Primary TAs: Literacy Support

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When I wasn't in FLS,

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I didn't really knowhow to open up my imagination.

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But now I just always let it free.

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(narrator) FLS -Further Literacy Support -

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is the third intervention programmeto bolster achievement in literacy,

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with a large support componentdelivered by teaching assistants.

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Mary Billios is a TA at St Mary'sPrimary School in South London.

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Initially, I just started supportingchildren in the classroom,

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and then the offer of the FLStraining came about.

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The headteacher asked me if Iwould like to go on this training.

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I jumped at the idea.

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(narrator) FLS is a 12-weekprogramme aimed at year 5 pupils,

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building their skillsin three different literacy areas -

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persuasive writing,

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imaginative storytelling,and chronological reports.

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This morning we're going to look ata story about a child called Danny

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and how he gets onwith school and learning.

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(narrator) The first FLS lessonis led by class teacher Dan Pickard,

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to introduce everyoneto the FLS idea.

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Although class teachersguide the overall programme,

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the bulk of it is deliveredby teaching assistants like Mary

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to groups of six children,outside the classroom.

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Mary is going to demonstratethe three modules that make up FLS,

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and show us three of the 36 lessons.

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She's been running groups like thisfor three years.

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In the beginning, I had to take workhome with me every day, for ages.

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Even before each sessionI would sit down

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and vigorously go over it,and think, "Have I got it right?"

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And then I'd make little Post-itnotes for myself everywhere.

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But it's so well laid-out for you -literally, a step-by-step guide,

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saying this is what you do,this is how you can do it.

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After three years, though, I foundthat I just do it as I feel now.

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Now, today's session.We're learning to persuade.

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We're learning to write to persuade.

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Initially, when we bothlooked at the FLS programme,

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Mary and I were taken aback by thelevel of work that was required -

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together as a partnership,but also for Mary as an individual,

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taking six children for thosethree sessions in the week.

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In the beginning, I consultedwith Dan most of the time.

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I used to say,"This is what we're doing today."

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And he'd say to me, "You cando this." He'd always give me ideas.

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It was always very,very useful to me.

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When we look at adverts,walking along the street,

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they jump out at us and they make uswant to look and read what they say.

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The first module is helping childrento be aware of their surroundings

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in terms of commercials,advertisements.

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- Do you remember what a slogan is?- "Promise of better meals to come."

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Yes. It's somethingthat you remember.

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A slogan sometimes just comes intoyour mind, for no reason whatsoever.

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Who can find another one?

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It was a real learning curve,them being aware

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of what an advertisement is tryingto do to the reader, the passer-by.

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What do you of this? "If you don'tagree that VIP made those meals

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fan-taste-tic..." Just here.

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"..then we'll give you money back."

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Why is that wordplay?

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They're learning thingslike alliteration,

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exaggeration,what a snappy slogan is,

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the benefit of a product if thereare any - you can lie about that.

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"VIP will make everythingtaste delicious,

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so be careful what you put it on."

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Where would that fall intoour key features, do you think?

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- Exaggeration.- Exaggeration, yes.

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"Be careful what you put it on."

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Identifying the key featuresof adverts

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was one part of the final outcomeof producing their own adverts.

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Yes. "Vote for VIP."

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"This full-flavoured candidateoffers a fair deal for dull dishes."

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VIP - super tasty and super cool.

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Tempting, tasty treat.

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VIP - it's the best food sauce.

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For weeks later,they would come in and say to me:

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"I saw wordplay on that advert,and I understood it."

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VIP - The V.I.P.

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A tempting, terrific treat.

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Buy one, get one free.

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Good cooks cook with VIP.

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Pretend you're puttingthis key into your heads.

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You're turning the keyround and round and round.

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It's clicked.

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Module two is finding the key andunlocking the creative imagination.

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The door's open.

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Imagination, colour, is bursting.Everything's flowing around.

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You just have toput it all together.

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The way we're going to do thatis by telling our story.

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So what do we do first in a story?What would we do first?

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- (girl) Tell the setting.- (Mary) Who's got the setting?

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In the nice green meadow,there was a golden temple.

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Having the cards, I think,enormously helps the children

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to just try and visualise somethingthat isn't in front of them,

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something that doesn't exist,

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something very, very bizarre. Andthe same with the hero and heroine.

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It can be something that'sway back in their imagination.

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So we have our setting, we have ourhero. What next, do you think? Glen.

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- Beast.- Our beast. Our fantastic beast.

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And who has that?

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Debra, are you going to make usquiver with fear?

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- A cyclops.- Ooh!

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- He's green and slimy.- Ugh!

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He's got one eye, andhe's only got a little bit of teeth.

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A child can just sit thereand look at the picture,

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and just describe the picture,but that's not what I'm looking for.

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I'm looking forwhat that picture does,

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and where it is,and where it can lead to.

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- Is he anywhere near our meadow?- Our meadow.

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And the temple?

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Yes, he lives under the mountains.

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- Near the temple?- Yeah.

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I have to prompt them.Otherwise, they'll just sit there,

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and they'll just describewhat they see.

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It won't go on from there, so I haveto constantly prompt their ideas.

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The hero's sisterhad lost a magic ring.

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She remembered the templethat had a curse.

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(Mary) Do you want to tell usa bit about this curse?

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It was your setting,perhaps you've thought of something.

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- There lived a witch in there.- A witch lived in the temple, yes.

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They're constantly listening toeach other, and building from that,

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but not only building on the story,

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they're building on their characterthey've introduced to the story.

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The superhero met these womenthat looked like witches,

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but they gave him a special power.

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So that he can get the ring back.

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It's not just talking about a hero.

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This hero has to be partof what happened before,

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and what's going to happen later on.

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Why did these womengive him this special power?

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Because they didn't likethe witch that lived in the...

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I understand. Can you see how we'relinking all the different parts?

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All the different recipes.

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The recipe is beginning to take somesort of shape, some sort of form.

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In the beginning, I was quitenervous about how I would portray

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everything that I needed to sayto the children.

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I thought, "Would it come out right?Will they understand?"

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Often, you find with children,you say something one way -

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some will understandand others won't.

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You have to say the same thingin several different ways.

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So our ingredientsare all going into the big bowl,

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and we're beginningto mix them all together.

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The FLS programme is very demanding.

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It's very, very well resourced, butyou have to put everything together.

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But it's a great development curve,

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because there is so muchthat you can do on your own.

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I can even chop and change some ofthe sessions to suit the children.

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I have done that.

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So, today is just the beginningof what we're going to do.

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We will put togetherour own stories.

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"Long ago in France,a beautiful land..."

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"Long ago, when the sun shone,and all the people smiled..."

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They begin with a setting. It can beanything. Literally, anything.

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Then they will start introducing thecharacters, their fantastic beast.

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"..ugly, horrible beast appeared,stamping and destroying everything."

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"Angelika hidbehind a blackberry bush,

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but there was something behind her."

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"Then Claudius punched the beaston her body, really hard."

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"Then the beast fell on the floor."

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And, of course, the resolution,

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which makes the hero an even biggerhero and saves the day.

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So they love that. They justget carried away with it.

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"That's why they all dependedon him to save them from danger."

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(Mary) Who can tell me somethingabout a chronological report?

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What does it mean to you? What doesthe word "chronological" mean?

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Module threeis about report writing.

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Chronological report writing.

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Order?

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Very close. Good.

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The children had to imaginethat aliens wanted to visit.

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Where would they land?

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From there,within their own mind's eye,

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they had to put themselvesin the aliens' shoes,

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and try and think, "What would I seeon the way to St Mary's?"

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"Out of the spaceship, and go tothe edge of the pavement and stop."

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- (Mary) And stop.- You cross the road.

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(Mary) Wait until the road is clear,and then cross to the other side.

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Where you will see... And then youhave to decide where they will be.

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It was entirely focusingon being somebody else,

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rather than just themselves,

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and how they would see it throughthat other person's eyes.

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Think about something that you seeonce you cross the road.

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Children tend to live in their ownlittle enclave, in their own world,

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and anything beyond that,it has to be pointed out to them.

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Don't forget that you have toconstantly give them landmarks.

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So say, "You will pass a restaurant,you will pass an estate agent's."

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I think that's why they struggled.They couldn't do that very easily.

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That's very much what this moduletries to get them out of.

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A little bit beyond that.

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Let's look at our targetfor this week.

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We have learned how to adapt ourwriting for a particular purpose.

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So our purpose today was to giveinstructions, to use the imperative.

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Evaluations and monitoringof the children go on all the time,

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and at the end of each week,

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there is an evaluation sectionwithin the programme.

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Both Dan and I will fill it in,

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and we'll write about what we havethought has come out of that week.

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"Out of the spaceshipand walk straight and turn left."

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"Look around youuntil the road is clear."

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"When the green man shows,

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go forward to the sweet shopand stop there."

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"Turn right, and go straight

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until you see a roadcalled Crescent Lane."

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"Go across the road,and you will see a big black gate."

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I always think they feel,"Oh, yes, we made it."

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"I've got to the school gates.I was able to press the buzzer."

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"Press the buttonand announce who you are."

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"Press it, and you're there."

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I always like to seewhere the children start,

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and where they finishat the end of the 12 weeks.

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And it's an enormous buzz,if you like, for me,

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to think, "Yes, that childwasn't able to make two sentences,

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but now he can write a completestory and feel good about it."

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Those children have developedconfidence in their own abilities,

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and to look back, at the end ofthe year, at the tracking documents,

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and to see those childrencome through

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and how they've progressed in termsof the levels they achieve.

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I thought that it was goodto teach and to help children

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do things like story writingand writing to persuade.

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When we grow up,

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we might be one of those peoplethat need to write to persuade.

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There are children in the group andyou can tell they have these ideas,

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but they never really knowhow to put them down on paper.

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So to see that at the end,I come out and I think:

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"Yes! I've done it today."

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Visiontext Subtitles:Joanna Wilkinson

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www.visiontext.co.uk