Literacy+Programs

=**Literacy**= Literacy or broadly speaking the ability to read and write is key to students learning. "Problems with literacy have recieved a great deal of attention, because difficulties with reading and writing influence all areas of school achievement." (Foreman, 2008). As all students learn differently (Smith, 2005) I feel the need to have a range of teaching literacy strategies or programs to best meet the needs of my future students. Some of the programs that I have seen used, and believe that I will be able to draw from are THRASS and BEE spelling.

THRASS is designed to teach the building blocks of literacy, that is the building blocks of spelling and reading. It focuses on teaching the 44 phonemes (or speech sounds) of spoken English and the graphemes (spelling choices) of written English. At the core of this method is the [|picture chart] which provides students with a picture, clearly identifying the particular phoneme and it's corresponding spelling choice, with the graphs (1 letter spelling choice), digraphs (2 letter spelling choice) and trigraphs (3 letter spelling choice) represented on the chart. For example the starting phoneme in the word 'jam' may be spelled as 'j', 'g','ge', or 'dge' as in jam, giant, cage, bridge. THRASS looks at explaing that to read "we change spelling choices to speech sounds and when spelling we change speech sounds to spelling choices" (THRASS, 2011) I feel this type of program is well suited to very logical learners, it is very clear and sequential, __there are no rules and exceptions to rules or exceptions to the exceptions__. The use of the picture chart is also beneficial to students that may identify well with visual images as well as students that have English as a second language.
 * [|THRASS] Teaching Handwriting Reading and Spelling Skills**

BEE spelling was actually piloted in the ACT. It incorporates elements from both the traditional approach (phonetics and spelling rules) and the transitional approach (visual, morphemic and etymological principles) of spelling. BEE spelling recognizes that spelling is a "thinking task, not a rote learning task" (Batt, Ceely, Frencham, Hayes & Long, 2009) This approach looks at how to plan and teach spelling to range of diverse learners, by focusing on the use of a sound assessment tool (spelling inventory) to determine the instructional level for each student. This approach looks at the stages of spelling development, the characteristics associated with that phase, enabling us to plan a "purposeful and meaningful program targeted at the specific needs of all our students" (Batt, et al; 2009) BEE spelling also highlights the "importance of developing students’ meta-cognition" (Batt, et al; 2009). This is represented to the students by the introduction of the BEE Keys, the BEE keys stand for Brain, eyes and ears. The Brain = to think about the meaning of the word. The eyes = Look for patterns in the word or the shape of the word. The ears = listen to the sound of the word. I believe this program will be of great benefit in planning and focusing on individual students, making it easy to identify and target a students specific weakness, therefore taking out a lot of trial and error or guess work.
 * [|BEE Spelling]**

References

Batt, Jantiena, Ceely, Niomi, Frencham, Robyn , Hayes, Bernadette, Long, Natasha, 2009. BEE Spelling, ACT Department of Education. Retreived from: [] 24/7/11

Foreman, P. (Ed.). 2008. Inclusion in Action (2nd ed). South Melbourne, Australia. Cengage Learning.

Smith, Mark. 2005 Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences, INDUS training and research institute [|http://www.itari.in/categories/multipleintelligences/HowardGardiner'sTheoryofMultipleIntelligences.pdf] 12/7/11

THRASS Asutralia Pty Ltd, retreived from: [] 15/7/11

**Animal Therapy for Literacy Difficulties - Classroom Canines **

 * [] **

Classroom Canines is an initiative of The Delta Society to help students with literacy and social difficulties through animal therapy. The program understands that children and adolescents alike are people who have yet to develop a thorough understanding of their emotions. They can easily generate feelings of angst, worry and loneliness. Classroom Canines aims to alleviate such feelings through the interactions and bonds formed with canines.

This programmee is aimed at all students with literacy difficulties it would just be a matter of making sure the book is content appropriate and that it correlates with the literacy level the student is currently at or striving for. This initiative can be used by teachers in collaboration with the tutors from the Delta Society to devise and implement ILP’s specific to the needs of the student and help understand the student’s individuality. The volunteers work under explicit direction from the school staff and will work either one-on-one or in a group setting. Furthermore, the program is a form of //cooperative learning// which Foreman defines as //learning based on three key ingredients: small groups working together; making explicit efforts to help each other learn; and sharing in the evaluation of learning through group evaluation (Foreman, P 2008; 228).//

I believe that this project would be most beneficial to those students with Autism. This disability prevents an individual from engaging and interacting with the world around them. The biggest hurdle an individual with Autism may face is social communication; therefore Classroom Canines could be the key to unlocking this side of the child’s persona and lead to an improvement in their literacy skills.

Research has shown how interaction with animals (especially with pets) can have extensive benefits such as:
 * Improving quality of life as a tool for socialising, communicating and relaxation
 * The animal provides non-judgmental acceptance of the student
 * Animals promote the health and well-being and overall development in the child
 * Provides an opportunity for the student to display confidence and independence

With these benefits taken into consideration, one can predict there to be considerable improvement in literacy skills form the student.

Foreman, P; 2008; 228; Inclusion in Action (2nd Edition), South Melbourne, Australia, Cengage Learning
 * References: **

"When you're a kid, school is your career. And if you go out of business in school, if your business goes bankrupt, if you're not having any success, you're left with almost nothing. You are poverty-stricken. Where do you go from there?" -- Dr. Mel Levine Founder, All Kinds of Minds
 * MISUNDERSTOOD MINDS **

I came across this resource while researching for our oral presentation and it was one of the most helpful sources of information I could find - []. It provided me with bountiful information and activities that can be used in helping to identify students who may struggle with reading and writing due to auditory, visual or perceptual processing problems. I think it is an easily accessible resource that teachers can use to not only gain an understanding of what it may be like to have a learning difficulty, but also ways in which to help students who may be having these learning difficulties. My partner and I used one of the activities in our presentation and I think it was a good example of how these resources can be used. It was an activity that asked the reader to substitute certain letters within words to build the paragraph. The reader was supposed to read aloud while substituting the letters and still trying to retrieve information from the text. It was an example of what a student who has perceptual processing problems would have trouble with, and it was a unanimous decision that it was really hard and a bit scary to try and read in front of the class when you were constantly stopping. The link to this specific activity can be found here: [] It is important for teachers to be empathetic towards students who may have difficulties with literacy, so for that reason I think that this resource is very useful.

References: WGBH. (2002). //Misunderstood Minds//. Retrieved from []

Jolly Phonics Jolly Phonics is a method presented by the Jolly Learning Group in the UK to teach the foundation skills required to read and write English to children. It teaches the letters of the alphabet, the formation of words, and other important parts of learning to read and write. Jolly Phonics does not teach in the same way regular methods tell us to, but teaches in a way that will allow their students to be reading as soon as possible. This means that rather than focusing on the letters alphabetically, it teaches them in a specific order, designed to maximize the learning of words and sounds to make up sentences. The Jolly Learning Group sells many products that allow this method of teaching to be used in any young classroom. Books, CDs, DVD's and flashcards can all be bought online to be used in the class room. This is an ideal way to teach young students with special learning needs that are in years 2 and under. It is fun, educational and presents easy and multiple ways to learn. This simple and easy way of learning reading and writing through Phonetics is a good way to help students with identified literacy difficulties learn how to read and write. This is a good choice of activity to present to the whole class as a new and 'exciting' way to learn, which won't single students out and will help the class get actively involved in the learning. Case studies of Jolly Phonics can be found at: http://jollylearning.co.uk/2011/03/16/case-studies/ and other methods for teaching literacy to students with special needs can be found in 'What teachers need to know about Learning Difficulties.' by Peter Westwood.

Peter Westwood (2008). //What teachers need to know about Leaning Difficulties//. Australia: ACER Press Jolly Learning Group (n.d) //Jolly Phonics//. Retrieved July 26th from http://jollylearning.co.uk/overview-about-jolly-phonics/