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SUPPORTING PARENTS -
Literacy Information Page
‘It’s well known
that a parent’s involvement in their child’s
learning has an enormous influence on ongoing success.’
(‘Open doors’ Department for Education and Skills May 2004)
Literacy
Focus: SPELLING
As a school, we are aiming to develop children who can spell well in their
writing not just in a traditional spelling test.
How can you help at home?
  
 
Mnemonics for spelling tricky
words. Mnemonics are rhymes which help you to remember the spelling of the
‘tricky word’ .
So for example:
WAS– was a sausage
BECAUSE– big elephants
can add
up so
easily.
PEOPLE- people eat
orange plums
like elephants.
Useful websites
http://www.spelling.hemscott.net/index.html#hangman
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Schoolslearninganddevelopment/HelpingYourChildToLearn/DG_4016579
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/
Helping Children With Spelling: Skills, strategies and support
http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com/2009/09/helpin-children-with-spelling-skills.html
Straight forward guidance for parents
regarding spelling
http://www.hunterhall.co.uk/resources/res_171207100129.pdf
Educational resources and games
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/resources
Phonics
http://www.mrthornedoesphonics.com
Literacy Focus : READING
How to help with early reading:
1 Understanding the
contents of a book:
You can share a book even with babies and toddlers by reading to them
and talking in detail about the picture, characters and storyline. This
increases the child’s stock of words (vocabulary) and develops his/her
general understanding (oral comprehension). Sharing a book is a pastime
which can go on for years even when your child can read successfully by
him/her self.
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I share a book with my child several
times a week. Sometimes it is a favourite book read many times and
sometimes it’s a new book:
I read to my child and we talk about the content together.
We share different types of books including fiction and non-fiction.
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2 Understanding how the
book works:
Finger track the text as you read it, modelling that you read from the
top of the left page and by tracking words from left to right. Talk
about different types of books, for example fiction ‘storybooks’ and
non-fiction ‘information books’. Point out the title, the author and the
illustrator, how the contents page works and how books differ.
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I model how I read a book to my child:
I point out the title and the author and illustrator
I track the words that I am reading with my index finger.
We talk about different types of books and how they can be used
differently including fiction books (stories, poetry) and non-fiction
books.
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3 Learning how to read the
words of a book:
This starts with learning how the alphabet code of our English writing
system works. Children are taught to recognize letters and letter groups
and the 40+ spoken sounds these represent. They learn the skill of
sounding out and blending all-through-a-word (starting with simple
words) so that they can hear and say the target word. The children can
only be expected to read a book by themselves with letters and letter
groups that they can recognize and when they blend the sounds together
and ‘hear’ the word. It is important that children do not resort to
guessing words because the words in the books are too hard for them to
sound out and blend independently.
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I support the school in helping my child
to practice learning:
The letter/s– sound correspondences automatically
How to sound out and blend all– through– the– word to ‘hear and say’ the
word.
To say the letter sounds confidently and how to blend them before
learning the letter names (to avoid confusion)
If a grapheme in a reading book has not yet been taught (or learnt),
say, “In that word, those letters represent the sound /or/ . Sound it
out with /or/”
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What to do when they are
beginning to read independently?
Before reading:
Ask the child to tell you about the story/book so
far.
What has happened so far?
What have you enjoyed most so far?
Who is you favourite character? Why?
What type of book is it? Does it have a contents page?
Ask the child to predict what might happen next:
What do you think will happen? Why?
What do you think this book is going to be about? Why? How do you know?
During reading:
Allow the child to read independently.
If they have difficulty with an unfamiliar word ask them how they might work it
out:
Remember to say ‘Look again” rather than “NO!” it helps the child to see that
sounding out it an important part of reading and even adults still do this (all
be it in their head)
Sounding it out ‘all-the-way –through-the-word’
Strategy i.e. if the short vowel doesn’t work try the long vowel sound/
‘When 2 vowels go walking the 1st one does the talking and tell you it’s name.’
i.e. /oa/ says ‘oa’ as in road
Pictures– are there any clues which will help and support comprehension?
Read on and see if you can work it out the type of word which might make sense
Check that the child understands complicated words what the word means.
After reading:
Talk about the text the child has read.
Ask some questions about the text that the child has just read.
Ask the child to make predictions about what might happen next.
Write a comment about their reading (phrase in a positive way i.e. remember to
sound out) in their reading record.
What if they can read independently and are able to choose their own books?
Is there anything that you can do to develop reading further?
Yes!
Read with them, and to them, even if they are good readers. It helps to have
good reading, with appropriate expression, modelled to them.
Spend some time talking about what has happened so far; as they won’t want to
read what they have already read again. However, being able to provide a
synopsis of the book so far is a very valuable skill and will aid comprehension.
Ask questions about the books they’ve read. What has happened so far?
Which character do like best and why? Asking ‘why’ questions enable the
child to respond to the book and develop an understanding of authorship and also
begin to form opinions and give reason for aspects of the plot they like or
dislike.
Able children enjoy learning new words. Have a new ‘word of the week’ at home.
Extend their general knowledge with a ‘fact of the week’ which they may have got
from reading an information book or from a newspaper.
Give children a broad range of experience of books encourage them to have a
‘varied diet’ and to try different authors and types of books.
Literacy Focus : WRITING
Ways to help your child
with writing
 Whilst
children do lots of Literacy based activities at school (eg. writing, reading,
handwriting, phonics),
there are also lots of ways that you can support your child at home. It doesn’t
have to be by doing pages of
lines, text books or sentences – there are lots of ways to make writing fun and
meaningful!
Here are a few ideas to help you…
The basis of good writing is good talk. When you
visit places, encourage your child to talk about what has been seen, heard,
smelled, tasted, touched. Encourage children to share their
experiences in as much detail as possible!
Let children see you being a model writer! (This doesn’t mean your writing needs
to be perfect! Rather that you are seen to do it and use it in every day
situations) Let children see you writing notes, cards or letters to friends or
relatives, a shopping list, an article for a magazine or maybe a story or poem
for them to enjoy. Let your children see that you are not perfect! Making
changes and editing what you write is a natural part of writing.
Let your child write their own Christmas cards, thank you letters, cards or
e-mails to
friends or relatives, invitations to a party, or a list of things they need to
take on holiday.
More suggestions:
Exchange Post-it® notes with your children. Put the notes on pillowcases or
mirrors, or in lunch boxes, books, or any surprise location.
Help children assemble photo albums of family events and write captions for the
photos.
Ask children to put their wishes and wants into writing and to suggest how they
may work toward or contribute to getting what they want.
Help children create a family newsletter or website to share with family members
near and far.
Suggest that your children write postcards to themselves when they are away from
home. When they receive their own postcards in the post, they will have a
souvenir of their trip.
Make writing practical and useful by having children write shopping and task
lists, reminders and phone messages, instructions for caring for pets, or
directions for getting to the park.
Ask children to find a "golden line" in their reading—a sentence that especially
attracts them and makes them aware of what clever or colourful writing looks
like.
Play word-building games like Boggle or Scrabble.
Games like ‘Guess Who’ can also develop their descriptive vocabulary.
Create silly sentences or tongue twisters using
alliteration (a group of
words that all begin with the same sound)
E.g.. Silly Sarah slipped on Sam’s salmon sandwiches
Monty Mouse marched merrily to the magic mountain.
Cut up letters from a newspaper or magazine. Can they use the letters to write
their name? Can they use a different font for every letter in their name? Can
they write a
sentence?
Encourage your child to rehearse their sentence out loud before they write it
down. Always encourage children to punctuate their sentences with a full-stop
and capital letter.
Use magnetic letters on the fridge to spell out a message.
Encourage your child to write their name, spell words and organise the letters
into alphabetical order
Useful websites
http://www.writingfun.com/writingfun2010.html
www.educationcity.com
www.bbc.co.uk
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