Teaching Higher Order Literacy Skills through the LNF at KS3

The Professional Literacy Company

Agenda

• Higher Order Literacy Skills: definitions• Literacy in Action• Literacy and the LNF – challenges and

solutions for secondary schools• The Literacy of Individual Subjects• Whole School Literacy: Communities of

Researchers • The Literacy Rich School: Next Steps

Higher Order Reading Skills – What Are They?

• Location• Re-organisation• Inference• Evaluation• Appreciation

HORS and the LNFHigher Order Reading Skills LNF Expectation Statements KS3 (Y7)

Location Use a range of strategies to skim texts for gist, key ideas and themes, and scan for detailed information

Reorganisation Collate and summarise relevant information from different texts

Inference Read between the lines using inference and deduction

Evaluation Evaluate the content, presentation and appeal of a text

Appreciation Identify how a text is organised to make the content clear and informative

Literacy in Action

HOLS and the LNF

• What higher order skills (oracy, reading, writing) did you use in your role as ‘Reading Detectives’?

• What helped you to use them?• How are these skills represented in the LNF?• What are the implications for us as teachers?

Reading Detectives and the LNFYear Group

Oracy: Collaboration & Discussion

Reading: Comprehension

Writing: Meaning, purposes, readers

Y6 Contribute purposefully to group discussion to achieve agreed outcomes

Infer ideas which are not explicitly stated

use a range of strategies to plan writing

Y7 Make a range of contributions to discussions

Read between the lines using inference and deduction

Plan writing making choices about the best ways to present content for effect

Y8 Take a range of roles in more formal group contexts, e.g. when working with unfamiliar peers or adults

Use inference and deduction to understand layers of meaningMake connections between texts, their themes and factual content, and identify any agreement and contradictions

In planning writing make choices about content, structure, language, presentation to suit the purpose

Reading and Writing for Real

Reading and Writing for Real

Providing students with:• An engaging and motivating ‘hook’• A clear purpose for reading and writing• A strong context for applying literacy skills• Authentic audiences for their writing• An unfolding narrative to retain their interest

Real, Realistic or Pure Fantasy?

• Real

• Realistic – could be real – but it isn’t! (or maybe there are elements of truth?)

• Fantasy – developing the imagination – having fun!

Creating Reading and Writing for Real experiences

• Classroom based e.g. artefacts, letters, visitors, adult in role

• School based e.g. playground or field event• Out of school e.g. visit or trip

Reflection activity• How could you make ‘Reading and Writing

for Real’, or aspects of it, work for you in your curriculum area?

• Think about what you are planning to teach:

• Decide on an exciting ‘way in’.• Where possible, give your writing tasks

purpose and audience• Consider the quality of your outcomes

Priorities for Today’s Course

• Identify a range of Higher Order Literacy Skills• Show how these are represented in the LNF• Demonstrate how HOLS can be taught and

practised in the context of daily lessons• Provide working models of strategies and

units for delegates to take away and trial• Invite schools to evaluate and share the

outcomes of their work

Literacy and the LNF in Secondary Schools

Challenges and Solutions

The LNF: Some Key Messages

• Focuses mainly on planning and assessment• Establishes national expectations year on year• Guide to progression in key aspects of literacy• Cross-curricular (all subjects, incl. English)• Cross-phase (5-14)• Statutory from September 2013

The LNF: Some Key Issues

• What definition of literacy are we using?• What is the relationship between English (or Welsh)

and Literacy?• At secondary level, should literacy be taught in

English, then practised across the curriculum, or taught in the context of individual subjects?

• How/where do we bring together the ‘whole picture’ of a student’s competence as a reader, writer, speaker, listener?

• What’s the timescale?

Definitions of Literacy

Literacy is not narrowly about the mechanics of being able to decode the words on a page or write a grammatically correct sentence, although these are essential skills in their own right.It is about the skills needed to understand written and spoken language, to interpret what has been written or said, and draw inferences from the evidence that surrounds us. It is also about being able to communicate in our turn – fluently, cogently and persuasively.

Extracts from LNF Handbook

• The LNF focuses on the learner’s acquisition of and ability to apply the skills and concepts they have learned in order to complete realistic tasks appropriate to their stage of development.

• Teachers will be able to use the LNF to integrate literacy … into their teaching whatever the subject matter

Extracts from LNF Handbook

• Literacy is not the same as English/Welsh; as a consequence the LNF expectations do not address all aspects of the English/Welsh subject orders and need to be used in combination with other forms of assessment to develop a comprehensive picture of learner achievement.

• The literacy component of the LNF will help teachers to address the literacy skills requirements of the English/Welsh programmes of study but not the more literary/creative aspects of the subject orders.

Some Current Challengesfor Secondary Schools

• Student attainment and attitudes on arrival• The pre-eminence of 14-19• Content and coverage within subject curriculum• Staff expertise and orientation • Constraints of existing structures:

- Subject orientation- Timetable and time allocations- Variable groupings- Multiple use of rooms- Resources

Some Working Solutions

• Ability grouping based on attainment• Literacy Co-ordinator • Intervention Teams/Literacy Champions• Technical vocabulary displays in classrooms• Literacy Placemats; Writing Frames• Student Handbook• Whole School Marking Guidelines

Something More Radical?

• High visibility for literacy: whole school, all areas• High priority for reading: at all levels• Redesign KS3 curriculum to strengthen focus on acquiring,

using, applying, celebrating literacy skills• Use Writing for Real approaches to strengthen context,

purpose and audience• Use Talk for Writing strategies to train students to become

effective writers across the curriculum• Make LNF clear and intelligible to students• Monitor and mentor student progress in literacy: track and

support, with particular emphasis on Y7

The Literacy of Individual Subjects

Developing Speaking and Listening Across the Curriculum

Using visual imagery to stimulate talk

Using speaking frames to developuse of language

The Writing Demands of GCSESubject Task

Science Investigate the factors that will increase the rate of a chemical reaction

Geography What traffic management scheme would best suit this city?

History Why did more and more Americans begin to turn against the Vietnam War?

English Literature ‘Lady Macbeth was the driving force behind the murder of Duncan.’ Discuss.

Art Compare the work of two artists that have impressed you.

RE ‘We should not feed the hungry’. Discuss, showing that you have considered more than one point of view.

PE Devise and evaluate a fitness programme

Strategies for Teaching Writing Across Curriculum

• Identify the kinds of writing central to your subject: are students already familiar with them?

• Find or create model text(s), at the upper end of what you expect your class to achieve

• Imitate - make sure students get to know and understand the texts really well

• Innovate – work on the texts together: same purpose, different subject matter

• Invent – can they now produce versions of the model independently?

The Teaching Process

• Read it• Talk it• Write it

Familiarisation

• Talk about the content• Discuss the audience and purpose• Identify the author• Focus on language features (e.g. cloze)• Identify most and least effective pieces• Improve weak pieces of writing• Reconstruction

Explanation Text

• Stage 1 – Problem to explain• Stage 2 – Research process• Stage 3 – Parallel Model Text • Stage 4 – Boxing Up; Talk the Text; Toolkit• Stage 5 – Shared Writing • Stage 6 – Students Writing • Stage 7 – Marking/Evaluation• Stage 8 – Consolidate the Learning: exemplars

Emma – a case study

• Why is Bangladesh one of the most flood prone countries in the world?

Focusing on literacy

• Text level• Sentence level• Word level

Working on introductions

MarkingOral rehearsalPhysical practiceWhat makes a good oneModelling

Read it, Talk it, Write it and the LNFActivity: Written explanation Expectation Statements: Year 8Read ItCollect information on a specific topic from a range of sourcesMake notes, selecting relevant infoOrganise notes according to agreed structure

Use a range of reading strategies to skim for gist and scan for detailed informationMake connections between texts, and identify any agreement and contradictionSummarise and synthesise information, using different sources

Talk ItShare information in pair/group and sift out relevant materialOrally rehearse and perform the text

Discuss opposing viewpoints and negotiate ways forwardPresent topics and ideas coherently, using techniques effectively

Write ItMake notes based on researchContribute to Shared Writing sessionProduce own draft, drawing on class modelsRevise draft in light of peer review and publish

Select, analyse and present ideas and information convincingly/objectivelyUse technical terms, language and expression consistent with subject Use the full range of punctuation to clarify meaning

A word on assessment and marking

• Students write to communicate effectively not to achieve a level

• Students edit and assess their own work• Marking should reflect the focus of the

teaching• Assessment should guide the next piece of

teaching

‘Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid comparison with other pupils.’

Black & Wiliam 1998 – Inside the Black Box

A Community of Researchers

The Unlocked Guide

What we Know What we Would like to know

What we have Learned

Question Answer Details Source

Research process

• Identify research questions• Set a purpose for reading• Navigate non-fiction texts• Interrogate the text• Record and evaluate information

Skimming and scanning

• Skimming – to quickly identify the main ideas in a text

• Scanning – to find specific information

Skimming

• Read the title, headings and sub-headings• Look at visuals• Read first and last sentences of paragraphs

and sections• Keep thinking about the meaning of the text

Scanning• Know what questions you are trying to answer• Don’t try to read every word• Read vertically rather than horizontally • Visualise key words• Look for clues e.g. capital letters, spelling patterns,

word shapes, numbers• Use signposts e.g. sub titles, headings, headers• Use textual organisational devices e.g. alphabetical

order

Interrogate the text

• Unknown words – to work out word meanings• Stop and think – to monitor understanding• Check the text – to interpret visuals• Text marking – to identify key information• Read, write, read – to read for meaning• Ask the teacher – to formulate questions and

monitor understanding• Analyse the question – to answer different types of

question• Find the main idea – to identify key information

Record and evaluate information

• Key words• Notemaking• Change the form• Create student quiz• Next steps

DARTs

Directed Activities Related to Texts

Reconstruction DARTs

• Text completion • Sequencing • Grouping • Table completion • Diagram completion • Prediction activities

Analysis DARTs

• Text marking • Text segmenting and labelling • Table construction • Diagram construction • Questioning • Summarizing

The teaching process

• Read it• Talk it• Write it

A Community of Researchers:Benefits in relation to LNF

• Provides a meaningful context for learning to take place

• Opportunity to practise and apply skills for a clear purpose and audience

• Mixes literacy skills with subject content• Focuses on active learning• Flexible and transferable – can tweak existing

programmes of work

Options for adopting this approach

1. Self-contained projects within individual subjects

2. Short-term collaborations between two or more subjects with pooled objectives

3. A collapsed timetable at key points during the year to assess students’ ability to apply learning in ‘real’ situations

4. Transition project: Y6/7 (Y7/8; Y8/9) 5. An integrated curriculum: Y7, KS3

Building a Literacy Rich School

What would Estyn hope to see?• A rich and dynamic literacy environment, where

speaking, listening, reading, writing have high status• Plenty of good opportunities for pupils to show

higher-order reading skills and good quality writing in all areas of the curriculum

• Good quality displays of a wide range of texts illustrating the forms and purposes of writing, and pupil-generated examples celebrating best work

• Practitioners who are good language role models for oracy, reading and writing

• Practitioners who support the development of good literacy skills in all areas of the curriculum

Visible evidence of literacy

Is your school a literacy –rich environment?

8 Key Propositions to Improve Writing

• Do the research: what is writing like now?• Give time to writing: do less, but do it better• Prepare students carefully for writing• Be clear about purpose and audience in writing• Use the classroom to support and reflect student writing

(home grown rather than shop bought)• Use AfL techniques to provide practical feedback to

students on their writing• Encourage students to see themselves as writers• Increase students’ experience of reading

Student Reading Survey (Y7)• Do you think of yourself as a good reader?• How often do you find time to read for pleasure? Daily, weekly, less• Which of the following are you most likely to read if you have some spare

time? Fiction, non-fiction, magazine, website• What would you say is your favourite book?• Can you name 3 authors whose books you enjoy?• Would you say you read more or less now than you did when you were at

primary school?• Where is your favourite place to read?• Do you borrow books from the library? Local, school• Some books are made into films. If you had a choice, would you prefer to read

the book or see the film?• Would you say it was cool in your class to be seen as a keen reader?• What would you say is the best thing about being able to read?

Student Writing Survey (Y8)

• Do you enjoy writing?• Do you think of yourself as a good writer?• Do you write outside school?• What kinds of writing in school do you like most/least?• How do your teachers help you with your writing?• Do you prefer to write by hand or on screen?• Did you find writing easier or more difficult at primary?• What advice would you give to a fellow student who was trying

to improve their writing?• What advice would you give to your school on how they could

help students improve their writing?

A Blueprint for Change

• High visibility for literacy: whole school, all areas• High priority for reading: at all levels• Redesign KS3 curriculum to strengthen focus on acquiring,

using, applying, celebrating literacy skills• Use ‘Writing for Real’ approaches to strengthen context,

purpose and audience• Use ‘Talk for Writing’ strategies to train students to become

effective writers across the curriculum• Make LNF clear and intelligible to students• Monitor and mentor student progress in literacy: track and

support, with particular emphasis on Y7

An Implementation Strategy

• Form core group of committed staff (plc): to include SMT member; literacy leader; range of subject staff; SENCO

• Develop range of model texts: use with students via T4W to improve their writing: record before and after outcomes

• Use the LNF in planning and assessing: to guide focus, expectations, progression, achievement

• Keep other staff (dept, school) informed: spread practice in school/cluster through demonstration, coaching

• Look for opportunities to restructure curriculum once new subject orders are known: links between subjects; integrated units; balance between literacy/content

The Professional Literacy Company

• Fax: 01905 828056 (questionnaires)• E-mail: info@theplc.org.uk• Website: www.theplc.org.uk• @ProfLitCo