Example of literacy planning and resourcing 13

What we want children to learn (Development matters)

• Know that print carries meaning and, in English, is read from left to right and top to bottom
• Attempt writing for different purposes, using features of different forms such as lists, stories and instructions

Related Early Learning Goals

• Use developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems (MD)

Possible contexts

• Use books, rhymes, music, songs and poetry.
• Provide stimuli for writing: visits, collections, pictures, communications with home.
• Provide collections of favourite stories/rhymes for regular re-reading and getting to know.
• Use a variety of texts in the environment inside and outside.
• Play games involving word recognition, for example matching words to pictures.
• Make books and displays.
• Use children's name cards, for example for self-registration, copying to write onto own pictures, copying for sending notes and messages.
• Use signs and labels purposefully.
• Use word banks and collections of words.
• Provide clipboards and writing tools inside and outside.
• Use wooden or magnetic letters for play in the environment, for example on boards, in water - they float and can be fished out - or buried in sand to find.

Example of adult-led activities

Share the book with the children until it becomes familiar. One day pay particular attention to the features of the book: 'What is on the front cover?' 'What is on the back?' 'Can we find the author's name?' Have a puppet that tries to read the book from the back and from the bottom of pages. Let the children correct the puppet and show the puppet how to handle the book and how and where to start reading.

Discuss the meaning of Kipper's invitation: 'How had his guests got so muddled up?' Unravel the time problem with the children, using a calendar or class timetable to emphasise today and tomorrow, when Kipper wrote the invitations and when he actually delivered them. The 'silly puppet' needs help from the children to explain this.

Make an invitation for an open day for families. Work out how to make one together first. The 'silly puppet' wants to do it but is not sure where to start. Encourage the children to tell the puppet what it needs to do, for example 'Draw your picture on the front. Don't write on the back. Write on that page and don't write at the bottom. Write one simple sentence with the day and date.'

Ask the children to make their own to take home using card or the computer (using software that has a card template like 2Publish). Some children might like to make a shared one at the computer and print off enough copies for each of them.

Adult role

• Pay attention to all details of a book, including front and back covers, who the author is, what the text on the spine is, why we have page numbers, where we start to read, etc. Use a puppet to read incorrectly and be corrected by the children.
• Make reading strategies overt when reading.
• Model writing in everyday experience, for example shopping lists, address cards, phone numbers in role-play, notes to remember things, notes to others, labels and signs.
• Make writing strategies overt when writing.
• Provide familiar texts with short sentences that are enjoyable and can be committed to memory. Use as a basis for writing own books.
• Model using ICT as a form of recording.

Opportunities for children to explore and apply

• Make books and other printed materials available in many areas for the children to look at and 'read', not just in a 'book' area.
• Add captions, labels and speech bubbles to photographs used for display. Make these with the children, scribing for them and modelling writing.
• Add posters, calendars and noticeboards at children's height in book and role-play areas. Model using the noticeboard for memos, shopping lists, recipes, addresses, phone numbers, etc.
• Encourage mark-making for a purpose by making clipboards, mark-making tools and word banks available in many areas. Model uses, for example when children are waiting for a turn support them in making a register.
• Make sharing stories, songs, rhymes and poems part of everyday experience. Make collections of favourites for re-reading and learning some off by heart. Instruct and model how to handle books appropriately. Point out features of books and run your finger under the text when reading.

Adult role

• Make reading strategies overt when reading throughout the daily experience, for example signs, notes, books, songs and addresses.
• Make writing strategies overt when writing text throughout the day, for example shopping lists, address cards, phone numbers in role-play, notes to remember things, notes to others, labels and signs.
• Provide familiar texts with short sentences that are enjoyable and can be committed to memory. Use as a basis for writing own books.
• Make a variety of texts available in the environment inside and outside, for example short sentences under laminated photographs displayed outdoors to celebrate physical achievements.
• Provide writing tools, sticky notes, cards, clipboards, etc. across the setting, for example tool belts for construction role-play outside with pens, pencils, notebooks etc., easy-to-make books in a book area or a noticeboard in a role-play area.
• Make regular use of ICT for recoding in a variety of forms, for example word processing, emailing, digital photographs/video and sound recorders.

Look, listen and note

• How do children use strategies to read?
• Observe instances of writing for different purposes, such as when Rosie experiments with labelling the contents on the outside of a bag.

Assessment opportunities

• Observe children adopting the behaviour of a reader, for example holding a book, turning the pages, using the language of texts or intonation in retelling.
• Look at children using print in the environment. Are they following simple written instructions with picture cues, for example in cooking?
• Observe children mark-making in play; are they using marks to represent meanings, are they able to identify and write some letters, do they leave spaces showing a recognition of words, etc.
• Do children readily turn to writing as a means of recoding in their play, for example lists, notices, book making, etc.?
• Are children using word banks, cards, labels, books, lists, etc. to copy words they need?
• Observe children breaking sounds down for writing.
• Observe children beginning to write some words from memory.

Related Profile scale points

W 6 R4, 5