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DEVELOPING EARLY ** **LITERACY ** 

My name is //Emma// //Pilgrim// and this wiki has been created from knowledge obtained from my __ECL210__ unit at Deakin, using lecture and tutorial notes and the text: //'//Developing early literacy: Assessment and teaching'. Susan Hill. This assignment also aims to extend knowledge of literacy as well as technology that can be used in literacy classrooms, and as such, some of those technologies may be used as examples for activities and strategies in classrooms. **

Literacy is: ** In reading __Hill__, the definition of Literacy shows that literacy enables children to build upon language knowledge and learn to enhance skills for future development. Hill states that, "//Literacy is reading, writing, speaking and listening, and involves the knowledge and skills required to engage in activities required for effective functioning in the community.//' (Hill, 2007, P3)

There is a guide of phases in literacy development, and they are usually used as benchmarks by teachers and also for use in the development of future planning. Teachers also use the zone of proximal development to interpret and assess the abilities and comprehension level of individual students. Phases are generalised as:   Beginning - 0 - 3 years Early - Emergent - 3 - 5 years Emergent - P - Kindergarten Early - K - Year 1 Transitional - Year 1 - 2 Extending - Year 2 - 4

Assessment helps teachers to understand abilities learned by students and also their ability to comprehend and act successfully upon new concepts and ideas. When teachers are able to assess this, they are then able to plan the next step in that child's development.

Based on the works of Owocki and Goodman, 2002, these 6 questions have been formulated as key elements for assessment questions in order to understand a child's knowledge: - In which settings is the child successful in getting things done? - In which settings does the child need further support? - In which settings does the child appear comfortable? - When does the child seem confused? (about certain ideas or concepts) - In which contexts does the child work alone? - In which settings does the child prefer to work with others? (hill, 2007, p10)

Management of literacy – A multidisciplinary approach (as demonstrated in Hill, 2007, p374-375 ) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">Teachers might focus on a topic for study, i.e. Egypt, and they then plan their learning activities around the topic and subject areas. It is a good idea to do this with something you know children will like, as well as the unknown so that routine focuses the students. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif"> For example if I were to base my theme around Egypt I would start with: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif"> Reading Centre <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Display books on Egypt <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Read a big book on Egypt <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Select small guided reading on Egypt <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- And create phonics charts on Egypt <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">Writing Centre <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Children write and draw about Egypt on cut out pyramids <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Writing activity: Egypt is… Egypt has… Egyptians eat… <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Children might copy a map of Egypt and label the major cities and pyramids. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Children might learn about hieroglyphs <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">Maths Centre <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Egyptian counting activity on a sheet (maybe even with Egyptian numbers) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Learning about pyramids and how they can be 3 or 4 sided. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Building pyramids out of Lego. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">Science Centre <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Children cut and paste pictures of pyramids and hieroglyphs. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Children might make model of Egypt with sand and their Lego pyramid and discuss the length of the Nile. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Matching some of the Gods (e.g. Ra) and Kings (Tutankhamen) to pictures. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">Arts Centre <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">- Children make an Egyptian mask, either cardboard or paper maché. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">This form of learning helps teachers plan a sequence around a whole unit of study/topic which enables children to grasp topics more easily than if something on Egypt was done in the 2nd week of term and then the last week of term. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif"> A multidisciplinary subject approach helps teacher plan more thoroughly and also builds ideas more readily. The subject approach also allows teachers to assess in more detail the effectiveness of learning, for example, The weeks writing, reading and other activities can be put into a child’s learning archive (folder), therefore it is accessible to teachers, who can then see how the child took on information from beginning to end, and if development of further ideas took place. For instance if a poster was made or if children were asked to write a narrative on Egypt, the teacher could determine whether the child included things they had learnt from the subject. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif">Through the side bar, chapters and ideas are explored and intend to build upon literacy knowledge and teaching literacy.