Welcome to ECaR (Every Child a Reader)

What is ECaR? An early research based intervention scheme for young children struggling with reading and writing. It targets the lowest attaining children who have had at least 3 terms in school, and who fall in the recommended age bracket of 5.9 – 6.3 years (usually Year 1 pupils). At this point, the attainment gap between the child and his/her peers is deemed to be at its narrowest, thus increasing the chances of closing this gap. The theories underpinning the intervention are those of Marie Clay ( ), an internationally recognised literacy researcher from New Zealand, whose findings are based on systematic observations of children.

The Theory (briefly) Oral Language Reading Writing Clay emphasises the reciprocity between reading and writing referring to them as ‘complementary processes’, which should be underpinned by rich oral language.

For the young child, learning to read (message getting) and write (message sending) are problem solving activities that involve learning how to recognise the visible symbols and making some invisible links to how we speak.

To create these links, we develop ‘networks’ in the brain that link what we see (print) with what we hear (speaking). Literacy processing involves messages flowing in and out of these neural networks. Hence the importance of teaching reading and writing alongside each other.

As most written language is recorded in continuous text, Clay stresses the need for us to teach through continuous text (ie. books) from the start, not isolated letters or lists of words.

Program Structure Potential children are identified using given assessments, plus instructional Book Level identified. Duration – 20 weeks. One to one daily half hour session with ECaR teacher following structured format. When a child (in Year 1) reaches Book Level 16 (Orange band/NC L1b) then he/she may be considered for discontinuing if progress is deemed to be appropriate. At the point of discontinuing, the child is re-assessed by a Link Teacher (Diane), using the same initial assessments.

Lesson Structure Familiar reading. Running Record. Letter work. Word work. Writing. Cut-up sentence. New book. Each session should be pacey with a business like approach. Teacher talk is kept to a minimum, using simple imperatives and prompts.

Familiar Reading 2 known books below Instructional level are selected and read by the child. This is a time to enjoy the books and celebrate what he/she already knows. It is an opportunity to practise reading more fluently as they need to learn from the outset that reading should sound natural like talking. It also promotes reading with understanding. The teacher encourages as much independence as possible. After each read, the teacher finds something to praise, and something to teach.

Running Record The child reads the new book that was introduced at the end of the previous day’s session. A running record of approximately 100 words is taken by the teacher observing and recording errors and self corrections. Strategies being used by the child at the point of difficult words will also be noted. Words are only given by the teacher if the child cannot move on. At the end of the reading the teacher will find one or two teaching points based on what was observed – praise and teach. Some errors are overlooked in order to limit the number of teaching points, so the child is not overwhelmed or feels unsuccessful. These can be addressed in subsequent lessons.

Letter Work A collection of 2/3 different magnetic letters (lower case and/or capitals) are randomly arranged on a whiteboard for the child to sort at speed. The letters involved can be written on the board by the teacher to help the child sort the collection. Two hands are encouraged. Once sorted, the child identifies the groups of letters by sound and/or name. This promotes an understanding of what a letter is and quick recognition in order to process visual cues at speed within texts. A range of different magnetic letters encourages the child to understand that print can take on many formats.

Word Work The teacher selects a focus that the child is struggling with in his/her reading and uses the magnetic letters to work on this. This may include a particular spelling pattern, letter clusters, initial or final letters, inflections such as ‘ing’ etc. Throughout all word work, a consistent left to right orientation must be promoted. Using known words as a starting point is important for the child. The teacher models how to break words into familiar parts, which is then copied by the child. Understanding how words can be taken apart and how the parts in one word look like parts in other words eg. book/look, helps the child to use what they know to solve new words in reading and writing.

Writing The child will compose one or two sentences, sometimes using one of the texts as a stimulus. This provides opportunities to work on:  Letter formation/handwriting  Fast writing particularly of known words  Use of sound or letter boxes to work out the spelling of new words  Making links to texts read whenever possible  Use of known words to help write new ones (come/some). The child has a practise page to work on each day. Stickers are used to correct errors, based on the thinking that this will avoid misconceptions about words being retained. The child is encouraged to check on his/her work and develop independence in the different aspects of the writing process.

Cut-up Sentence The child’s own writing is copied onto a strip of card by the teacher and cut up for the child to reassemble at speed. How the sentence is cut up depends on the individual needs of the child. This activity helps the child to pay attention to the order of words, sequence of letters and the way language is recorded in print. Phrasing can also be encouraged through re-organising the child’s reassembling - I went to the zoo. I went to the zoo. Independence, speed and re-reading to monitor and check are encouraged. The cut-up sentence is taken home for the child to work with.

New Book Each day a new book is introduced to the child. Together, the teacher and the child look through the book to identify what is happening, try out new language structures and vocabulary, and locate a few new words. After the introduction, the child reads the new book during which the teacher offers support as needed. This support will differ depending on the child’s reading behaviour. If the child gets stuck, the teacher will prompt a strategy. The teacher encourages the child to search print and pictures, reread, discover how words look, problem solve, check his or her reading, self correct, and enjoy the story. As in the running record, some errors are ignored, leaving some reading work for the child to try and solve independently on the next day’s running record.

Throughout the lesson, the teacher encourages the child to look for four kinds of information, which may be checked against each other to confirm a response in their problem solving. Sense, meaning Visual cues Does it make sense? Does it look right? Sounds Structure/Grammar Say it. What can you hear? Can we say it that way? What would you expect to see?