Galbally National School English Plan Introductory Statement All teachers of Galbally National School were involved in the updating of this plan.

STRANDS AND STRAND UNITSThe English curriculum is structured according to the strands and strand units. To aid clarity the staff has chosen to plan through the strand units:

o Oral Languageo Readingo Writing

Teachers use the curriculum objectives in planning their work. They refer to them regularly, use them for assessment purposes, and ensure there is a balance between the strands as listed below:

o Receptiveness to languageo Competence and confidence in using languageo Developing cognitive abilities through languageo Emotional and imaginative development through language

ORAL LANGUAGE

FIVE CONTEXTS OF ORAL LANGUAGE

Teachers help children to develop their oral language through the following contexts:

o Talk and Discussiono Play and Gameso Poetryo Story o Improvisational Drama

STRATEGIESOral Language is used as a basis for reading and writing. All lessons are introduced with an Oral Language activity. The development of Oral Language takes place across all subjects and throughout the whole school day. Sometimes oral language is used as an alternative to written exercises in developing children’s comprehension skills. In an effort to develop higher order thinking skills the teachers use questions:

o To gain maximum informationo To seek and to give explanationso To discuss different possible solutions to problemso To argue a point of viewo To persuade otherso To examine fact and fiction, bias and objectivity etc.o To develop critical thinking skills

DISCRETE ORAL LANGUAGE TIME:Form, structure, use of language and grammar are addressed during Discrete Oral Language time. Children are encouraged and taught to use correct pronunciation, grammar etc. when speaking. On occasions this may need to be done discretely by the teacher. Teaching strategies are carefully selected with the ultimate aim to develop children’s confidence in speaking in small group/large group situations. A Discrete Oral Language lesson is defined as: A specific oral language development lesson/lessons of thirty minutes per week, focusing on the five components of effective oral language instruction: promoting auditory memory, developing speaking and listening skills, teaching and extending vocabulary and conceptual knowledge, creating a language learning environment and teaching a variety of spoken texts. Form, structure, use of language and grammar are addressed during Discrete Oral Language time. Children are encouraged and taught to use correct pronunciation, grammar, tone/pitch etc. when speaking. On

1

occasions this may need to be done discreetly by the teacher. Teaching strategies are carefully selected with the ultimate aim to develop children’s confidence in speaking in small group/large group situations.

FIVE COMPONENTS OF ORAL LANGUAGE

1.Promote Auditory Memory: Teachers read poetry/stories to the children. The children are taught to retell stories, recount events, play memory games and engage in oral activities.

2.Develop Listening and Speaking Skills: Children are taught the rules for social interaction; turn taking, politeness and non-verbal skills (body language). They are made aware of listening and speaking opportunities in all areas.

3.Teach a Variety of Spoken Texts: The children are taught to effectively make oral reports, debate, tell stories and verbalise procedures.

4.Create a Language Environment: Teachers ensure their classroom is ‘print rich’; that the classroom library is well stocked with appropriate books; that the environment stimulates and motivates the children to broaden their vocabulary and develop a love of reading.

5.Teach and Extend Vocabulary and Conceptual Knowledge: Teachers teach individual words, word strategies, and foster an awareness and love of words and language

ORAL LANGUAGE SKILLS

Listening (specific lessons agreed at each class level are taught by teachers and skills retaught and reinforced on an ongoing basis.)

• Recognise and observe simple commands• Establish rules for good • Recognise and display non-verbal behaviours• Speaking

•Use formal and informal language appropriately•Engage in conversation•Use pragmatics of social language – appropriate responses•Have awareness of voice projection and show voice projection•Show eye contact•Awareness of proximity, audience, pitch and tone•Ability to give oral reports, tell stories and anecdotes•To work in partners or small groups•To give instructions•To argue a point•To debate

ORGANISATIONAL SETTINGTeachers use a range of organisational settings for development of Oral Language such as pair work, group work, whole class discussion, formal and informal debates and circle work.

PRESENTATIONChildren are encouraged to present their work to a range of audiences such as classmates, other teachers, and school visitors as well as the Christmas Concert and assembly.

RESOURCESJunior/Senior: Starways Now you’re TalkingChatterbox (Juniors & Seniors)IWB ResourcesStarways Rhymes & Playing Cards

1st/2nd: Starways Oral Language posters and IWB resources. Chatterbox, Listening & Speaking(Folens)

2

3rd/4th: Starways Oral Language posters and IWB resourcesPosters – cross curricularOral exercises/debating topics from class readerPowerpoint presentationsListening & Speaking(Folens)

5th/6th: Folens Oral BoxPosters used in SPHE and SESEPowerpoint presentationsActivites/exercises from class readerListening & Speaking(Folens)

READINGIn every class there are children with different reading abilities. The teacher caters for these different abilities in a sensitive manner and strives to develop confidence in the child as they learn to read. It is imperative that children taste success while reading. This is done by ensuring that the material they read is appropriate to their ability.The class reader is gauged towards the average child. The purpose of using a class reader is to develop reading skills such as using picture cues, word attack skills, dictionary work, comprehension, information retrieval skills etc. Teachers cater for the different needs in the classroom when using the class reader by asking questions gauged at different levels of ability.

Class novels (C 39, 51, TG 66 – 68) The novel is used from third class up to give children the experience of using real books. Novels can be read independently or used in a group or class setting. Carefully selected class novels help to encourage children to read and draw the child’s attention to descriptive text, development of characters, plot etc. It is expected that class teachers have read and are very familiar with novels before using them for class discussion. Real books are also used from Junior Infants, with Big Books being used in the early years.Outside the set novels listed teachers use their own discretion in using novels in the classroom to develop skills in English.

Class level Year 1 Year 2

3rd Stanley Fantastic Mr Fox/Suitcase Kids/The Twits (any one of these)

4th Charlotte’s Web B.F.G.Under the Hawthorn Tree Diary of a Wimpy Kid

5th/6th A Girl called Blue I am DavidSilver Sword War HorseHoles Faraway Home (Any 2 of these 3)

Supplementary/ancillary/parallel readers are used to give children the opportunity to read at their level. At an early age children become aware of their different abilities. Teachers make every effort to instil confidence in children, and help them to identify and use their talents. It is very important that children with difficulties in reading are affirmed, encouraged and supported in taking the next step. Parents have a very important role in encouraging their children to read. Time the children spend reading together with parents should be a pleasurable experience where the parent and child use an age appropriate book set at the child’s level of ability. Parents are given advice in September as to how they can best support their children with reading and how they can reinforce what is done in the classroom.

Supplementary Readers Learning Support

Fuzzbuzz Scheme – Seniors – 4th

Wellington Square Series – Seniors – 3rd

3

Go Books - Juniors – 2nd

P M Readers (gems) Juniors – 2nd

Sails (Heinemann) Seniors – 3rd

Flying Boot (Nelson) Juniors – 4th

Literacy Links Seniors – 3rd

Sunshine Spirals Seniors – 1st

Ginn Reading 360 1st & 2nd

Oxford Reading Tree Seniors – 4th

Story Chest: Seniors – 1st

Storyworlds Seniors – 1st

ORGANISATION OF READING IN THE CLASSROOMTeachers use a variety of organisational settings when teaching reading including whole class reading, paired reading, group reading, independent reading, individualized reading, teacher reading aloud, silent reading etc.Alternative strategies such as ‘Reader’s Theatre’ where children have pre- prepared the section they will be reading in front of their peers is encouraged for the following reasons namely:

• Because practice precedes performance, the quality is improved• Children provide their best performance for each other• Speed increases with practice• Rehearsal enables poor readers to give their best• Children enjoy participating and listening• Planning and rehearsal around the whole text promote sensitive and thoughtful responses and increased understanding and appreciation.

Children can be asked in advance to prepare particular paragraphs/ sections or take on character roles, narrative roles etc. Children can be given photocopies of scripts and asked to highlight the section they will be reading, mark places they need to pause with a couple of slashes, // etc.

PRINT RICH ENVIRONMENT (C. 18, 27, 39, 42, 51, 54) In our classrooms and school children are surrounded by print. Everything in the classroom is labelled at a level appropriate to the age of the children in the class. Teachers use posters, charts, dictionaries, newspapers etc. to provide an appropriate print rich environment for the children. From Infants children are able to use the labels and posters in their classrooms as cues for writing.

LIBRARYThe staff in the local village library are very supportive, helpful and welcoming to teachers. They regularly supply the junior classes with books and the senior classes visit fortnightly.

Alternative Reading Material: Ancillary/Supplementary ReadersIn Infants – 3rd the Oxford reading Tree and the Oxford Literacy web are used in parallel with the reading programme. Restocking class libraries is done frequently. All books have been covered with plastic covers using Colibri Cover System. The Special Needs Assistants list and cover all books. It has been noted that children are reading at their level and really enjoying these books.

Juniors Terms 2 & 3 – Sunshine Spirals (A,B,C,D); Rocket Readers (Green), Oxford Reading Tree Stage 1 & 2.

Seniors Sunshine Spirals (1,2,3,4); Oxford Reading Tree (Stage 3); Rocket Readers (Blue, Yellow levels), Wonderland supplementary readers

1st class Nelson- Flying Boot Series; reading 350 little books; Gumdrop; National Geographic windows on literacy

4

WORD IDENTIFICATION STRATEGIES ( C 18, 25 TG 57) From Junior Infants children are encouraged to use synthetic phonic strategies when identifying unknown words; look at the initial, medial and final sounds, in words, to look at the shape of words, to look for blends (e.g. ch, sh), digraphs (e.g. ee, ow, ie) and trigraphs (e.g. igh) they recognise in order to segment words that they don’t know. Blending these phonemes will then allow them to effectively identify the unknown word.Many other strategies are used with the children every day also. Encouraging the children to look at the shape of the word, look for small words within the word, breaking the word into syllables etc.

The following word identification strategies are used in:Junior Infants/Seniors Cueing strategies – Grapho/phonic cues (letter/sound), Semantic cues (meaning of text etc.) Syntactic cues (what word should come next), synthetic strategies1st & 2nd class: SCUBA – Sound it out – Use main idea and picture clues; ask for help; check for clues in sentence; break word into parts; “Word hunt” games on IWB – choose correct word to match picture/sound3rd - if cannot pronounce a word – sound out. Break work up into syllables, find a sound they know within a word etc.The importance of ‘declunking’ will be emphasized throughout the school. With this strategy pupils will:

Understand what the terms ‘clunk’ and ‘declunking’ mean Use a range of approaches to effectively ‘declunk’ a word Use prefixes, suffixes and word origins to assist word identification and vocabulary development Understand the importance of ‘declunking’ in developing comprehension

PHONOLOGICAL AND PHONEMIC AWARENESS ( C 18, 25, TG 58) Phonological Awareness is an umbrella term which includes Phonemic Awareness (focused on sounds of letters and letter blends), Syllabification (focused on breaking words into syllables) and Onset and Rime (focused on rhyme). The Jolly Phonics programme is used in Junior and Senior infant classes.Children in Junior Infants learn the following:

Letters of alphabet introduced in the following order using their phonetic sound ( 2 per week)(s,a,t,i,p,n,c,k,e,h,r,m,d,g,o,u,l,f,b,j,z,w,v,y,x,qu). Letter names are introduced as phonetic knowledge expands and confidence increases

Children learn to blend consonant and short vowel sounds (cv) Children are taught to blend 3 letter words (cvc) Children will learn to recognise the following 2,3 and 4 letter phonemes

(sh,ch,th,wh,ph,ai,ay,ee,ea,ey,ie,igh,oy,oi, y (I), y (ee),ou,ow,au,aw,oa,oe,ue,ew,oo, oo (long), wr,kn,ng,ar,er,ir,ur,or,a_e*, i_e*, o_e*, u_e*,e_e*, ough, augh, tion, sion (see Appendix B)

Children in Senior Infants will Revise all sounds learned in Junior Infants. Apply the phonetic knowledge that they have to their reading and writing. Expand further on their knowledge of phonemic groupings through the study of word families e.g. (high,

light, fright…… boy, toys, enjoy, destroy etc.) Learn to segment and blend more difficult words containing multiple phonemes (e.g. elephant, lighthouse,

injection, whirlpool etc.)

Juniors & Seniors 1. In Juniors from September a literacy folder is sent home with the new sounds and matching pictures.

Children and parents match sounds to pictures. This folder also contains the phonics copy and word lists.2. Flashcards – after English lessons children in pairs/groups test each other on sounds/words etc.)3. The Jolly Phonics group words are copied, cut and stapled and are used in class and at home to reinforce the

sounds taught and develop further the childrens’ segmenting and blending skills1st

Revise all sounds learned in junior and senior Infants. Apply the phonetic knowledge that they have to their reading and writing. Understand reasons for phonic rules and words which don’t follow certain rules 1st have phonics in text book.

2nd – 6th

5

Phonics is further developed with particular attention paid to words in context NB- which phonic rules apply/don’t apply- inserting double letters, dropping e, plurals, words changing in different tenses etc.)

Assessment of individual Phonological awareness: A phonics test, devised by the Special Needs team for assessment purposes, and based on the programme above, will be given to all classes (Infants – 6th) before the end of June. Class teachers assess children informally, regularly, on what has been taught. The class teachers and Special Needs teams will use the results of these tests, along with other informal/ formal tests and teacher observation to identify the needs of individual children. Seniors – Mist

BASIC SIGHT VOCABULARY ( C18, TG 57) From 1st - 3rd classes an agreed basic sight vocabulary - the Dolch list & 100 most frequently used words with a combination of sight words from the Starways scheme is used regularly with all children. Assessment of basic sight vocabulary will take place before the end of June for 1st – 6th classes. From 4th class upwards this checklist is used only with the below average readers. All teachers have a copy of these checklists. The class teachers and Special Needs teams will use the results of these tests, along with other informal/ formal tests and teacher observation to identify the needs of individual children. Junior Infants Sight Vocabulary

At end of each book the Starways assessment sheets are used Dolch sheets Juniors – 1st (Green/Pink/Orange)

2nd & 3rd 200 most frequently used words for 2nd or copy of 300 most frequently used words for 3rd

LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE CHARTS (TG 55) Flip charts/ boards are used to record basic words children use in their every day experiences. These words are used to help develop basic sight vocabulary. In junior classes teachers compose sentences using these words and subsequently model the reading process

READING SCHEME: Starways Reading Scheme is used from Juniors to 3rd classs.Wonderland Scheme is used from 4th to 6th class. Emergent Reading (C 18, TG 50; Drumcondra English Profiles 91 – 93, 96 – 97: Learning Support Guidelines 80 – 81) Children begin a structured reading programme in Term 2 of Juniors

Big Books, Picture Books etc. are used so that children are given many opportunities to hear reading, talk about reading, appreciate the usefulness and pleasures of reading, to help them understand the conventions of text and the terminology of books (letter, word, sentence, page number, reading from left to right) etc.Basic sight vocabulary will be taught in Junior Infants including the vocabulary used in the Starways Reading scheme in preparation for the time when the children will be introduced to the reading scheme. However, if children are able to read when coming to school they will be encouraged to continue reading at their level and suitable reading material will be available for them in their classrooms.

Junior Infants: 1st term Focus is on developing pre-reading skills. Appropriate library/ancillary books are read in school and at home depending on the child’s ability as follows:• Picture books – no script• Books with one or two words• Books with one sentenceJunior Infants: 2nd termCharacters from the first three reading books ‘Hello’, ‘Len likes to Hide’, ‘Jen plays tricks’ are introduced to the children. Sight words are taught to the children using flashcards. Junior Infants: 3rd termIndependent reading activities are introduced from week 2 where children read simple commands/instructions and demonstrate understanding through gesture, writing or orally. Read cloze texts and complete based on new words etc. Ancillary Readers: Oxford Reading Tree/Go Books/Wonderland supplementarySenior Infants

6

Sight vocabulary corresponding to ‘Look at This’, ‘Visiting’, ‘Stories for You’ and ‘A New Baby’ is taught. All children in senior infants should be enabled to read these books independently. Vocabulary development and comprehension strategies play an integral role in this process also.Differentiated reading activities are given to children who require more of a challenge or support. Library books are distributed according to reading ability. Parents are also given suggestions regarding differentiation during school reading activities at home (Library Book, Reader). 1st/2nd classesThe class reader will be used 4 times a week and Ancillary/Supplementary readers will be used on Friday. Children will be grouped according to their ability. The class reader will be used for Oral Language, Comprehension, Word attack strategies, Grammar/Phonics, writing activities and reinforcement of key words. Word sheets are also used.

3rd – 6th classes:Reading skills, word attack skills and dictionary skills will be taught using the class reader. Teachers will use a variety of approaches sometimes grouping children according to ability, sometimes using mixed ability groups depending on the needs of the children and the focus of the reading lesson.The Special Needs team will work with class teachers and assist them when working with reading groups.

COMPREHENSIONComprehension skills are developed through a combination of reading the text, reflecting on the text, discussing it, and writing about it. In the early years children are encouraged to use picture cues when answering questions. For developing comprehension skills teachers use a variety of methodologies such as the following:• SQ3R – Survey! Question! Read! Recite! Review!• KWL – Know! Want to Know! Learned!What is it you Know? What is it you Want to know?What have you Learned?

In a whole class situation during an oral language lesson teachers cater for all abilities through effective use of well thought out questions. Teachers use a variety of organisational settings when striving to develop the pupils’ comprehension skills: sometimes children working individually, in pairs, in groups or with the whole class. Comprehension skills are developed through oral and written work with an emphasis on discussion. Workbooks and class readers are used selectively and judiciously by teachers as a tool to develop the pupils’ comprehension skills. Comprehension skills are developed across the curriculum in all subject areas. Teachers will also explicitly teach comprehension strategies to the children based on the ‘Building Bridges of Understanding’ programme

Building Bridges of Understanding

Comprehension strategies are conscious plans — sets of steps that good readers use to make sense of text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension. These strategies are:

Prediction Visualisation Making Connections Questioning Monitoring Comprehension Determining Importance Inferring Synthesis

LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR EACH SECTION [see appendix C]At the end of this section you will be enabled to:

Understand the explicit nature of comprehension strategy instruction Use think alouds to clearly and explicitly model the thinking process involved in prediction,

visualization, making connections etc. Create a chart to focus understanding of each strategy Model Comprehension Processing Motions (CPMs) to indicate strategy use Identify high quality picture books appropriate for introducing and supporting each strategy Understand the scaffolded nature of comprehension strategy instruction

7

SILENT READING DEAR time – Drop Everything and Read. Silent Reading was introduced in September 2005 and teachers have noted its success. Teachers ensure that all children have a book they can read. In acting as a good role models the teacher reads silently as well. DEAR time finishes after 10 minutes. Teachers of 1st classes use their discretion in deciding the amount of time children spend reading silently.

PAIRED/SHARED READING Fifth/Sixth classes occasionally do Shared Reading with children from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes. The children from 1st – 4th classes are chosen by the class teachers. They are children who have reading problems due to learning difficulties or children whose second language is English. TY pupils coming to our school also do a lot of shared reading as do SNAs when they have an opportunity. In the infant room the senior infants read for a Junior infant partner. This nurtures the reading skills of both.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT Teachers recognise that the parent’s support is crucial and parents support teachers primarily by showing an interest in their child’s learning: listening/talking with their children, talking about pictures in books, listening to their children reading, asking them questions on what they have read, checking spellings, encouraging them to become members of the local library etc. Parents are asked to sign their children’s homework diaries. Some class teachers may ask parents to sign reading logs. If parents are concerned about their child’s progress they should discuss this with the class teacher at the earliest opportunity.

AssessmentMist Programme: MIST is a screening programme for Senior Infants. It tests listening skills, initial sounds, written vocabulary, blending 3 letter words and sentence dictation. It is given to Senior Infant children after Christmas. Children who are experiencing difficulties are selected for the MIST Forward Together Programme. This programme is taught to parents over a number of weeks by the Learning Support teachers and parents use the programme to help their children at home.

SPECIAL NEEDS/ ROLE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TEAMSee school policy on Special Needs.Phonics TestThe Jackson Phonics test is administered by the special needs team to pupils whom class teachers have observed as having difficulties in reading.Information is obtained from these tests to provide the pupil with an individual programme of work to last for several weeks.E.Y.E.S. – Early Years Easy Screen is also used with pupils in Junior Infants if difficulties have been observed. Six key skill areas are observed:

1. Pencil co ordination skills2. Active body skills3. Number skills4. Oral language skills5. Visual Reading skills6. Auditory Reading skills

Other Tests administered are: 1. NRIT – Juniors to 6 +2. Woodcock Johnson3. British Picture Vocabulary Test4. Quest5. CAT6. WRAT

BOOK RELATED EVENTS• Book week: Children are sometimes encouraged to dress up as their favourite character.• Authors/Poets/Journalists are occasionally invited to read and speak to the children• The children visit the local library to hear books read

8

SPELLING – All classes from 1st – 6th use the following approach P.A.T. (weekly word groups taught and reinforced using - Look, Cover, Say, Write and Check. It is felt by teachers that if this is consistently taught and used by children from Seniors – 5th classes the process should be automatic by the time children reach 6th class. The school’s structured phonics programme will help children learn spelling. Infants use the Jolly Phonics programme taking a different diagraph/trigraph every week and exploring the different words created using it. However teachers are aware that phonics alone cannot be used to teach spelling and a consistent multi-dimensional approach is used in order to ensure that children do not become over reliant on phonics when spelling. Teachers encourage children to use a combination of Look, Cover, Say, Write and Check, Phonics and Word Attack skills when teaching spelling.

All classes from 1st to 6th use the Fallons Spelling book.In Junior Infants we give all pupils marks for good attempts especially when writing as this really increases children’s confidence and improves their approximate spelling.Seniors : Group words in Jolly Phonics, Tricky words (JP),Word Wall Charts: list of 50 frequent words; Differentiated objectives for certain pupils; differentiated tasks/worksheets/support

1st Class-use - 100 words of Dolch list [Sparklebox] also class lists created from frequently misspelled words.

First/Second classesTeachers will try to ensure that all pupils will be able to spell the 200 most frequently used words from Brendan Culligan’s book Improving Children’s Spelling Children will be tested weekly. Pupils are rewarded with a star/homework for good attempt.

Third/Fourth classesDepending on class needs supplementary spelling material will be chosen by the class teacher

Fifth/Sixth classesTeachers will try to ensure that the children know how to spell Brendan Culligan’s corewords lists 1 and 2 (see attached). Sentences will be outlined each week and dictated for the test at the end of each week. Children set their own targets with guidance from the class teacher. Depending on the class needs supplementary spelling material will be chosen by the class teacher.

Assessment of SpellingTeachers in the school use a variety of approaches.

When spelling tests are corrected teachers give marks for attempted spelling e.g. teachers highlight correct letters used in words. Teachers use their professional judgement when correcting spellings, depending on the child’s ability.

Teachers teach spelling and give spelling tests weekly. However, depending on the ability of the children or the length of the week they may choose not to give a spelling test. Spelling still needs to be monitored and children with difficulties identified.

Teachers give children lists (taking differentiation into account) to learn and cater for different abilities by asking children to set realistic targets for themselves. If children chose to learn 5 spellings and get them all correct they get 100% the same as the child who gets 20/20. However, percentages need not be used for marking spelling tests. Children are then encouraged to set a new, more challenging target for the next week.

In Seniors there are daily and weekly oral and written assessments of the weekly Jolly Phonics words. Schonell graded spelling test is administered to all classes in June, giving a spelling age to each pupil.

POETRY (C. 18,27) Teachers and pupils have their own individual personal tastes in poetry. It is important that there is some flexibility in the selection of poetry by an individual class. However the following core set of poems will be taught during the year:

Junior & Senior InfantsBased on Starways and teacher chosen poems.Eg :

On the Ning Nang None – Spike Milligan Outdoor song – AA Milne A Cough – Robert Graves The Caterpillar – Christina Rossetti

My Name is …. Pauline Clarke Hey Diddle Diddle – Roald Dahl Witch, witch – Rose Fylenan The Dark – Adrian Henr

9

Autumn woods – James S Tippett Summer Song – John Ciardi Rickety train Ride – Tony Mitton Breakfast – PH Kilby

Daddy Fell into the pond – Alfred Noyes The Swing – Marchette Chute Snail – John Drinwater

1stBased on Starways and teacher chosen poems.Eg:

Mr Peck Pigeon – Eleanor Farjeon The dustman – Clive Sansom I had no friends at all – John Kitching A-choo – Danielle Meinrath The goblin – Rose Fyleman Whenever there’s snow – Barbara Ireson My world- Margaret Rankin Bubbles – L.Nicholson The end – A.A. Milne Twinkle twinkle chocolate bar – The bus - ‘Peter’

The wrong start- Marchette Chute Honey bear – Elizabeth Lang The snowman Magic shoes – Brian Moses The sunshine tree – Clive Webster Boats sail on the rivers – Christina Rossetti Fancy me – Janet Paisley Clouds – Valerie Bloom Upside down – Aileen Fisher

2ndBased on Starways and teacher chosen poems.Eg:

Keep a poem in your pocket – Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Dad and me – Seán Daly You do it too – Margaret Langford I like cabbage – John Kitching New shoes – John Agard Over the park – Charles Thomson Simple Simon - Anonymous Betty Botter - Anonymous Sitting in my bath-tub – John Foster Birthdays - Anonymous My mother – Karen Horgan

Birdman – June Crebbin The haunted house – John Foster Sand – John Foster The snowman – Vera Gray The pencil – Georgina Dowd A baby sardine –Spike Milligan Stegosaurus – Wendy Larmont There was an old man from Peru -

Anonymous Daddy fell into the pond – Alfred Noyes Well, I never – June Crebbin

3rd Based on Wonderland and teacher chosen poems.Eg:

Today I had a rotten day – Kenn Nesbitt Falling asleep in class – Kenn Nesbitt All my great excuses – Kenn Nesbitt The great blue whale – Kerry Hardie I keep my snowman in the freezer – Ian

McMillan Witch goes shopping – Lilian Moore The Fairies – William Allingham

The sound collector – Roger McGough I wish I was a pirate – Tony Bradman Dad and the cat and the tree – Helen Nicole A visit from St.Nicholas – Clement Clarke

Moore Noises in the night – Wes Magee The dinosaurs dinner – June Crebbin

4th Based on Wonderland and teacher chosen poems.Year 1 Eg:

The Coming Of The Iron Man What Are Little Girls Windy Nights Colonel Fazackerely Christmas Eve Kennings (Writing Poetry) Spring Standing Is Stupid The Sound Collector Hedge School It’s Boring Being a Monster

Old Man Ocean The Marrog

Year 2 Eg: The Coming Of The Iron Man The Cataract Of Lodore Colonel Fazackerely Greedy Dog Tundra Kennings (Writing Poetry) The Supply Teacher Bed In Summer Mrs Butler

10

The Visitor From A Railway Carriage

5th

Based on Wonderland and teacher chosen poems.

Year 1 Eg:The LonerThe Aliens Have LandedWindy NightsTreesChristmas EveKennings (writing poetry)My Teacher wasn’t Half as Nice as Yours Seems to BeSpringStanding is StupidThe Sound CollectorHedge SchoolWar Horse

Old Man OceanThe Marrog

Year 2 Eg:The LonerThe SnareTreesThe Aliens Have LandedRag DollI Love This Land AustraliaDistracted, The Mother said to Her BoyKennings (writing poetry)The Supply TeacherBed in Summer

6thBased on teacher chosen poems.

First Day at SchoolIn Flanders FieldsThe Night we Rode with SarsfieldTwo’s CompanyThe Witches’ SpellTreesPast and PresentI’m late for schoolI see his Blood upon the RoseThe Lake Isle of InnisfreeThe SeaThe SunBod, My Fat CatI’m SuperThe CrocodileGrandad’s Wayward TeethTakeoffTo be a Mouse

LeisureDanny MurphyMid Term BreakBlackberry PickingFollowerThe Carol SingersChristmas EveCentipede’s SongSickThe DaffodilsThe SnareMy Cousin FredI Dreamed a DreamBubble BathIf Fleas had FeelingsHugsStarsSnowball FightsFeuding FriendsUnsuitable Weather

Grammar:Juniors – 3rd – Starways Grammar Programme supplemented by Treasury and Exercise Your English4th – 6th class – Wonderland Grammar Programme supplemented by Treasury.

WRITING

Galbally National School aims to:

give writing a purpose and make it an enjoyable experience by presenting a wide variety of writing

opportunities;

develop the children’s confidence as young writers;

help children see writing as an important means of communication;

develop writing by positive teaching of skills and encouragement;

11

give each child the opportunity to write in a variety of genres and for a variety of audiences.

Classroom writing situations should emphasise to the children the purpose of writing and give the children the opportunity to write in a variety of genres and for different purposes and audiences.  Shared and modelled writing will take place which allows the teacher to demonstrate good writing practice to the children while using their ideas. Guided writing takes place takes place also and is reactive to children’s needs to help them move on in their learning.

In the early years children’s confidence as writers is developed through phonics skills teaching and an emphasis on writing in play. Research has shown that motivation is the primary factor in positive writing experiences. The incorporation of writing into play activities makes it a natural progression for children in their learning rather than something difficult that they feel they are unable to do or simply don’t want to. When children begin to view writing in a positive way they will write frequently, independently and always with purpose. This is where the meaning of what they have written becomes central. To effectively write for a variety of purposes and audiences, writing must be understood. Equipping young children with the skills to successfully do this (phonics, comprehension etc.) is therefore essential. This consolidates the oral language, reading and writing elements of our English curriculum and highlights writing as a process rather than product. PROCESS WRITING

At a planning meeting teachers discussed the Writing Process under the following headings:• Emphasis on the process

• Variety of audience

• Children have some control over subject

• Children have consistent practise at drafting, editing and redrafting

• Teacher acts as mentor and guide.

Teachers manuals were purchased in May 2007. An agreed Editing/Correction Key was developed by the teachers and all 1st – 6th class teachers use this checklist when correcting children’s work. Teachers agreed to display a chart showing these symbols in their classrooms. P. Punctuation … , “ “ ? !C. Capital letterGr. Grammar: Tenses 1st/2nd classesS.S. Sentence structure [ ] New paragraphR. Repetition: Using the same word again and again e.g. Then …………… and then.

Penmanship.Junior InfantsSeptember• Use of crayon, plastic materials and pencil,• Scribbling and drawing shapes. • Free style drawing. • Displaying, Formation of letters covered• Print with environment• Use of finger rhymes to prepare fingers for writing work• Prewriting letter patterns

October to December• As above plus…• Develop satisfactory grip using crayons progressing to pencils.• Use of hand hugger pencils• Emphasise posture• Kinaesthetic approach emphasised• Write numerals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

12

• Use of number picturesThe approach below is taken to the introduction of new letters • Forming individual letters in the following order:• Formations of numerals • Creating awareness of left-right, top-bottom orientation• See teacher model writing as an enjoyable experience• By December, pupil will be able to write first name

Teacher Resource : Teacher Manuals/Charts• Pupil Resource :

The following recommendations are made regarding pencil grip, pencil type, copy choice, introduction of pens:

• Crayons. • Hugger pencils, • Handwriting copies & book, • Scaffolded sheet From January – writing – Poems, news, homework from blackboard, labels etc.

Senior Infants• Children will be encouraged to write and draw frequently throughout the year• Emphasis on proper pencil grip• Posture will be encouraged• Greater emphasis on left-right orientation

September – DecemberRevise lower case letters. Writing homework from blackboard. Copy words from the environment

October to December• Capital letters • Write labels to name families, people and things• Write his/her full name• Awareness of ascenders and descenders• Awareness of spacing between words• Trying to keep writing on the lineResourcesRecommendations are made regarding pencil grip, pencil type, copy choice, introduction of pens: Hugger pencils, Handwriting copy & book

First ClassConsolidation and reinforcement of Senior infant work. Emphasis on proper pencil grip. Good writing posture Proper letter formation Quality presentation, handwriting copy and book

Second ClassConsolidation and reinforcement of above Use of HB pencilsEmphasis on proper pencil grip .Good writing postue Proper letter formation Quality presentationJoined writing will be introduced at the end of the second term, as in the text book Handwriting made Easy.Resources – Handwriting made Easy & Handwriting CopyThird ClassEmphasis on proper pencil grip good writing posture Use of brackets plus one line to correct errors. Proper letter formation Quality presentation Revision and consolidation of joining Introduction of modified letters r, k, e, f, d, b, p and q Joined handwriting in all written work January onwards.Resources - Handwriting made Easy. Handwriting Copy

Fourth ClassEmphasis on proper pencil grip , good writing posture , proper letter formation , quality presentationUse of pen to be introduced in late 4th Class Use of brackets plus one line to correct errors. Resources – Handwriting made Easy. Handwriting Copy

Fifth and Sixth ClassesEmphasis on proper pencil grip , good writing posture proper letter formation quality presentation .Develop a fluent personal style of handwriting Write for more sustained periods Felt tip pens

13

Success CriteriaThis plan will make a difference to the teaching and learning of English in our school. The criteria that will indicate success are:

Implementation and evaluation of School Improvement Plan Teachers’ preparation based on this plan Procedures outlined in this plan consistently followed

We will know that the plan has achieved its aims by: Feedback from teachers/parents Inspector’s suggestions/report Feedback from second level schools

ReviewIt will be necessary to review this plan on a regular basis to ensure optimum implementation of the English curriculum in the school.

TimeframeThis policy was reviewed at a staff planning evening in Autumn 2014.

Ratification and CommunicationThis policy was ratified by the Bord of Management at it’s meeting of 29th Juanuary 2015.

It is available for inspection by appointment with the principal.

Signed………………………………………………… ……………………………Chairperson

14

PHONICS APPENDIX A

JUNIOR INFANTS1. Consonants in initial positions (sounds, then names) s, t, p, n, c, k, h, r, m, d, g, l, f, b, j, z, v, y, x, qu (as in

Jolly Phonics Programme) to be introduced by Christmas2. Short vowels in initial positions (sounds, then names) a,i,e,o,u.3. Blending of initial sounds when 3 sounds taught, i.e. s-a-t = sat4. Continue blending to make 3 letter words, e.g. cab5. Introduction of blends, digraphs and trigraphs [sh, ch, wh, ph, th, ai, ay, ee, ea, (e)y, oa, oe, ue, ie, igh, ow,

ou, aw, au, ew, wr, oo, oo [long], a_e*, i_e*. o_e*. u_e*. e_e*, ar, er, ir, or, ur, all, y [i], oy, oi, soft c, soft g, ough, augh, ough, augh, tion, sion]NB Word Lists (on page 143 – 154 or Jolly Phonic Manual)

SENIOR INFANTS1. Teachers revises all sounds from Junior Infants2. Children learn to apply their phonemic knowledge to their independent reading and writing3. NB word lists on page 143-154 of Jolly Phonics4. Concentrate on analysis and blending

RANG 1 & 2:Extend further children’s bank of words containing:

1. Consonants in all positions 2. Final double consonants3. Common endings4. Initial blends5. Final blends 6. Words containing digraphs and trigraphs 7. Common irregular words: taken from reading scheme8. Long vowels with silent e (magic e)

Particular emphasis on grammar, vocabulary development etc.

RANG 3 & 4Extend further children’s bank of words containing:

1. Vowel digraphs and combinations:2. Initial blends:3. Soft c and soft g:4. Diphthongs:5. Endings:6. Compound words:7. Simple homonyms: their/there see/sea no/know two/to/too etc8. Words with silent letters:9. three and four syllable words:10. Irregular words taken from scheme

Particular emphasis on grammar, vocabulary development etc.

RANG 5 & 61. Root families e.g express/expressing/expression2. Prefixes3. Suffixes4. Syllabication5. Compound words6. More challenging lists of homonyms etc. 7. Irregular words based on reading scheme

15

Appendix BSoun

dStory/Action

s Snake is in the grass (weave hand like a snake saying sssssss)

a Ants on my arm (wriggle fingers above elbow and say a,a,a)

t Tennis match {Say t, t, while turning head from side to side)

i Inky the mouse (wriggle fingers on the end of your nose (whiskers) and squeak i-i-i)

p Puff out the candles (hold up index finger and say p,p,p, to blow out the candle)

n Noisy aeroplane (Hold out arms as if an aeroplane nose diving and say nnnnnnn)

c Clicking Castanets (raise hands and snap fingers together as if playing castanets, and say kkk)

k See above

e Crack open the egg (use both hands to open eggshell and say eh, eh, eh)

h Children in a hopping race (act as if panting after a race, put hand up to mouth and say h.h.h)

r Playful puppy pulling at a rag (clench teeth, shake head and say rrrrrrrr)

m Favourite meal (rub tummy, seeing tasty food and say mmmmm)

d Playing the drum (pretend to hold drumsticks and beat up and down on a drum and say ddd)

g Water gurgling down the sink (spiral hand down as if water gurgling down a plughole and say g,g,g,gurgle)

o Turn the light on and off (imagine turning switch on and off and say o,o,o,o,on,off)

u Up goes the Umbrella (keep one hand steady and raise the other as if raising up an umbrella and say u..u..u..up)

l Lick the lolly (pretend to lick a lolly saying l... l... l…)

f The deflating fish (Place one hand above the other, lower the top hand and say fffffff)

b The bat hits the ball (Place hands together as if batting a ball and say b,b,b)

j Jiggly Jelly (pretend to be a jelly and wobble saying j,j,j)

z Bees buzzing from flower to flower (pretend to be a bee with elbows in and hands flapping zzzzzz)

w The west wind (blow onto open hand like the wind repeating (w,w,w,)

v Uncle Vic’s van (pretend to be driving along in the van saying vvvvv)

y Yummy yellow yogurt (pretend to eat yogurt from a spoon saying y-y yogurt with every spoonful)

x x-ray (pretend to take an x-ray with a camera saying ks, ks, ks)

qu The quacking duck (Make a duck’s beak with hinged hands and say qu, qu, qu, quack

sh When Hopping girl (h)’s brother is making loud snake noises she tells him to Shhhhh so he won’t wake the baby (ship, smash, washing)

ch When the castanets are clicking (c) hopping girl (h) thinks they sound like a train and says choo choo choo choo (chat, church, chimney)

th Tim and Tom (hopping girl made tea for the clowns who forgot to put their milk in and burnt their tongues- th, th, th) (then, thumb, further)

wh West wind is so strong it’s pushing hopping girl (h) along (wh, wh, wh)

16

ph The birthday boy/girl is having his photo taken by the hopping girl) (ph-ph photo time)

ai Two vowels go walking (train, sail)

ay Two vowels go walking (y=stands in as a vowel) (day, stay)

oa Two vowels go walking (boat, goal)

oe Two vowels go walking (toe, goes)

ie Two vowels go walking (tie, die, flies)

igh Vowel i gives the hopping girl an ice cream for fixing the gurgling sink. She rests and eats it (g &h make no sound) (fight, night, high)

y Y works for vowel i selling ice creams (cry, sky, cycle)

ee Two vowels go walking (seen, peel, feet)

ea Two vowels go walking (sea, steal, beans)

ey/*y Two vowels go walking/magic e* hiding (money, happy)

ue Two vowels go walking (blue, Tuesday)

ew West wind knocks all the eggs on top of the chef (ew!) (threw, blew etc.)

oo Cuckoo is in the cuckoo clock making short oo (u) sound (good, book, stood)

oo Cuckoo comes out and calls cuckOO cuckOO (boots, school, food)

ou The west wind blows vowel o and his umbrella over (ow!) (down, towel, shower)

ow The west wind blows vowel o over (ow!) (found, shout, couch)

ow-o The west wind tries to blow vowel o over but he holds on tight and says Oh no you don’t! (show, throw, follow)

aw The west wind blows strongly at vowel a (aw!) (straw, crawl, lawn)

au The west wind blows vowel a’s umbrella away (aw!) (author, sauce, astronaut)

oi Vowels go sailing (boil, coin, spoil)

oy Vowels go sailing (enjoy, toys, boy)

ar Playful puppy drags vowel a (

er Playful puppy drags vowel e (winter, her, mother)

ir Playful puppy drags vowel i (first, girl, bird)

or Playful puppy drags vowel o (for, sorry, torch)

ur Playful puppy drags vowel u (fur, burn, hurt)

wr Playful puppy is louder than the west wind (rrrr) (wrong, wrist, wrench)

kn Kiki the castanet player can’t be heard with the noisy aeroplane (nnn) (knee, know, knight)

ng The strong weightlifter is lifting heavy weights and saying ngngngng (sing, rang, belong)

a_e* Magic e* makes vowel a appear (cake, share, made)

17

Vowels are shocked and don’t make a

sound

i_e* Magic e* makes vowel i appear (hire, smile, life)

o_e* Magic e* makes vowel o appear (nose, hope, phone)

u_e* Magic e* makes vowel u appear (tube, cute, mule)

e_e* Magic e makes vowel e appear (here, these, scene)

all The ant is carrying two lollies on his back and calls out (all, all, I’ve got them all) (all, small, ball)

c (soft)

The other castanet players (vowel e, i, or y) are practising softly without castanets (s..s..s..s) (circus, cinema, cycling, nice)

g (soft)

The gymnast is practising at the sink (soft g as in gymnastics) (gentle, giant, geography)

ough The west wind blows vowel o. o lands right beside the hopping girl as she has her break after clearing the gurgling sink (vowel o makes many different sounds while g & h say nothing) (bought, though, thought, playdough)

ough*

The west wind blows vowel o. o lands right beside the hopping girl as she has her break after clearing the gurgling sink (vowel o makes many different sounds while the hopping girl takes a photo of what happened (e.g. rough, cough, tough etc.)

augh The west wind blows vowel a. a lands right beside the hopping girl as she has her break after clearing the gurgling sink (vowel a makes many different sounds while g & h say nothing) (caught, distraught, taught)

augh*

The west wind blows vowel a. a lands right beside the hopping girl as she has her break after clearing the gurgling sink (vowel a makes many different sounds while the hopping girl takes a photo of what happened (e.g. laugh, laughter etc.)

tion Mini tennis match between vowels i and o on the noisy aeroplane (Call everyone to attention! Attention) (station, injection, competition)

sion Snake found by vowels i and o on the noisy aeroplane! Call for an emergency diversion!) (decision, invasion, tension)

Appendix C

Building Bridges of Understanding

Learning Outcomes for Each Section

1. LEARNING OUTCOMES OF PREDICTION INSTRUCTIONAt the end of this unit the child will be enabled to:

Understand what making a prediction is Understand why good readers make predictions Use illustrations, the title, key words and their own background knowledge to make predictions Justify predictions using evidence from the story or background knowledge Revise predictions as the story develops Respond to other people’s predictions

2. LEARNING OUTCOME FOR VISUALISATION UNITAt the end of this unit the children will be enabled to:

Draw images in response to a text Create mental images in response to a text Discuss in detail the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch of their images Compare own image to others

18

Understand the importance of visualisation

3. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR UNIT ON MAKING CONNECTIONSAt the end of this unit the child will be enabled to:

Draw on personal experiences, other texts and background knowledge to deepen their understanding of the topic being read and the characters encountered

Identify the three types of connections Understand that his/her own personal experiences and knowledge impact on their understanding of

the text Use their connections for other strategies such as predictions and inferring Identify areas where they lack the prior knowledge necessary to fully understand the text and

identify the means of rectifying that situation

4. LEARNING OUTCOMES OF QUESTIONING UNITAt the end of this unit, pupils will be enabled to:

Generate questions before, during and after reading a non-fiction text Generate questions before, during and after reading a fiction/narrative text Understand that there are different types of questions Understand that the answers to the generated questions come from a range of sources. It may not be

answered directly in the text itself Understand that some questions may remain un-answered Understand the importance of questioning

5. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR CLARIFICATION UNITAt the end of this unit the pupil will be enabled to:

Understand what monitoring comprehension and clarifying mean Understand why good readers clarify as they read Identify parts of a text that need clarification and use an appropriate strategy to repair

comprehension

6. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR UNIT ON DECLUNKING/WORD IDENTIFICATIONAt the end of this unit the pupils will be enabled to: 

Understand what the terms ‘clunk’ and ‘declunking’ mean Use a range of approaches to effectively ‘declunk’ a word Use prefixes, suffixes and word origins to assist word identification and vocabulary development Understand the importance of ‘declunking’ in developing comprehension

7. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR DETERMINING IMPORTANCE UNITAt the end of this unit the child will be enabled to:

Understand what determining importance is Understand why we need to determine importance Separate the facts of a piece of text – important and essential to non important and interesting Group facts according to topic/headings Edit their essential facts/main points as they read more of the book Justify their decision of facts using appropriate evidence from text Modify the approach to Determining Importance based on text genre

8. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR INFERENCE UNITAt the end of this unit the child will be enabled to:

19

Understand what inference is Understand the difference between prediction and inference Piece together clues from text, picture and schema to derive a deeper meaning Justify their inference using appropriate information from the text and the three types of

connections Revise their inference as the text progresses Discuss others’ inferences

9. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR SYNTHESIS UNITAt the end of this unit the child will be enabled to:

Understand what synthesis is. Understand how and why we use synthesis when reading. Use all the comprehension strategies independently. Chose the most appropriate reading strategy/strategies when reading different texts. Be a confident skills driven reader.

20