Reading for Pleasure 20 March 2014 - Conference Notes

Reading for pleasure 20 March 2014 - conference notes

This full day conference for primary school teachers and librarians, in our popular reading for pleasure series, explored strategies to engage pupils with reading, putting books at the heart of learning. The focus was on strategies to get boys reading and creative ways to encourage reading for pleasure.

Margaret Holborn, head of the Guardian Education Centre, welcomed delegates to the conference and outlined the aims of the day:

·  Put books at the heart of learning.

·  Find out more about the writing process and meet authors.

·  Strategies to encourage wider reading.

·  Discuss being creative with books and getting boys to read.

·  Network and exchange ideas.

·  Get ideas, tips and resources that can be used in the classroom.

Margaret also explained how newspaper workshops could be booked at the Guardian Education Centre.

The day was chaired by the Guardian’s Children’s Books editor Julia Eccleshare. Julia explained that she was very proud that the newspaper covers children’s books so seriously and that they regularly appear in the Review section on Saturdays. Positioning children’s books as works of literature is very important. The Guardian is passionate about children and reading.

Julia introduced Emily Drabble, acting editor of the Guardian’s children’s books site. Emily enthusiastically described the site:

·  All reviews are written by children.

·  There are 2,000 mainly individual members with some group members including schools and libraries.

·  Children can send in their own pieces of creative writing.

·  Quizzes feature regularly.

·  Many authors write for the site such as Laura Dockrill giving tips on writing, Tanya Byrne on top 10 black characters.

·  Video for World Book Day where children dressed up as their favourite characters and interviewed Jacqueline Wilson, SF Said and Jim Smith.

Writing for children

Philip Ardagh, author

Philip is the author of numerous children’s books including the award-winning Eddie Dickens adventures, Grubtown Tales and The Grunts series. Philip brilliantly and animatedly described writing for children. He explained that Eddie Dickens was originally a character featured in letters from Philip to his nephew, Ben, who was at boarding school when his family was based in Russia. He explained that the idea came when recalling the bad letters he received from his own mother when he was at boarding school. He wanted to turn the mundane facts she wrote about into amazing adventures. The subsequent book developed from a series of letters written to one child. The book ended up being translated into 34 languages.

Philip is very interested in word play and characters. He talked about writing about the Grunts for the 75th anniversary of The Beano. Philip also read from The Fall of Fergal which is the first book in a dark but funny trilogy called ‘Unlikely Exploits’. In Grubtown Tales Philip appears as town resident, Beardy Ardagh. Philip explained:

·  He has a passion for writing and tweeting.

·  He loves going to schools and festivals.

·  He believes what makes a good book is passion.

·  He personally replies to 1,000s of letters from children.

·  Author’s websites can show readers that writers are human and approachable.

Creating a reading school

Jack Sloan - deputy headteacher, Hanover Primary School

Jack gave some background to his school:

·  Pupils eligible for pupil premium is significantly above average.

·  Children can read using phonics and guided reading.

·  Reading comprehension is good.

·  Results are good – lots of higher levels at KS1 and KS2

However, Jack and the headteacher of the school interview a child per week from each class. They noticed that the children never mentioned reading in their interviews. It was decided that a new vision was needed:

·  All children read for pleasure.

·  Children leave the school with a breadth and experience of reading.

·  Parents read effectively and regularly with their children.

·  More children achieving higher KS1 and KS2 levels.

·  Reading and high quality literature should be placed at the core of the curriculum.

Jack read an extract from The Giant Jam Sandwich, by John Vernon Lord, a favourite of his when he was a child. He highlighted how adults can often recall favourite books and that it was important to give children the opportunity to immerse themselves in reading and to read whole books not just extracts. Jack explained with great enthusiasm how they made a conscious effort at Hanover to make reading visible:

·  Put pictures up all over the school of children reading.

·  Set up a book swap in the foyer – now children are reading there every day.

·  Set up a library with a professional librarian working one day a week.

·  Work with authors and illustrators.

·  Started reading with parents – there are now two parent book groups.

The school supplies the parents with tea and cake and Jack runs sessions with parents that include activities that he also does with children e.g. hot-seating, poetry and painting. He runs a blog alongside the book groups which also includes resources. You can read the blog here. Parents have reported that the book groups have renewed their pleasure in reading and helped them understand how their children learn at school. They felt that they could use similar methods at home to support and encourage their children.

Feedback from teachers in the school on the focus on reading has also been very positive:

·  Drama and other activities bring texts to life.

·  Experience – FSM6 children, experience of other worlds.

·  Cooperation and disagreement – opinions about texts and experiences – emotional response to literature.

·  Vocabulary emerges from drama.

·  Holistic approach to learning English.

·  It’s fun to teach – teachers are more engaged.

After the first of the two networking and ideas exchange sessions there followed three workshops.

Workshop 1

I love this book! Have you got more of the same?

Julia Eccleshare

Julia explained that she has worked all her life in children’s books including as an editor and reviewer. The starting point for her is always the book. There are about 10,000 children’s books published every year. There is a book there for every reader. Julia showed the group what authors had said about writing:

·  You cannot write for children. They are much too complicated. You can only write books that are of interest to them – Maurice Sendak.

·  I think of children’s books as not so much for children, but as the filling that goes between the child and the adult world. One way or another, all children’s books have to negotiate that space – Michael Rosen.

·  Novels, even short stories, eat ideas like forest fires eat trees. If you’re setting out on an epic novel with just one idea, you’re probably going to peter out. What I do is take an idea that interests me, that I can feel an emotional response to, and then chuck it into my head to stew for a day or a week or a year, and then see if another idea sticks to it – Patrick Ness.

·  Stories make you think and dream; books make you want to ask questions. For me, the greater part of writing is day dreaming, dreaming the dream of my story until it hatches out. I love finishing it, then holding the book in my hand and sharing the dream with my readers – Michael Morpugo.

·  We think in stories. Before you can build a rocket to go to the moon, you have to dream of being able to do so. Think of what an important part of your mental equipment the story of The Ugly Duckling is, or Frankenstein, Cinderella or The Prodigal Son. These stories are like scientific discoveries – they name something that exists in the world but which we couldn’t see clearly – or feel clearly – until we were told the story – Frank Cotrell Boyce.

·  I believe people like us taking children’s books seriously, because we take writing seriously, in the same way that those of us who draw take drawing seriously. These books, at their best, are primers in the development of the emotional, the moral and the imaginative life. And they can be a celebration of what it is to be a human being – Quentin Blake.

·  Thou shalt not is soon forgotten but Once upon a time lasts forever. After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are things we need most in the world. There are themes and subjects too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children’s book. We don’t need a list of do’s and don’ts: we need books, time and silence. As a passionate believer in the democracy of reading, I don’t think it’s the task of the author of a book to tell the reader what it means. The meaning of a story emerges in the meeting between the words on the page and the thoughts in the reader’s mind. So when people ask me what I meant by this story, or what was the message I was trying to convey in that one, I have to explain that I’m not going to explain. Anyway, I’m not in the message business; I’m in the “Once upon a time” business – Philip Pullman.

Members of the group named their favourite books as children and then discussed what children’s books needed:

·  Hope.

·  Sense of place.

·  Creation of a visual place.

·  Children learning about the world.

·  Fast moving world can mean that children need to be engaged throughout.

There was a discussion about the fact that children today are very protected and their lives can be limited. Swallows and Amazons would probably not be written today. It was agreed that fiction gives children the chance to have adventures they could not have in real life. Books are very powerful because of the images and messages they are giving children. Book suggestions for young children were shared and Julia gave out a list of book ideas for children aged 4-10.

Fabulous Phonics

Ruth Moyler - deputy headteacher, John Donne Primary School

In this session Ruth discussed her innovative method of using immersive learning through play to help early years children learn phonics, even when they have very low verbal ability.

The creative learning uses a small world play context, themed each week for a different set of phonics, and connected to a text read with the class, within which children engage with one letter or sound each day.

Children focus entirely on one letter in a wide range of activities, to make memorable associations with these letters and sounds: daily letter - main word association - Jolly phonics actions - real objects (toys & edible items) - songs & rhymes - book linked to letter - something to make.

A small world context of a jungle would have a related book as the main text used with the class that week, and each day that week would focus on a different letter/sound. For example, a focus on ‘s’ using snake as the main word association, and a variety of toys beginning with s with which to play.

The small world context allows the children to verbalise their new learning in play. This connected approach will remind children of the songs and stories they have heard, and as a result, they often use this new language in their play.

Using real objects - toys and food - is important as something real is far more motivational than a picture or a word on its own.

Children produce a weekly big write, which is displayed immediately, with the previous week's big write filed in a large A3 project folder for each pupil - this then shows progress across the year.

Parents are invited to view the big write displays, with progress and improvements highlighted.

Partnerships with parents are vital. They are supported with a family phonics sheet explaining exactly what the children are learning and how, and what parents can be doing at home to reinforce this, also a grid of dates showing what will be learnt when - so parents can support at home. Ruth gave a lovely example of a parent saying she would make sure her child had fish fingers for tea on the day they had been learning 'f'.

Summary of key points and useful resources:

Immersive learning through play - small world play context

High quality products for children - reading and other classroom materials

Weekly big write

Partnerships with parents

Jolly phonics http://jollylearning.co.uk/overview-about-jolly-phonics/

CLPE Power of reading http://por.clpe.org.uk

Ken Robinson Ted talks https://www.ted.com/speakers/sir_ken_robinson

You can read more about Ruth and her Fabulous phonics strategy and download some of her resources in this article on the Guardian Teacher Network: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/jul/05/teaching-phonics-reading-writing

Planning creatively around a text

Charlotte Hacking, teaching and learning manager CLPE

Using The Great Explorer by Chris Judge (Andersen Press)

·  Unfold the story for the children – examine illustrations and consider who this character is and what they are doing. What are they doing? Where are they going? What do they have in their backpack? Justify the 3 things you would take.

·  Writing opportunities should enable the children to move from oracy to writing – use Dictaphones to create a radio news report. Consider features of a newspaper report and the differences. What questions does the newspaper report need to answer?