Posted on: 16/08/2022
When I was introduced to The Literary Curriculum, I was intrigued. I had always felt, strongly, a pull to centre children’s literature within my literacy provision. So, to find such a thorough and well-structured bank of planning sequences, based on a wonderful array of texts, I was tremendously interested as a literacy coordinator. As is so often the case for those of us teaching in Northern Ireland, many resources we come across are very clearly aligned to other curricula. But quickly after I began exploring and implementing, I was confident that this approach would not only fit well within our curriculum requirements, but had the potential to enhance the existing provision in our school.
Laura is a teacher and literacy coordinator in County Antrim. Her main area of interest is quality reading instruction that helps children to access and engage with the world of literature. Laura has always loved and been fascinated by words and language.
The context…
We are a small primary school in rural Co. Antrim. Our previous planning structure for writing had been strongly genre driven, often linked to a World Around Us topic/theme and featured exploring a specific text type over a number of weeks. The move to The Literary Curriculum allowed us to plan for word, sentence and text level outcomes within the meaningful context of a book, while drawing together all areas of literacy into a cohesive unit of work.
Things we love about using The Literary Curriculum…
Assessment opportunities
Each planning sequence features a variety of opportunities for writing: shorter, longer and extended written outcomes. Not only is this a great structure for children to build, apply and embed skills, it also provides a wealth of opportunity for gathering samples of work for the purpose of End of Key Stage Assessment. The Levels of Progression rubric for reading, writing or talking and listening can be applied to any piece of work completed, depending on the focus of the task.
Purposeful embedding of punctuation and grammar
Punctuation and grammar outcomes are addressed at appropriate moments in the sequence, to allow children to practise skills in context. We have found this to be a seamless way of working that feels relevant and purposeful. In addition, the learning is revisited often through the context of different pieces of writing so there is much-required reinforcement of key skills.
Adaptability
Importantly, the sequences are intended to be ‘roadmaps’ through a text, not heavily prescriptive, ‘set in stone’ plans. This has allowed for adaptability- we can tweak and adjust where necessary to fit the needs of our classes, pupils and curriculum progression. This has been particularly useful working in a composite class setting in our school. We have been able to select a sequence and differentiate accordingly, using the same text.
Supporting learning across the curriculum
Supporting the connected learning approach in NI, the books offer a range of cross-curricular links. We have made many meaningful connections between the texts and World Around Us topics/themes. We have found this particularly in the non-fiction offerings, which are dispersed throughout the curriculum maps.
“I feel more confident writing about [the Titanic] now because we have learned so much from the book.” –P5 child
In addition, sequences for the youngest children have plentiful opportunities to inspire and develop Play Based Learning provision in Foundation Stage. For example, the sequence for Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola, suggests NASA/space themed role play and letter writing station. This could be taken even further where desired and texts could certainly be embedded into existing PBL themes and plans.
This immersive approach is a thread weaving through all sequences, which has captivated both our youngest and oldest pupils alike.
Hook with a book!
The emphasis on using drama throughout the sequences has created many opportunities for development of talking and listening through role play and dialogue. I have really found that the discussion that emerges from exploring the stories, characters and themes has been rich and beneficial in developing thinking and ideas.
Further, the initial hooks create wonderful multi-sensory experiences to engage pupils and encourage them to be even more invested in the activities and stories.
“Mrs B made the wardrobe and we ate Turkish Delight…it made me feel like we were in Narnia.” – P5 child
“[I was excited when] we ran into a crime scene from the book!” –P7 child
Reflections…
Overall, The Literary Curriculum (we have used both the sequences and the Literary Leaves for reading provision) has provided a literature-rich, engaging and comprehensive approach to literacy for us. Our pupil reflections at the end of the year gave a good sense of how they have received the approach…
“Last year, I didn’t really read or write a lot but now I do.” –P6 child
“[I enjoyed] reading stories and writing things about them...I liked that it was lots of different types of writing.” –P6 child
“It’s fun to do different activities. It means it doesn’t get boring.” –P5 child
“[I was most proud of] my Narnia story because it is the best I’ve ever done. It’s super long and I was so focused.” –P5 child
“[I was most proud of] the story I’m typing out now. It is one of the longest stories I’ve written.” – P6 child
“We did A LOT of writing this year.” – P7 child
As ever, implementation of any new resource takes time, effort, tweaking and lots of reflection; there is much development still to work on. But, we believe the wealth of reading and writing that has taken place this year has been most beneficial to our pupils and we are very pleased with the variety and quantity of texts we have shared and enjoyed together. Please see some of the pics below of the displays and work samples!
1) Change Sings
2) Cinderella of the Nile
3) The Matchbox Diaries
4) Narnia
5) We are Readers display
6) Lion and the Unicorn
Laura is one of our Lead Teachers for 2022/23. She is a teacher and Literacy Coordinator in County Antrim. Her main area of interest is quality reading instruction that helps children to access and engage with the world of literature. She has always loved and been fascinated by words and language. One of her (many) favourite books is Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.
