Curriculum

Our Literacy Goal Statements

• We will identify and provide teacher professional development to increase the effectiveness of teacher practice.

• By year 6 our children should be clear, articulate, confident speakers.

• We will focus on closing the gap in reading for those children not achieving, or at risk of not achieving, and for children with special needs.

• By year 6 our children will be enthusiastic, independent, accurate writers.

• In order to meet the requirements of the NZ Curriculum we will enable children to understand, respond to, and use a variety of forms of language to think, interpret and evaluate information, and to communicate. (NZ Curriculum)

ENGLISH PLANNING AT WAIMARAMA SCHOOL

Reading

In reading, students should be encouraged to read widely, analyse and
evaluate written texts and develop their ability to derive meaning out of
increasingly challenging text. They should think critically about what they read,
and understand that written language varies according to context.

Writing

In writing students should develop knowledge of the steps of the writing
process, i.e. forming intentions, composing, drafting, correcting and
publishing. They should learn to understand and use accurately the
conventions of written language, especially in formal contexts, and to write
confidently, clearly and appropriately in a range of styles and for a variety or
purposes.

Oral Language
Oral language programmes will encourage the development of children’s
speaking and listening (Input/output) skills in a variety of contexts (e.g. developmental, guest
speaker, interview, taping and videoing, buzz groups, sharing with class and
in sharing assemblies) while increasing their confidence to express ideas.

Visual Language
Teachers should be aware of the visual language processes that students
should be practising and mastering at each level. These do not have to be
assessed separately because they occur as students are engaged in
working with a function of language.

GUIDELINES FOR CLASSROOM PROGRAMME

Under normal circumstances a classroom language programme is expected to
contain the following elements.

It is expected that there will be at least 1 hour of both reading and writing
daily.

The reading programme will contain:
• Reading from the Teacher - at least 15 minutes daily
• Shared reading
• Guided reading
• Independent Reading

The writing programmes will contain:

• Sustained writing - at least 15 minutes daily in the senior class
• Modelling by the teacher
• Handwriting
• Guided writing
• Shared writing
• Independent wrting
• Spelling programme

It is expected that both oral language and viewing and presenting will be
incorporated into the days programme, as well as being a focus during the
specified time.

GUIDELINES FOR CLASSROOM PRACTICES

Writing:

Children will write with black biro when PROFICIENT in ‘stage 2a’ of ‘script control’ within the writing matrix
Draft writing is on every second line to allow for editing on other lines.
Student attempts at words are indicated by one neat line under a word.
Corrections and changes are done in green biro.
Teacher comments and marks are done in a consistant coloured biro.

Reading:

Until surpassing level 24 of the Junior Journal range…
Children take home a book daily to reinforce day’s reading.
The date and book title are written in a ‘home reading’ notebook, in which parents may make a comment on the reading.
Books must be returned the next day before another book can go home.
Books are carried in a book bag so that the book is protected.

Spelling:

A weekly spelling programme is used in each class specific to each students needs and/or group

ENGLISH: ORAL LANGUAGE: SCHOOL-WIDE LONG TERM PLAN- ALL CURRICULUM/AGE LEVELS

TERM ONE TERM TWO TERM THREE TERM FOUR
Daily and weekly:

Interpersonal speaking

Class discussions, class presentations, speeches, votes of thanks, debates, drama/plays, interviews, book reviews, informal situations such as buzz groups, small group discussions, show and tell, one-to-one conversations with teacher, impromptu speaking, oral language groups

Assessment focus: term two and four
Daily and weekly:

Speaking using text:

Talking about books in close reading situations, talking to current events, speeches, votes of thanks, debates, drama/plays, role plays, shared reading, reciting aloud, choral
speaking, interviews, book/film reviews, class presentations, using audio visual equipment

Assessment focus: term two and four
Daily and weekly:

Interpersonal listening:

Class and group discussions, morning talks, news, current events, talks and speeches by visitors, interviews, prepared speeches, oral book/film/television reviews, structured
learning situations and games to promote good listening, formal oral language deliveries

Assessment focus: term two and four
Daily and weekly:

Listening to text:

Reading aloud of stories, on-fiction and poems, plays and performances by students/outside groups, listening to tape recordings, viewing films/television/videos, structured
learning situations and games to promote good listening, formal oral language deliveries

Assessment focus: term two and four

NOTES:

‘Assessment focus’ indicates when teachers are required to make/record a summative assessment judgement to that particular achievement objective, either
through an identified assessment task, or through ongoing formative assessment processes such as
• Anecdotal observations
• Skills check lists
• Standardising testing as appropriate, eg: PAT, SEA, NEMP, ARBs, Observation Survey, ROL
• Student self/peer evaluation

ENGLISH: WRITTEN LANGUAGE: SCHOOL-WIDE LONG TERM PLAN- ALL CURRICULUM/AGE LEVELS

TERM ONE TERM TWO TERM THREE TERM FOUR
Daily and weekly:

CLOSE READING

Guided silent reading, sustained silent reading, individualised reading, research reading, study skills, shared reading, reciprocal reading, teacher reading aloud, language
experience, thematic reading, talking about reading, library skills development

Assessment focus: term two and four
Daily and weekly:

PERSONAL READING

Sustained silent reading, individualised reading, research reading, study skills, shared reading, reciprocal reading, teacher reading aloud, talking about books, library skillsdevelopment, reciprocal reading

Assessment focus: term two and four
Daily and weekly:

EXPRESSIVE WRITING

Writing to: inform, describe, record feelings and observations, entertain, make comparisons, maintain relationships, predict

Assessment focus: term two and four
TERM ONE TERM TWO TERM THREE TERM FOUR
POETIC WRITING:
Narrative writing, descriptive prose
Assessment focus POETIC WRITING:
Poetry, plays, scripts

Assessment focus
TRANSACTIONAL WRITING:
Recounts, procedures, reports
Assessment focus TRANSACTIONAL WRITING:
Explanations, expositions

Assessment focus

NOTES:

‘Assessment focus’ indicates when teachers are required to make/record a summative assessment judgement to that particular achievement objective, either through an identified assessment task, or through ongoing formative assessment processes such as
•Anecdotal observations
•Running records
•Skills check lists
•Standardising testing as appropriate, eg: PAT, NEMP, ARBs, Observation Survey, Essential Spelling List Testing
•Conferencing/questioning
•Reading logs
•Reader profiles
•Analysis of writing samples
•Student self/peer evaluation

Poetic Writing and Transactional Writing can/should be taught throughout the year, often as integrated with other curriculum areas. They should, however, be focussed upon in terms one and three/two and four via the classroom programme.

ENGLISH: VISUAL LANGUAGE: SCHOOL-WIDE LONG TERM PLAN- ALL CURRICULUM/AGE LEVELS
TERM ONE TERM TWO TERM THREE TERM FOUR
VIEWING:

Encouraging students to read a wide range of visual and dramatic texts

Assessment focus

PRESENTING:

Encouraging students to use a wide range of forms when presenting and communicating work
Assessment focus

NOTES:

‘Assessment focus’ indicates when teachers are required to make/record a summative assessment judgement to that particular achievement objective, either
through an identified assessment task, or through ongoing formative assessment processes such as
•Teacher observations
•Skills check lists
•Conferencing/questioning
•Student self/peer evaluation
•Analysis of writing samples for handwriting
•Analysis of work samples for other forms of presentation

Viewing and Presenting can/should be taught throughout the year, often as integrated with other curriculum areas. They should, however, be focussed upon in terms two and three via the classroom programme

Handwriting

Evaluating Handwriting
There are two types of evaluation of handwriting: evaluation by the teacher, and the
children’s evaluation of their own work.
The Teacher’s Evaluation

Sensitive and informed observation of each child at work is the most useful way for the teacher to evaluate handwriting.
Some important criteria by which teachers can evaluate children’s handwriting are:
• its general appearance and legibility;
• its consistency in shape, size, slope, and spacing within and between words;
• its speed;
• the amount of pressure applied;
• the writer’s physical co-ordination and fluency of movement.
A vital consideration is the quality of each child’s writing in relation to his or her
co-ordination, and the effort the child makes to produce work of quality.

Pupils’ Evaluation of Their Work

All children can be encouraged to evaluate their own writing from the earliest stages.
However, they need regular help from the teacher in order to perceive the differences
between their own writing and that of the model. (Markoff8)
Teachers can help children identify inefficiencies in their personal style by comparing
their writing with examples showing consistency in shape, size, slope, and spacing within
and between words. They can do this by discussing errors and how to correct them with an individual child, or by discussing common errors with a group.

WAIMARAMA SCHOOL EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

It is expected that most students will be achieving within these levels:

Level one – beginning 0-6 months at school
Level one – proficient By the end of year one, i.e. 7-12 months at school
Level one – advanced By the end of year two
Level two – beginning By the end of year three
Level two – proficient
Level two – advanced By the end of year four
Level three – beginning By the end of year five
Level three – proficient By the end of year six

It is expected that students will be reading at or above their chronological age.

It is expected that students will be spelling at or above their chronological age.

Refer to Learning Progressions – pub by Learning Media for MOE

SCHOOL-WIDE WRITING PROGRAMME

1. Adherence to this programme will ensure that students receive a
balance of expressive, poetic and transactional writing annually.

2. Teachers must adhere to this programme as a minimum
requirement, i.e. they must cover the nominated writing forms each
year at the shared, guided or independent level as appropriate.

They may cover these forms at any time of the year that they see fit.
It is recommended that they refer to the rest of their long term plan for
coverage suitability, eg ‘explanations’ or ‘reports’ may be linked to an
appropriate science or technology topic.

They may also choose to cover more writing forms than are nominated in the programme. This would especially be the case if students’ needs or interests demand greater coverage. For example, teachers may decide that students will need guidance with the forms that they are supposed to practise independently.

3. At Waimarama School…….

Shared writing means undertaking shared writing of the form with
students and sometimes encouraging them to experiment with it. It can
also mean introducing examples of the writing form with students
through discussion, demonstration and/or deconstruction.

Guided writing means planning the writing form with students, i.e.
ensuring that they know what is required in the writing form, but
encouraging them to construct their own writing. They should
understand the form from the shared writing that has occurred
previously. Again, they may need discussion, demonstration and/or
deconstruction of the form.

Independent writing means being able to demonstrate mastery of a
selected writing form without significant teacher assistance. It may,
however, still be appropriate to display models of the form for students.

Teachers should refer to Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1-4/
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 5-8 for explanations of these terms.

WAIAMARAMA SCHOOL-WIDE WRITING PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

With Acknowledgement to Harry Hood

Shared Writing Guided Writing Independent Writing
Year 1 Recount (E)
Retell (P)
Letter – Personal (P) Captions, labels & lists (T)
Comments (E/T)
Descriptions (P/T)

Captions, Labels & lists (T)
Comments (E/T)
Descriptions (P/T)
Recount (E)
Retell (P)
Letter-personal (P)
Years
2 & 3

ODD YEAR

Report (T)
Procedural – how to make (T)
Narrative – simple (P)
Poetry – shaped (P) Recount (E)
Report (T)
Letter –personal (P)
Years
2 & 3

EVEN YEAR

Explanation-social or natural world (T)
Procedural-how to play or fix (T)
Letter-business (T) Recount (E)
Report (T)
Procedural-how to make (T)
Narrative-simple (P)
Poetry (P)

Years
4 – 6

CYCLE A Narrative-more advanced (P)
Script (P)
Poetry-free verse (P) Recount(E)
Explanation-social or natural world (T)
Procedural-how to play or fix (T)
Letter-business (T) Recount (E)
Report (T)
Procedural-how to make (T)
Narrative-simple (P)
Poetry-shaped (P)

Years
4 -6

CYCLE B
Explanation-physical world (T)
Letter-persuasive (P/T)
Argument/persuasive writing (T) Recount (E)
Narrative-more advanced (P)
Script (P)
Poetry-free verse (P) Recount (E)
Explanation-social or natural world (T)
Procedural-how to play or fix (T)
Letter-business (T)

Years
4 – 6

CYCLE C Research Skills (T) Recount (E)
Explanation-physical world (T)
Letter-persuasive (P/T)
Argument/persuasive writing (T) Recount (E)
Narrative-more advanced (P)
Script (P)
Poetry-free verse (P)
Years 1-6
Every year
Moderated sample of school wide genre/focus assessed in T2 and T4 each year

SKILLS REQUIRED TO DEVELOP GOOD READERS

1. Phonemic Awareness : The ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words.
Phonemic awareness is fundamental to early success in reading and writing. It enables children to develop the understanding of letter-sound relationships that is so essential to decoding and encoding. Children have to be able to distinguish sounds before they can match them with the letters that represent them. (Effective Literacy Practice 1-4)
2.Alphabetic Principle: The ability to associate sounds with letters and use these sounds to form words.
3. Fluency with Text: The effortless, automatic ability to read words in connected texts.
4. Vocabulary: The ability to understand (receptive) and use (expressive) words to acquire and convey meaning.
5. Comprehension: The complex cognitive process involving the intentional interaction between reader and text to convey meaning.
In order to develop these five areas of reading development the following programmes have been put in place at Waimarama School in addition (and to compliment) everyday teaching..
• Phonics Programme (Yolanda Sorryl)
This programme is in seven stages and it is aimed at 5 – 7 year olds. It is based around hearing, reading, writing and revising. It covers stages from hearing individual sounds to working with vowel digraph patterns.
• ‘Switch on to Spelling’ and ‘Spelling Under Scrutiny’ by Joy Alcock.
A comprehensive programme that focuses on all areas of sound, word and vocabulary knowledge covering years 1 – 8.