convention. The broad objectives, content and methodologies for the teaching and learning of oral language, reading and writing are detailed on pages two to thirty-one. Each of these areas is presented under the four strand headings of the Revised English Curriculum.

READING

Broad Objectives

The aim of this plan is to provide a structured and sequential programme for teachers to enable children to:

1. Develop print awareness, phonemic awareness, word identification strategies and sight vocabulary.

2. Develop their comprehension and analytical strategies.

3. Expand their understanding and usage of grammar, syntax and punctuation.

4. Develop their appreciation of the richness and diversity of reading material.

5. Experience the pleasure and fulfilment to be gained from reading. Reading: Content for Junior & Senior Infants

Developing Concepts of Developing Reading Skills Developing Interests, Responding to Text Language & Print & Strategies Attitudes & the Ability to Think 1. Listen to, enjoy and respond  Experience the reading  Re-read, retell and act out 1 Associate print with to stories, nursery rhymes, poems process being modelled. familiar stories, poems or parts of enjoyment through listening to and songs.  Handle books and browse stories. stories and poems read aloud. 2. Become an active listener through them.  Recall and talk about 2 Respond to characters, through the development of a  Encounter early reading significant events and details in situations and story details, range of listening activities based through collaborative reading of stories. relating them to personal on stories read or told. large-format books and  Analyse and interpret experience. 3. Play with language to develop language-experience material. characters, situations, events 3 Perceive reading as a an awareness of sounds.  Build up a sight vocabulary and sequences presented shared, enjoyable experience. 4. Develop a sense of rhythm of common words from personal pictorially 4 Record response to text and rhyme. experience, from experience of  Predict future incidents and through pictures and captions. 5. Become familiar with a wide environmental print and from outcomes in stories. 5 Pursue and develop range of environmental print, books read.  Differentiate between text individual interests through beginning with print in the  Learn to isolate the and pictures. engagement with books. classroom. beginning sound of a word or  Understand the function of 6. Learn about the basic syllable. text. terminology and conventions of  Learn to isolate beginning books. and final sounds in written words. 7. Read texts created by  Learn to isolate the part of a himself/herself and by other word or a syllable which allows it children in collaboration with the to rhyme with another word or teacher. syllable. 8. Learn to recognise and name  Use knowledge of word the letters of the alphabet. order, illustration, context and 9. Develop an awareness of initial letters to identify unknown some letter-sound relationships words  Engage in shared reading activities.

10 Reading: Methodologies for Junior & Senior Infants

Note: Many teaching methodologies appropriate to the development of reading capacity are inherent in the content detailed on the previous page.

. Listen to and respond to teacher’s / taped stories and rhymes. . Simple re-telling of stories focusing on sequencing, reading a story a few times and children joining in, stories with repetitive phrases. . Listen to and repeat in proper sequence, alerting children in advance re what to listen for. . Marching and clapping games, teacher claps and children copy. . Making of simple percussion instruments. . Clap syllables e.g. a cat is __ (fat) . Finish line of a poem / rhyme. . B/a/t  bat. . Onset and rime e.g. d – og. . Clap for each syllable e.g. John – 1 clap, Mary – 2 claps. . Follow structured phonics programme. . Labels in classroom, alphabet frieze, labelling charts using flashcards. . Allow opportunities to handle a variety of books – cover, author, illustrations, left to right, page turning. . Shared reading e.g. big books, our news, language experience charts. . Shared reading with parents, older pupils. . Letter / sound relationships using appropriate resources e.g. Letterland, Jolly Phonics. . Teacher modelling reading process. . Develop sight vocabulary of common words e.g. treasure hunt, word walk in locality. . Isolate beginning sound e.g. onset and rime, word families, adding on rhymes, games e.g. foods that begin with b. . Rhyming part of words using simple poems e.g. ‘There was a man called Pat, he had a pet __’ . Pre-reading activities, reading scheme, library reading. . Bingo, word matching. . Re-read, re-tell and act out e.g. drama box, Alive O, previous stories. . Respond to characters / relate to events e.g. ‘Did that ever happen to you?’ . Draw self in picture with characters or in scene from story, draw favourite part of the story / favourite character. . Respond to text through pictures, bubble conversation, captions. . Captions with marla / magnetic letters, write words under pictures etc. . Pupils invited to bring in and discuss their favourite books from home. . Books about favourite things.

Reading: Content for 1st & 2nd Classes

Developing Strategies Reading for Pleasure & Developing Interests, Responding to Text

11 Information Attitudes & the Ability to Think 10. Continue to experience the reading  Read from a range of  Pursue individual interests 6 Continue to listen to process being modelled. children’s literature, through independent reading of and enjoy stories and 11. Engage in shared reading activities. choosing material for fiction and non-fiction. poems being read aloud. 12. Visit the school library and the local reading during silent  Adopt an active approach to a 7 Engage in spare- library. reading periods. text by posing his/her own moment reading and 13. Continue to build a sight vocabulary of  Engage in personal questions. browsing by having ready common words from books read and from reading.  Give recommendations to access to reading material. personal experience.  Learn to find books in and receive recommendations 8 Engage with a wider 14. Engage in activities designed to increase a classroom or school from the wider community of variety of text. awareness of sounds. library. readers on the choice of reading 9 Experience 15. Learn about the sounds associated with  Read aloud to share material. enhanced levels of self- the part of a word or syllable that allows it to a text with an audience.  Develop comprehension esteem through success in rhyme with another word or syllable.  Find information and strategies. reading. 10 Listen to entire 16. Learn about the sounds associated with share it with others.  Perform alphabetical order stories read aloud in the beginning of a word or syllable.  Perform simple tasks. instalments. 17. Learn to connect the beginnings of words information retrieval  Predict future events and 11 Respond to or syllables with their rhyming parts as an tasks. outcomes in a book that is being characters and events in a auditory and visual exercise. read aloud. story.  Express a more formal 18. Learn about common word endings, word 12 Explore different response by giving a considered families and roots of words attitudes and feelings by personal opinion of a book in oral 19. Use knowledge of letter-sound imagining what it would be or in written form. relationships, grammar and syntax and like to be certain characters.  Use information technology to surrounding text when attempting to identify 13 Engage frequently increase motivation to read and to unfamiliar words. in informal discussion of enhance reading development. 20. Self-correct reading errors when what books with teachers and he/she reads does not make sense. others. 21. Develop reading skills through engaging with reading material appropriate to his/her stage of development. 22. Adapt his/her reading style for different purposes.

Reading: Methodologies for 1st & 2nd Classes

12 Note: Many teaching methodologies appropriate to the development of reading capacity are inherent in the content detailed on the previous page.

1. Read to children a rich variety of stories, facts and poetry. 2. Develop sound awareness through focusing on sounds associated with letters and letter clusters and patterns of sounds in words. 3. Rhyming words, onsets and rimes, different onsets, different rimes. 4. Shared reading – parents / older siblings / older pupils. 5. Individual / independent reading. 6. Silent reading / personal reading. 7. Reading for different purposes e.g. browsing, simple scanning, skimming. 8. Encourage use of class and local library. 9. Provide interesting and varied selection of books in class library and continuously change / supplement selection. 10. Use of tapes, storybooks and tapes and CD Roms. 11. Use of comics, catalogues and local publications to augment library contents. 12. Simple information retrieval e.g. table of contents, simple index. 13. Book reviews. 14. Write-a-Book Project – read other pupils’ books. 15. Reading programmes on CD Roms e.g. Reader Rabbit, Accelerated Reading Programme. 16. Alphabetical order exercises. 17. Discuss books, authors, plot with other pupils, teacher, parents. 18. Recall and discuss significant events in stories. 19. Analyse and interpret characters and situations.

13 Reading: Content for 3rd & 4th Classes

Developing Strategies Reading for Pleasure & Developing Interests, Attitudes, Responding to Text Information Information Retrieval Skills & the Ability to Think 23. Use more than one  Have access to a plentiful  Extend participation in listening and silent 14 Extend and develop strategy when reading supply of books in the reading activities. his/her response to unfamiliar text. classroom and in the school  Read short books in one sitting to increasingly challenging 24. Identify unfamiliar words library. experience success in reading. reading material. by reference to word parts,  Use library facilities  Explore new interests and perspectives 15 Engage in talk prefixes and suffixes. outside the school. through reading. about books. 25. Continue to self-correct  Select personal reading  Read books independently. 16 Talk about choice of reading errors. material and develop  Seek recommendations for books to read books and the reasons for 26. Become an increasingly personal taste in reading for and recommend books to others. choices. independent reader. pleasure and information.  Continue to use information technology to 17 Recognise and 27. Understand the  Experience different increase motivation to read and to enhance discuss differences in relationship between text and types of text. reading development. reading tastes. 18 Share responses illustration.  Engage with a wide  Know the structure and terminology of with other children and with 28. Refine his/her listening variety of poetry and verse on books. adults to cultivate a skills through hearing the a regular basis.  Develop skills in locating and handling community of readers. teacher read aloud.  Develop basic information books through using well-stocked school and 19 Experience a retrieval skills. classroom libraries. shared response to fiction  Use simple dictionaries  Continue to develop a range of through the use of a class effectively. comprehension strategies to deal with novel. narrative, expository and representational 20 Read aloud with reading material. expression.  Use a knowledge of printing conventions as an aid to expression and comprehension.  Keep a record of his/her reading in various forms.

14 Reading: Methodologies for 3rd & 4th Classes

Note: Many teaching methodologies appropriate to the development of reading capacity are inherent in the content detailed on the previous page.

. Skim / scan through a passage. . Read silently / out loud. . Teacher provides questions first and pupils read passage to find answers. . Pick out the sentence which proves the answer. . Phonetic awareness. . Begin with a discussion of the illustrations. . Personalise the story. . Use of class set of dictionaries. . Use of computer to source specified information with questions being provided at outset. . Distribute poetry books, pupils read and select their favourite poem. . Pupils select which poem will be learned. . Book reviews and recommendations for other pupils to read. . Read book and present views to class. . Group read same material. Pupils in group have different roles to discuss material. . USSR – Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading. . Reading various packaging for information. . Reading of brochures, fliers, leaflets, circulars. . Read newspaper headline and predict story. . Word building. . Cloze procedure. . Class novel. . Read other pupils’ work e.g. Write-a-Book. . Pupil reads a story and other pupils dramatise different endings. . Select 5 well known characters from different stories and create a new story for them. . Invite younger / older children to read to class.

15 Reading: Content for 5th & 6th Classes

Developing Reading for Developing Interests, Attitudes, Information Responding to Text Strategies Pleasure & Retrieval Skills & the Ability to Think Information 29. Achieve  Read widely as  Listen to, read, learn, recite and respond to a 21 Hear the teacher model a proficiency in word an independent challenging range of poetry. response to poems, fiction, plays and identification by reader from a more  Have access to a wide range of reading material parts of plays. refining the different challenging range of in the classroom and/or school a library. 22 Respond to poetry and fiction word identification reading material,  Continue to keep a record of personal reading in through discussion, writing, drama, the skills. including stories, various forms. visual arts and dance. 30. Improve his/her poems, myths,  Use comprehension skills such as analysing, 23 Relate personal experience to ability to recognise legends, novels and confirming, evaluating, synthesising and correlating the ideas and emotions conveyed in and understand words non-fiction texts to aid deduction, problem solving and prediction. the text. by using root words, appropriate to his/her  Develop study skills such as skimming, 24 Appreciate issues in fiction. prefixes, suffixes, and age and reading scanning, note-taking and summarising. 25 Examine similarities and syllabication. ability.  Retrieve and interpret information in a variety of differences in various types of text. 31. Engage with an  Engage in books ways. 26 Continue to share response to an ever-increasing variety of texts with increasing range of in group or in whole-  Support arguments and opinions with evidence the wider community of readers. narrative, expository class settings. from the text. 27 Browse through, handle, and representational  Learn about the  Read and interpret different kinds of functional discuss, recommend and select books text. structure and text. 32. Become self- appreciate the for independent reading.  Explore appropriate non-fiction texts for various 28 Develop individuality as a reliant, confident, function of the purposes. component parts of a reader by experiencing success and independent readers,  Use information retrieval strategies in cross- newspaper. the enhancement of self-esteem having time in class curricular settings. for sustained silent  Participate in through reading.  Distinguish between fact and opinion, and bias reading. organised visits to the 29 Read aloud from a personal and objectivity, in text and in the media. public library and choice of texts to entertain and inform  Use the school, classroom and public libraries avail of the mobile an audience. to develop greater insight into book location, library service. 30 Listen to books or extracts classification and organisation.  Read to satisfy from books and poetry read aloud or  Find information relevant to his/her purpose in personal interests. presented on tape, radio or television. non-fiction texts, graphs and pictorial and diagrammatic data, and through the use of information technology.

16 Reading: Methodologies for 5th & 6th Classes

Note: Many teaching methodologies appropriate to the teaching of reading capacity are inherent in the content detailed on the previous page.

1. Reading to pupils. 2. Modelled reading by teacher / pupil. 3. Guided reading. 4. Shared reading. 5. Independent reading. 6. Performance reading. 7. Paired-reading. 8. USSR – Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading. 9. Research reading. 10. Encouraging use of class / city library. 11. Book Fairs. 12.Project work. 13.Recalling, retelling, predicting. 14. Analysis, explanation, mood, issues, theme. 15. Inference. 16. Deduction. 17. Summarising. 18. Evaluation. 19. Correlation, classification. 20. Use of different genres. 21.Reading strategies – scanning, skimming, research reading, reflective reading. 22. Book discussions involving comparisons of style etc. 23. Class reader. 24. Class novel. 25. CD reading. 26. Magazines, newspapers. 27. Visit by author, poet.

17 General Principles

 This programme is taken from Jolly Phonics, My Spelling Workbook Scheme, Alpha to Omega and Sounds OK Workbooks

 An ideal lesson should follow these steps: 1 Review of sight words containing the sound, shop, ship etc 2 Isolation and identification of the sound: sh 3 Blending of the sound with known endings, e.g. sh-ape, sh-ade etc 4 Spelling the new words 5 Activities, e.g word building sh______

 In building up a sight vocabulary, pupils should be introduced to the major phonic elements within each word, eg stand= st sound =+–nd sound

 It is desirable that the phonic programme should be integrated with the spelling programme

 From Rang 1 upwards, phonic instruction will be based on sight words from the Reading Scheme and My Spelling Workbook Scheme. Sounds O.K. Books 1, 2, and 3.

18 Glossary of terms

Phonic method An approach to reading instruction where the emphasis is placed upon the sound value of letters as a means of word recognition

Analysis Breaking down a word into its individual letter sounds, e.g. ship = sh+I+p

Blending Linking together the individual sounds to form the whole word, sh+ee+p

Digraph Two letters, vowel or consonant, which combine to make one sound: chin meat

Diphthong Two vowels blending to make one sound: oil

Assessment

Assessment in phonics will mainly be informal teacher observation. Assessment can also be monitored through the use of a variety of activities and games. In addition, the following strategies will be used:

Junior & Senior Infants – formal assessment. Check if each child knows letter sounds on his/her own

Rang 1- 6: Teacher monitors individual children through the daily reading and writing activities. Pupils will be assessed by the Learning Support Teacher if a teacher is concerned about a pupil’s reading and writing

19 Homework Homework in Phonics will not be given in isolation, as it will come under spellings and functional writing

Communication with parents Particular problems will be documented informally and parents will be orally notified. They will be encouraged to help the child, and will be shown how to support their child’s learning in this area, eg through work lists, word games, strategies etc. Notes should be made in the child’s file of any such consultations with parents

Phonic Scheme

Junior & Senior Infants

33. Informal introduction to the idea that words are made up of sounds and certain symbols represent these sounds.

This is achieved by a) making children aware of sounds

b) training children to hear initial sounds

c) teaching sound values of basic letter symbols (Within words)

20 34. Developing ability to discriminate between likenesses and differences of sounds in words

e.g. cat fat ball mat mouse sand mammy monkey.

35. Consonants in initial positions (names and sounds) s, t, p, n, c, k, h, r, m, d, g, l, f, b, j, z, v, y, x, qu (as in Jolly Phonics Programme)

36. Short vowels in initial positions (names and sounds). Blending of initial sounds when 3 sounds taught, i.e. s-a-t = sat

37. Short vowels in medial positions = familiarization with short vowel sounds

38. Continue blending to make 3 letter words, e.g. cab

39. Building up work families (cat, bat, mat etc)

40. Introduction of onset and rime, e.g. c = at

Rang 1

1. Consonants in initial positions :

2. g(hard)k v y j (fun, king etc)

3. Final double consonants: -ss -ll (mass, hill etc)

21 4. Common endings: -ed -ing -s (singing, sings etc)

5. Initial blends bl cl fl gl pl sl sp st

6. Final blends : -nd -st -nt -ft

7. Initial diagraphs: ch- sh- th-

8. Final diagraphs -ch -sh -ng

9. Common irregular words: taken from reading scheme

10. Long vowels with silent e

Rang 2 10. Long vowels with silent e: mane, fine, bone, cure

11. Double e: -ee , bee etc

12. Initial blends: sm- sn- sc- sk- sw- tw- br- cr- dr- fr- pr- gr- tr-

13. Final blends: -lt -sp -ld -sk -ly

14. Word endings:-er -est d -ly

15. Initial diagraphs: qu- wh- ph-

16. Final diagraphs: -th -tch -st -th -ck

22 17. Vowel diagraphs: -ay- -ea- -ie -oe- Teach: when 2 vowels go walking, the first one does the talking

18. Simple two-syllable words: kitchen hotel

19. Common irregular words, e.g. cough, ghost etc based on reading scheme

Rang 3 1. Vowel digraphs and combinations: -ue- -oe- -igh- -ew- -ur-

2. Initial blends: scr- str- thr- shr- spl- sch-

3. Soft c and soft g: city, gentle

4. Diphthongs: -oe- -oy- -ou- -ow (bow tie/bow your head)

5. Endings: -le -ble -dle -ple etc

6. Compound words: lighthouse, searchlight etc

7. Simple homonyms: their/there see/sea no/know two/to/too etc

8. Words with silent letter: wr (write) kn(know) -mb(lamb) -t-(listen) etc

9. -oo- -ow- combinations: soon/book town/gown

10. three and four syllable words: aeroplane television

23 Rang 4 As in rang 3, plus

31. Vowel digraphs and combinations: -ue- -oe- -igh- -ew- -ur-

32. Initial blends: scr- str- thr- shr- spl- sch-

33. Soft c and soft g: city, gentle

34. Diphthongs: -oe- -oy- -ou- -ow

35. Endings: -le -ble -dle -ple etc

36. Compound words: lighthouse, searchlight etc

37. Simple homonyms: hole/whole eight/ate deer/dear not/knot

38. Words with silent letter: wr (write) kn(know) -mb(lamb) -t-(listen) etc

39. -oo- -ow- combinations: soon/book town/gown

40. Irregular words: busy etc. take irregular words from scheme

Rang 5 1. Root families e.g express/expressing/expression

2. Prefixes

3. Suffixes

24 4. Syllabication

5. Compound words

6. Simple homonyms: extension of work in Rang 3 and Rang 4. More challenging groups

7. Irregular words based on reading scheme

Rang 6 28. Root families

29. Prefixes

30. Suffixes

31. Syllabification

32. Compound words

33. Simple homonyms: revise earlier work, plus more challenging lists

34. Irregular words based on reading programme

Reading Resources In addition to the class text books, the following resources will be used:

25 Class Libraries All classes are supplied with a class library,

Paired Reading The Paired reading programme is carried out from Junior Infants to 6th Class with Parents in Term 2 of academic year.

Class Novels Class novels will be used from Rang 4 to Rang 6. . When selecting a class novel, the following issues will be considered  Suitability for reading level/age of pupils  Suitability of content/subject  Teacher’s own interest in a particular novel  Interests of a particular class

The class novels are currently banded according to class level. If teachers wish to use a novel other than those on their own class bands, they are asked to source a new title rather than using a novel from a different band.

The Special Duties teacher with responsibility for Library will assist any teacher wishing to select a new novel.

Use of Dictionaries Dictionaries will be used from Third Class up. Formal time will be devoted to teaching the children how to use a dictionary correctly. For this purpose, a child friendly dictionary will be selected, and all pupils will be encouraged to obtain the same publication. The dictionary selected for use is Fallons Children’s Oxford Dictionary, Irish Edition.

Rang 5 and Rang 6 will also have some class copies of a more sophisticated dictionary and an appropriate thesaurus, and pupils will be encouraged to use these. D.E.A.R. / Paired Reading / Peer Reading.

Internet Resources for book related activities

26 www.enchantedlearning.com www.fireandwater.com www.pcsp.ie www.scoilnet.ie

Reading/Writing Content Due to the fact that the school has designed its own very specific programme in relation to the acquisition of both reading and writing for the junior infant programme, the content of both will be shown together on this plan. Reading and Writing content for all other class levels will then be explored separately.

Junior Infants Reading and Writing Acquisition Phonemic approach used incorporating the 42 Jolly Phonics sounds

27 Reading Child will be enabled to: Begin the Jolly phonics reading programme immediately in September Learn new sounds at a rate of 2 or 3 per week depending on the ability and needs of the class Consolidate phonics learning at home with Jolly phonics sounds copies. Blend sounds together to read simple cvc words. Begin to read Jolly phonics wordbox words after a few weeks at school when group one sounds have been covered. Learn new sounds using stories, actions games and songs from Jolly phonics for the white board Practise sounds on a daily basis From November read a different graded shared reader at home and in school, each day with one word per page from a selection of graded readers Writing Child will be enabled to Learn and practise letter formation immediately in September as each jolly phonics sound is taught Trace letters in sand, on sand paper, practise on white boards, work books, copies and handwriting copies. Practise daily finger strengthening activities and fine motor skills Practise writing their own name by tracing it on dots or writing it into worksheets printed with Comic Sans –outline font.

28 Use The Write Here programme, Burgers Book of Sounds, Exercise your English 1 and Jolly phonics finger phonics books to practise letter formation Term 2 Reading Child will be enabled to Learn new Jolly Phonics sounds at a rate of 2 or 3 per week. Consolidate phonics learning at home with Jolly phonics sounds copies. Learn new sounds using stories, actions, games and songs from Jolly phonics for the white board Practise sounds on a daily basis Read from the class graded reading scheme; Reading Zones. Read and practise daily, sight word cards to accompany Reading Zones readers Read a shared reader from appropriate level graded readers eg. one simple sentence per page, these are changed nightly Read a new set of Jolly phonics wordbox words every fortnight. Writing Child will be enabled to Write their own name independently Trace on dots three simple news sentences Copy simple 3 simple sentences from the line above in news copy and then at end of term in handwriting copy Learn and practise new letter formations as each jolly phonics sound is taught. Practise daily finger strengthening activities and fine motor skills At end of term 2 write short piece of writing with one to one help in accordance with genre being covered in school eg. short book reports, cards, lists, postcards for display in class. At the end of term 2 make short written contributions to written class writing collections eg. Ted’s diary.

Term 3 Reading Revise jolly phonics sounds Continue to read jolly phonics wordbox words Read from the class graded reading scheme; Reading Zones and when finished use Magic Emerald readers Read and practise daily, sight word cards to accompany Reading Zones and Magic Emerald readers Writing

29 Revise and consolidate letter formation Attempt to copy 3 lines of news from the board Attempt to write one line of own news by end of term Practise daily finger strengthening activities and fine motor skills Write, with one to one help short pieces of writing in accordance with genre being covered in school eg. account of school tours, beach days, sports days, make short written contributions to class projects eg Sherkin Island. Use a writing box (full of appealing writing materials) in turn to produce a short piece of writing at home for a real purpose

30 Writing : Broad Objectives

The aim of this plan is to provide a structured and sequential programme for teachers to enable children to:

31.Write clearly, correctly and fluently.

32.Use a wide range of vocabulary.

33.Use grammar and punctuation appropriately.

34.Write in a wide variety of genres encompassing differing styles, purposes, audiences and level of formality.

35.Experience opportunities to develop presentation, editing and publishing skills.

36.Engage in collaborative writing experiences.

37.Develop a high standard of penmanship.

31 Writing: Content for Junior & Senior Infants

Creating & Fostering the Developing Competence, Clarifying Thought Through Developing Emotional & Impulse to Write Confidence and the Ability to Writing Imaginative Life Through Write Independently Writing  Experience and enjoy a . Learn to form and name individual letters  Draw a picture and write  Draw and write about print-rich environment. using various materials. about it. feelings.  Receive help from the . Write and draw.  Draw and write about  Draw and write about things teacher, who will sometimes act . Understand the left-right, top-bottom everyday experience or about he/she likes and dislikes. as scribe to assist with accuracy orientation of writing. something just learned.  Draw and write about and presentation. . Develop a satisfactory grip of writing  Writing naming words and sensory experiences.  Write and draw frequently. implements. add descriptive words.  Draw and write stories.  Write for different . Copy words from signs in the environment.  Rewrite sentences to make  Hear a rich variety of stories, audiences. . Copy letters and words informally as part of the message clearer. rhymes and songs and write  See personal writing class activities. about them. displayed. . Write his/her name.  Use mime and role-  Read personal writing aloud . Use labels to name familiar people or playing to create imaginary and hear it read. things. situations and then draw and . Write letters and words from memory. write about them. . Become aware of lower-case and capital letters and the full stop. . Develop the confidence to use approximate spelling. . Begin to develop conventional spelling of simple words. . See the teacher model writing as an enjoyable experience. . Choose subjects for drawing and writing. . Choose the form of expression he/she finds appropriate

Writing: Methodologies for Junior & Senior Infants

Note: Many teaching methodologies appropriate to the development of writing capacity are inherent in

32 the content detailed on the previous page.

 Provision of print-rich environment e.g. labels, flashcards, posters.  Teacher as scribe – pupils tell story and teacher writes and pupils may copy / type.  Compilation of Our News on flip chart pad.  Scribbling, writing patterns using different media e.g. chalk, crayon, paint.  Tracing of basic letters on sandpaper and sand, making letters with marla and use of magnetic letters.  Letter formation including lower case, upper case, capital letters and full stop.  Making cards and writing simple messages.  Copying / writing own name, environmental labels, words and simple sentences.  Writing for different people / purposes e.g. card, name on art work.  Display personal writing and read pupils’ writing aloud.  Making of little books e.g. My Book about…Autumn.  Teacher models letter formation on the blackboard / air and pupils imitate.  Start with dot – left / right, top / bottom. front / back.  Teach writing grip progressing from chubby crayons to chublets, to chubby pencils to standard pencils.  Allow children to spell own words – approximate spelling.  Draw a picture and write about it e.g. name, caption, sentence.  Add descriptive words to naming words.  Dominoes – match the start of a sentence with an ending and write.  Draw and write about feelings e.g. happy face and write word ‘happy’, I feel sad / happy when…

Writing: Content for 1st & 2nd Classes

Creating & Fostering the Developing Competence, Clarifying Thought Through Developing Emotional &

33 Impulse to Write Confidence & the Ability to Write Writing Imaginative Life Through Independently Writing  Experience a classroom . Experience an abundance of oral language  Write in a variety of genres.  Express feelings in environment that encourages activity when preparing a writing task.  Write a version of a story writing. writing. . Realise that first attempts at writing are not told by the teacher.  Write about experiences.  Observe the teacher as necessarily the finished product and learn to  Write about something that  Listen to the experiences he/she models writing stories. undertake second drafts in order to improve has been learned. of others and express reactions  Seek help from the teacher writing.  Write the significant details to them in writing. in order to achieve accuracy . Understand that the conventions of about an event or an activity.  Draw and write about and an appropriate standard punctuation help to make meaning clearer in  Write an explanation for sensory experience. presentation. writing. something.  Write about feelings  Experience how a story . Spell words in a recognisable way based on an  Re-read work, confer with experienced in drama activity. structure is organised by awareness of the most common spelling the teacher or others about it,  Draw and write stories and reading and listening to fiction. strings and patterns. and then rewrite it. poems.  Write regularly for different . Use approximate spelling as an interim  Write a simple sentence  Express in writing likes audiences. measure in mastering the conventions of and add words to it to extend its and dislikes about events and  Choose topics to write spelling. meaning. characters in stories and . Spell correctly a range of familiar, important about.  Listen to a story and write poems. and regularly occurring words, and use a  Explore different genres. down questions to ask about it.  Listen to music and variety of sources as aids to spelling.  Work with other children  Write answers to questions write about it. . Choose topics for writing after conferring with when writing. asked by the teacher. the teacher.  Have writing valued. . Have regular opportunities to write for himself/herself or for others. . Decide whether or not to re-draft a piece of writing. . Confer with the teacher and others on the quality of presentation. . Write notes and messages to different audiences. Writing: Methodologies for 1st & 2nd Classes

Note: Many teaching methodologies appropriate to the development of writing capacity are inherent in the content detailed on the previous page.

. Teacher as scribe, modelling story structure. . Cross-age tutoring – older pupil as scribe for younger pupil.

34 . Print-rich environment e.g. labels, captions, displays of simple sentences / stories, writing corner. . Oral preparation for all written work. . Express feelings in print, write about experiences, write about senses. . Spelling in accordance with school policy. . Choose writing topic through brainstorming, mind-mapping, drawing up lists of favourite topics. . Pupils select own topic to write about. . Personal writing collections. . Include pupils’ writing in class library. . Free-writing in personal journal. . Lists, messages, reminders, letters, invitations. . Write for self, other pupils, teacher, parents. . Write the important details of an event e.g. school / local event. . Class story – each pupil writes 5 – 10 sentences. . Writing pairs / groups for editing and re-drafting. . Pupils read own work to class / at assembly. . Displays of writing in corridor. . Publish work in an anthology / school newsletter.

Writing: Content for 3rd & 4th Classes

Creating and Fostering the Developing Competence, Clarifying Thought Through Developing Emotional and Impulse to Write Confidence and the Ability to Writing Imaginative Life Through Write Independently Writing  Experience a classroom . Write regularly, and gradually  Write in a variety of genres  Express his/her reactions to environment that encourages extend the period over which a with greater sophistication. particular experiences in writing. writing. writing effort is sustained.  Read a story and write it in  Write about experiences and

35  Observe the teacher . Engage in the writing of one piece his/her own terms. feelings in diary form. modelling different writing genres. over a period.  Read a narrative or  Write about feelings  Use personal reading as a . Experience varied and consistent expository piece and summarise experienced in improvisational stimulus to writing. oral language activity as a it. drama.  Write stories that explore a preparation for writing.  Write about an idea to  Create stories and poems. variety of genres. . Learn to use questions as a explain it to someone else.  Write extended stories in book  Re-read his/her writing for mechanism for expanding and  Write about why he/she finds form. pleasure. developing a story. an idea attractive.  Write about favourite moments,  Choose the audience for . Give sequence to ideas and events in  Write about ideas characters and events in stories. which to write. stories. encountered in other areas of the  Express in writing his/her  Choose both the subject and . Develop an appreciation of how the curriculum. reactions to poems. form of his/her writing. intended audience should influence  Write down directions on  Express in writing his/her  Receive and give positive the nature of a piece of writing. how to perform a particular reactions to personal reading. responses to writing. . Develop an awareness of the process.  Use his/her own artwork and difference between written language  See his/her writing valued.  Write a list of questions that of others as a stimulus to and oral language. about a particular topic and writing. . Learn to revise and re-draft prioritise them. writing.  Write a sentence and elaborate on it by adding one or more ideas to it.  Expand and clarify his/her thoughts on a particular idea or topic through drafting and re- drafting.

Writing: Methodologies for 3rd & 4th Classes

11. Personal class diary. 12.Poetry writing. 13.Pupils write to one another for a specific purpose.

36 14. Party invitation. 15. Write a joke book (clarify boundaries). 16. Write a quiz on a particular topic. 17. Write a set of directions. 18. Devise an evacuation plan for the building. 19. Collate class rules. 20. Give a sentence – each child writes for 5 minutes starting with that sentence. 21.Give 6 to 8 words – build a story around them. 22. Letters of thanks, complaint, invitation. 23. Display pupils’ written work – writing corner, corridor display, school anthology / newsletter. 24. Encourage pupils to ornament work for display. Create book covers. 25. Pupils read written work aloud to class, assembly. 26. Write-a-Book. 27. Create boxes of facts etc. for projects. 28. Brainstorm for story writing and use questions to expand. Sequence events. Discuss different beginnings and endings. 29. Paired / group writing. 30. Write a book for younger family member / younger classes. 31.E-mail pen pal, friend, other school. 32. Provide middle of story – tease out beginning and conclusion. 33. Use rough work drafts before presenting final copy after discussion with teacher. 34. Earmark weeks for poetry, letters etc. 35. Read a story to the class and ask them to write a summary. 36. Take a paragraph from a familiar story / piece and re-write in own words. 37. Select a famous person whom you would like to interview and select questions you would ask.

Writing: Content for 5th & 6th Classes

Creating & Developing Competence, Confidence Clarifying Thought Through Developing Emotional & Fostering the & the Ability to Write Independently Writing Imaginative Life Through Impulse to Write Writing  Experience a . Write regularly on chosen topics.  Write in a wide variety of  Analyse in writing his/her classroom . Write for a sustained length of time. genres. reactions to personal experiences. environment that . Engage in the writing of one piece over a period.  Examine the characteristics that  Express in writing reactions encourages writing. . Experience varied and consistent oral language differentiate written and oral to the experiences of others.  Observe the activity as part of the pre-writing process. language.  Write stories and poems.

37 teacher model a wide . Observe the teacher improving writing.  Write for a particular purpose  Write longer stories or a variety of writing . Write independently through a process of drafting, and with a particular audience in series of related stories in book genres. revising, editing and publishing. mind. form.  Express and . Write, without re-drafting, on a given or chosen  Reflect on and analyse ideas  Keep a personal diary. communicate topic within certain time constraints. through writing.  Express a personal reaction reactions to reading . Observe the conventions of grammar, punctuation  Refine ideas and their to ideas, emotions and images experiences. and spelling in his/her writing. expression through drafting and re- encountered in literature.  Experience . Use dictionaries and thesauruses to extend and drafting.  Express and analyse his/her interesting and develop vocabulary and spelling.  Express and communicate new reactions to poems. relevant writing . Explore the possibilities of syntax and sentence learning.  Analyse different challenges. structure in reading and writing.  Relate new ideas to previous interpretations of poems in  Write for an . Choose a register of language appropriate to learning. writing. increasingly varied subject and audience.  Use notes to summarise reading  Write about the relationship audience. . Choose a form and quality of presentation material and write an account from between poems and personal  Receive and give appropriate to the audience. the notes. experience. constructive . Help others with editing their work.  Sketch an ordered summary of  Write short plays based on responses to writing. . Take part in co-operative writing activities. ideas and draft a writing assignment activity in improvisational  See his/her . Write fluently and relevantly in other areas of the on it. drama. curriculum. writing valued.  Argue the case in writing for a  Express in writing . Develop a legible, fluent, personal style of  Experience a particular point of view. reactions to music, artwork, handwriting. level of success in  Argue the case in writing for a films, television programmes . Develop skills in the use of information writing that will be an point of view with which he/she and videos. technology. incentive to continue disagrees. writing.  Explore the use of compound and complex sentences in expressing thought. Writing: Methodologies for 5th & 6th Classes

. Supply print-rich environment e.g. Fallon’s posters. . Narrative: 1. adventure 2. horror 3. plays 4. folk and fairy tales 5. historical

38 6. mystery 7. magic 8. science 9. fables 10. personal experiences . Provision of relevant topics. . Brainstorming, webbing, research, conferencing. . Note-taking. . Instructions. . Newspapers. . Reports. . Persuasive text. . Explanations. . Formal / informal letters and faxes. . Reports and reviews. . Diary. . Editing, drafting and publishing. . Spelling, grammar, punctuation and layout. . Correction, self-correction, use of dictionary, thesaurus. . Write-a-book. . E-mail. . Poetry

39 Penmanship

Left Handed Pupils Children’s hand dominance will not be influenced.  Children will be encouraged to find a pencil grip that is comfortable, and allows good writing.  In senior classes, ball point pens may be more suitable for left handed children than ink pens.

Senior Infants  Children will be encouraged to write and draw frequently throughout the year  Emphasis on proper pencil grip  Posture will be encouraged  Greater emphasis on left-right orientation

September – December Revise lower case letters and introduce Capital letters in conjunction with the junior infant jolly phonic programme.

From Halloween Writing homework from blackboard Copy words from the environment

January to June

 Write labels to name families, people and things  Write his/her full name  Awareness of lower case and capital letters and full stops

40  Awareness of ascenders and descenders  Awareness of spacing between words  Trying to keep writing on the line

Resources Pupils – Hugger pencils Just Write B B2 Handwriting copy

First Class  Consolidation and reinforcement of Senior infant work  Use of HB pencils  Emphasis on proper pencil grip  Emphasis on good writing posture  Emphasis on proper letter formation  Emphasis on quality presentation

Resources B2 Handwriting Copy Write this way 1.

Second Class  Consolidation and reinforcement of above  Use of HB pencils  Emphasis on proper pencil grip  Emphasis on good writing posture  Emphasis on proper letter formation  Emphasis on quality presentation

41  Joined writing will be introduced Resources B2 Handwriting Copy Write this Way 2

Third Class  Use of HB pencils  Emphasis on proper pencil grip  Emphasis on good writing posture  Emphasis on proper letter formation  Emphasis on quality presentation  Revision and consolidation of joining  Introduction of script writing

Resources B4 Handwriting Copy Write this Way 3

Fourth Class  Emphasis on proper pencil grip  Emphasis on good writing posture  Emphasis on proper letter formation  Emphasis on quality presentation  Use of pen to be introduced in late 4th Class  Use of ink pen rather than ballpoint biro to facilitate good handwriting  Use of brackets plus one line to correct errors.  Introduction of cursive writing

42 Resources B4 Handwriting Copy Write this Way 4

Fifth and Sixth Classes  Emphasis on proper pencil grip  Emphasis on good writing posture  Emphasis on proper letter formation  Emphasis on quality presentation  Ink pens rather than ball points to be used  Develop a fluent personal style of handwriting  Write for more sustained periods

Development and practise of script writing using Handwriting copies and some exercises from Prim. Ed Workbook D

Functional Writing

Rang 1 Sentence construction Use of capital letters at beginning of sentences and full stops at the end of sentences

Parts of Speech The children will be introduced to the concept of Proper Nouns and Common Nouns, without use of formal terminology. ‘Special’ names such as John, Mary, Rex and Mallow get capital letters, while ‘ordinary’ words such as boy, girl, dog and town get lower case letters.

43 Rang 2 Sentence construction Use of capital letters at beginning of sentences and full stops at the end of sentences. Use of the question mark. Awareness of inverted commas for direct speech

Parts of Speech Revision and extension of the concept of Proper Nouns and Common Nouns, without use of formal terminology. ‘Special’ names such as John, Mary, Rex and Mallow get capital letters, while ‘ordinary’ words such as boy, girl, dog and town get lower case letters. Masculine and Feminine nouns, eg bull/cow; king/queen; prince/princess.

Rang 3 Sentence construction Use of capital letters at beginning of sentences and full stops at the end of sentences. Use of the question mark. Use of commas in lists. Use of inverted commas for direct speech Use of apostrophe

Parts of Speech Revision and extension of the concept of Proper Nouns and Common Nouns, plus the introduction of the terminology Proper Nouns such as John, Mary, Rex and Mallow get capital letters, while Common nouns such as boy, girl, dog and town get lower case letters. Use of collective nouns, e.g. herd of cattle, school of dolphins etc Masculine and Feminine nouns, eg bull/cow; king/queen; prince/princess. Plural of nouns

Rang 4 Sentence construction Use of capital letters at beginning of sentences and full stops at the end of sentences. Use of the question mark.

44 Use of exclamation mark Use of commas in lists. Use of inverted commas for direct speech. Use of direct speech and indirect speech. Use of apostrophe

Parts of Speech Revision and extension of the concept of Proper Nouns and Common Nouns. Proper Nouns such as John, Mary, Rex and Mallow get capital letters, while Common nouns such as boy, girl, dog and town get lower case letters. Use of collective nouns, e.g. herd of cattle, school of dolphins etc Masculine and Feminine nouns. Plural of nouns Verbs. Verbs have tense. Past/present/future tense. .

Rang 5 Sentence construction Use of capital letters at beginning of sentences and full stops at the end of sentences. Use of the question mark. Use of exclamation mark Use of commas in lists. Use of inverted commas for direct speech. Use of direct speech and indirect speech. Use of apostrophe

Parts of Speech Revision and extension of the concept of Proper Nouns and Common Nouns. Masculine and Feminine nouns Collective nouns Abstract nouns Plural of nouns Adjectives

45 Verbs. Past, Present and Future Tense Verbs Conjunctions

Rang 6 Sentence construction Use of capital letters at beginning of sentences and full stops at the end of sentences. Use of the question mark. Use of exclamation mark Use of commas in lists. Use of inverted commas for direct speech. Use of direct speech and indirect speech. Use of apostrophe

Parts of Speech Revision and extension of the concept of Proper Nouns and Common Nouns. Masculine and Feminine nouns Collective nouns Abstract nouns Plural of nouns Adjectives Verbs - Past, Present and Future Tense Verbs Conjunctions Adverbs Prepositions Definite and Indefinite Article

Personal Writing We intend to follow a whole school approach to personal writing September: Persuasive Writing October: Procedural Writing November: Poetry

46 December: Narrative January: Report Writing February: Poetry: March: Recount April: May: Narrative.

Spellings

Regular class time will be timetabled for the teaching of spelling strategies. The convention of spelling will be achieved progressively through a multi-dimensional approach. This will include:

. Linking spelling with the development of phonological and phonemic awareness (see page 58 Teacher Guidelines) . Linking it with onset and rime, see page 58 . Building up a bank of commonly used words . Having a rich experience of environmental print . Compiling personal word banks, eg personal names, local place names, seasonal words . Using dictionaries and thesauruses . Using strategies such as 20. Predict, look, say, cover, write, check 21. Music 22. ICT 23. Mnemonics 24. Rhythm and rhyme 25. Creation of word searches 26. Aide memoirs 27. Spelling buddies 28. Breaking words into syllables 29. Exaggeration of the word

47 . Becoming familiar with common spelling rules . Accepting approximate spelling in creative writing

Textbook - Spellbound (CJ Fallon) Senior Infants and First Class. My Spelling Workbook 2nd to 6th Class

Junior Infants : Spellings . Learn to form and name individual letters using various materials . Understand left-right orientation when forming words . Copy letters and words informally and from signs in the classroom . Write own Christian name . Use labels to name familiar people and things

Homework Homework in will consist of letter/word recognition and formation. Spelling lists will not be given at this stage

Assessment Informal teacher assessment of knowledge of letter and word structure.

Senior Infants : Spellings . Learn to form and name individual letters using various materials . Understand left-right orientation when forming words . Copy letters and words informally and from signs in the classroom . Write own name, Christian name and surname . Use labels to name familiar people and things . Write letters and simple words from memory . Become aware of lower case and capital letters . Develop the confidence to use approximate spelling . Begin to develop conventional spelling of simple words, eg 3 letter words using onset and rime, e.g. c-at, b-at, r-at . Simple spellings based on phonic programmes . Word banks will consist of pupil’s own name, teacher’s name, simpler words from Dolch Lists 1 and 2

48 Homework Homework in spellings will consist of letter/word recognition and formation. Spelling lists will not be given at this stage

Assessment Informal teacher assessment of knowledge of letter and word structure.

Rang 1 . Learn about common word endings, word families and roots of words . Spell words in a recognisable way based on an awareness of the most common word strings and patterns (page 58, Teacher Guidelines) . Use approximate spelling as an interim measure in mastering the convention of spelling . Break longer words into their constituent syllables - maximum 2 syllable words . Spell correctly a range of familiar important and regularly occurring words, and use of variety of sources as aids to spelling . Develop Word Bank to include 1. Numbers 1 – 10 2. Colours 3. Names of class mates 4. Dolch list 1-4 5. Class topics

. Spelling lists will not be taken from reader

Pupil Resource Each pupil will have an envelope folder, where spelling lists and worksheets will be stored

Homework . Formal learning of spellings begins in Rang 1. . Adequate class time will be given to teach spelling strategies

. Words will be based on phonics, word strings , Spelling book etc as above,. and will not be based on reader

49 . Lists of spellings to be learned will be divided into daily segments, eg 2 per night

Assessment . Regular testing will take place . Total of words to be tested in a test will not exceed 8 . Spelling tests will be marked by the teacher, and records of progress kept. . All children will be given the opportunity to experience success, and will learn spellings at own ability level as above

Rang 2 . Learn about common word endings, word families and roots of words . Spell words in a recognisable way based on an awareness of the most common word strings and patterns (page 58, Teacher Guidelines) . Use approximate spelling as an interim measure in mastering the convention of spelling . Break longer words into their constituent syllables - maximum 3 syllable words . Spell correctly a range of familiar important and regularly occurring words, and use of variety of sources as aids to spelling . Develop Work Bank to include 1. Numbers 1 – 20 2. Days of the week 3. Seasons 4. Relevant countries 5. Class topics 6. Names of class mates, some surnames 7. Commonly used words which sound the same, e.g. blue/blew 8. Commonly used words which mean the same, e.g. big-huge 9. Commonly used words which are opposite, e.g. large – small 10. Commonly used question words, e.g. when, what, where, how etc 11. Dolch list 1-7

. Spelling lists will not be taken from reader

50 . Children will be grouped according to spelling ability in order to achieve success. This will be achieved by either reducing the number of spellings or by the provision of easier lists for different groups

Pupil Resource Each pupil will have an envelope folder, where spelling lists and worksheets will be stored

Homework . Adequate class time will be given to teach spelling strategies . Words will be based on phonics, word strings , Spelling book etc as above,. and will not be based on reader . Lists of spellings to be learned will be divided into daily segments, eg 2 /3 per night

Assessment . Regular testing will take place . Total of words to be tested in a test will not exceed 10 . All children will be given the opportunity to experience success, and will learn spellings at own ability level as above . Spellings will be marked by the teacher . Children may enjoy recording their progress on a graph template

Rang 3 . Learn about common word endings, word families and roots of words . Spell words in a recognisable way based on an awareness of the most common word strings and patterns (page 58, Teacher Guidelines) . Use approximate spelling as an interim measure in mastering the convention of spelling . Break longer words into their constituent syllables . Spell correctly a range of familiar important and regularly occurring words, and use of variety of sources as aids to spelling . Develop Word Bank to include 31 Numbers 1 – 100 32 Ordinal numbers 1st – 10th 33 Days, months, seasons

51 34 Names of class mates 35 Relevant countries and counties 36 Placenames and addresses 37 Class topics 38 Homonyms 39 Synonyms 40 Antonyms 41 Dolch list 1-11 42 Class topics

. A ‘My Words’ section will be one of the sources for spelling lists. This collection of words will be established by adding the words individual children are experiencing difficulty with, taken from everyday writings and tests.

. Spelling lists will not normally be taken from reader . Children will be grouped according to spelling ability in order to achieve success. This will be achieved by either reducing the number of spellings or by the provision of easier lists

Pupil Resource Each pupil will have an envelope folder, where spelling lists and worksheets will be stored.

Homework . Adequate time will be given to learn spellings and spelling strategies in class . Words will be based on phonics, word strings , Spelling lists etc as above,. and will not normally be based on reader . Lists of spellings to be memorised will be divided into daily segments, eg 3 / 4 per night

Assessment . Regular testing will take place . Total of words to be tested in a test will not exceed 12 . Full sentence testing will occasionally be used at this level . All children will be given the opportunity to experience success, and will learn spellings at own ability level as above.

52 . Marking – children may occasionally be involved in marking their own work or the work of their peers at this stage, under the guidance of the teacher . Children will enjoy recording their progress on a graph template

Rang 4 . Learn about an increasing more complex set of word endings, word families and roots of words . Spell words in a recognisable way based on an awareness of the most common word strings and patterns (page 58, Teacher Guidelines) . Use approximate spelling as an interim measure in mastering the convention of spelling . Break longer words into their constituent syllables - maximum 4 syllable words . Spell correctly a range of familiar important and regularly occurring words, and use of variety of sources as aids to spelling . Develop Work Bank to include

24. Ordinal numbers 1st – 100th 25. Full names of pupils 26. Placenames and addresses 27. Class topics 28. Homonyms 29. Synonyms 30. Antonyms 31. Curricular topics

. A ‘My Words’ section will be one of the sources for spelling lists. This collection of words will be established by adding the words individual children are experiencing difficulty with

. Spelling lists will not normally be taken from reader . Children will be grouped according to spelling ability in order to achieve success. This will be achieved by either reducing the number of spellings or by he provision of easier lists

53 Pupil Resource Each pupil will have an envelope folder, where spelling lists and worksheets will be stored

Homework . Adequate class time will be given to learn spellings and spelling strategies . Lists of spellings to be memorised will be divided into daily segments, eg 4/5 per night . Words will be based on phonics, word strings , Spelling lists etc as above,. and will not normally be based on reader

Assessment . Regular testing will take place . Total of words to be tested in a test will not exceed 15 . Full sentence testing will occasionally be used at this level . All children will be given the opportunity to experience success, and will learn spellings at own ability level as above . Children at this stage may be occasionally involved in marking their own work or the work of their peers, under the guidance of the teacher . Children may enjoy recording their progress on a graph template

Rang 5 and Rang 6 . Increased use of dictionary . Use of thesaurus . Study word derivation. eg octagon, century etc . Learn about an increasingly more complex set common word endings, word families and roots of words . Spell words in a recognisable way based on an awareness of the most common word strings and patterns (page 58, Teacher Guidelines) . Use approximate spelling as an interim measure in mastering the convention of spelling . Break longer words into their constituent syllables . Spell correctly a range of familiar important and regularly occurring words, and use of variety of sources as aids to spelling . Children will be grouped according to spelling ability in order to achieve success. This will be achieved by either reducing the number of spellings or by he provision of easier lists

54 Pupil Resource Each pupil will have an envelope folder, where spelling lists and worksheets will be stored

Homework . Adequate class time will be given to learn spellings and spelling strategies . Lists of spellings to be memorised will be divided into daily segments, eg 4/5 per night

Assessment . Regular testing will take place . Total of words to be tested in a test will not exceed 18 in Rang 5 and 20 in Rang 6 . All children will be given the opportunity to experience success, and will learn spellings at own ability level as above. . Full sentence testing will occasionally be used at this level . Children at this stage may be occasionally involved in marking their own work or the work of their peers, under the guidance of the teacher . Children may enjoy recording their progress on a graph template

55 Organisational Aspects of Our English Plan 1. Resource In our school, we have the following resources to facilitate the implementation of our plan:  Reading Zone Junior Infants to 1st Class. Edco 2nd and 3rd Class. Reading Zone 4th to 6th Class.  Ancillary materials form language scheme, which include resource books, poster, worksheets, flashcards, tapes and CD’s.  Chatterbox Oral Language Programme – Folens Magic Emerald. 20 Steps in Language Development.  Letterland Programme, which includes a video, manuals, posters, charts and tapes.  PAT (Phonological Awareness Training) manuals. Jolly Phonics.  Sets of class novels for 3rd to 6th classes. Read at home books 1st to 6th Class.  Well-stocked classroom libraries including a selection of Big Books.  Large selection of Prime Ed copy masters. Learning support and Resource books in respective classrooms.  Drama / Dressing up box.  Selection of toys, phones etc.  TV and video.  Digital Camera.  Tape recorder / CD player in each classroom.  Computer and printer in each classroom.  Interactive Whiteboard in each room

2. Parental Involvement At Lisheen National School, we encourage and welcome the involvement of parents in their children’s education. Such partnership is exemplified in:  Our initial meeting for parents of the incoming Junior Infants at which the importance of speaking with and listening to as well as reading to and with the young child is discussed.  Annual Parent / Teacher meetings which allow for a discussion of individual children’s progress.  Informal Parent / Teacher meetings convened at the request of the parent or teacher.  Written communications via the child’s Homework Journal.  Other written communications e.g. School Newsletter.  Implementation of partnership schemes, which include our Shared Reading Programme.

56  Parental involvement in the organisation of Book Fairs, Readathon and the Write-a-Book Project.  Encouraging reading with children at home.

3. Learning Support and Special Needs Children with learning difficulties and special educational needs are helped to achieve their potential in the core skills of oral language, reading and writing. Assessment is ongoing and an Individual Education Programme / Plan (IEP) is drawn up and co-ordinated by the Learning Support Teacher in consultation with the class teacher, the pupil, the parents and the Special Needs Assistant (SNA). Specific short-term targets are agreed between all concerned e.g. in relation to reading, homework, handwriting. The class teacher maintains first line responsibility for the welfare of the child. Suitable resources are proved to meet the learning needs of individual children.

4. Linkage and Integration While our English Plan is presented under the three strand unit headings of oral language, reading and writing, the practice in this school is that all three-strand units are interlinked. The manner in which our plan is organised also provided significant opportunities for its integration with all other curricular areas.

5. Gender Equality We are committed to the provision of equal opportunities to all our pupils in the implementation or our English programme. Equal opportunities are provided to all pupils to participate in discussion, debates, reading and writing opportunities etc. The use of language and textbooks deemed to be sexist is avoided. Attention is afforded to developmental differences and remedial action is taken where appropriate. We encourage gender awareness through promoting consideration of the roles associated with men and women in literature, the media, advertising etc. as well as consideration of the language associated with such roles.

6. Class Libraries In our school a library is located in each classroom. All books are organised according to their level of difficulty and category of interest. Each library is organised by respective class teacher. Junior libraries are well stocked with a wide range of books with the senior libraries extending this range to include factual and reference books. Pupils change their books as often as required and a record is kept

57 of books read to ensure they experience reading in different genres. A reading culture is promoted in the school by participation in the Travelling Library Scheme. Our stock is regularly updated through hosting a book fair annually, through the purchase of new books through the books for recycling scheme set up in the school and through the support of the County Library and through parents’ donations of books.

7. Community Involvement In recent years we have developed active links with our local community to promote pupils learning. We encourage the children to talk with their grandparents and others in the locality regarding its history and folklore. Contribution from the children is encouraged and welcomed to the School Website and Community Newsletters. Pupils display their work in the local church at First Communion and Confirmation occasions.

8. Assessment and Record Keeping Oral Language is assessed informally by each class teacher. Reading is assessed through a combination of teacher observation and standardised testing (Drumcondra Primary Reading Test, Micra-T and Middle Infant Screening Test). Diagnostic assessment is administered as required at Learning Support Level. Informal assessment by the class teacher is conducted on an ongoing basis. Standardised assessment is administered on an annual basis. Test results are used to establish the needs of individual pupils and to inform future planning. Samples of the written work of individual pupils is collated to keep a record of his / her performance in different areas over the period of a school year. Results of formal assessment are collated over the period of a child’s attendance at our school for one year.

9. Staff Development Staff Development needs are identified through review and discussion at termly staff meetings. When needs are identified an action plan is devised to ensure that such needs are adequately addressed. Responses may include the organisation of a staff development day / session, engagement of external expertise attendance by a representative of the staff at specific in-service and / or the provision or required resource materials. Notices of upcoming courses are circulated to each staff member. Staff members who have attended courses are given opportunities to report back to other staff members during time allocated at staff meetings or a staff development day.

10. Information and Communication Technology

58 In our school we have a wide selection of software to support the teaching and learning of English.

Oral Reading Writing Junior/Senior Infants

1st/2nd Class r 3rd/4th Class

5th/6th Class

A computer and central printer are available in each classroom and also in the learning support and resource rooms. Pupils engage with interactive books, word processing, research for projects, recording of data e.g. graphs and creative writing programmes. All software is displayed in the classroom. The software is audited and updated on an annual basis by the ICT co-ordinator who also has responsibility for liasing with software companies to source sample and demonstration disks. The ICT co-ordinator also liases with the Principal regarding the purchase of new software.

11. Timetabling A weekly minimum of three hours is allocated for English in the Infant Classes and four hours from 1st to 6th Classes. Extra discretionary curricular time is allocated to English as appropriate. A significant emphasis is placed on the provision of discrete time for oral language in the Junior to Middle Classes with a greater focus on integrated oral language time in the Middle to Senior Classes.

Implementation Plan Tasks:

59 What do we need to do? Who will do it? When will it be done? Class novels / Looking at available Principal Teacher School Year 2011-2012 novels in class

Spelling Programme Class Teacher

Resources Required? Who will get them? When? Novels for each class Principal after consulting School Year 2011-2012 with staff

Success Criteria The school-wide implementation of this plan will result in enhancement of pupil learning in the following ways:

Oral Language  Increased confidence and competence in communicating.  Greater willingness to express opinions and participate in class discussions.  Improved listening skills.

Reading  Improved standards in reading.  Increased involvement in voluntary reading.  Involvement of parents in shared reading activities.  Experiencing of reading as an enjoyable pursuit.

Writing  Greater fluency and explicitness in communicating ideas and experiences.

60  Enhanced experience of writing and sharing stories and poems.  Use of ICT.  Improved presentation of written work.

The achievement of these success criteria will be assessed through feedback from teacher, pupils and parents.

Roles and Responsibilities The implementation of our plan will be supported as follows:

Roles Person(s) Responsible Development of schemes of work Class Teacher Assessment (Standardised / Diagnostic) Class Teacher / Learning Support Co-ordination of School / Class Libraries Class Teacher

Purchasing of Resources Class Teacher and Principal Parental Involvement Class Teacher Co-ordination of monitoring and evaluation Principal of plan

Implementation and Review The implementation of this plan commences in September 2011

Ratification and Communication This plan was ratified by the Board of Management of Lisheen National School at its meeting. Parents may view this plan at the school on appointment with the Principal and it will be available on the download section on our web-site

61 Signed______Eileen Finn (Chairperson B.O.M.)

Date______