Mentor materials
Literacy and learning
Learning intentions
Your mentee will learn that:
- Every teacher can improve pupils’ literacy, including by explicitly teaching reading, writing and oral language skills specific to individual disciplines.
Your mentee will learn how to:
Develop pupils’ literacy by:
- Teaching unfamiliar vocabulary explicitly and planning for pupils to be repeatedly exposed to high-utility and high-frequency vocabulary in what is taught.
- Modelling reading comprehension by asking questions, making predictions, and summarising when reading.
- Promoting reading for pleasure (e.g. by using a range of whole class reading approaches and regularly reading high-quality texts to children).
- Modelling and requiring high-quality oral language, recognising that spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing (e.g. requiring pupils to respond to questions in full sentences, making use of relevant technical vocabulary).
Topic introduction
In the self-directed study session, through observation and/or discussion with a colleague, your mentee has explored their understanding and development needs in relation to literacy subject and pedagogical knowledge. This session asks you to explore with your mentee their practice in relation to developing pupils’ literacy within their phase or subject.
You should read the research and practice summary in this week’s ECT materials. It might be most useful to focus on those aspects of literacy which are pertinent to your mentee’s phase or subject area, but emphasise that every teacher can improve pupils’ literacy, including by explicitly teaching reading, writing and oral language skills specific to individual disciplines
Meeting activities
Throughout the session, try to refer explicitly to the Learning Intentions, and encourage your mentee to record key points in their Learning Log. Tailor your use of the Theory to Practice activities below in response to the Review and Plan sections of this session.
Review and Plan 5 mins
Your mentee should begin by sharing their reflections on learning from the self-directed session.
Clarify the learning intentions for this session with your mentee. These are extensive, so please focus in on an aspect of key importance to your mentee’s development needs, identified through reflective discussion together.
Theory to Practice 40 mins
- Discuss with Mentor
Your mentee observed or had a discussion with a colleague who has some expertise in literacy. Review with them how the observation or discussion went and help them to draw out important learning for themselves. If they have not managed to do it yet, you should help them to arrange the observation or discussion and make sure it happens.
To support you in having a focused discussion, you might frame it this way with your mentee:
‘I believe you have observed/ met a colleague who has expertise in literacy.
How far did they address:
- explicitly teaching unfamiliar and high-utility vocabulary
- modelling reading comprehension by asking questions, making predictions, and summarising
- promoting reading for pleasure
- modelling and requiring high-quality oral language. What is the single-most important thing that you learned from this? What would you need to do to apply what you have learned in your own teaching? What support from me, or others, might you need?’
- Collaborative planning Work together with the mentee to plan a lesson or sequence of lessons which seek to develop a specific area of literacy pertinent to their subject or phase. For example, the mentee may have focused their self-study on the role of oral language in literacy development. They might have observed how a teacher has supported a positive climate for constructive dialogue, perhaps through the use of ground rules or sentence stems to scaffold pupil talk. The examples provided in the self-study session are shown below. Support their reflections and plan together how they will apply their learning to their own practice over the next few lessons
Learning intention: Demonstrating a clear understanding of systematic synthetic phonics, particularly if teaching early reading and spelling.
Possible foci for observation or discussion
- What approach to teaching systematic synthetic phonics works best for you in your class? For example, teacher modelling of segmenting and blending orally and in writing.
- How is systematic synthetic phonics used to support the teaching of spelling? For example, explicit use of phonics to support the teaching of spelling.
Learning intention: Supporting younger pupils to become fluent readers and to write fluently and legibly.
Possible foci for observation or discussion
- How is handwriting taught? Is a specific programme used to teach handwriting systematically? E.g. Review children’s writing outcomes together and consider progression in handwriting.
- How are parents/carers involved in supporting younger pupils’ reading? E.g. School support for parents/carers, such as workshops to develop their understanding of approaches to teaching early reading.
Learning intention: Teaching unfamiliar vocabulary explicitly and planning for pupils to be repeatedly exposed to high-utility and high-frequency vocabulary in what is taught.
Possible foci for observation or discussion
- Is vocabulary pre-taught to support understanding for all? For example, teaching vocabulary to specific groups of pupils prior to the lesson to support understanding for all.
- How is key technical vocabulary taught and understood in context? For example, use of images to support comprehension (visuals on Interactive White Board or wall displays).
Learning intention: Modelling reading comprehension by asking questions, making predictions and summarising when reading.
Possible foci for observation or discussion
- How does the teacher support pupils to summarise a text? For example, modelling identifying key events (so far, we have read that…).
- How does the teacher model asking questions of the text? For example, using question prompts to respond to the text (What do you like/ dislike about…? Why do you think…? What does this remind you of?)
Learning intention: Promoting reading for pleasure (e.g. by using a range of whole-class reading approaches and regularly reading high-quality texts to children).
Possible foci for observation or discussion
- How does the teacher engage pupils in reading a wide range of high-quality texts? For example, developing their own knowledge of children’s literature and sharing their own interests with pupils.
- How does the school promote reading for pleasure? For example, through the development of reading buddies, book clubs and reading cafes with parents and pupils.
Learning intention: Modelling and requiring high-quality oral language, recognising that spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing (e.g. requiring pupils to respond to questions in full sentences, making use of relevant technical vocabulary).
Possible foci for observation or discussion
- How does the teacher encourage pupils to build on one another’s responses? For example, use of ground rules to support the creation of a positive climate for constructive dialogue (I like what X said about this, and I would add… I understand the point that Y made, but I think…).
- To what extent do they use sentence stems to scaffold pupils’ oral responses? For example, use of key phrases to support pupils’ responses to talk partner questions (I agree with… because… I understand what you are saying, but have you considered…?).
Learning intention: Teaching different forms of writing by modelling, planning, drafting and editing.
Possible foci for observation or discussion
- How does the teacher support pupils to plan for writing? For example, use of planning frames to help structure different forms of writing. At what point does the teacher remove these scaffolds?
- How are pupils supported in editing and improving their writing? For example, how are the success criteria shared? Is editing time built into the writing process? Do they use peer- or self-assessment during drafting and editing?
Next Steps 5 mins
Agree with your mentee how they will now put their learning from this week’s session(s) into practice in their teaching. Help your mentee to clarify:
the action(s) they will take and how these action(s) are expected to contribute to improving their workload and wellbeing
what success will ‘look like’ in relation to these action(s)
how they will evaluate their success in taking these action(s)
Note the date of your next mentor meeting, when you will check on your mentee’s progress