One Step at a Time: Presentation 3
A QUICK GUIDE TO ONE STEP at a TIME
Why Spoken Language Matters
Making Language Teaching Manageable
One Step at a Time
What to Teach
How to Teach
Links to Literacy
First Steps1
A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
WHY SPOKEN LANGUAGE MATTERS
Spoken language matters for:
communication
teaching
learning
literacy
thinking
social and emotional development
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
WHY SPOKEN LANGUAGE MATTERS
Inadequate spoken language is increasingly a problem in schools:
more and more children are coming into school lacking basic spoken language skills
the demands on children’s understanding and use of spoken language increase as they progress through school
children who start behind are likely to fall further behind
Competent spoken language needs to be: the main educational priority at ages 3 to 5
a joint priority, with literacy, from 5 onwards
for all children3
A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
MAKING LANGUAGE TEACHING MANAGEABLE
But spoken language is a complex system
not fully understood
seldom included in teacher training
difficult to teach in classroom settings
because of the quantity and complexity of the language that children need to know
and because the normal conditions of language learning are difficult to reproduce in a mainstream classroom
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
MAKING LANGUAGE TEACHING MANAGEABLE
Schools and staff need something that will:
take the difficulty and uncertainty out of language teaching
guide them in what to teach, when to teach it, how to teach it, and how to assess children’s development and progress
embody the expertise needed to teach spoken language
and enable staff to develop that expertise themselves through active experience in the classroom
but above all
be easy to implement and manage in mainstream classrooms
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
MAKING LANGUAGE TEACHING MANAGEABLE
Spoken language can be made more accessible to schools by using a teaching programme that:
identifies the skills most needed for progress in school
and provides explicit teaching and learning objectives appropriate teaching techniques simple ways of assessing development and reviewing progress
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
MAKING LANGUAGE TEACHING MANAGEABLE
A teaching programme must also be:
flexible: adaptable to the needs of different schools, different teachers and different children
easily manageable in the classroom: reflecting and supporting the wider curriculum building on existing classroom practice and activities without adding significantly to teachers’ workloads, or requiring
additional resources or special expertise
This is what One Step at a Time aims to do.
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
ONE STEP at a TIME
One Step at a Time is
a structured teaching programme for developing spoken language in the early years and primary school, through the active use of spoken language in the classroom
a whole school-programme for children aged 3 to 9, which can also be used with single classes and/or older children
an all needs programme, providing differentiated teaching for all children in mainstream education
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
ONE STEP at a TIME
One Step at a Time:
concentrates on the spoken language skills that are most critical for educational progress, year by year
breaks them down into sub-skills that can be worked on year by
year, term by term, and week by week
and ensures that all these skills are established by all children
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
WHAT TO TEACH
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
WHAT TO TEACH
Vocabulary is vast, too extensive to be taught systematically or in detail.
Grammar is complex, difficult to assess, and probably impossible to teach directly.
But the four uses of language:
are fundamental to the development of literacy and other skills
can be used to develop vocabulary, sentence structure and fluency
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
WHAT TO TEACH
Conversation is crucial for communication and social
development, is used for teaching and learning, and underpins most other language skills
Listening is crucial for learning, understanding, and the
development of reading
Narrative or extended talk is crucial for coherent thought and expression, and for the development of writing
Discussion is crucial for the development of thinking skills, social understanding and emotional literacy
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
WHAT TO TEACH
One Step at a Time develops these four uses of language in sequence:
Conversation Skills for children aged 3 to 4 (or older)
Listening Skills for children aged 4 to 5 (or older)
Narrative Skills for children aged 5 to 7 (or older)
Discussion Skills for children aged 7 to 9 and older
There is also a preliminary step – Getting Started – for children who are not ready for systematic work on conversation.
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH
Each main level of the programme includes:
an initial screen for assessing children’s competence in the relevant skills
three skills checklists for guiding intervention and monitoring progress
guidance on lesson planning, classroom intervention and teaching method
a vocabulary wordlist of 100 essential words
guidance on monitoring progress and moving on
discussion of the links to literacy
The content and procedure for Getting Started is slightly different from the other levels.
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Initial Screening
The initial screens help staff:
‘tune-in’ to the relevant skills at each level of the programme
identify children’s current level of development
determine the amount of support each child is likely to need
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Initial Screening
The initial screens identify children as:
Competent: they seem to be acquiring the relevant skills without too much difficulty and are not expected to need special attention
Developing: they seem to be slower in acquiring the relevant skills and are likely to need some support and attention
Delayed: they seem to be having difficulty in acquiring the relevant skills and are likely to need more intensive support and attention
This identification is flexible and likely to change in the course of a term or year.
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Skills Checklists
Each main level of the programme includes three skills checklists (two in the case of Getting Started).
The checklists are used to focus and guide intervention, and monitor children’s progress
Each checklist consists of a number of distinct behaviours or sub-skills grouped together into a few broad types of skill
Skills and behaviours are listed in rough developmental order as a guide to intervention
Children work through each checklist in sequence, a few behaviours at a time but usually only one broad skill at a time
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Classroom Intervention
One Step at a Time uses a mixture of whole-class work, small-group work, partner work and informal interaction with individual children.
The balance varies but the primary intervention is:
Getting Started: informal interaction with individual children
Conversation Skills: staff-led small-group work and informal interaction
Listening Skills: whole-class and staff-led small-group work
Narrative Skills: whole-class, small-group and partner work
Discussion Skills: whole-class and independent small-group discussion work
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Teaching Method
Parents normally teach their children spoken language (usually without realising they are doing it) by:
Highlighting: drawing attention to a word or behaviour by indicating or emphasising it
Modelling: providing an example for the child to copy
Prompting: encouraging him to respond, directing him towards an appropriate response
Rewarding: rewarding any appropriate response with praise and further encouragement
One Step at a Time uses the same techniques, but uses them explicitly and systematically.
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Vocabulary Work
Vocabulary work is optional, except for Getting Started and
Discussion Skills
Each level of the programme includes a list of 100 key words chosen from early vocabulary, the vocabulary of properties and relations, and/or the vocabulary of feelings and emotion
These wordlists are intended to be supplemented with essential topic vocabulary
But, except for Getting Started and Discussion Skills, systematic vocabulary work need not be introduced until children and staff are thoroughly familiar with skills teaching
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Monitoring Progress
Children or groups work through the checklists at their own pace and with varying degrees of support, one skill at a time and one checklist at a time
The checklists provide a quick and simple way of reviewing and recording individual progress
Staff should also ensure that each behaviour has been properly consolidated, and return to any items that have proved difficult to check they have been retained
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Moving On
Classes may vary in how long they need to work on each checklist and at each level, but in general:
Getting Started runs in parallel with Conversation Skills and is expected to last less than a year
Conversation Skills and Listening Skills are each expected to last a year, each checklist taking about a term.
Narrative Skills and Discussion Skills are each expected to extend across a couple of years but will still benefit all children if it can only be used for a single year. Each checklist is expected to take more than a term.
It is more important that children consolidate the basic skills than that they complete any particular level
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Creating a Context
Schools need to create a language-learning environment, where
children’s talk, including spontaneous talk, is valued, not just allowed but actively encouraged
children feel secure, comfortable and confident, willing and
able to express themselves in whatever way they can
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Creating a Context
A language-learning environment can be created by:
developing a more interactive, conversational style of teaching
using children’s talk as a way of teaching and learning, e.g. classroom discussion partner work and independent discussion groups
maximising opportunities for informal conversation with individual children
making the most of those that exist creating new ones where we can and involving everyone
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Creating a Context
Everyone includes parents. Schools should explain to parents:
the importance of spoken language for their children’s education
what they can do at home to help develop it
how One Step at a Time works and what it is trying to achieve,
how parents can help their children with specific skills at home
and provide opportunities for them to work with children in the classroom under staff guidance, where possible
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
HOW TO TEACH: Links to Literacy
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
FIRST STEPS
The first year should be a learning year for staff and the school as much as children:
Staff need time to familiarise themselves with the programme, adapt it to their needs, and identify suitable teaching activities and resources
They should not proceed any faster than is comfortable for themselves or their children
They need not try to include all aspects of the programme, especially in the first year
All procedures should be interpreted flexibly, in whatever way suits the school, staff and children.
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A Quick Guide to One Step at a Time
and finally
Confidence enables:
children to learn
and teachers to teach
Confidence is:
the first of the ‘first four C’s’ (confidence, curiosity, concentration, communication) which eventually lead to the fifth C, conversation
what children need to demonstrate in their learning (they need to be using a skill confidently, competently and consistently)
And confidence in language learning is what One Step at a Time provides, for children and for staff.
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