John Bald/language and literacy

A pupil assessed as dyslexic makes excellent progress in Spanish and Spelling over the summer.

Summer is thought to be a poor time for learning - experience tells us that a significant number of children move back over the summer, a view that is supported by some research evidence on transition. So, a very pleasing lesson with my fourteen year old pupil, assessed by his LA as dyslexic, after a month off.

He needs to learn to use a wider range of words, so I started calling some out to him as we looked at a grammar book. Exquisite, delicate, fragrant were all correctly spelled first time. Subtle wasn't, so we discussed the origin of the silent b, which is pronounced in the original French, subtil. We came back to it later in the lesson and he got it right. Call me old fashioned, but I suggested he get hold of some of Wilfred Funk's It Pays to Improve Your Word Power...

The main problem with p's grammar is his tendency to slip from one tense to another without realising it. We tried the idea of "time zones" - he had just switched time zones during his holiday - and introduced the idea of having to be aware of the zone you are in, and when and how to switch. This made sense, and we will work on it.

Next, the Spanish. He remembered how to tell the time, and could construct simple positive and negative sentences. This was encourageing, and we looked at shared words between English and Spanish, which I asked him to write - once again, he did so accurately, confirming my paradoxical view that pupils assessed as dyslexic benefit from using the written as well as the spoken word.  I had expected more reinforcement to be necessary, and think he is well placed for his GCSE. We agreed that when he was given vocabulary to learn, he would make sentences involving one or more of the words. As he had been given a photocopied sheet rather than the examining board's textbook, A Book of My Own bought him the textbook. I'm sure that if he'd been in the private sector, he would have had his own textbook, even if his parents had had to pay for it.

Finally, I asked what book he would be reading for English. Of Mice and Men. So, I got out my mother's prize copy of Burns, and read and explained To A Mouse. We then looked at the unities in Greek tragedy, that underlie the structure of the book.

Developing understanding through conversation while teaching reading.

Michael Rosen and I do not exchange greetings cards. The reasons are mostly political, but partly to do with teaching. We've recently agreed on The Guardian's comment threads on two points - the importance of non-fiction, and of the value of conversation with children as a means of developing understanding. So, a little more here on conversation.

The teaching techniques on this site help people learn to read by adjusting their thinking so that they can use both the regular and irregular features of English spelling to identify words. I've never been happy with the term "decoding" for this process, as there are so many irregular features in English spelling, and from so many different sources, that it lacks the consistency we are entitled to expect from a code. It is more akin to "fuzzy logic".  

With learners who have previously failed, as most of mine have, the adjustments to thinking are often great, and the lessons can be intense. So, I developed a system of taking the pressure off by engaging them in conversations that were focused on their interests, sometimes linked to a point arising from the work, and sometimes not. I'd let the conversation run for as long as the learner - child or adult - wished it to, and then switch back without warning to whatever we'd been working on, causing electricity to flow along the new connections made in the brain, and stimulating memory. This approach had immediate teaching benefits, and was also amusing. Children would often learn to anticipate it, and would be ready to foil me with the right answer when I switchd back. Curses.

I begin the first session with new learners with an explanation of English spelling, its strengths and foibles, which explains all of the features of a word in terms of four broad categories - sound, information about another letter, groups of letters and history. So, bright eight year old, as she now is, had been interested in Armadillos from a project on South American animals, and we explored the origins of the word.

She also likes birds, and we worked in similar ways on the captions to the illustrations in Audubon's Birds of America - words such as wren, warbler, trumpeter swan - were reinforced by the striking and sometimes amusing images from the book, though it would have been too difficult for her to read these on her own. Conversation can be initiated by either the child or the teacher, but is not necessarily "led" by either. Teacher knows more than child, if only by virtue of having lived longer, and has the professional skill to present this knowledge in ways the child can understand (a nod to Jerome Bruner for his idea of "courteous translation"). Because the conversation is related to the child's interests, and usually involves a new slant on them, where possible through some beautiful book, it generates interest, enjoyment and satisfaction.

For one bright nine year old, the key was turned by a copy of the Duke of Berry's Book of Hours, still for me one of the most beautiful books ever, and the high point of medieval art. Showing her this wonder, and her appreciation of it, is something I recall very clearly, although it happened twenty-seven years ago.

A Book of My Own - Letter from Sue Tomes,

Sue Tomes is Headteacher of Wimbledon Chase Primary School, London. Sue wrote this following a grant from  A Book of My Own to enable children who might not otherwise have their own books to choose some from their local bookshop.

Dear John,

I just wanted to let you know that we took 3 groups of children to the bookshop in Wimbledon this week and let them choose 3 books each to keep.  It was such a lovely experience for them.  It was quite moving to watch them in the bookshop choosing their books, with the help of the adults, and then sitting down to start reading (one little girl had a thumb in her mouth).  They felt really special and proudly carried their new books home in a carrier bag to show their parents.  The whole experience was special for them – even the ride in my car to the bookshop (it isn’t every day that they get to go in the Headteacher’s car).  They were also thrilled to get 3 bookmarks each from the shop assistant.

The children were very polite and kept saying thank you to me for organising the trip, but I suggested they should write a letter to thank you as well, so please could you give me a forwarding address so that I can post these off to you next week.

So you see, your gift of £800 has been very worthwhile – it will not only help their reading but also their writing.  I can’t believe how much it has also raised their self-esteem.  It seems to have really given them a boost.

We will send off the final invoice to you when we receive it from the bookshop. 

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.  I am very grateful.

With best wishes.

Sue Tomes