The purpose of the session is to:

  • introduce strategies for learning and teaching reading and writing

Activity / Time / Resources / Handout/Tasksheet/OHP
Activity 1:
Reflection on
session 6 / 5 / Participants’ reflective diaries
Reading and writing so far / 7H1 Reflection on session 6
Activity 2:
Critical questions / 15 / Flipchart / 7T1 Some questions to ask
7H2 Unison letter
7H3 Making sense of reading
Activity 3:
Handwriting / 25 / 7T2 Reading handwriting
7H4 Letters and numbers
7H5 Handwriting practice
7H6 Handwriting checklist
Activity 4:
Language experience / 20 / ITALL film part 1 ‘Language experience’ / 7T3 The language experience approach
Activity 5:
Language experience role play / 20 / Strips of card / 7T4 Using a language experience approach
Activity 6:
Using text from language experience / 15 / 7H7 Denny Community Education Centre
Activity 7:
Reading activities for a specific learner / 25 / Option of using own case studies or experience of real learners / 6H5 Case studies
6H6 Some useful strategies
Activity 8:
Homework tasks / 5 / 7T5 Homework tasks
Activity 9:
Reflective diaries / 5 / 1T7 Reflective diary
Activity 10:
Evaluation / 5
Tea break / 10
Total minutes / 150

Reading and writing 1

Aim

To help participants:

  • explore strategies for working on reading and writing with adult literacies learners

Outcome

Participants will be:

  • aware of a variety of ways of supporting learners in working on reading and writing both with the tutor and independently

5 minutes

Reflection on session 6

7H1

The purposes of this activity are to:

  • encourage participants to develop a reflective approach to their practice
  • highlight the basic principles of adult literacies learning

For discussion:

  • Any questions about the last session?
  • Any thoughts from your reflective diaries that you would like to share?
  • Any comments about this handout?
  • Any thoughts from background reading?

Introduction to session 7

In this session we will be looking at:

  • how you can encourage learners to adopt a more critical approach to literacy
  • improving handwriting
  • responding to a handwritten note
  • a language experience approach for working on reading and writing
  • possible reading activities to tie in with the interests of a specific learner
  • some useful practical strategies to support reading and writing

15 minutes

Critical questions

7T1, 7H2, 7H3

The purpose of this activity is to:

  • introduce a strategy for encouraging learners to adopt a more critical approach as readers, which will also help them to improve their own writing

5 minutes

In two groups, each with a trainer

1) Refer to 7H2 Unison letter.

a)What is it?

b)Who is the writer?

c)What is it about?

5 minutes

In pairs

2) Work on the questions 4–10 on
7T1 Some questions to ask.

5 minutes

3) Feedback to group:

a)Did the questions help you to
make sense of the text?

b)Did you notice points you
wouldn’t have noticed if you
had read it in the way you
normally read text like this?

c)Were there other questions you
would like to ask?

4) What are the benefits for a learner
in using questions like this?

5) Refer to 7H3 Making Sense of
Reading for additional reading at
home. There is no one right way of
reading, and this handout is a useful
one to discuss with a learner to
make sure they are aware of
strategies they could use to try to
improve the effectiveness of their
reading.

25 minutes

Handwriting

7T2, 7H4, 7H5, 7H6

The purpose of this activity is to:

  • consider approaches to learning to read handwritten texts and to improving learner’s handwriting

5 minutes

In pairs

1) Look at the example of a
handwritten text 7T2.

a)What features make it
difficult to read?

b)How would you support a
learner who wanted to be
able to read handwriting
like this?

5 minutes

2) Feedback answers to 1 (b) to
main group.

10 minutes

In whole group

3) Look at your own handwritten
notes.

a)If a learner showed you this
handwriting and said s/he
wanted to improve it, how
would you respond?

b)Which features of
handwriting might need
to be improved?

3) (continued)

c)When does handwriting matter?

d)Which features matter most?

e)Have your own uses of
handwriting changed over the
last 10 years?

5 minutes

4) Briefly go over the letter and number
formation handouts 7H4, 7H5.
Remind participants of the
handwritten handout 5H6 in
session 5.

5) Recap main learning points on
handwriting:

  • for most adults it is more useful
    to improve own writing rather
    than learn a new style of
    handwriting; discuss this with
    the learner
  • provide models
  • provide opportunities to practise
    handwriting as a separate skill
    from composing
  • offer other options – ICT

For real beginner writers, allow plenty
of time for:

  • demonstration and practice of
    letter formation
  • practice of name and address

Some ESOL learners may not be literate in their first language or may be literate
in a language that does not use the Roman script.

  • Learners who are not confident readers may find even ‘good’ handwriting difficult to read, so provide word-processed material rather than handwritten.
  • There are times when the readability of your own handwriting or printing will be important. Such an occasion is when using a language experience approach, which is the next activity in this session.

Refer to 7H6 Handwriting checklist for home reading.


20 minutes

Language experience

7T3

The purpose of the following activities is to:

  • demonstrate the use of a language experience approach for working on reading and writing with an adult literacies learner

One of the most effective ways of working on the early stages of reading or writing with a learner is called the language experience approach. The learner and tutor create a written text from the learner’s own words and this text becomes the material they use for a variety of reading and writing activities. For example, this text might come from chatting about the previous week, or about a learner’s hobby, or a letter he or she wants to write.

The film ‘Language experience’ will show you
an example of this approach in action.

1)Take notes of points you want to raise.

In whole group

2)Watch the film (which lasts 10 minutes,
26 seconds).

3)Take a couple of minutes to record
points on 7T3.

4)Any questions or comments?

5)Any important points to remember?

Summary

  • a language experience approach values
    the learner’s spoken language and
    his or her interests and experience
  • the learner chooses the content
  • the learner is not hampered by difficulties
    with writing or spelling and can
    concentrate on the content
  • the learner is more likely to experience
    success in reading and writing with a
    familiar text that they have created
    themselves

20 minutes

Language experience role play

7T4a, 7T4b

The purpose of this activity is to:

  • enable participants to gain an insight into using a language experience approach with a learner

1)Divide participants into threes,
with one person being the tutor,
one the learner and one the
observer. The observer should
be able to view the tutor writing.

2)Give learner and tutor 7T4a and
observer 7T4b.

3)The tutor takes the learner through
language experience exercise.

4)The observer watches and notes
differences between what the
learner says and what the tutor
writes down.

5)Discuss the process as a trio,
answering the questions on 7T4b.

In whole group

6)Discuss: “What are the benefits
and the potential difficulties in
using this approach?”

15 minutes

Using text from language experience

7H7

The purposes of this activity are to:

  • demonstrate the range of
    activities that can be
    generated from the learner’s
    own words in a language
    experience approach
  • consider the purpose of the
    different activities

These exercises show a mixture of
activities that a tutor might develop
based on the text the tutor and
learner created on the video. They
are not all aimed at one learner –
they are here to show some of the
activities a tutor might develop.

In two groups each with a trainer

1)What might be the purpose
of each exercise?

2)What might it help the learner
to do?

3)Other ideas for using this text?

Note for trainers: This exercise
can be difficult for new tutors. Offer
suggestions for what the purposes
might be and explain that they will
find this much easier when working
with a real learner whose goals
they have discussed and who can
give them feedback on how
effective the exercises are.

25 minutes

Reading activities for a specific learner

6H5, 6H6

The purpose of this session is to:

  • identify possible reading activities for a specific learner

Divide into three groups, depending on which case study is being used

1)Give each group a flipchart, case study and reading activities handout.

2)Display flipcharts for other groups to see. The flipcharts should be typed up as a handout for session 8.

In whole group

3)Are there any questions or comments?

The kind of activities we’ve been doing today are difficult when you can’t base them on a real learner you are working with.

Once you are working with a learner, you’ll be able to look back at some of these activities and use the handouts to remind you of approaches and strategies you might want to try.

5 minutes

Homework tasks

7T5

Ask participants to:

  • read the course material from this session
  • keep reflection diary going
  • practise lower case printing if necessary


5 minutes

Reflective diaries

1T7

The purposes of this activity are to:

  • encourage participants to begin to reflect on their own learning experiences
  • see this as a valuable tool for literacies tutors

Reflection time is built into every session as a contribution to evaluation.

  • Emphasise the value of a reflective approach for tutors and learners in adult literacies learning.
  • Take some time to reflect on the session and to make your own notes, using either the sheets or booklet provided or your own method.

Encourage participants to continue the exercise through the week.


5 minutes

Evaluation

The purpose of this activity is to:

  • underline the importance of evaluation for tutoring in adult literacies

Use the evaluation method you have agreed with the group.

ITALL revised pack20141/14Education Scotland