TP-14.4

L istening and speaking are the bedrock of reading and writing. I have spent many years witnessing the truth in this through my work with schools and I’ve always believed that if children grow up in a language-rich environment, their vocabulary will grow accordingly. But this alone is not enough. Rhythm and rhyme play a hugely important role in the development of literacy skills, and yet research shows a decline in the number of children regularly hearing stories and rhymes. The Bring Back Bedtime Stories campaign, created by a primary teacher, found that in many classrooms, less than a third of children have stories read to them and over half go to bed with the TV on. And while it may have been second nature for parents to sing and chant to their babies for many years, according to recent research many children are not hearing these rhymes as often as they used to (and when they do, the number they hear is greatly reduced). As a result, kids are not benefiting from a rich oral culture in the same way they used to. I decided to explore the use of poetry to help support literacy, and I was hooked. Amazing response From October 2018, I began introducing more and more poems to the children I worked with and was amazed at the response. The children couldn’t get enough of them. They pushed me to learn more, always wanting to hear the latest one. It was hard to keep up with their appetite and this spurred me to research the role of poetry, rhythm and rhyme in literacy. As the children’s enjoyment of the poems grew, the idea for our online course The Poetry Basket was born. The intention was simple – I wanted to share what I’d learnt. I’m far from the first to look into the role of poetry in literacy. In a Radio 4 documentary on the neuroscience of learning, former teacher Kate Prentice discussed the role of rhyme and poetry in building essential literacy skills. During her PhD studies, she conducted a two-year intervention project, examining the hypothesis that regular interaction with the sounds and rhythms of poetry helps to enhance the literacy skills of five to seven-year-olds. “We think of sound as a continuous stream of noise,” explains Kate. “Rhythm helps us work out where the words are and then within that where the syllables are, and within that where the intrasyllabic units are. Having a good rhythmic perception will allow you to hear those individual units more clearly.” INS I DE THI S SECT I ON Over the MOON Teacher and resources creator Sue Drury covers nine ways to teach similes and metaphors with confidence Go on an adventure with our book topic activities based on JeffreyAlan Love’s evocative picturebook, The Hero’s Quest “Research shows a decline in the number of children regularly hearing stories and rhymes” It’s vital we immerse children in nursery rhymes – they play a vital role in reading and spelling success later down the line TR I SHA LEE p54 52 | www.teachwire.net This low-stakes analogue grammar game will sharpen pupils’minds and lead to greater engagement We review five brand new titles that primary-age children will love, including both fiction and non-fiction HOME LEARNING Our team of teachers has created new learning packs, especially designed to be used at home.With versions for children in Y1-2 and 3-6, they include activities designed to hit key curriculum targets, as well as feed children's creativity and curiosity. The first set focuses on the weather. Find it at plazoom.com/collections/home-learning RESOURCES RECOMMENDED p61 p58 p56