Overview of learning 4

Example of literacy planning and resourcing 4

What we want children to learn (Development matters)

Listen with enjoyment, and respond to stories, songs and other music, rhymes and poems and make up their own stories, songs, rhymes and poems

Related Early Learning Goals

Responds to significant experiences, showing a range of feelings when appropriate (PSED)
Express and communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings by using a widening range of materials, suitable tools, imaginative and role-play, movement, designing and making, and a variety of songs and musical instruments (CD)

Possible contexts

Share stories, songs, rhymes and poems as part of everyday experience.
Use collections of favourites stories, songs, rhymes and poems.
Use story/rhyme sacks; include props, tapes and CD-ROMs.
Use story boards.
Encourage children to make up their own stories.
Listen to and make music.
Use storytelling in play.
Engage in role-play, 'small world' and creative play.
Provide quiet places to share books, storytelling, rhymes and songs, both indoors and outdoors.

Example of adult-led activities

Context: Change familiar stories

Read and share over time On the way home by Jill Murphy.

Make props using a photocopier or scanner for retelling the story using a story board or an interactive whiteboard. Encourage muddling up the story: Shall we have Claire tell Robert she ran from the ghost? Record some of the children's retelling with a microphone or the recorder in the interactive whiteboard tools. Share with each other.

Discuss with the children which story they think really happened; could the others have happened? What would they pretend had happened to them if they had a bad knee? Share some ideas.

Draw pictures of their stories, using divided paper to encourage a story board as modelled by the book, or/and use a simple piece of software like 2Publish into which the children are able to draw and write.

Encourage children to share their stories with each other and keep them as a collection in the book area for re-reading.

Adult role

Provide opportunities to share and enjoy a wide range of rhymes, music, songs, poetry and stories from a variety of countries.
Model pleasure in using spoken and written language, for example using voices of book characters in play; retelling stories, songs and rhymes through puppetry or objects; listening to tapes together.
Encourage active listening through games, sound tapes/walks, call and response, etc.
Provide story and rhyme sacks with books, objects, tapes, CD-ROMs, etc. Model uses and make available for play. Extend into puppetry, 'small world' or role-play.
Extend dramatic play by modelling on storybooks.
Encourage children to retell experiences through 'small world' play, role-play, construction, etc. Use as a basis for storytelling.
Use ICT to record children's recitals or made-up songs, rhymes and stories. Share with audiences, including families.

Opportunities for children to explore and apply

Make sharing stories, songs, rhymes and poems part of everyday experience. Make collections of favourites for re-reading and learning some off by heart. Make story/rhyme sacks, include props, make story/rhyme/song tapes/CD-ROMs readily available, use talking books on the computer or make your own, make props that can be used on story boards or with the interactive whiteboard. Encourage retelling by providing microphones, listening back to stories or scribing children's own stories.
Encourage children's storytelling in play through scaffolding and modelling. Find opportunities in role-play, 'small world' play and creative play; there are opportunities right across all areas of experience for children.
Provide quiet places to share books and storytelling both indoors and outdoors; blankets on the ground, benches under trees, portable tape recorders, baskets to put books and objects in, etc.
Tell children stories about simple things from your life; how your car broke down or what happened when you visited the vet for example.

Adult role

Provide opportunities to share and enjoy a wide range of rhymes, music, songs, poetry and stories from a variety of countries.
Plan an environment that reflects the importance and pleasure of stories, songs and other music, rhymes and poems, and that celebrates children's retellings and made-up collections.
Share stories, songs, rhymes and poems from a variety of countries.
Model pleasure in using spoken and written language, for example using voices of book characters in play; retelling stories, songs and rhymes through puppetry or objects; listening to tapes together.
Encourage active listening through games, sound tapes/walks, call and response, etc.
Provide story and rhyme sacks with books, objects, tapes, CD-ROMs, etc. Model uses and make available for play. Extend into puppetry, 'small world' or role-play.
Provide an environment where there are opportunities for children to be quiet and reflective, for example a rug and tape recorder left on a bench, a cushion for two in a reading area.
Extend dramatic play by modelling on storybooks.
Encourage children to retell experiences through 'small world' play, role-play, construction, etc. Use as a basis for storytelling.

Look, listen and note

Do children concentrate on what others say? What are their responses to what they have heard?
Do they know rhymes and songs off by heart?
Can they make up their own rhymes or alternative versions of favourites using their phonic knowledge?

Assessment opportunities

Observe how children are able to recite favourite rhymes and songs.
Do children listen actively to stories being told?
Are children adopting the behaviours of a reader when looking at or sharing books?
Are children able to retell familiar stories using props?
Observe how children incorporate book elements into play, for example characters.