1 Literacy Oct 2012 Objectives: To understand what is in place with regards to ‘Literacy’ To understand next steps

2 Literacy Policy – Sept 2012 Where we are now... Literacy Policy introduced – T Drive and Website Key words / full sentences posters in classrooms (maybe more needed?) Marking checklist in ALL students’ books, in planners and Mind Time used to introduce Evidence in work scrutiny and learning walks of marking policy WWW/EBI and ‘dialogue’ between student/teacher Positive comments from teachers regarding ideas for introducing literacy into lessons Evidence of students knowing the importance of spelling key words correctly

3 Literacy Policy – by Dec 2012 Next steps Each dept – Key words and definitions box for all years – hard copies – please pass to DS or Nan White names of possible students who might benefit from hard copies Pushing of ‘full sentences’ in written work and verbally Continued pushing of key words in lessons: quizzes, linking lessons to key words, etc Reading posters – Teachers who want to share their reading habits with students – send DS a ‘photo’ – posters to be made up for each teacher Sharing of grammar rules in class and when marking

Sharing of grammar rules: Top five most common mistakes in writing to look out for and correct

No 5 Run on sentences What is wrong with this sentence? I walked up to the door, as I came closer I wondered if I had the wrong house.

Rules: A sentence usually has a subject/verb(s)/object. If students have two clauses with two separate verbs, no ‘and’ or ‘but’ in the middle and a comma, then the sentence is WRONG! I slowly walked up to the door. As I came closer I wondered if I had the wrong house. Or I slowly walked up to the door; as I came closer I wondered if I had the wrong house. Or I slowly walked up to the door and as I came closer I wondered if I had the wrong house.

No 4 Most common : There / their / they’re Too / to / two Other simple homophone mistakes: Your/you’re No / know Where/were Hear/here

There / Their / They’re There: Means ‘in a place’ For example: ‘He is over there’ or ‘There it is’ There: Means ‘in a place’ For example: ‘He is over there’ or ‘There it is’ Their: Means ‘belonging to them’ For example: ‘Their books are on the table’ (can be read as ‘The books belonging to them’) Their: Means ‘belonging to them’ For example: ‘Their books are on the table’ (can be read as ‘The books belonging to them’) They’re: Short form ‘they are’ E.g. ‘They’re not in the lesson today’ (can be read as ‘They are not in the lessons’)

Too/To/Two Too: Means ‘as well’ or ‘also’ or ‘in excess’ E.g. She wanted to come too (as well/also) There are too many! (in excess) Too: Means ‘as well’ or ‘also’ or ‘in excess’ E.g. She wanted to come too (as well/also) There are too many! (in excess) To: Means ‘in the direction of a place’ or ‘intention of doing something’ E.g. I walked to school (in direction) I am going to watch TV To: Means ‘in the direction of a place’ or ‘intention of doing something’ E.g. I walked to school (in direction) I am going to watch TV Two: Only used as a number E.g. I have two dogs

No 3 Modal Verbs followed by ‘have’ – verbs used to show probability (to show that something happened/is happening/will happen) E.g. must/should/could/may/might are ALWAYS followed by have (must have, could have) They are NEVER followed by ‘of’

For Example He might have missed the bus. She could have forgotten her notes. They should have revised in more detail. They must have known! He might of missed the bus. She could of forgotten her notes. They should of revised in more detail. They must of known!

No 2 Many students get into bad habits from Primary School, which they find hard to break When do we use capitals? – Names of people – Names of places – Names of books – Names of films – AT THE START OF SENTENCES...

And finally... No 1 The dreaded APOSTROPHE... The apostrophe is the most misunderstood and misused piece of punctuation in the English language Many students take a ‘scattergun’ approach, dropping in apostrophes every time a word ends in ‘s’ – for plurals, possessives and contractions (missing letters) alike...

The ‘scattergun’ approach Signs found in UK: In a grocer’s store: ‘Carrot’s 10% cheaper today.’ (Plural - carrots) Nursery sign: ‘Parent’s are asked to supervise their children.’ (Plural - parents) There are two simple rules...

The Rules: 1) Apostrophes are used at the point where the letter/s are missing Do not Let us Would not I am It has/It is What is My car is there Don’t (o missing) Let’s (u missing) Wouldn’t (o missing) I’m (a missing) It’s (ha / i missing) What’s (i missing) My car’s there (i missing)

2) Apostrophes are used with ‘possession’ - something/one belonging to something/one Singular (one) The boy’s books. (The books belonging to one boy.) The dog’s bone. (The bone belonging to one dog.) The parent’s children. (The children belonging to one parent.) Plural (more than one) The boys’ books. (The books belonging to several boys.) The dogs’ bones. (The bones belonging to the dogs.) The parents’ children. (The children belonging to both parents)

Exceptions Possessive apostrophes: words ending in ‘S’ already – If the word in singular taking the apostrophe ends in ‘s’ already, there are two ways you can use the apostrophe in this instance: James’ book / OR / James’s book IT’S – It’s is short for ‘it is’ or ‘it has’ and uses an apostrophe - (It’s a lovely day out there.) – Its is possessive and doesn’t use an apostrophe – (The world spins on its axis.) – If students are uncertain which to use, they should say the sentence in full. E.g. ‘The world spins on it is axis’. If it sounds silly, they should use ‘its’ rather than ‘it’s’.

Thank you for listening: Actions for this term: DS to supply teachers with additional key word posters for their classrooms Curriculum Leaders to take a set of Terms and Definitions booklets for their dept (in staffroom) Teachers to DS with a ‘photo’ of themselves in order to make a ‘staff reading posters’ DS to send out this Powerpoint / place it on the website under ‘grammar’ section DS to put together a suggested reading list to give out to parents/place on the website

19 If you have any questions or feedback on literacy in your lessons, please me!