LITERACY FOR LEARNING

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LITERACY FOR LEARNING

• Geoff Barton
• Headteacher
• King Edward VI School
• Bury St Edmunds

24 March 2015
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
We are part of the literacy club
Literacy is taught - it doesnt just happen
Every teacher in English is a teacher OF English
(like it or not)
Basic assumptions
Literacy today is different from when we were
younger
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
We are part of the literacy club
We forget our own privilege at our peril
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
GUESS THE TEXT TYPE
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
1
Proud mum in a million Natalie Brown hugged her
beautiful baby daughter Casey yesterday and said
Shes my double miracle.I FIBRES
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
2
The blood vessels of the circulatory system,
branching into multitudes of very fine tubes
(capillaries), supply all parts of the muscles
and organs with blood, which carries oxygen and
food necessary for life.
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
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Ensure that the electrical supply is turned off.
Ensure the existing circuit to which the fitting
is to be connected has been installed and fused
in accordance with current L.L.L wiring
regulations
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
Language oddities
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
DOGS MUST BE CARRIED ON THE ESCALATOR
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
Please don't smoke and live a more healthy life
PSE Poster
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
Sign at Suffolk hospital Criminals operate in
this area
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
ICI FIBRES
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
Churchdown parish magazine would the
congregation please note that the bowl at the
back of the church labelled for the sick is for
monetary donations only
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
Literacy today is different from when we were
younger

• Multi-media dominates
• Most classic texts are known through film
• Reading extended writing is rare
• A visual culture dominates
• The notion of accuracy is being challenged

• None of this is a bad thing

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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
Why cross-curricular literacy?
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LITERACY FOR LEARNING
The literacy context ...

• A 1997 survey showed that of 12 European
  countries, only Poland and Ireland had lower
  levels of adult literacy
• 1-in-16 adults cannot identify a concert venue on
  a poster that contains name of band, price, date,
  time and venue
• 7 million UK adults cannot locate the page
  reference for plumbers in the Yellow Pages

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LITERACY FOR LEARNING

• Nearly 40 of pupils make a loss and no progress
  in the year following transfer, related to a
  decline in motivation
• Pupils characterise work in Years 7 and 8 as
  repetitive, unchallenging and lacking in
  purpose
• Year 7 adds so little value that actually
  missing the year would not disadvantage some
  children (Prof John West-Burnham)

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BBC NEWS ONLINE More than half of British
motorists cannot interpret road signs properly,
according to a survey by the Royal Automobile
Club. The survey of 500 motorists highlighted
just how many people are still grappling with it.

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According to the survey, three in five motorists
thought a "be aware of cattle" warning sign
indicated
an area infected with foot-and-mouth disease.
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• Common mistakes
• No motor vehicles - Beware of fast motorbikes

• Wild fowl - Puddles in the road
• Riding school close by - "Marlborough country"
   advert

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• The single greatest influence on learners is
  teacher expectation
• Sylvester and Levithal 1994

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• Every teacher in English is a teacher of English
• George Sampson, 1921

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LITERACY FOR LEARNING

• So whats in it for you ?
• Literacy supports learning. Pupils will
  understand and respond better to your subject
• Youll see improvements in the quality of their
  work
• Youll see increased motivation, especially from
  boys
• Better literacy increases pupils self-esteem and
  behaviour. It helps them to learn independently

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• 5

Things you could do
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• 1

Forget literacy Think TL
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• 1

• Shift from T to L
• Think pace variety
• Be clear about satisfactory, good, outstanding

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• 2

Re-think Talk
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• 2

• Ask fewer but better questions
• Allow rehearsal of answers
• Model good talk.

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Re-think Reading

• 3

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• Focus on key vocabulary
• Give reading time
• Find alternatives to comprehension
• Demystify spelling.

• 3

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• 4

Re-think Writing
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• 4

• Be seen writing
• Be explicit about conventions
• Emphasise sentence variety and connectives.

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• 5

Think IMPACT
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• 5

• Less is more
• Focus on team targets
• Remember the disappeared
• Do something!

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LITERACY FOR LEARNING

• Geoff Barton
• King Edward VI School,
• Bury St Edmunds

24 March 2015