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ICT and Literacy - Years 1/2
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Helen Smith, NGfL Adviser
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See also ICT Integrated Tasks for the different Year Groups
Uses of ICT to support Literacy
Carefully planned and structured ICT activities can be part of an approach which improves pupils' reading and writing skills.
Ways forward with ICT: developing literacy (TTA)
- Big Books, talking stories
- Talking word processors - associating sound, appearance, meaning
- Writing for real purposes - creating a book to share with the class
- Programmable robots - framing precise instructions
In the Literacy Hour.
Make sure the overriding objectives are concerned with Literacy, not ICT. There is bound to be overlap as pupils consolidate ICT.
- Big books on screen for shared reading
- Word level - talking WP, making lists
- Sentence level work - building from grids
- Sequencing words, pictures, phrases; writing captions
- ICT assists the teacher in re-capping
- Presenting outcomes in plenary - display, printout, audio tape
Children should be prepared beforehand with the ICT skills they need for the task. Otherwise, ICT takes over!
Ideas for using a word processor
- Add punctuation, capitals to sentences
- Highlight spelling patterns
- Find word endings
- Changing connectives (e.g. 'and' to a full stop)
- Highlighting direct speech: reading like a play script
- Arranging and combining words in text boxes
- Listen to the computer reading our story
Shared writing
- The computer is a good focus for group work led by the teacher
- The whole class may be seated round a large monitor
- Emphasis on teacher modelling the writing process
- Completing sentences already started
- Looking at a published text
ICT supports independent work
- Word banks, grids
- Scaffolding through prepared writing frames, pictures
- Talking word processors
- Software to reinforce aspects of spelling and sentence structure
ICT skills
- Navigate ICT big books
- Write captions, instructions
- Select words from grids
- Find a word in a CD ROM dictionary
- Mouse or arrow keys to move around screen
- Full stop, spaces after words
- Shift for capitals and question mark
- Enter to make lists
Progressing to.
- Commas and exclamation marks
- Enter to make a new line
- Use of links in CD ROM dictionaries
- Compare CD ROM dictionaries with books
- Underline and bold
- Backspace for correcting
Talking stories
- Text, illustrations and page numbers are faithfully reproduced on screen
- Left-to-right progression is reinforced
- . Individual words are sounded when clicked
- . Speaking characters give additional background
- Animation encourages active exploration
Information presented in different ways:
- Deepens the engagement of the reader
- Assists recall
- Reinforces high frequency words
- Introduces new vocabulary
- Helps children link the sound of the word to its printed form
- Interactive screens help children to understand the stories.
Modelling joint reading activity:
- Story is read to the children
- Teacher and class read together
- Children read the story, with support.
The support provided by the Talking Story builds confidence as the child begins to read independently. If you have the 'real' book version in school, compare with the computer version. Discuss the phrasing and expression used in the Talking Story.
Talking word processors
- Words, whole sentences or the entire text may be 'spoken'.
- The writer gets immediate feedback.
- Directionality is reinforced.
- The child may follow the spoken text.
The benefits
- Increased concentration and self-esteem
- Improved use of full stops, capitals and spaces between words
- More successful attempts at phonologically regular spelling, more self-correcting
- Instant feedback encouraged a more reflective approach.
- The links between letters and sounds became less abstract.
- One child said, 'It's making me think of sounds more.'
Using a word processor in the Literacy Hour
- Focus on sentence formation
- Can rotate a 20-minute task over several weeks.
- Use WP to correct or redraft a text.
- Use Clicker to arrange continuous text from a grid of phrases or sentences.
- Use text boxes to create a set of phrases.
Text boxes.
- Always set a large font size.
- Drag boxes anywhere on the screen, and they have to be rearranged:
First we.....
Then we.....
Afterwards....
Last of all.... |
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Involve children in sorting out the four sentences. Ask the most able writers to draft sentences or mini-paragraphs.
Web sites to support reading and writing
- Your CLA agreement does not cover electronic copies. Authors may have given permission for their work to be published on the Web. However, copying and pasting into your own teaching materials are not covered.
- Sebastian Swan has copies of words and texts which you may download for teaching purposes.
National Literacy Framework with additional teaching resources
Clicker Grids for Learning
Sunshine Online: planning and resources for the Literacy Hour
Go straight to the Big Books
BBC Little Animals Activity Centre (4 - 8 years) Flash and Shockwave required
BBC Words and Pictures (5-7 years) Flash and Shockwave required
'Toad's Trip' talking stor
