Literacy Workshop Y5
Elisabeth Broers
September 2012
Speaking
Listening
Understanding
Spelling
Handwriting
Grammar
Text
structure
Decoding
Punctuation
Creative
ideas
Key elements
of Literacy
Speaking & Listening
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Encourage whole sentences.
Think about key vocabulary for the topic
Use the story mountain structure
Discourage repetition / deviation!
Which is the key point
Signal opening and closing
Pyramid of Reading Assessment Focuses
Relate texts to social, historical
and cultural tradition
AF
7
Identify and comment on
writer’s purpose and effect on
reader.
AF6
Identify and comment on
structure and organisation.
Understand, describe,
select, retrieve. Refer
to text
AF 4 + 5
Explain and comment on
writer’s use of language
AF 2 + 3
Deduce, infer and
interpret
AF1
Decode and read for
meaning
James and the Giant Peach
James turned and ran. He ran off as fast as he could
to the far end of the garden and hid himself behind
that clump of dirty old laurel bushes that we
mentioned earlier on. Then he covered his face with
his hands and began to cry and cry……..
..For suddenly, just behind him, James heard a
rustling of leaves, and he turned round and saw an
old man in a funny dark green suit emerging from
the bushes. He was a very small old man, but he
had a huge bald head and a face that was covered
all over with bristly black whiskers……
The sort of questions you might ask…
• Where did James hide? Why do you think he
might be hiding?
• How is he feeling? Find two things that show
this.
• What does emerging mean?
• What do you think will happen next?
Hippos
One of Africa’s most fascinating creatures is
the hippopotamus. Spending much of its time
in rivers (the name means river horse), this
shy animal is a rare sight. Lumbering and
heavy on land, the enormous beast becomes
graceful in the water, moving almost like a
dancer. However many people mistake the
hippo’s slow land movements for a gentle
temper. Not so! Would you like to meet an
angry hippo?
Suggested questions….
• Why is (the name means river horse) in
brackets?
• What does lumbering mean?
• Why does the writer use like a dancer to
describe the hippo in water?
• Why is ‘Not so!’ such a short sentence?
Not far under the surface of the Earth, it is hot. The
further down you go inside the Earth, the hotter it
becomes. Deep, deep down below our feet, it is so hot
that even the rock melts and is nine times hotter than
boiling water. In places where the Earth’s surface is weak,
this liquid rock can bubble up and burst through. These
weak spots are the world’s volcanoes.
Volcanoes fall into three groups, depending on how
active they are. Volcanoes which are erupting are called
active. Volcanoes which show no signs of eruption are
known as dormant or sleeping and, if they remain
dormant for tens of thousands of years, they may be
described as extinct.
1. ... this liquid rock can ... burst through
What does the word burst tell us about the movement of the
lava?
2. Why has the writer used the phrase ‘deep, deep down..’
3. Some words in Volcanoes stand out because they are in bold
print.
Why are they written like this?
They are words from another language.
They are subheadings.
They are words that are explained in the text.
They are names in the text.
Firesong
The light in the sky was dimmed by the heavy clouds, and by the
falling snow, and it was not easy to tell how long they had been
climbing, except by the aching in their legs. But in time it became
clear that night was falling. The snow, which hadn't ceased all day,
now came down more heavily than ever. With visibility shrinking by
the minute, and no means of knowing how close they were to the
top, the Manth marchers decided they must make camp for the
night.
The first plan was to shelter under a row of pines that grew beside
the track. But Creoth, leading his cows deeper into the trees in
search of forage, found a better resting place.
'Hanno!' he called. 'Come and see!‘
It was a single, huge old oak, an evergreen oak, its rust-brown leaves
still clinging to its branches. The snow had formed a dense canopy
over the upper branches, but beneath, where they reached out from
the massive trunk, there lay a high-vaulted dry-floored shelter, as big
as a house.
This text is tricky – for confident
readers
• Why has the writer described the visibility as
‘shrinking’?
• What is the purpose of the hyphens in high –
vaulted / dry-floored
• How are the marchers feeling? Find two
pieces of evidence from the text to support
your answer
Handwriting & Spelling
• Fluent, joined and
legible
• Small pencils and pencil
grips
• Practise!
• Personal style
• Phonics if they struggle
with sounds
• Look for patterns, rules
and words within words
• Play around with words
• Dictionaries and
thesauruses
• Practise in sentences
Grammar & Punctuation
• Hot topic with the
current Government
• Use the terms verb,
adjective, noun, adverb
etc. if you are confident
to but don’t worry if
you have forgotten!
• Spoken v Standard
English
• Capitals, full stops,
commas, ? and ! must
be secure.
• Look for other
punctuation in reading
– discuss its effect.
• Check homework for
punctuation please.
Sentences and how to improve them!
• Ambitious vocabulary – encourage your child to use
adventurous and specific words.
• Connectives – join sentences with however,
although, despite, meanwhile, furthermore and .
• Sentence openers –use an adverb, verb, noun or
connective to begin a sentence.
• Punctuation which clarifies meaning – capitals; full
stops; question & exclamation marks, speech marks,
brackets, colons and dashes.
Which is better?
• Car
• Glistening silver Mercedes
• The boy left. His mum was
still shopping.
• Jonathan left although his
mum was still shopping.
• The girl jumped down and
set off. The dog followed,
barking furiously. The
policeman went after them.
• Josie jumped down and set
off. Barking furiously,
Bouncer followed. Quickly
the angry policeman went
after them.
Varying sentences
• Short sentences – for impact and building
tension. Wake the reader up!
• Longer sentences – add description; slow the
pace and engage the reader’s interest.
• Complex sentences – show the writer has
control of the language and they add
information.
• Questions – can show the writer’s
• point of view and draw the reader in.
Reluctant to write?
Make it relevant – fan
letters; letters to relatives
who will respond or filling in
forms.
Diary or even a blog if you
know how!
Reviews of games, films or
music
Lists and messages for you.
If it is too much of a
battle then focus on
telling stories; explaining
how things work; giving
instructions and
summarising films or TV
programmes.
Talk leads to writing
eventually!
Finally
• Please continue to read or discuss their reading
every day.
• Push them to vary their reading material - join
the library!
• Share your reading and writing
• with them
• Ask if we can help further.