Integrating+Theory+and+Practice



Integrating Theory and Practice  A Sociolinguistic Approach: the purpose of literacy is communicative and determines the structure, grammar, language and use of vocabulary. This approach is used with oral language, reading and writing.  The Genre Approach: different text types have recognisable characteristics. Genres have a systematic structure with a beginning, middle and end. Teachers explicitly teach the structure and organisation of each genre. The audience and the purpose of the writing is considered.  Critical Literacy: helps students to form judgements. It aims to show connections that may not be visible such as stereotyping. Students develop the ability to “read the hidden messages” by being exposed to a wide range of media.  The Process Approach: involves planning, writing, revising and reviewing, then publishing and post writing-response. Students write every day at different times of the day. Conferencing helps the student reflect, goal set and improve their writing.  The Scaffold Approach: assists students to develop literacy skills from where they are at and deciding how to move forward. Teachers “model share, guide and encourage independence in both reading and writing”. (Hill, 2011, p 72)  Dedicated Literacy Time: involves using approaches that suit the needs of individual students by placing the children in groups based on their current literacy level. Teacher driven following the Whole Class / Small Group / Whole Class approach during the literacy block in the morning.  Play Based / Developmental Language Experience: has the children involved in an investigation project or play with a focus on key concepts, skills or understandings. Student driven using extensions from the children's ideas.

How were the various theories about literacy teaching addressed in course texts evident in the early years teaching approaches observed in the classroom? Every classroom that our group observed used the dedicated literacy time with emphasis on the whole / part/ whole approach during the reading section. Children's learning was scaffolded. Examples include: The class began with a whole group sitting on the floor whilst the teacher read from a big book...The students were then split into three groups based on reading abilities...At the end of rotations, the whole class comes back together to share their work. (Grace) The literacy lesson began with a story that was read to the class...before breaking into their literacy groups...At the conclusion of all the tasks the class came together and one person from each group reported on the activity. (Laura) At the start of the literacy lesson the teacher reads aloud from a chapter book...small groups were called to the floor for a reading session with the teacher. (Rochelle) Independent reading was done by the whole class and accommodated to all levels of readers...each small group participated in activities appropriate to their literacy levels (Elena) The class began the literacy block with a whole class shared reading session using a big book...The children were ready for the Spotty Box activities, where children of a similar literacy level are grouped together...The class regrouped as a whole for share time. Individual children were chosen to display and talk about the work they had achieved. (Michelle)

Most of the literacy approaches listed above were observed within one or more of the classes writing sessions. The dedicated literacy time approach was demonstrated by the whole/part/whole approach in many of the classes. Students in small groups were grouped by writing ability, using the scaffolded approach. The sociolinguistic approach was observed where children were encouraged to independently write creative sentences using their spelling words. Another example focused on the use of adjectives and showed the students how to construct more complex sentences and the importance of correct spelling and grammar. The genre approach saw a demonstrated sample letter, reinforcing the important points of writing a card / letter, including the beginning 'dear' and signing off 'from'. One class displayed the <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13.6px;">play based / developmental language experience through the design and dialogue of a storyboard project with no teacher assistance. One class of students was in the middle of the process approach. Students had been working on a rough draft of a recount. The teacher had edited their rough drafts and the children were to work on their good copy to be published as a take home share book. Some children conferenced with the teacher to complete their draft, prompting and supporting the student to form their ideas into sentences. During the writing sessions no <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13.6px;">critical literacy approaches were observed.

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