1. Communication, Language and Literacy meeting For: nursery

2. Contents of Session Supporting Language Development
Supporting Literacy Development
Other Activities To Play At Home
How We Teach Letter Sounds
Any Questions

3. Supporting Language Development
Talk promotes reading and needs to be fluent before decoding words if reading is to be meaningful and understood
Read poems and sing songs; delay the rhyming words to allow the child to supply.
Focus on letter sounds, not names
Encourage child to blend sounds of some simple words together by, for example playing ‘robot- talk’ games.
Build up sight vocabulary- play timed ‘Hunt the letter sound/word’ post- its around the house.
Let children see you read for enjoyment
Read as much environmental print as you can -
allow time for the journey
Innovate stories when they are well known
Read comics, recipes, bus routes, non fiction

4. Ideas for supporting learning at home
Talk to your child about your day to promote them talking about their day. And give your child your full attention
Model correct speech by repeating correctly but not asking for repetition
Enjoy family meals which promote eye to eye contact and quality conversation times
Turn off phones and the T.V!
Play ‘I spy… (sound)’
Encourage a verbal discussion before and after reading books.
Get male carer (in particular) to model reading and writing,
stressing his purpose and enjoyment
Write for a purpose- cards ,shopping lists etc
Encourage tripod pen grip

5. Supporting Reading Development through talking to your child.
Talk about pictures
Hold book correctly and turn pages
Text direction left to right, top to bottom. (Always encourage left to right eye motion even when counting etc)
Predict what may happen and why
Ask what the main events/ characters are in
the story
Talk about the setting
Ask what the child likes/doesn’t like about the book and why
Have regular fun with books

6. Other Activities To Play At Home
Sing familiar Nursery Rhymes and songs
Read well-known stories
Retell/act out well-known stories, perhaps with puppets
Develop memory by playing instruction games that start with one then two steps: Can you find….and then…..? game
Alphabet poster to play I spy… so that child links upper/lowercase image of the letter and the picture beginning with that sound
Feely bags of letters
Playdough to squash ,squeeze and roll but also to make letter shapes, letters of name
Writing letters on child’s back to feel and guess.
Practice forming lower case letter correctly (in bath with foam letters/in air/ in sand/in paint/tracing over sandpaper letters/making playdough letters)
Extension: think of words which begin with a chosen letter
sound

7. How we Teach Letter Sounds
Letters and Sounds (phase 1 for all and phase 2 for some)
Careful listening needs to be established prior to effective teaching of phonics
We regularly plan an activity to teach one aspect of the phase for children going to Reception in September, for example, rhyme or blending phonemes in simple words. This may be informally through songs and games, inside or out, or as part of circle time or story teaching
Correct lower case letter formation in air/sand/paper/paint
Opportunities to play at mark making for a purpose
Order in which letters are taught:
s, a, t, p, i, n
* Tip for parents: say ‘sssssss’ not ‘s or suh’

8. Any Questions?