Task 3

Promoting
Literacy
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The Power and Pleasure of Literacy

The Literate Environment
Knowledge of Print
Literature Responses
Phonological Awareness

Task 3 Promoting Literacy

Objective:
To observe literacy in action over the 3 weeks.
Procedure

This task is intended to be implemented over the three weeks.

For this task student should:
should record examples of practices and/or strategies that they observe
should aim to make notes from at least 3 activities/strategies for each area. These may
or may not be listed.

are encouraged to take photos and/or video recordings (if the school and the MST give
permission)

Before the Observation

Pre TP classes
Discuss/review relevant content from Learning to Read and Write, Section 2 Readers &
Writers in the Making pp27-99
In the school
Decide what time(s) each day you will conduct this observation. The length of time needed
will vary depending on the activities observed.

It is suggested that at least one hour per day be dedicated to this task over the placement.

Choose the key areas that seem most relevant to the age of the children.

See if you can find out what the teacher plans to do each day by studying his/her plans, and/or
talking with them. Try to identify the relevant areas for each observed activity/strategy.

Make sure you discuss this task with your supervising teacher.

During the Observation

Make notes about what is happening under the appropriate key area.

Take photos and collect any samples for your portfolio.

After the Observation

In Post School Experience TP Classes
You will be presenting your experiences from this placement to your peers. Consider these
ideas for presenting your findings, using strategies for organizing and remembering.
*Time will be given in TP classes post school experience to prepare for the presentation.
a. Mapping Place the key area in center then place information under extended headings
around the center. Graphics/photos can be used instead of/as well as text.
b. Photo Essay Use visuals to organise thinking. Photos should be organised in a sequence
that will support your presentation in class.
c. PowerPoint/ Prezi presentation

Reflection
Reflect on each section you have chosen as you comment and discuss your
observations and refer to your reading as much as possible.

1: THE POWER AND PLEASURE OF LITERACY

Observe your MSTs classroom and general practices you see around the
school. Discuss each statement below in the context of what you observe
and support with a photo and a reference to reading when possible.

Does the teacher read to the children? How often does she read?
What types of reading have you observed? Where do they sit?
Does the teacher rereads stories? Why?

The teacher read for the children at the beginning of the periods twice a
week. She read for them non-fiction (biography) stories. The students sit
in the carpet. She read the first part of the story, and then students take
turns to read after her because it is reading period and students need to
read.

Who selects the story/text that is read? Do the children participate?

How does the teacher encourage participation? How do they
participate?

The story is in the curriculum, and almost all children participate in

reading and answering teachers questions. The teacher encourages them
to participate by saying every answer is correct or there is no right or
wrong, we are here to learn. Then more students raise their hands to
read or answer.

Describe the reading area in the classroom.

There is an area for reading, behind the book cupboard and shelfs. The
area is comfortable for students and includes many books with different
genres but because the students are 29 and not all of them can sit in
same place, some of them set outside the classroom, some of them on
their places, etc.

When do children choose a book to read for pleasure

Choosing a book for pleasure is in the library. They have 2 periods in a

week to go to the library and read any book they want to read.

List any opportunities/activities that the children experience that

allow them to see how we use print in daily life experiences.

Give students a book and tell them to examine it.

Every day read with them a story or news and model it. (Focus on
capitalizations, full stop, comas, etc.)
During guided reading
Ask them questions in reading periods (while their reading) such as:
what is the title of your book? Where can we start reading? What is the
first word? etc.

2: THE LITERATE ENVIRONMENT

Observe your MSTs classroom and general practices you see around the
school. Discuss each statement below in the context of what you observe
and support with a photo and a reference to reading when possible.

What print has the teacher around the classroom ( labels, captions, flashcards,
headings, rules, instructions, timetable, statements etc) For each one you
mention insert pictures and state the purpose of each one.

Labels and signs

Captions
flashcards

What print materials and books are in the classroom? Is there a variety of books
and genres mention some examples?

There is a cupboard that have many books on it shelfs (each shelf with a
printed label for each shelf) there are fiction and non-fiction books.
Fiction: the spray-paint mystery
Non-fiction: amazing snakes

How are the books displayed? Can the children access them easily?

The books are organized each genre in different shelf. The students can
reach them easily because the height of shelves is appropriate for
children.

Are there any books referring to the UAE Culture? Are there books about other
cultures? Do you think this is important? Why? How can this develop schema?

I didnt see any book related to UAE and cultures in English language, but
in Arabic I saw more than 3 referring to UAE culture. I think having these
books in both languages is important because learning cultures in
younger ages is better. Students need to learn about UAE culture and
other cultures.

Where do the children read? Is there anywhere comfortable inside or outside the
classroom for them to relax and enjoy a book? Describe the area and add a
photo.

Children read in reading area and sometimes in the library, the places are
comfortable. In the classroom they have colored square carpet and the
library is provided by comfortable chairs.

Does the teacher provide the children with opportunities and materials to write?
When? Give some examples.

While reading in the library, she gave them papers and panicles to write
about what they have read

3: KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PRINT

(suitable for very young learners)
Observe your MSTs classroom and general practices you see around
the school. Discuss each statement below in the context of what you
observe and support with a photo and a reference to reading when
possible.

Does the teacher remind the children that we read English from left
to right / top to bottom? How? When? Does she do this in reading
and writing?

No, the students already know that so, the teacher doesnt remind them.
But in shared reading and writing, I saw her while reading modeling
reading and writing from left to write.

What features of a book does she ask the children to identify when
reading?
(author, title, illustrator, index, table of contents, blurb etc.)

She asks them to read the title, describe the cover page, and say authors
name.

When does the teacher point to words, labels, letters and does she
read or name them? How does she ask the children to recognize
these words? Does she have a word wall? Do the children learn HFW?

When students read and make a mistake she corrects for them the word
and pronounces it correctly. For vocabulary, she teaches them the words
until they find them unforgettable. She has a word wall in the classroom
(each letter has a section with words start with it). The students know
most of high frequency words so; they dont take them as whole lesson.

How does she support the childrens development in understanding

the use of uppercase and lowercase letters, punctuation, and other
print features?

If she fined any mistake When she correct their spelling test (For example:
start the sentence with lower case letter), she call the student and tell
them his/her mistake and give him/her quick test to see if he/she
understand.

Other

I saw that children need more time to have knowledge of print. Unlike
adult who can't get it easily and faster. Especially for young learners in
government schools. They learn Grammar and vocabulary in English as
a foreign language and have few lessons per week to learn them with
limited resources.

4: RESPONDING TO READING
Observe your MSTs classroom and general practices you see around
the school. Discuss each statement below in the context of what you
observe and support with a photo and a reference to reading when
possible.

How and when do the children have opportunities to retell stories in

their own words? Provide at least 3 examples.

After shared reading. After guided reading. When they read indecently

Do the children act out the stories? Do they role play any stories? Do
they take on the roles of different characters as they read?

I see the students act out the stories as post-activity. Also, while
reading students use intonation and change their voice for each
characters.

Does the teacher use story maps, puppets or any other props when
reading? Does she have any other tricks that motivate the children
and engage them?

The teacher doesnt use story map, puppets and props when reading.
But she motivate students in reading by make peer reading.

Do children predict and guess the events of a story? Give an

example?

The children predict and guess the next events when the teacher asks
them to do that.

Does the teacher do any interesting activities that extend the

reading and allow children to respond to the story? Mention 3
examples and explain these clearly.

Give students sentences with errors that students need to identify them
and correct them. For example errors in ordering the words or letters,
write verbs in pre-sentence instead of past tense. This activity encouraged
students to develop their language also it will promote memory recall.
Use the props to act the story.
One student tells the same story for whole classroom using their own
words.

Ask your teacher about Book Character Day, Books Fairs, visiting
theatre productions, Extreme Reading competitions or other such
competitions that take place during the school year. Explain each
one.

Book Character Day: students wear clothes and draw on their faces like any
character in a book.
World Book Day: 3rd of March. The aim of this event is to encourage children
in reading. The school is provided with many books for children in a
comfortable place.

5: PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS
Observe your MSTs classroom and general practices you see around
the school. Discuss each statement below in the context of what you
observe and support with a photo and a reference to reading when
possible.

How does the teacher draw childrens attention to the sounds they
hear in words? When does she focus on sounds?

The teacher draws childrens attention to sounds in word by decoding

the word while reading. She focuses more in sounds for new
vocabulary.

How does the teacher teach phonics and word attack skills to

children?

The teacher teaches phonics by using flashcards, letters magnets. She

start model how to decode words, then let the students try.

Describe a typical phonics lesson that you have observed. Mention

how the children are scaffolded to recognize the word and get the
meaning? (Word identification and word recognition. Refer to your
work in EPR 2603)

Phonics lessons started by showing students a video that include words

with the new phoneme the students need to learn for example: ee, ur.
Then the teacher shows many words and sees if the students can
identify the words that have the new sound. Then she start gives them
activities according to their levels. The scaffolding happens during the
activities, the aims of the activities are to let students recognize the
sound, and the teacher read words with them to let them recognize the
sound. And explain the words meaning after that.

What phonics did you see presented to the class? (CVC, diphthongs,
diagraphs etc )

Flashcards
Magnetic letters
Diagraphs
Books

What games or activities does she provide the children with the
develop phonics?

Play games
Make things

Does the teacher read stories that have predictable sound patterns?
Mention some you heard?

The teacher select stories for students to read, the stories that have
predictable sound patterns. They read them by their own.
For example:
What is inside?
Toast and jam, and my dog tam

That fat rat and my cat

The crook and the cookbook