Strand:
Receptiveness to language
Strand unit:
Oral language: developing receptiveness to oral language
The child should be enabled to
- experience, recognise and observe simple commands
look, listen, watch - listen to a story or description and respond to it
- hear, repeat and elaborate words, phrases and sentences modelled by the teacher
- use and interpret tone of voice expressing various emotions
- learn to adopt appropriate verbal and non-verbal behaviour to secure and maintain the attention of a partner establishing eye contact
using appropriate head movements, gestures and facial expressions
ensuring audibility and clarity - mime and interpret gesture, movement and attitude conveying various emotions.
Strand unit:
Reading: developing concepts of language and print
The child should be enabled to
- listen to, enjoy and respond to stories, nursery rhymes, poems and songs
- become an active listener through the development of a range of listening activities based on stories read or told telling and retelling a story in sequence
recalling and relating a simple story or event, asking questions, role-playing - play with language to develop an awareness of sounds
language games, phoneme and morpheme sound relationships, nursery rhymes, chants
singing games, action songs and poems
a wide variety of rhythms
attempts at writing words appropriate to a particular need such as the child's own name - develop a sense of rhythm and rhyme
songs, nursery rhymes, jingles, clapping and dancing to syllabic rhythms - become familiar with a wide range of environmental print, beginning with print in the classroom
- learn about the basic terminology and conventions of books
author and title, left-to-right orientation, top-to-bottom orientation, front-to-back orientation - read texts created by himself/herself and by other children in collaboration with the teacher
- learn to recognise and name the letters of the alphabet
- develop an awareness of some letter-sound relationships.
Strand unit:
Writing: creating and fostering the impulse to write
The child should be enabled to
- experience and enjoy a print-rich environment
- receive help from the teacher, who will sometimes act as scribe to assist with accuracy and presentation
- write and draw frequently
scribbling, making attempts at writing, letters and symbols, captions, words and sentences - write for different audiences
oneself, teacher, other children, family, visitors - see personal writing displayed
on worksheets
as part of arts activities
on a writing shelf or in a writing corner
in class-made collections - read personal writing aloud and hear it read.
Strand:
Competence and confidence in using language
Strand unit:
Oral language: developing competence and confidence in using oral language
The child should be enabled to
- talk about past and present experiences, and plan, predict and speculate about
future and imaginary experiences - choose appropriate words to name and describe things and events
- experiment with descriptive words to add elaborative detail
- combine simple sentences through the use of connecting words
- initiate and sustain a conversation on a particular topic
- use language to perform common social functions
introducing oneself and others
greeting others and saying goodbye
giving and receiving messages
expressing concern and appreciation.
Strand unit:
Reading: developing reading skills and strategies
The child should be enabled to
- experience the reading process being modelled
- handle books and browse through them
- encounter early reading through collaborative reading of large-format books
and language-experience material - build up a sight vocabulary of common words from personal experience, from
experience of environmental print, and from books read - learn to isolate the beginning sound of a word or syllable
- learn to isolate beginning and final sounds in written words
- learn to isolate the part of a word or a syllable which allows it to rhyme with
another word or syllable - use knowledge of word order, illustration, context and initial letters to identify
unknown words - engage in shared reading activities
stories, poems, plays, picture books.
Strand unit:
Writing: developing competence, confidence and the ability to write independently
The child should be enabled to
- learn to form and name individual letters using various materials
plasticine, sand, soft letters, magnetic letters, writing instruments - write and draw
scribbles, shapes, signs, letters, numerals - understand the left-right, top-bottom orientation of writing
- develop a satisfactory grip of writing implements
- copy words from signs in the environment
- copy letters and words informally as part of class activities
- write his/her name
- use labels to name familiar people and things
- write letters and words from memory
- become aware of lower-case and capital letters and the full stop
- develop the confidence to use approximate spelling
- begin to develop conventional spelling of simple words
- see the teacher model writing as an enjoyable experience
- choose subjects for drawing and writing
- choose the form of expression he/she finds appropriate
scribbles, shapes, pictures, letters, words.
Strand:
Developing cognitive abilities through language
Strand unit:
Oral language: developing cognitive abilities through oral language
The child should be enabled to
- provide further information in response to the teacher's prompting
- listen to a story or a narrative and ask questions about it
- focus on descriptive detail and begin to be explicit in relation to people, places, times, processes, events, colour, shape, size, position
- discuss different possible solutions to simple problems
- ask questions in order to satisfy curiosity about the world
- show understanding of text.
Strand unit:
Reading: developing interests, attitudes and the ability to think
The child should be enabled to
- re-read, retell and act out familiar stories, poems or parts of stories
- recall and talk about significant events and details in stories
- analyse and interpret characters, situations, events and sequences presented pictorially
- predict future incidents and outcomes in stories
- differentiate between text and pictures
- understand the function of text
become aware that text says something.
Strand unit:
Writing: clarifying thought through writing
The child should be enabled to
Strand:
Emotional and imaginative development through language
Strand unit:
Oral language: developing emotional and imaginative life through oral language
The child should be enabled to
- reflect on and talk about a wide range of everyday experience and feelings
- create and tell stories
- listen to, learn and retell a rich variety of stories, rhymes and songs
- respond through discussion, mime and role-playing to stories, rhymes and songs heard and learnt
- use language to create and sustain imaginary situations in play
- listen to, learn and recite rhymes, including nonsense rhymes
- listen to, learn and ask riddles
- create real and imaginary sound worlds
- recognise and re-create sounds in the immediate environment
- experiment with different voices in role-playing
a favourite story, a cartoon character.
Strand unit:
Reading: responding to text
The child should be enabled to
- associate print with enjoyment through listening to stories and poems read aloud
- respond to characters, situations and story details, relating them to personal experience
- perceive reading as a shared, enjoyable experience
- record response to text through pictures and captions
- pursue and develop individual interests through engagement with books.
Strand unit:
Writing: developing emotional and imaginative life through writing
The child should be enabled to
- draw and write about feelings
happiness, sadness, love, fear - draw and write about things he/she likes and dislikes
- draw and write about sensory experiences
hot, cold, bright, dark, sweet - draw and write stories
- hear a rich variety of stories, rhymes and songs and draw and write about them
- use mime and role-playing to create imaginary situations and then draw and write about them.