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Introduction
Berys Holley gives details of her Year 4 topic
'Alien in the Playground'. The programme of work was planned to meet
Literacy objectives for the Spring Term. MS Publisher was introduced
to develop writing skills. In pairs, children planned, drafted and presented
a newspaper feature. The ability range in the class extended from extremely
able children to a group with specific learning difficulties, including
one pupil working with an LSA.
The range of genre for the Literacy
Hour in the Spring Term suggests 'imagined worlds, sci-fi and fantasy'.
There is a limited amount of material available on aliens in the sci-fi
area, perhaps because concepts have become more sophisticated. Previous
generations enjoyed books and comics such as The Eagle with Dan Dare,
and TV series such as Star Trek.
Many of the older publications, frequently
with frightening graphics, were imported from the United States. As
space exploration increased, the more imaginative aspects of its occupants
diminished. The exception is the Star Wars series where good triumphs
over evil, some of the aliens are loveable and the special effects are
fun.
Programme of work
The programme can be taught over a period of
weeks or as individual lessons. We have developed the Literacy Strategy
into a more flexible hour in our school, enabling drafting, editing
and extended writing to continue within the Literacy Hour. We do not
have a particular writing day, since we believe that the skills of reading
and writing are intrinsic to all Literacy activities. Our test results
have shown the success of this method of teaching.
I considered the fun aspect
of "sci-fi" when planning the following programme of work. It includes
opportunities for the children to draw upon personal experiences as
well as using their imagination. It concentrates on writing skills,
but also incorporates ICT skills.
Using ICT
to support Literacy
By the end of the programme all the children
had completed three pieces of writing for display, one of which was
a piece of ICT work.
The newspaper article involved the
children working in pairs on MS Publisher. It was important that the
children planned out their work before beginning on the computer. Even
so, they still had points to decide, and made changes as they typed
their page.
We were fortunate to have the weekly
use of a computer suite. Even with the benefit of this facility it took
some children three weeks to complete their work. The more able and
those who were more computer literate took a shorter amount of time.
It remains a concern as to the amount of time it took the children to
produce a completed piece of work.
The class learned a number of ICT skills:
opening Publisher, zooming in, highlighting text, deleting, correcting,
inserting text and Clipart images, enlarging and in some cases using
coloured text. They also saved and printed their work.
The children were very proud
of their completed work and have a new constructive attitude to working
together on the computer. There has been a growth in self-esteem, particularly
among the less able, because they have achieved success with their peers.
(Editor's note: Microsoft
Education has a detailed guide to using Publisher 98 in the classroom.)
Week 1 - Sentence
and Text Levels
Revise and extend the use of adjectives,
introducing different categories.
Discuss the role of the playground
with the class. How do they react to a new child? How would they react
to an alien?
Discuss how the setting of the playground
is going to affect their story. How many of them will see the alien?
How will their descriptive language
describe attitude, emotions? Use the board to display ideas.
Plan writing, give guidance / word
/ work sheet for less able, to assist in planning. Invite children to
share their work with the class.
Discuss the role of a peer mentor
with the class, pointing out that it doesn't only involve spellings.
Identify syllables, especially in new words.
Use dictionaries. Use alternative
words with more powerful, illustrative meaning.
Week 2 - Word,
Sentence and Text
Share the picture book But Martin by
June Counsel, illustrated by Carolyn Dinan.
Analyse the author's use of language.
Why has she used repetition? What
sort of audience could she have intended it for?
Does the author's text stand without
the illustrations? (This could lead on to further examination of the
genre of picture books.)
How does the children's text compare
with the authors?
Were they writing for a different
audience? Were they considering who would read their story?
Revise punctuation, the use of inverted
commas, capital letters and paragraphs. Discuss the correct use of apostrophes.
Share the children's writing with the
class, reminding them of the mentors' role. Share work with a peer mentor,
before checking with the class teacher.
Write-up neat copies with illustrations.
Celebrate their success!
Week 3 - Word,
Sentence and Text
Identify mis-spelling in children's
work.
Find alternate words that are more
interesting or accurate.
Discuss how a newspaper presents its
news.
Examine style and contents in terms
of:
- Who is the story about?
- Why is the story being reported?
- What happened?
- Did someone see anything? Is there an eye witness
account?
- Where did the story happen? Is there a satisfactory
conclusion or not?
Role-play the position of interviewer
and eye witness.
Using the given headline, collaborate
with a partner on producing a newspaper report. Initially use a pro-forma
and hand write a plan.
Study Grinny by Nicholas Fisk with
the class. Examine the style of writing.
Week 4 -
Word, Sentence and Text
ICT objectives: pupils will be able to use
the keyboard, MS Publisher and insert clip art.
Collaborate with a partner to produce
the front page of a newspaper using MS Publisher.
Check work with peer mentors. Consider
dividing the work into three paragraphs, with a correctly written interview.
Revise punctuation, especially full
stops, inverted commas and capital letters.
Ask the mentors to check that the
required components of a newspaper article are there. Does the headline
grab you? Does the first paragraph summarise the story?
Additional time may need to be arranged
to allow pairs to complete work. We are fortunate at school in having
a computer suite. If you do not have this facility, you may want a selection
of children to work on the class computer. Some children may be able
to continue work at home.
Extension Work
Using Dr. Xargles' view of Earthlings,
consider the alien point of view. If the writing includes planet language
there has to be a translation!
Week 5 - Word,
Sentence and Text
Spell words with similar endings, looking
for different/similar pronunciations: e.g. bough, cough.
Look at words with a similar sound
pattern: e.g. bough, bow.
Look at the range of suffixes that
can be added to nouns and verbs to create adjectives.
Investigate rhyming words in poetry.
Discuss the use of alliteration and similes. Include metaphors if you
have the opportunity.
Study the text of a poem and teach
the class how to go through it, identifying the rhyming patterns, verse,
couplets, alternate line rhymes and examples of alliteration and simile.
Explore the poems by reading aloud
around the class.
Give the children a poem to work on
in pairs.
Extension Work
Ask pupils to write another poem using
the style of one you have studied.
Display as much of your children's
work as you can. Include art work.
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