Literacy Ideas... Interview Next Week!

[Guest]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum but I've been using the website for a few weeks for lesson ideas (its been a great help). I'm here to ask for some help?

 

I'm currently coming to the end of my Early Years PGCE for which I have completed my KS1 placement in Y1, and I'm now just a few weeks into my FS placement in FS2. I've got an interview at my dream school next week. I've got to plan and teach a 20min literacy lesson to 18 FS2s - numeracy being my strong point. The only guidence I have is that they are all working on phase 3 of Letters and Sounds.

 

The school is high achieving and so I am keen that my lesson has some challenge / the children do learn from it. I favour interactive and multisensory approaches, and the school encourages the use of ICT. I have no idea how much I can show in this short time, and do not want to try to squeeze to much in at the expense of the children's learning. My current mentor is lovely but I don't like the way in which she teaches (just a bit dated?) so I can't turn to her for advice.

 

Is it best to plan a 'stand alone lesson' or plan for a unit and teach 'the first lesson of the unit' (but would children learn much then)? I want to be noticed but I don't want to take any huge risks. I was thinking of sharing a familiar text with the children and doing a small whole group activity steming from this? - maybe We're Going on a Bear Hunt? (this could be too predictable?).

 

Sorry for the long post! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Guest]

Hi - if you go down the "bear hunt" route could you have trays with all the different stuff in - cut grass, snow( you can buy magic snow or use flour) mud etc and have the play people from small world and dolls house. You could have laminated sheets next to each bit of story for the children to write that part of the story on with dry wipe pens in groups, or you could use some of the sparklebox stuff to sequence the story if you want to go down that route?

Not sure if this helps sorry will keep thinking ems xx

[emmajess]

A stand-alone lesson might be good - nt necessaril as general practice, but as an interview. For example you could read them the poem 10 Things found in a Wizard's Pocket, with wizardy things in a wizardy bag / a wizardy puppet / some spangly props to involve children more fully, then get children to think of their own ideas to make up their own poems of things found in wizards' pockets. You could divide the class between each adult - you and T.A.? (so you don't get a poem 30 things in wiz's pocket! which would take forever to share individual ideas) Each child could have large postit / star shaped coloured paper to draw / write / have a go at writing their one idea and then they'd be collected into one poem - the adult could scribe alongside children's ideas and either the adult or any very able child (if you know who they are) could read whole poem to rest of class.

 

Try to use some visual, auditory and kinaesthetic bits in the session - so act out holding the different things in his pocket, pass round some magical items you think would be in a wizard's pocket... etc.

 

Or change it to a wizard's bag and pass his bag round - what can children feel? Hear? Smell?!!!!

 

In order to do a whole thing in 20 minutes starting wit a quick stimulus like a poem or picture is a good idea. Even with a familiar story like Bear Hunt or Goldilocks, you can't rely on the children being really familiar with it, so you'd need to read it first which would take a big part of the time allocation.

 

The other thing you could do is to give the people interviewing you examples of ways you would enhance the continuous provision to extend the work you've done in this session. So if you read Bear Hunt / Goldilocks etc in an exciting, prop-filled way, you could cheat and almost give yoursel a week's interview time(!) by saying what surrounding activities and experiences you would provide.

 

ltenatively, you could get in touch with the schol and ask what stories they've enjoyed recently or if they are following any particular lines of direction in their planning as a class so you could build on established intersts and knowledge?

 

Not sure if any of that an help at all!

 

Good luck with the interview - hope you get the job at your dream school!

 

Emma