The four parts of speaking and listening (Speaking, Listening, Group discussion and interaction and Drama) receive explicit and extended definition and support in Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 (QCA/DfES 2003). Explicit links are also made between speaking and listening targets and the targets in the national literacy strategy framework for teaching.
Speaking and Listening in the classroom
Speaking and Listening and would be able to teach these skills but would be unsure about assessing these skills. Based on evidence from good practice, this book will provide a rationale for the centrality of speaking and listening in English and across the curriculum.
Speaking and Listening issues: a review
While the NLS does not make the teaching of Speaking and Listening explicit in its framework, it is implicit at all times. These skills support the requirements of the NLS and reinforce the central role of speaking and listening.
Speaking, Listening, Learning and the Primary Strategy
The first publication related to the Primary Strategy was a new framework for speaking and listening. And for the first time Speaking and Listening were the focus of the literacy part of the new Primary Strategy.
A more structured approach
QCA's guidance Teaching Speaking and Listening in Key Stages 1 and 2 (1999) was revised in light of the NLS framework; at the end of 2003, a new material package, Speaking, listening, learning: working with children in key phases 1 and 2, appeared in schools. Most importantly, for the first time there would be a specific reason for progress in each of the four areas: Speaking, Listening, Group Discussion and Interaction, and Drama.
Bringing about change: dialogic talk – promoting extended talk and thinking
Smith et al.(2004) conducted a substantial study which examined the impact of the official endorsement of 'interactive whole class teaching' on the interactional and discourse styles of primary teachers while teaching the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. The purpose of this was to discover how far the intention to promote high quality dialogue and conversation has been achieved since the inception of the Literacy and Numeracy Hours.
Changing patterns of behaviour: rethinking classroom talk
Great emphasis is placed on teacher talk, offering a list of 'do's' and 'don't's' that reflect Alexander's research findings and recommendations. You may wish to look at the following list of 'dos' and 'don'ts' taken from the QCA materials and consider which of the points characterize your own teaching.
Comment
Further reading
Prologue
Speaking and Listening
An Overview
I want you to listen to a group of children talk when no teacher is there to direct them. Jason: Look, they bumped into each other (laughter) Emma: It's like having four antlers.
Reflections on this episode
She noticed the way they used tag questions like “aren't they?” to include each other in a group, conditionally present their ideas, “I think it is. As she transcribed the tape of what the children were saying before she joined them, she admitted she felt overwhelmed.
Oracy: issues and concerns
It became apparent that speaking and listening skills support literacy development; that teaching and learning depend on them. The inspectors seemed to share teachers' uncertainty about assessing speaking and listening.
The emergence of oracy
This fact is recognized by all curriculum areas in the National Curriculum (DfEE/QCA 1999), but in the absence of statutory testing of speaking and listening, its status in relation to reading and writing was less certain. Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspectors were also aware that speaking and listening were not monitored as effectively as reading and writing.
The National Oracy Project 1987–93
Early research 1965–76: a focus on talking and learning
The curriculum for English was to bring speaking and listening into the statutory agenda of every classroom' (Keiner 1992: 253). Models of good practice and assessment were few and far between; The NOP had to give answers almost before it had begun to formulate the questions.
The inheritance of the NOP: a statutory classroom requirement
A series of Her Majesty's Inspectorate (HMI) reports throughout the 1970s and early 1980s provide evidence that little attention was being paid to the development of speaking and listening. At the same time, proposals for the creation of a national curriculum set in motion a program of educational reform.
Group discussion and interaction: exploratory talk
Looking at an example of small group talk
Mark: That must be, that must be hard work for a little beetle, isn't it. especially that color Kenneth: It is. John: Yes, woodlice, that's right. and another thing that proves it's great says, um.
Pupil talk and learning
The fact that they are discussing a poem rather than observing a live beetle seems to focus their attention on the meaning of the words. You might want to reflect on the extent to which you identified any of these principles when you were discussing the transcript of the boys talking about the poem The Little Dust-Colored Beetle.
The central role of exploratory talk in cognitive development
Doubt can be valued and supported because students are more likely to say 'I don't understand'. Students ask each other questions more often to clarify meaning and to expand and interpret each other's ideas. based on Norman.
Collaborative talk and assessment
Ideas can be tried out to see how they sound ('How do I know what I mean until I hear what I'm saying?'). Learners can provide each other with an authentic audience, providing an immediate and engaged response that values others' contributions.
Collecting and using evidence of talk
The study programs for English and other subjects emphasize the value of collaboration and we must ensure that we make room for this kind of oral work in our planning. The NOP left no doubt about the importance of speaking and listening across the curriculum and the value of careful review of group discussion transcripts for both diagnostic and assessment purposes.
Assigning levels
The NOP left no doubt about the importance of speaking and listening across the curriculum and the value of careful review of group discussion transcripts for both diagnostic and assessment purposes. responsive to the ideas and views of others. However, this type of group discussion seems to allow participants to experience working at a higher level than they might have been able to achieve on their own.
Knowledge, skills and understanding: standard English and language variation
We can confidently assign Level 4 to the group, but we may feel less certain about what level to assign to individual members of the group. It is through their interaction and cooperation as a group that the boys reach level 4 and, perhaps, learn the skills required to reach level 4.
Speaking and Listening and the Literacy Hour
Despite the claim that 'Literacy brings together the important skills of reading and writing, it also involves speaking and listening which, although not separately identified in the framework, are an essential part of it' (DfEE 1998b: 3), it was clear that the framework did not include Speaking and listening in the planning of the work with literacy. The teaching of writing also requires speaking and listening skills – these actually underpin all successful writing as emphasized in Developing Early Writing (NLS 2001) and Speaking, Listening, Learning (QCA/DfES 2003).
Talk for writing
His teacher transcribes these stories, marking them "in the same way I mark all the children's written work with suggestions." Dialogue is a way to approach children's understanding of texts and also the meaning they give to teachers' instructions.
Teacher–pupil talk
NLS recognizes that the transition from everyday informal language to the ability to handle subject discipline discourse does not occur spontaneously, and the framework provides specific strategies that will enable students to engage with an increasingly wide range of non-fiction genres . Both groups had learned how to do this by experiencing this type of activity in different ways in their classrooms; their teachers had laid the groundwork for them to engage in the specialized subject matter they would be required to use.
Valuing individuals: diversity and inclusion
They can discuss these texts both at whole-class level, where the teacher can model and encourage dialogic talk, and in small groups; Guided reading in literacy class can be an ideal time for this. The children in the two prints that you have looked at are in the early stages of this apprenticeship.
Gender issues
English programs of study (DfEE/QCA 1999: 49) enable special attention to be paid to the needs of EAL learners and provide opportunities for focused language work. The emphasis is on the importance of developing spoken English as a prerequisite for the development of all other skills.
Conclusion
For the team writing this book, we have become more aware of the ability of speaking and listening to be central to the objectives of a society that values lifelong learning in a participatory democracy. The process begins at home with the development of the child's language resources in social interaction with the family and community, is promoted through constructive strategies at the beginning of formal learning (see Chapter 2), is recognized on the basis of diagnostic assessment (see Chapter 8) and eventually leads to adulthood. self-managing, independent, autonomous, confidently using the language as a citizen.
Introduction: from home to school
Talk in the Early Years
Aim of this chapter
Talk in the early years
Talk in the home
In her explanation, his mother tries to reassure him and clear up his misunderstandings about school dinners. The Bullock report, A Language for Life, emphasized that "no child should be expected to throw off the language and culture of the family when crossing the threshold, nor to pretend that school and home are two totally separate and represent different cultures, they must be kept firmly apart' (DES 1975: 286).
Into school
The teacher with skill and sensitivity enables the children to reflect on their idiolect and perhaps on the wider issues of speaking and writing, for example what we all say, but what would we write. You may have considered the following: reflecting on our own talk, the differences between speaking and writing, recognizing the differences in speaking and what is appropriate at different times.
News time
Particular aspects to be addressed are adaptation to listeners and context and an introduction to some of the features that distinguish standard English from the speech patterns practiced by the child so far. Of course, any goals will also have to take the Study Programs into account.
Puppets
In the case cited, the making of the dolls raised problems of art and technology. How would a story address the spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of the curriculum.
Problem solving
The list of books above takes into account issues such as death in the family, working together to achieve a goal, and listening to the opinions of others.
The classification game
Give the picture of the pin-eating animal's body and the different legs, tails and heads to match. The children then have to decide which head, legs and tail best fit the pincer-eating animal's body as it travels through the forest.
The Noisy Poems
We also need to consider other aspects which constitute good practice and which OFSTED will pay attention to, such as classroom organization and management, differentiation, assessment, use of time and resources, and the expectations of the children's teachers. For example, you can refer to the National Curriculum and the objectives of the lesson, but perhaps most importantly - invite the governor to the performance.
The child as a powerful thinker
Negotiating rules of behavior in the classroom is one way that many teachers encourage good behavior. Another aspect of this can be for children to negotiate 'talking rules' in the classroom (see Chapter 6).
Other authors/titles and topic areas
I have seen these titles posted in the writing corner to encourage argumentative writing after the discussion. Moral tales like Aesop's fable have long been used by teachers to instill good behavior in their students, but we can and should expand these discussions to include the moral issues of the day.
What sort of questions?
Language play
Take some of the books from the list above and try to think of some questions you could ask your class. The appeal of the strong rhythm, the rhyme, the easy repetition and the straightforward sub-decoration (see Grugeon 1988) of these playground chants may seem obvious, but these early experiences are valuable.
Other authors/titles
Oh I'm a little Dutch girl a Dutch girl a Dutch girl Oh I'm a little Dutch girl from across the sea. They give children an introduction to aspects of literature and it is this combination of rhyme, repetition and rhythm that helps the sounds of the language become memorable and form the basis of literacy.
Rhyme and rhythm
Before children start school, they have an awareness of rhyme that can be used as a resource for learning to read through work with onsets and rhymes. We eat them all day Never throw them away We all like chicken and chips.
A case study
The goal was for the children to internalize the story by sharing a response to the text, with the student building on the listening and participation skills from session 1. This was obviously a valuable learning experience for the student as well as the children.
Listening
As well as learning about rhyme and rhythm, performing, discussing topics and learning the 'rules' of discussion, the children experienced the pure pleasure and joy of playing with language. The learning took place through talk, which was a means of learning about reading skills, while the children also learned about speaking itself.
Role play
This requires sensitivity and forethought to cater for what Neelands (cited in Moyles 1994:97) calls the teacher's 'subtle tongue'. The teacher must recognize the 'teachable moment' in order to intervene (Woods and Jeffrey 1996).
Language diversity
This chapter looks at children's informal language in the playground and their storytelling skills in the classroom. It is based on work on the playground and in the classroom, where trainee teachers in the role of researchers listened carefully to the children's conversations.
Playground observation
You don't know the answers, and your questions must be genuinely probing, closer to the type of questions recommended by Robin Alexander (Introduction, p. 8), and the resulting speech will be closer to the dialogic model suggested in Speaking, listen, learn (QCA/DfES 2003). By observing children's spontaneous play, listening and recording it, we can learn about interests and obsessions that may not show up in the classroom.
Listening to Children’s Talk: Oral Language on the Playground and
These unofficial media materials will soon become part of their official school issues and are part of their developing literacy practices where, through a process of recontextualization, they will intricately weave their textual toys into official school contexts (Dyson. In her research, Dyson describes how ' media material for many children provided textual toys that permeated the unofficial world and could be used for participation in the official one and how 'the children used textual toys for pleasure, performance and dramatic, often cooperative play' (139 ) .
Recording and explaining children’s talk on the playground
Popular culture inside and outside the classroom
Defining literacy
Understanding children’s interests outside the classroom
The activities observed and recorded by the participants are multimodal and intertextual and range between media forms - visual, audiovisual and verbal. Hopefully, the interns involved in field research are better prepared for this challenge, armed with their own personal knowledge.
What the children have to tell us
Discussion
Using props for dramatic narratives
Imaginative recreation
They have given the dragon cards names such as 'Ghost Dragon', 'Thunder Dragon' and 'Ice Dragon'. Included in their game is a city called 'Diagon City' which is taken from Harry Potter.
The powerful use of pretence
She saw how boys were absorbed in playing with James Bond cards: 'They are collected from magazines, and play involves voluntary swapping and playing for cards based on strength and weapons described in each character's profile. The game leads to discussions about characters and there is great competition about who knows more about the cards and also the films.
Narratives and play with language on the playground
Play in the early years
The memory and keen attention to detail of young children amazes me when it comes to their verbal and pictorial descriptions of favorite characters in programs and movies.
Playground interaction and cooperation
Developing children’s oral language through storytelling
In doing so, Dombey describes how they learn many complex lessons about narrative that are relevant to their future readers.
Required to tell stories
Storytelling and literacy
Storytelling continues to be seen as a very significant feature in the development of speaking and listening.
Reflecting on storytelling in school
What did you think the students discovered about storytelling in an early years classroom. At the same time, they expanded their own repertoire as storytellers, trying out a range of stories and providing resources for the children to listen and tell themselves.
Becoming storytellers: a case study
You may find that this continues to be a problem; The demands of the National Curriculum have brought about a tighter schedule of the primary school day. This makes it more difficult to introduce approaches such as storytelling if they are not part of the overall plan for a particular class.
Developing confidence as storytellers
It was not uncommon for students to report, 'Many of the teachers I worked with didn't even read stories'. Negotiating time to do justice to work they had prepared was often problematic: 'It was difficult to make oral storytelling an important part of the curriculum because my teacher believed the right time for stories was the last session in the afternoon which lasted for ten minutes. '.
The difference between telling and reading
They spent some time discussing and practicing appropriate stories before going to school, but they all felt nervous at the prospect of oral storytelling. Best of all, oral storytelling allows the teller and the listeners to create the story anew each time.
Preparing to tell a story
This close contact with the audience enables the storyteller to more accurately gauge their reaction to the story, to distinguish between children who seem anxious about the story and those who are not paying their full attention. The freedom from the text allows the narrator to deviate when needed to give a fuller explanation when something seems strange.
Telling and retelling: the children take over
Kerry: There was a dog and his name was Punk and he went out and kept barking, and it was one of those big ones. Kerry: A dog that was good and it was nice and nice and it was well trained and it fed people and it got the letters and it kept to itself and it kept cleaning up everywhere and it was a nice dog and they said.
Teller and audience
However, it was clearly her way of coming to terms with what was most important in her mind. It was equally clear that he was transforming what he actually saw into a kind of visual imagery, and that he could convey such images to his audience.
Intertextuality
Toby's command of devices to convey meaning and atmosphere and his understanding of the conventions of story grammar were impressive for a seven-year-old. By combining real and fantasy events, Wendy felt that he had begun to create a 'possible world' into which Donna began to be drawn.
Children learning to tell stories
Chameleon (Carle 1988), the drama of the chimneys and this week's The Elephant and the Rabbit folktale about an elephant that changes its appearance.
Reflecting on the experience of storytelling
Carol Fox advocates for a much greater awareness of the diverse literacy skills and experience children have as they enter the classroom:. One way to discover this kind of discourse knowledge is to place oral storytelling and role play close to the center of the early years curriculum.
Speaking and listening for literacy
Talk provides children with an immediate, flexible medium through which they can have an impact on those around them. They can use this facility to help themselves understand the social and physical world around them.
Developing Articulate Readers
More than that, they can encourage others to speak with them, giving them a better chance of exponential gains in their fluency in spoken language. Education should offer children ways to be articulated as an investment in their future; but just as important, so they can make the most of their gift.
Dialogic teaching
A child who engages in these activities can be expected to become aware of the importance of his own 'voice', to develop appropriate vocabulary and spoken language tools, and the confidence to use them purposefully. The articulated classroom is a community of students and teachers who share an understanding of the role of speech in their learning and the many social contexts they experience.
The guided reading group
Guided reading as a social way of thinking and learning
NLS has encouraged teachers to organize joint reading, writing or speaking and listening, which involves the work of the whole class. Guided reading, writing, or speaking and listening tends to take place in groups that may or may not be asked to work together.
Guided reading as exploratory talk
The child becomes a member of a mini-learning community for the duration of the session, where the conversation creates a fertile environment to develop as a reader. Learning literacy is driven by educational learning goals and by the personal impulse and purpose of the child.
An example of effective guided reading
Other examples of children contributing ideas based on previous experience or knowledge are when Dawn talked about the moon: 'The moon is bigger than this planet, isn't it?' (although her understanding of the solar system may be the subject of another discussion !) and Jack introduced a monster he had already heard of: 'I liked when you met that monster - the Loch Ness monster'. Monster?' He also contradicted me: when I pointed to a picture and said, 'The sea looks rough, doesn't it?' she replied: "No it is not".
The crucial importance of teacher guidance
They've got their hands up in the air like they're kind of bowing down, right?
Further points from the guided reading transcript
Four important worries about guided reading raised by teachers
While children learn all the complex skills they need to conduct an investigative discussion and to read and interpret text, they need support and guidance from the teacher. Until they have assimilated this way of working, they need the teacher to guide the group.
Developing Children’s Oral Skills at Key Stage 2
We need to appreciate the place and value of speaking and listening in the curriculum for all children at Key Stage 2. This chapter is about planning and organizing activities to encourage and support speaking and listening in the primary classroom.
Speaking and Listening – an important element of the curriculum at Key Stage 2
There are some optional 'activities' throughout the chapter which can help you get a wider picture of the value of the Key Stage 2 conversation.
Taking opportunities to use talk in the classroom
Planning for Speaking and Listening in the curriculum at Key Stage 2
Fostering talk as a strategy for learning
Informal talk time
It guides them towards a clearer understanding of the busy and often complicated lives we live. Not just curriculum time, but time at the beginning and end of the school day.
Questioning
Providing the children with an atmosphere of trust in which to talk
Creating an environment and atmosphere in your classroom that stimulates Speaking and Listening
Interactive displays
Bags of ideas’: Talking Tins, Curiosity Kits, Story Baskets
They then talk about it at home and hopefully share the book and magazine. We created a "dramatic" atmosphere by talking about the swan and the fox before reading the book.
Useful resources
She put together a Curiosity Kit with pictures of pigeons, a practical guide to pigeon care, two stuffed white doves and the book Home in the Sky by Jeannie Baker. Telling a story to a group or class of children is one of the first activities students try in the classroom, and it can be a daunting task.
Teaching and learning strategies
- Teacher-directed discussion/whole-class teaching
- Talk partners
- Developing listening skills
- Brainstorming
- Hot seating
- Visits, visiting speakers and listeners
- Reading inside and outside the Literacy Hour
- Circle time
Sometimes, due to lack of time, the evaluation of children's own learning is rushed or becomes a simple division of labor. You can then proceed to select a "talking object" from a selection in the middle of the room.
Introduction
Listening to children talking
Speaking, Listening and Thinking with Computers
Taking turns
Does that look better?
Bridget: Yes, that sounds good, we have to do something, because we have done animal experiments on this, we have to do something a little bit.
Ain’t worth it, is it?
This is the kind of conversation between friends who decided to help each other. They question each other's ideas and question each other's reasons to support their claims.
Types of talk at the computer
Disputational talk
Cumulative talk
Exploratory talk
The value of exploratory talk
However, the very strength of cumulative conversation is its weakness when it comes to key problem-solving or decision-making stages where agreement is reached without the reasons being properly considered. If asked, they might well articulate their reasons for claims and suggestions, but in cumulative speech they do not attempt to do so and are not encouraged to do so by their colleagues.
Interthinking
This does not mean that the children act unreasonably, but that they do not explain their reasons to each other.
Encouraging exploratory talk
The children may understand what is required by the program, but they do not understand the intended purpose of their conversation. It is the role of the teacher to be aware of these effects and to overcome them on behalf of the children.
Teaching ground rules for talk
Self-appointed group leaders emerge and impose an inappropriate working style on the group. Difficulties with the program and each other may cause some children to withdraw from the group.
Talk Lessons
Ground rules for discussion involve active listening, thoughtful speaking, and respectful cooperation. To work more effectively as a group, children need to learn how to talk to each other in a way that is both impersonal and intimate.
The effect of the Talk Lessons
Additionally, the Discussion Lessons fulfilled my goal of helping children get along better with each other. Thinking together helped the class contribute to each other's progress through the enjoyment of learning and each other's company.
Developing awareness of the quality of talk
Skeleton
Morgan: And then we have to go the other way – yes – no – and you chop his head off or something. Adil: I think it would have been best if we had seen what the real one was (reads) the skeleton sneaks up behind you (writes) It jumps on top of you.
Rubbing out
But in the context of a school day, in which 'switching on' the computer is still something of a privilege, it is perhaps a waste of the children's time. Can you choose examples of the three types of talk mentioned in this chapter.
Exploratory talk in action
Switch it on and talk together Alana: Switch it on and talk together
Alana: - and light can't go through it because it's dark and it's solid Reece: What about wallpaper. It is possible to identify characteristics of exploratory talk; the children ask and consider each other's opinions and reasons.
Developing Children’s Oral Skills through Drama
The aim of this chapter is to emphasize the power of drama in the classroom to develop children's speaking and listening from the foundation stage to the end of year 6. Some excellent textbooks to enhance your knowledge of drama conventions are included in the section 'Read further'. at the end of this chapter.
Why using drama is a good strategy to develop children’s oral skills
Another important reason why drama is a powerful strategy for developing children's oral skills and experience is the powerful impact that watching live performance can have on children's imaginative and linguistic understanding of life. Whether it's a puppet show, a clown or a full stage production, the performers are modeling a whole range of voice, dialect, humor and dialogue that influences children's imaginations and thoughts about their lives.
Practical strategies for using drama in the classroom to develop children’s oral skills
One boy who was respected in class for his football skills, not his reading skills, Afzaal, said he wrote plays on his computer. His teacher followed suit, the boy's scripts were read and performed in the Literacy Hour, some friends helped him edit them and he even sent one to the BBC.
Props, puppets and performers
The children would "become" the writers, instinctively changing the way they spoke to each other, very politely and formally, wearing hats. The benefit to the children's language development and the improvement of oral skills is immense.
Story, storytelling, Reader’s Theatre
Some of the best places to find props, costumes, and artifacts are charity shops and car boot sellers. Invite the other children to follow the thoughts of the characters and ask themselves what each character is thinking at that moment.
Ways forward
Place one of the key characters in the. hot seat' and have the rest of the class play another key character and challenge them in a role. Look at your current planning together and decide on one or two opportunities to use one of the above conventions.
Planning for assessment of Speaking and Listening
When we talked to our students about assessment, we found that many felt less confident doing this in speaking and listening than in other areas. Teachers will need to consider these interrelated aspects of speaking and listening to develop teaching strategies that incorporate different approaches to assessment.
Monitoring and Assessing
They were aware of the need to incorporate assessment into their planning, but often felt they had few models to follow and were unsure of what constituted evidence or how to properly capture and record it. Different aspects of talk can be identified: the social, the communicative, the cultural and the cognitive, all of which are influenced by audience, purpose, context and content (Bearne and Elding 1996: 13).
Speaking and Listening in the Classroom
Teachers will need to consider these interrelated aspects of speaking and listening in order to develop teaching strategies that incorporate different approaches to assessment. previous experience with the conversation task. the child's fluency in the native language as well as in English. It may be useful to have a checklist for recording speaking and listening activities and consider some of the following factors: What the child knows and understands about how language works. ability to communicate one-on-one, in or with a small or large group. the ability to communicate with known and unknown audiences. the appropriateness of the language used in different circumstances. ability to interest the audience. the ability to cooperate, exchange and not dominate. range, variety and relevance of vocabulary. the ability to reason, argue and debate. the ability to listen to others in different situations. the ability to use speech in a role-play. the ability to ask questions. from Browne accounting requires careful recording of all of this.
Baseline assessment: providing evidence of children’s learning
It is possible to map some of the types of progression, from early to middle years in school, that emerge particularly in speaking and listening. The nature of the work in the early years means that there is an emphasis on speaking and listening, especially to provide evidence of learning and progress.
Assessment procedures in two nursery classes
Children are able to write in the books and can contribute a drawing; in this way they take part in the assessment process. The record books belong to the parent and the child, and at the end of their stay in the nursery, the books are taken home and can be shown to the next school.
Frameworks for assessment
Later, the teacher will write next to the picture in the book what the child has learned in terms of desirable learning outcomes; objectives are set for the child and evidence of progress is recorded. Evidence of progress may be when a child becomes able to write their name or when a child speaks in English instead of the community language for the first time.
Recording evidence
One of the problems identified by the Primary Language Record was that 'talk vanishes into thin air'; another was that as teachers we are often part of every interaction in the classroom both as a contributor and as a monitor. In the next part of this chapter we will discuss some of the ways in which we can use the National Curriculum and SCAA guidelines to help us keep a record of individual progress in our classrooms, which will also include the children as active participants in the process .
Teacher assessment
We can create assessment opportunities by planning to listen to children speaking in many different contexts, for different purposes and to different audiences over a period of time; in these contexts we also observe the child as a listener. You will need to consider the range of assessment options available and different ways of recording evidence.
Self-assessment
It illustrates for the child the range of skills and different contexts involved in speaking and listening. Talking to them quite regularly about the way they feel about themselves as speakers will also provide further evidence of their developing skills in speaking and listening.
Describing progression
It can be done independently or with the teacher, but initially it would be useful to do it with a child or a small group of children so that they can begin to consider and value a range of skills that they may not have realized they were using. This list is quite comprehensive, but you may want to adjust it so that you can discuss particular aspects with the whole class to raise their expectations of what we as teachers are looking for when we ask them to participate in Speaking and Listening. activities.
Identifying and monitoring progress
A diary like this can be used intermittently for a week as a way to gauge children's perceptions of their talking behavior or it can be used as a continuous assessment. I learn things by listening I can say why I said something I know when to stop talking I know when words rhyme I am a calm person.
Discussion Explanation Further clarification Level 1 Conveys meaning Provides some detail Begins to expand ideas Level 2 Shows awareness Includes some Begins to match vocabulary.
Links with the English Curriculum and the National Literacy Strategy
Optional assessment of Speaking and Listening at Year 4
Children will be involved in the assessment process using a series of conversational diaries that include group and self-assessment questions. The aim of the first unit is to provide an activity that will develop children's ability to express an informed point of view, both in group discussions and whole class discussions.
Speaking, Listening, Learning and Assessment
This chapter has described ways in which assessment can be planned in relation to curriculum activities. In the early years, children's learning about the curriculum can be assessed through spoken language.
Listening to children
Epilogue
In a close analysis of the transcript of the entire episode, Lynda points out the different strengths of the children. S speaks very little, but what he says is critical to the progress of the task.
What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York:. ed.) (2001) The Articulated Classroom: Talking and Learning in the Primary School. Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) (2003) New Perspectives on Spoken English in the Classroom: Contributions to the Discussion. London: QCA.
Children’s Literature
Index
