Teaching - Core 1 English.

I chose this poem because I think that children need to be able to see themselves in the text to be able to engage with it, and the children managed to do this well with this poem.  When I was selecting the text to read aloud to the children I kept this in mind.  I needed to make sure that I was completely confident with the poem before I read it to the children and so I practiced reading it aloud, until I was confident enough to use the expression needed to interest the children and I was rewarded for this within the results and the reflection on how the children engaged with the poem.

My year 4 teacher, (Mr. P) used a newspaper article from the Daily Mail, to explore a non-fiction text with the children, which was reporting the ban of using mobile phones while driving.  Mr. P made the learning objectives for this lesson clear at the beginning of the lesson.  The main learning objectives of this lesson were for the children to understand the differences between fact and opinion, and to explore the way in which a newspaper article is written.   The children were encouraged to discuss the details needed to make a report and discuss and define the headline, sub-heading and adverts on the page, which were relevant to the article.  Mr. P directed the children to consider how the report was set out and also discussed the use of columns, pictures and captions used in the article.  The children observed Mr. P intently and understood that the caption described what was in the picture and that the text in the columns made the report easy to read.

When Mr. P finished reading the text aloud to the class, paragraphs were selected and the children were asked if they were fact or opinion.  This was discussed with the whole class, which led to a lively discussion.  Most of the children were aware of the new laws regarding using a mobile phone while driving and eagerly discussed the fact that their parents often do this and even explained that they were aware that their parents now need to purchase new equipment to prevent them from getting fines.  

Although I wasn’t able to observe the whole class I did choose a small group of 4 children who were completely engaged with the teachers discussion and the text.  Mr. P asked questions such as ‘Is this sentence fact or opinion, and how do you know this?’  The sentence in the text, which the class looked at, was ‘Research has shown that people are four times more likely to have an accident if they drive and use a mobile phone.’  One child in the group, whose name I have changed in the interest of confidentiality to ‘J’, answered that the sentence was fact.  When the child was asked how did he know this, ‘J’ explained that because research had been carried out to determine this, it must be fact because it is backed up by an investigation.  The depth of the answer, which the child gave the teacher, proves that the child was engaged in the text and had achieved the learning objective.  The teacher seems to be able to capture the whole class’ attention and engage and interest the children very well to a point where the children are excited about the text and determined to answer any questions asked.  When the children were asked to discuss an opinion within the text, they needed to be reminded that an opinion would be regarded as something, which someone thinks is true but has not been scientifically researched.  The children then understood that sentences in the report, such as ‘I urge drivers to remember that missing a call wont kill you but an accident will,’ was an opinion of somebody who thinks that this is correct.  This opinion was discussed and the children responded to the fact that not all accidents result in death, and it was discussed that if the missed call was a matter of urgency, it could affect the person long term, which could result in deep anxiety and it was suggested by the children that this could make a person drive faster and maybe they would have an accident which could be fatal.

After the lesson I asked the teacher why he had chosen that particular article, and he explained to me that the children probably had some background knowledge of this new law and that they would probably find the report interesting and respond well, which they did.  I have realised that when selecting text for children, the text should respond to the children’s expressed interests and experiences to enable the children to engage in learning with the text.

During a daily reading session of 10 minutes, I observed a group of children reading quietly, in the morning, at the start of school.  The children all had different ways of engaging with the text.  Some of the children just skimmed through the book, taking longer to study the black and white pictures and some followed the text with their fingers but some studied hard at the text and appeared to independently engage in the text, which I could determine because they used facial expressions such as smiling or giggling at the funny parts.

At the end of the observation, I asked a few of the children why they chose the books which they were reading and the responses I received were, ‘my friend told me it was a good book’ or ‘this book followed on from my previous book’ and ‘I liked the cover, it looked interesting.’  I decided that I wanted to see how the children chose the books from the bookshelf and I noticed that when the children chose the books independently, most of the children didn’t read the blurb or even open the cover of the book to look at the text.  They seemed to choose brightly covered books, which were not too large.  Publishers are aware of this, but it is imperitive for the covers of the books to be well maintained to remain attractive to the children.  Jane Medwell et al, recognises this point and suggests that ‘children pick up a book first because they are interested in it as an object.’  (Primary English Knowledge and Understanding)  A few of the more confident readers did however choose a book at random and then read a few lines of the book before taking the book back to their desk to read.   There didn’t seem to be any distinction in choosing and engaging between fiction and non-fiction text with the children.  It seems evident that teachers should endeavour to keep a variety of books in the classroom and tatty covers should be replaced with new ones to encourage their reading.  

I have realised through my training and my time at university that children can engage with text using a variety of resources and that there are many different types of text.  Text can be in the form of poems, stories, comics, pictures, media, advertisements and logos.  

Morag Styles quotes that ‘There is no one method, medium, approach, device or philosophy that holds the key to the process of reading’ (Teaching through text), and I have come to realise this recently.  The NLS and the National Curriculum has addressed a method for ‘learning to use a range of strategies to get at the meaning of a text’.  (NLS. DfEE.  1998)  There are four ‘searchlights’ which are used as a strategy of learning how to engage with written text.   These are ‘Phonic (sounds and spelling), grammatical knowledge, knowledge of context, word recognition and graphic knowledge’ and these need to be implemented all together to be able to engage with text.  (Bunting. R. 2000.)  With text all around us we read text sometimes unknowingly.  We may read road signs and warning signs without even thinking about it as being text.  

Jill Ineson and Jackie Marsh wrote about a study which was carried out in a school.  The school was supplied with comics for the children to borrow and read alongside books.  It was found to be a great success with the children and teachers alike.  Dads became more involved and enjoyed reading the comics with their children, which the children enjoyed because mainly they were used to reading with their Mothers.  The use of comics are very good for children who are not enthusiastic to engage in text because the excitement of the comic helps to interest the child and encourage them to read, although some issues have been raised about ‘stereotyping and the lack of black characters’ included in the comics.  (Primary English Magazine.)  The children reported that the jokes and the word games in the comics enticed them to read over and over again.  Helen Bromley backs this statement in her quote  ‘one reading is never enough’.  (Teaching through text)  

If media is to be used to engage children in text, I have realised that there must be a great emphasis on planning the lesson.  The learning objectives must be made clear so that the children understand what the intended learning is and the film or clip may have to be shown at least two times to ensure that the children engage in the text.  Media is a good resource to use, and can give a firm foundation to exploring further with text level work in accompanying books.  Sarah Jones argues that ‘young children find films accessible and familiar’ and most teachers agree with this.  Jones explains that ‘film can play a role in establishing our place in society and our sense of self worth.’  I believe this to be true because film does allow us to imagine that we are the characters and makes us think about how we would feel in the same situation.  When planning to use a poem the teacher must also be very thorough.  When reading a poem to children it is important for the reader to be familiar with the poem and use expressive language when reading.  I realised this when I read a poem to a group of children.  If I had not been familiar with the poem I wouldn’t have been able to use the expression needed for the children to engage with the poem.  

Children see text all over their world and throughout their lives from a very early age.  Text can be found in ‘every shop, at eye level, are brightly coloured posters, notices, adverts and bill boards proclaiming the goods on offer.’ (Holly Anderson)  Even cereal packets have text on the packaging.  This evidences the fact that engaging with text is an essential life skill and learning tool.

Bibliography.

ANDERSON. HOLLY. (2000.)  TEACHING THROUGH TEXTS.  ROUTLEDGE

BUNTING. REBECCA. (2000).  TEACHING ABOUT LANGUAGE IN THE PRIMARY YEARS.  2ND EDITION.  DAVID FULTON.

DfEE.  (1998)   THE NATIONAL LITERACY STRATEGY.

MEDWELL.  JANE ET AL.  (2002)  PRIMARY ENGLISH KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING.  2ND EDITION.  LEARNING MATTERS.

THE PRIMARY ENGLISH MAGAZINE.  (JUNE 2000)  GARTH PUBLISHING.