Building foundations for learning presentation by Keerti Jayaram Organisation for Early Literacy Promotion (OELP), New Delhi- India for Asia Education Summit on Flexible Learning Strategies for OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN February 2016

Being a literate learner means: - Being able to think independently - Being able to make sense of what one sees, hears or reads - Being able to show ones ideas, thoughts or feelings through spoken, pictorial, written or other forms.

What does OELP do ? OELP equips children inside school and out of school to engage meaningfully with the mainstream early grade curriculum and build strong foundations for learning. Our focus is on HOW to : - enhance the quality of learning based on understanding children’s natural ways of learning, their contexts and their challenges. - create responsive and active learning environments - address specific learning needs of young learners

OELP’s two year Foundation Programme for Early Literacy and Learning Objectives: - To enhance the quality of the mainstream early grades curriculum - To support teachers through a structured BUT flexible framework

Within school many young learners require support for making a shift from :  Familiar world of Home to the unfamiliar and rule bound world of School.  Spoken to written modes of communication and learning  Home language to the school language

Three skill sets  Foundation skills for schooling  Foundation skills for early literacy  Higher order thinking skills

OELP’s Foundation programme Simple and accessible framework

Overview of OELP’s programme Village libraries with community linkages Enabling and responsive learning spaces Programme for skill building: - Foundation skills - Thinking skills

Planned and responsive learning spaces Planned learning spaces  Word walls  Poem corner  Book corner  Display corner  Interactive monthly calendar made by the learners Variety of learning opportunities Relationships of caring and trust

Simultaneous opportunities to read and write at four levels of complexity a. Decoding b. Making meaning c. Using texts meaningfully d. Responding critically to texts

a. Decoding

b. Making meaning

c. Using texts meaningfully

d. Responding critically to texts discussing questioning reasoning imagining retelling expressing feelings

4 Block implementation framework 30 minutes daily for each block 1. Read Aloud & talk time 2. Word study 3. Writing & expressing 4. Skill building

Systematic learner tracking Competency based assessments 1. Summative assessments every trimester 2. Formative checklist every trimester 3. Individual profile folders

Active involvement of parents and community

Real world and community linkages

Learning to build bridges between many different worlds

Our experience The more young learners use their inner resources to read and write and think the better they become. And a whole cycle of positive engagement with learning sets in. The better they become the more motivated they are to read and write and learn.

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