What are the links? How can we use them to support children?

 MFL, a mirror of first language acquisition  The National Literacy Trust  The seven foundations of literacy, vital to a child’s linguistic development  Many MFL activities address one or more of these seven elements and will develop a child’s Language Learning Skills

1. Learning to listen 2. Time to talk 3. Music, movement and memory 4. Story time 5. Learning about print 6. Tuning into sound 7. Moving into writing

 Discrimination of foreground sounds against background noise  Discrimination of a widening range of sounds  Developing aural attention span  Social listening skills, including making eye contact and attending to the speaker  Mental imaging  Development of auditory memory

 Compensation for language delay, including expansion and ‘pole-bridging’ talk  Social speech skills, including awareness of audience and turn-taking  Vocabulary development  Imitation of an innovation upon sentence structures  Development of language to explain, explore, plan, predict, recall, report and analyse

 Development of rhythm, beginning with the ability to hold a steady beat  Speech and listening skills as above, especially articulation and voice control, turn taking, singing in time with others and development of auditory memory  Physical coordination and motor control  Left-right brain interaction

 Speech and listening skills as above, especially social skills and development of auditory memory  Familiarity with written language patterns, story grammar and prediction skills

 Awareness of the nature and functions of print  Knowledge of the alphabet letters  Concepts about reading and writing  Emergent reading and writing  Knowledge of essential sight words

 Listening skills and general language awareness  Awareness of rhyme, rhythm and alliteration (phonological awareness)  Phonemic awareness, including blending and segmenting  Phonic knowledge, including the alphabet code

 All the above skills and knowledge  Refinement of motor control from large scale to fine control and hand-eye coordination  Basic letter shape formation  Development of the finger muscles  Pencil grip and control

 Look at the 7 foundations. In your group: what strategies do young children and parents employ in story telling sessions in the firts language?  Video: Joining in Story hers/active_learning/story_telling/joining_in_story.aspx  Strategies used by the teacher to engage the children.  All strategies mentioned are part of a primary teacher’s repertoire.