Written Language - Reading
Conceptual understandings:
- Illustrations convey meaning.
- Print conveys meaning.
- People read for pleasure.
- Stories can tell about imagined worlds.
- Printed information can tell about the real world.
- There are established ways of setting out print and organizing books.
Learning Outcomes:
Related Ziptales Materials:
Learners:
- enjoy listening to stories
- choose and “read” picture books for pleasure
- locate and respond to aspects of interest in self selected texts (pointing, examining pictures closely, commenting)
- show curiosity and ask questions about pictures or text
- listen attentively and respond to stories read aloud
Use the Easy Readers and Storytime stories to:
- promote enjoyment of listening to stories
- enable learners to choose books for pleasure
- indicate aspects of interest of chosen texts
- encourage learners to ask questions about the story
- promote attentive listening behaviours
- provide opportunities for learners to respond to stories read aloud.
- participate in shared reading, joining in with rhymes, refrains and repeated text as they gain familiarity
- make connections to their own experience when listening to or “reading” texts
Provide opportunities for learners to connect their own experiences to the Easy Readers e.g. Is it Fun? - What do you think is fun?
- begin to discriminate between visual representations such as symbols, numbers, ICT iconography, letters and words
Explore the iconography used on the Ziptales website to represent the different links.
- recognize their own first name
Use Learning the ABC Module 1 to assist learners to recognize the letters in their name.
- express opinions about the meaning of a story
- show empathy for characters in a story
Provide opportunities for learners to express their opinions about the meaning of a Puppet Plays or Storytime story and show empathy for the characters involved.
- distinguish between pictures and written text, for example, can point to a picture when asked
Use the Easy Readers and Storytime stories to distinguish between pictures and written text and indicate where reading begins.
- handle books, showing an understanding of how a book works, for example, cover, beginning, directional movement, end
- realize that the organization of on-screen text is different from how text is organized in a book
- join in with chants, poems, songs, word games and clapping games, gaining familiarity with the sounds and patterns of the language of instruction.
Written Language - Writing
Conceptual understandings
- Writing conveys meaning.
- People write to tell about their experiences, ideas and feelings.
- Everyone can express themselves in writing.
- Talking about our stories and pictures helps other people to understand and enjoy them.
Learning Outcomes:
Related Ziptales Materials:
Learners:
- experiment with writing using different writing implements and media
Use Learn the ABC Module 2 to model how the letters of the alphabet are formed so learners can experiment making/writing each letter using different writing implements and media.
- choose to write as play, or in informal situations, for example, filling in forms in a pretend post office, writing a menu or wish list for a party
Listen to the Set 1 Easy Reader story Yum, Yum, Yum and write a menu that has ‘yummy’ food on it and/or one that has ‘yucky’ food on it.
- differentiate between illustrations and written text
View the Easy Readers and Storytime stories and assist learners to identify the difference between the illustrations and the text.
- use their own experience as a stimulus when drawing and “writing”
- show curiosity and ask questions about written language
Display the Ziptales icons and prompt questions from learners about what they would like to know about the content of the website.
- participate in shared writing, observing the teacher’s writing and making suggestions
Use the Set 1 Easy Readers story Bob the Frog to write a shared story about what happened on each day of the previous week at school/home.
- listen and respond to shared books (enlarged texts), observing conventions of print, according to the language(s) of instruction
Discuss how the words are written from left to right on each page of the Easy Readers.
- begin to discriminate between letters/characters, numbers and symbols
- listen and respond to shared books (enlarged texts), observing conventions of print, according to the language(s) of instruction
Discuss how the words are written from left to right on each page of the Easy Readers.
- show an awareness of sound–symbol relationships and begin to recognize the way that some familiar sounds can be recorded
View the Learn the ABC Module 2 lessons to develop learners’ awareness of the most common sounds of the letters of the alphabet.
Study the Set 1 Easy Readers stories to improve learners’ recognition of short vowel sounds in words
- write their own name independently
Learners view the Learn the ABC Module 2 to watch how to write the letters of their own name.
Oral Language - Listening and Speaking
Conceptual understandings
- Spoken words connect us with others.
- People listen and speak to share thoughts and feelings.
- People ask questions to learn from others.
Learning Outcomes:
Related Ziptales Materials:
Learners:
- use gestures, actions, body language and/or words to communicate needs and to express ideas
- listen and respond to picture books, showing pleasure, and demonstrating their understanding through gestures, expression and/or words
View the Easy Readers Set 1 stories and provide opportunities for learners to respond to the story e.g. Yum, Yum, Yum – What food do you think is yummy?
- name classmates, teachers and familiar classroom and playground objects
- interact effectively with peers and adults in familiar social settings
- tell their own stories using words, gestures, and objects/artifacts
- use single words and two-word phrases in context
Use Easy Readers Set 1 stories to practise using single words (e.g. days of the week in Bob the Frog) and two-word phrases (e.g. Oh No!) in context.
- join in with poems, rhymes, songs and repeated phrases in shared books
- understand simple questions and respond with actions or words
- follow classroom directions and routines, using context cues
View the Learn the ABC modules then follow directions to complete the associated worksheets.
- realize that people speak different languages
- use the mother tongue (with translation, if necessary) to express needs and explain ideas
- realize that word order can change from one language to another
Ask learners who speak a language other than English to translate sentences from the Set 1 Easy Readers to show how word order can change in different languages.
- use own grammar style as part of the process of developing grammatical awareness.
View the Puppet Plays then provide an opportunity for learners to work in small groups to perform their own puppet play using their own grammar style.
Visual Language - Viewing and Presenting
Conceptual understandings
- Visual language is all around us.
- The pictures, images, and symbols in our environment have meaning.
- We can enjoy and learn from visual language.
Learning Outcomes:
Related Ziptales Materials:
Learners:
- attend to visual information showing understanding through play, gestures, facial expression
- reveal their own feelings in response to visual presentations, for example, by showing amusement, curiosity, surprise
Listen to the Easy Readers and encourage learners to share their feelings about the stories e.g. I thought it was funny when … I was surprised when…I wonder what will happen after…
- observe visual cues that indicate context; show understanding by matching pictures with context
Look at the pictures in the Set 1 Easy Readers story Yum, Yum, Yum and discuss how we know what the characters are thinking about each item.
- recognize familiar signs, labels and logos, for example, pedestrian walking sign, emergency exit sign, no dogs allowed; identify similarities and differences
- make personal connections to visual texts, for example, a picture book about children making friends in a new situation
Encourage learners to make personal connections to the experiences of the characters in the Set 1 Easy Readers e.g. Bob the Frog - What do you do when you are not feeling well?
- use body language to communicate and to convey understanding, for example, pointing, gesturing, facial expressions
- select and incorporate colours, shapes, symbols and images into visual presentations
- show appreciation of illustrations in picture books by selecting and rereading familiar books, focusing on favourite pages
Provide opportunities for learners to indicate their favourite pages from selected Easy Readers and Storytime stories.
- locate and use appropriate ICT iconography to activate different devices, for example, computer games, CD player, television
- listen to terminology associated with visual texts and understand terms such as colour, shape, size.
