Year+3+Literacy

Year 3 || = Author preferences =
 * LITERACY


 * Information ||

Objective
• To be aware of authors and to discuss preferences and reasons for them (Term 3 Text 9: Reading comprehension strategies)

Prior learning
To benefit from this lesson, children should: • have some experience of navigating websites and their layout, e.g. home page, menu, hyperlinks; • have read books by the author selected; • have read, enjoyed and discussed a range of books by different authors; • made jottings to record information from a website.

Vocabulary
author, preference, website, home page

Resources
• data projector or interactive whiteboard linked to a laptop • ICT suite or set of laptops • presentation software (in this Example, //PowerPoint//) • Internet and web browser • appropriate author websites (in this Example, //Margaret Mahy// weblink [|http://library.Christchurch.org.nz/childrens/MargaretMahy] ) • a number of books by the author for children to refer to

ICT skills needed by teachers
To teach this unit, teachers need to know how to: • access, navigate and download text from a website.

Preparation for this lesson
Before the lesson, facilitate access to the selected websites on the shared area of the network or on the computers that the children are to use. Prepare the software on your own computer ready for display. Prepare a set of help cards, or prompts and diagrams, to help children to remember what to do when they are using the software.


 * Lesson extract ||

Introduction
Ask the children, in pairs, to discuss favourite books by one or two familiar authors; the video uses Margaret Mahy. The author needs to have appropriate material on a website. Q Which are your favourite books by these authors? Focusing on one author at a time, ask the children to say why a particular title is their favourite and to read a short text extract as an example to give weight to their opinion. Join in with the discussion and read briefly from a familiar shared text the class has read recently by the same author(s).

Shared reading
Explain that you are going to try to find out what the author himself/herself feels about books and whether the author has any favourites. Visit one of the websites selected earlier (Margaret Mahy). Model how to navigate through the website to locate the relevant information; for example, go to the home page, select from the menu, discuss which pages may be useful, scroll down the page and menu, scan over the screen to decide which to read first. Children should explore the text to discover which are the most useful sections for their purpose. On the Margaret Mahy site, the most direct and useful route for them will be as follows: • ‘Questions and Answers’ from the menu on the left; • ‘Which of your books do you like best?’ from the menu on the left, or scan the headings by scrolling down the text to find the same section; • ‘In her Own Words’ from the menu on the left, choosing a relevant title (such as ‘Characters’) from the given list. Model how to note key points of information in the text (e.g. where an author gives a specific preference or states reasons for writing a particular book).

Independent reading
Ask the children to use the same websites, or a range of websites for different authors, to access information about an author’s favourite books, and to make appropriate notes ready to report back to the whole class.

Plenary
Ask a group to report back to the class on their findings about Margaret Mahy. For example: Her favourite book that she has written is A Lion in the Meadow. It’s her favourite because it’s a short book and she finds it hard to write short books. She also likes poetry. Compare these with the discoveries of other children about other writers’ preferences. How do these compare with the children’s own preferences?


 * Notes ||

Literacy links
The lesson links to the Year 3 Term 3 unit Authors in the NLS medium-term plans. The outcome of this unit is a reading journal. It also has links to Speaking and listening 35: Group discussion and interaction to hypothesise about an author’s views.

Context of this lesson
This lesson could form part of work on a literacy or cross-curricular unit on favourite authors. A wide variety of interactive ICT texts, both fiction and non-fiction, can and should regularly be used for shared, guided or independent reading, alongside books.

Why use ICT?
The advantages of using ICT are as follows. • It enables children to practise reading on screen. • An interactive text provides opportunity for practising ‘radial’ reading strategies and enhanced learning opportunities (information processing, enquiry skills, etc.). • It provides context and stimulus for dialogue and collaborative learning. • The Internet gives access to a much wider range of information and resource material than is offered by the traditional print resources in a school. • The use of the Internet helps teachers to extend their own knowledge and understanding about particular authors. • ICT allows children to give and obtain up-to-date, relevant information. • ICT allows teachers to project enlarged visual images for whole-class demonstration and discussion. • The interactivity of the medium is motivating and stimulating.

Year 3 || =Calligrams=
 * LITERACY


 * Information ||

Objective
• To invent calligrams and a range of shape poems, selecting appropriate words and careful presentation; to build up class collections (Term 1 Text 13: Writing composition)

Prior learning
To benefit from the lesson, the children should: • know how to use an appropriate word processing program to change the font using the format option, scroll through and select from the options in a menu, change the colour of a letter, and put spaces between the letters; • have some experience of creating their own calligrams by hand.

Vocabulary
font, size, point, narrow, shadow, outline, bold, scroll; words for the calligrams, e.g. decorated, old fashioned, etc.

Resources
• data projector or interactive whiteboard linked to a laptop • ICT suite or set of laptops • software with appropriate graphics / drawing tools that is capable of producing calligrams (in this Example, //Word//) • previous examples of calligrams (in this Example, //Calligram Word file//)

ICT skills needed by teachers
To teach this unit, teachers need to know how to: • draw using the selected word processing program; • use the variety of shapes, fonts and effects that are available and appropriate for the children’s ICT skills.

Preparation for this lesson
Before the lesson, arrange access to previous work on calligrams. Set up the relevant software on the shared area of the network or on the computers that the children are to use. Prepare the software on your own computer ready for display. Prepare a set of help cards, or prompts and diagrams, to help children to remember what to do when they are using the software.


 * Lesson extract ||

Shared writing
Remind the children about the calligrams drawn in an earlier lesson. Show examples to illustrate that calligrams are most effective when there is a strong link between the word’s appearance and its meaning. Demonstrate how to use the facilities of the selected word processing software to create a calligram. Select specific ICT options for the children to use, depending on what has been taught in ICT, so that new ICT skills are not taught and practised for the first time during this lesson. Discuss the effectiveness of the word calligrams created.

Independent activity
Prompt the children as to which word processing facility to use. Suggest some starting points both for fonts or for words they might use. Children work either individually or in pairs to create their own calligrams using any of the font, size, colour, space and draw options of the word processing software that they already know about. Encourage them to experiment to obtain different effects and then select the most appropriate for the word. Some pupils could use any facilities they wish to select or are familiar with; others might use just the size, colour and a selection of fonts, depending on their ICT skills. Others could use the examples of fonts and select words that might be written in that font.

Plenary
Discuss the advantages and limitations of using ICT compared to handwritten calligrams. Q Which calligram is most effective in conveying the meaning of the word? Q How did you choose which was the most effective way of writing a calligram?


 * Notes ||

Literacy links
This lesson could be incorporated into the NLS medium-term planning unit for Year 3 Term 1, Poetry.

Context of this lesson
This lesson reinforces the idea of calligrams and provides an interesting context to practise ICT skills. There are many similar literacy teaching situations where it is highly advantageous for the teacher and/or the children to be able to display and manipulate or create and edit text in electronic format on screen.

Subject links
The lesson links with others where the computer is used to create particular effects with words, in literacy, art or across the curriculum.

Useful resources
A number of software products can be used by teachers to display and manipulate or create and edit text on screen. These are valuable in a wide variety of literacy teaching contexts. Many of the same products can also be used by children to create and edit text on screen. Some are particularly suitable for younger children.

Why use ICT?
The advantages of using ICT are as follows. • It allows the teacher to demonstrate writing possibilities and patterns easily to the whole class. • ICT allows teachers to project enlarged visual images for whole-class demonstration and discussion. • It encourages decision making based on trial and error because the appearance of text can be changed back to its original if a decision does not achieve the desired effect. • The interactivity of the software is motivating and stimulating. • Outcomes are equally clear, professional and attractive for all children, including those with below average motor control skills.

Year 3 || =Finding synonyms=
 * LITERACY


 * Information ||

Objectives
• To understand the purpose and organisation of the thesaurus, and to make use of it to find synonyms (Term 1 Word 16: Vocabulary extension) • To understand the function of verbs in sentences (Term 1 Sentence 3: Grammatical awareness)

Prior learning
To benefit from this lesson, children should: • know how to use the thesaurus and highlight tool in an appropriate word processing program; • have some experience of using a paper-based thesaurus; • be beginning to be familiar with verbs, and starting to be able to discuss their use and importance.

Vocabulary
thesaurus, synonym, verb

Resources
• data projector or interactive whiteboard linked to a laptop • ICT suite or set of laptops • word processing software that provides a thesaurus and allows words to be highlighted for editing using different colours (in this Example, //Word//) • a resource file containing a text to be edited (in this Example, //Verbina Word file//)

ICT skills needed by teachers
To teach this unit, teachers need to know how to: • use the thesaurus and highlighting tools in the selected word processing software.

Preparation for this lesson
Set up the relevant software and the text file on the shared area of the network or on the computers that the children are to use. Prepare files of the children’s previous work on your own computer ready for display. Prepare a set of help cards, or prompts and diagrams, to help children to remember what to do when they are using the software.


 * Lesson extract ||

Shared reading
Read the text together and discuss it. Through paired and group talk identify the powerful verbs in the passage and discuss their meaning. Demonstrate how to use the thesaurus tool to find synonyms for one or two of these verbs. Discuss the words found. Explain that while all of these words are synonyms, not all would be appropriate in the context of this particular passage. Discuss why. Select a good synonym that would work well in the passage. Ask: Q Is this word better than the original or not? Why?

Independent activity
Ask the children to work in pairs at computers. Prompt them to highlight for themselves the powerful verbs. They should then use the thesaurus tool to find synonyms for each in turn. They should discuss and select one synonym that they feel could be used to replace each verb in the passage. Ask them to highlight the replacements in a different colour from the original.

Plenary
Display the work of one or more pairs for the whole class to see. Read through and prompt responses to the text alterations. Discuss the synonyms found and the choices made. (Some may well be more appropriate than others – but even inappropriate choices provide good material for discussion and this will lead to enriched vocabulary.) Remind the children that not all synonyms are necessarily appropriate alternatives in any given context. Discuss why. A writer’s task is to choose the most effective word or words to convey the required meaning (emotion, atmosphere, etc.). Discuss the advantages and limitations of using the on-screen thesaurus compared to a paper-based one.


 * Notes ||

Literacy links
This lesson could be incorporated into any of several of the NLS medium-term planning units for Year 3 Term 1, Narrative or Poetry. The activity here seeks synonyms for verbs, but could equally explore other words. In this it could support several aspects of sentence-level work.

Context of this lesson
There are many similar literacy teaching situations where it is highly advantageous for the teacher and/or the children to be able to display and manipulate or create and edit text in electronic format on screen.

Subject links
The subject matter of the text selected could, if so desired, link to any other chosen curriculum area.

Useful resources
A number of software products can be used by teachers to display and manipulate or create and edit text on screen. These are valuable in a wide variety of literacy teaching contexts. Many of the same products can also be used by children to create and edit text on screen. Some are particularly suitable for younger children.

Why use ICT?
The advantages of using ICT are as follows. • ICT allows teachers to project enlarged visual images for whole-class demonstration and discussion. • It allows the teacher to model the thinking process of a writer more explicitly and effectively for the whole class, by highlighting vocabulary and facilitating discussion of choices and their implications. • It encourages the children to edit for improvement because changes can be made or undone easily and quickly. • The software provides quick, easy access to a thesaurus tool, always available while writing. • The clear text on screen improves legibility for pupils with inconsistent handwriting and encourages them to read and re-read during the writing process. • It provides a focus for independent dialogue and encourages cooperative decision making. • It increases the level of interaction with text and meets the needs of children with preferred learning styles that are kinaesthetic or interpersonal (or auditory if a talking word processor is used).

LITERACY Year 3 || =What’s in the news?=

Information ||

Objective
• To compare the way information is presented, e.g. by comparing a variety of information texts including IT-based sources (Term 1 Text 20)

Prior learning
To benefit from this lesson, children should: • be able to read an interactive text, follow hyperlinks and return to original screens; • know how to scroll through and scan electronic text; • have discussed some differences between text written for different audiences; • have considered the presentation of news in different formats, including newspapers.

Vocabulary
scroll, hyperlinks, scan, language, audience, purpose, article, headline

Resources
• data projector or interactive whiteboard linked to a laptop • ICT suite or set of laptops • Internet access and web browser • access to two news websites for different audiences (in this Example: //BBC News website// [|http://news.bbc.co.uk] //and Newsround website// [] )

ICT skills needed by teachers
To teach this unit, teachers need to know how to: • display and use information on a split screen; • access websites, use search facilities and follow hyperlinks.

Preparation for this lesson
Before the lesson, browse both websites and select suitable simple stories that appear in both, and set up the relevant software on the shared area of the network or on the computers that the children are to use. Prepare a set of help cards, or prompts and diagrams, to help children to remember what to do when they are using the software. Launch both websites, display them using a split screen, and minimise.

Lesson extract ||

Shared reading
Discuss how we find out about the news. Explain that you are going to look at and compare two websites that present news in different ways and for different audiences. Remind the children about different ways of presenting information for different audiences. Q How might the news be presented on a website that is specifically for children? Remind children of the texts that they have already investigated and the conclusions they drew about the importance of presentation. Take children’s responses and note them down on the whiteboard. Q How would you expect a news website for adults to be different? Take children’s responses and note them down on the whiteboard. Maximise the site aimed at an adult audience (in this Example, //News weblink//) in full screen mode. Give the children two minutes to browse the screen for information. Q Is this site aimed at adults or children? How do you know? Take children’s responses. Minimise the site aimed at an adult audience (in this Example//, News// weblink and maximise the site aimed at children (in this Example, //Newsround weblink//). Again give the children two minutes to browse the screen for information. Q Is this site aimed at adults or children? How do you know? Take children’s responses. Click on the restore button on the children’s website. Maximise the other website page and click on the restore button so that the two pages are shown in split screen. Choose a story that is featured on both sites. Q Which site gives this story the most prominence? Ask the children to consider why they think this has happened. Follow the link on both sites to the story. Q Are the opening paragraphs similar? Give the children a minute to browse the page and then read the first paragraph. Note the way that the opening paragraphs use the same report as their basis. Select the sentences that are the same. Q How are these written differently for the different audience? Ask the children to talk with their response partners before giving their answers. Record the main points on a flipchart. Compare the photographs used. Ask children to discuss in pairs the main differences between the two sites. Add the differences to the flipchart list. Scroll to the top of the pages. Discuss which links the children might follow during independent activities.

Independent activity
Ask the children to work in pairs. They should access the two news websites, following links to stories shown on both sites to make further judgements to add to the initial comparisons.

Plenary
Show the children their initial comments about the websites on the whiteboard. Q How have the stories that are on both sites differed? Q What tips can we draw up for a writer writing for children? Take the points made by the children and draw up a list of similarities and differences from the research they have done.

Notes ||

Literacy links
This lesson fits in with the NLS medium-term plans for the Year 3 Term 1 unit, Reports. It also has links to Objective 26 in //Speaking, listening, learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2//: • to follow up others’ points of view and show whether they agree or disagree in a whole-class discussion.

Links to QCA schemes of work
The lesson links to: QCA Geography Unit 16: What’s in the news?

Context of this lesson
News topics vary hugely in both suitability and complexity. It is important to choose a topic that is not too complex so that the children can access the information as well as discussing the difference between writing for children and adults. A wide variety of interactive ICT texts, both fiction and non-fiction, can and should regularly be used for shared, guided or independent reading, alongside books.

Useful resources
Most national newspapers have websites that have electronic texts of news stories. Interactive ICT texts, both fiction and non-fiction, can be sourced from the Internet and are increasingly available from commercial publishers and software developers.

Why use ICT?
The advantages of using ICT are as follows. • It gives access to an interactive text and practises reading in an on-screen environment, a reality of our contemporary world. • An interactive text provides opportunity for practising ‘radial’ reading strategies and enhanced learning opportunities (information processing, enquiry skills, etc.). • It provides context and stimulus for dialogue and collaborative learning. • ICT allows two electronic texts to be shown and compared side by side. • The children can follow up a story that interests them using a hyperlinked text. • The Internet gives access to a much wider range of information and resource material than is offered by the traditional print resources in a school. • ICT allows teachers to project enlarged visual images for whole-class demonstration and discussion. • The interactivity of the software is motivating and stimulating.