CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENT

(CAPS)

FOUNDATION PHASE
HOME LANGUAGE GRADES R – 3

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 CONTENTS

SECTION 1 National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement for Home Languages
Grades R – 3

1.1 Background
1.2 Overview
1.3 General aims of the South African curriculum
1.4 Time allocation
1.4.1 Foundation Phase
1.4.2 Intermediate Phase
1.4.3 Senior Phase
1.4.4 Grades 10–12

SECTION 2 Introducing the Languages

2.1 Languages – the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement

Language levels
2.2 Specific aims of learning languages
2.3 Overview of the language conventions
2.4 Rationale for teaching the language skills
2.5 Language teaching approaches
Approaches to teaching literature
2.6 Time allocation in the curriculum
2.7 Requirements to offer English Home Language as a subject

SECTION 3 Content and Teaching Plans for Language Skills

3.1 Listening and speaking
3.2 Reading and viewing
3.3 Writing and presenting: process, content, strategies and texts
3.4 Language structures and conventions
3.5 Suggested teaching plans
3.5.1 Grade R
3.5.2 Grade 1
3.5.3 Grade 2
3.5.4 Grade 3

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SECTION 4 Assessment in Home Language

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Informal or daily assessment
4.3 Formal assessment
4.4 Programme of Assessment
4.4.1 Overview of requirements
4.4.2 Examinations
4.5 Recording and reporting
4.6 Moderation of assessment
4.6.1 Formal assessment
4.6.2 Oral assessment tasks
4.7 General

Glossary

Appendix 1: Language structures and conventions (reference chart)

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 SECTION 1

NATIONAL CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENT FOR

FOUNDATION PHASE HOME LANGUAGES GRADE R 3

1.1 Background
The National Curriculum Statement Grades R – 12 (NCS) stipulates policy on curriculum and
assessment in the schooling sector.

To improve implementation, the National Curriculum Statement was amended, with the
amendments coming into effect in January 2012. A single comprehensive Curriculum and
Assessment Policy document was developed for each subject to replace Subject Statements,
Learning Programme Guidelines and Subject Assessment Guidelines in Grades R - 12.

1.2 Overview
(a) The National Curriculum Statement Grades R – 12 (January 2012) represents a policy
statement for learning and teaching in South African schools and comprises the
following:
(i) National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements for each approved
school subject;
(ii) The policy document, National policy pertaining to the programme and
promotion requirements of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R – 12;
and
(iii) The policy document, National Protocol for Assessment Grades R – 12 (January
2012).

(b) The National Curriculum Statement Grades R – 12 (January 2012) replaces the two
current national curricula statements, namely the
(i) Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R - 9, Government Gazette No.
23406 of 31 May 2002, and

(ii) National Curriculum Statement Grades 10 - 12 Government Gazettes, No. 25545

of 6 October 2003 and No. 27594 of 17 May 2005.

(c) The national curriculum statements contemplated in subparagraphs (a) and (b) comprise
the following policy documents which will be incrementally repealed by the National
Curriculum Statement Grades R – 12 (January 2012) during the period 2012-2014:
(i) The Learning Area/Subject Statements, Learning Programme Guidelines and
Subject Assessment Guidelines for Grades R - 9 and Grades 10 – 12;

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 (ii) The policy document, National Policy on assessment and qualifications for
schools in the General Education and Training Band d, promulgated in
Government Notice No. 124 in Government Gazette No. 29626 of 12 February
2007;
(iii) The policy document, the National Senior Certificate: A qualification at Level 4
on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), promulgated in Government
Gazette No.27819 of 20 July 2005;
(iv) The policy document, An addendum to the policy document, the National Senior
Certificate: A qualification at Level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework
(NQF), regarding learners with special needs, published in Government Gazette,
No.29466 of 11 December 2006, is incorporated in the policy document,
National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the
National Curriculum Statement Grades R – 12; and
(v) The policy document, An addendum to the policy document, the National Senior
Certificate: A qualification at Level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework
(NQF), regarding the National Protocol for Assessment (Grades R – 12),
promulgated in Government Notice No.1267 in Government Gazette No. 29467
of 11 December 2006.

(c) The policy document, National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion
requirements of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R – 12, and the sections on the
Curriculum and Assessment Policy as contemplated in Chapters 2, 3 and 4 of this document
constitute the norms and standards of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R – 12. It
will therefore, in terms of section 6A of the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of
1996,) form the basis for the Minister of Basic Education to determine minimum outcomes
and standards, as well as the processes and procedures for the assessment of learner
achievement to be applicable to public and independent schools.

1.3 General aims of the South African Curriculum

(a) The National Curriculum Statement Grades R - 12 gives expression to the knowledge, skills
and values worth learning in South African schools. This curriculum aims to ensure that
children acquire and apply knowledge and skills in ways that are meaningful to their own
lives. In this regard, the curriculum promotes knowledge in local contexts, while being
sensitive to global imperatives.

(b) The National Curriculum Statement Grades R - 12 serves the purposes of:

 equipping learners, irrespective of their socio-economic background, race, gender,

physical ability or intellectual ability, with the knowledge, skills and values necessary
for self-fulfilment, and meaningful participation in society as citizens of a free country;
 providing access to higher education;

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  facilitating the transition of learners from education institutions to the workplace; and
 providing employers with a sufficient profile of a learner‟s competences.
(c) The National Curriculum Statement Grades R - 12 is based on the following principles:

 Social transformation: ensuring that the educational imbalances of the past are
redressed, and that equal educational opportunities are provided for all sections of the
population;
 Active and critical learning: encouraging an active and critical approach to learning,
rather than rote and uncritical learning of given truths;
 High knowledge and high skills: the minimum standards of knowledge and skills to be
achieved at each grade are specified and set high, achievable standards in all subjects;
 Progression: content and context of each grade shows progression from simple to
complex;
 Human rights, inclusivity, environmental and social justice: infusing the principles and
practices of social and environmental justice and human rights as defined in the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The National Curriculum Statement
Grades R – 12 is sensitive to issues of diversity such as poverty, inequality, race, gender,
language, age, disability and other factors;
 Valuing indigenous knowledge systems: acknowledging the rich history and heritage of
this country as important contributors to nurturing the values contained in the
Constitution; and
 Credibility, quality and efficiency: providing an education that is comparable in quality,
breadth and depth to those of other countries.
(d) The National Curriculum Statement Grades R - 12 aims to produce learners that are able to:
 identify and solve problems and make decisions using critical and creative thinking;
 work effectively as individuals and with others as members of a team;
 organise and manage themselves and their activities responsibly and effectively;
 collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information;
 communicate effectively using visual, symbolic and/or language skills in various modes;
 use science and technology effectively and critically showing responsibility towards the
environment and the health of others; and
 demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognising
that problem solving contexts do not exist in isolation.
(e) Inclusivity should become a central part of the organisation, planning and teaching at each
school. This can only happen if all teachers have a sound understanding of how to recognise
and address barriers to learning, and how to plan for diversity.
The key to managing inclusivity is ensuring that barriers are identified and addressed by all
the relevant support structures within the school community, including teachers, District-
Based Support Teams, Institutional-Level Support Teams, parents and Special Schools as
Resource Centres. To address barriers in the classroom, teachers should use various

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 curriculum differentiation strategies such as those included in the Department of Basic
Education‟s Guidelines for Inclusive Teaching and Learning (2010).

1.4 Time Allocation

1.4.1 Foundation Phase
(a) The instructional time in the Foundation Phase is as follows:
SUBJECT GRADE R GRADES 1-2 GRADE 3
(HOURS) (HOURS) (HOURS)
Home Language 10 7/8 7/8
First Additional Language 2/3 3/4
Mathematics 7 7 7
Life Skills 6 6 7
 Beginning Knowledge (1) (1) (2)
 Creative Arts (2) (2) (2)
 Physical Education (2) (2) (2)
 Personal and Social Well-being (1) (1) (1)

TOTAL 23 23 25

(b) Instructional time for Grades R, 1 and 2 is 23 hours and for Grade 3 is 25 hours.
(c) Ten hours are allocated for languages in Grades R-2 and 11 hours in Grade 3. A
maximum of 8 hours and a minimum of 7 hours are allocated for Home Language and
a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 3 hours for Additional Language in Grades
R – 2. In Grade 3 a maximum of 8 hours and a minimum of 7 hours are allocated for
Home Language and a minimum of 3 hours and a maximum of 4 hours for First
Additional Language.
(d) In Life Skills Beginning Knowledge is allocated 1 hour in Grades R – 2 and 2 hours as
indicated by the hours in brackets for Grade 3.

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1.4.2 Intermediate Phase
(a) The instructional time in the Intermediate Phase is as follows:
SUBJECT HOURS
Home Language 6
First Additional Language 5
Mathematics 6
Natural Science and Technology 3,5
Social Sciences 3
Life Skills 4
 Creative Arts (1,5)
 Physical Education (1)
 Personal and Social Well-being (1,5)
TOTAL 27,5

1.4.3 Senior Phase

(a) The instructional time in the Senior Phase is as follows:
SUBJECT HOURS
Home Language 5
First Additional Language 4
Mathematics 4,5
Natural Science 3
Social Sciences 3
Technology 2
Economic Management Sciences 2
Life Orientation 2
Arts and Culture 2
TOTAL 27,5

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1.4.4 Grades 10-12
(a) The instructional time in Grades 10-12 is as follows:
Time allocation per
Subject
week (hours)
I. Home Language 4.5
II. First Additional Language 4.5
III. Mathematics 4.5
IV. Life Orientation 2
V. A minimum of any three subjects 12 (3x4h)
selected from Group B Annexure B,
Tables B1-B8 of the policy document,
National policy pertaining to the
programme and promotion requirements
of the National Curriculum Statement
Grades R – 12, subject to the provisos
stipulated in paragraph 28 of the said
policy document.

The allocated time per week may be utilised only for the minimum required NCS subjects as
specified above, and may not be used for any additional subjects added to the list of
minimum subjects. Should a learner wish to offer additional subjects, additional time must
be allocated for the offering of these subjects.

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 SECTION 2

FOUNDATION PHASE
HOME LANGUAGE GRADES R – 3 INTRODUCTION

1. INTRODUCTION
In the Foundation Phase, the skills in the Home Language curriculum are:

Listening and speaking Thinking and Reasoning and Language Structure and
Reading and phonics Use which are integrated into all four language skills
Writing and handwriting (listening, speaking, reading and writing)

The content (knowledge, concepts and skills) contained in the National Curriculum Statement
(NCS) has been organised in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), per term,
using these headings. This CAPS provides teachers with:
 an introduction containing guidelines on how to use the Foundation Phase document
 content, concepts and skills to be taught per term
 guidelines for time allocation
 requirements for the Formal Assessment Activities and suggestions for informal assessment
 lists of recommended resources per grade.

2. AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
The Languages programme is integrated into all other subject areas. Language is used across the
curriculum in all oral work, reading and writing. Many of the Listening and Speaking Language
skills will be developed within Mathematics and Life Skills, which is made up of many subjects
such as Creative Arts and Beginning Knowledge including Personal and Social Well-being, Natural
Sciences and Technology and the Social Sciences. Themes and topics can be selected from these
subject areas to provide contexts for the teaching of language skills.

3. TIME ALLOCATION

The following time allocations for languages come into effect in 2012. For Language in the
Foundation Phase time will be determined by the language context of the school. Schools can
choose whether to give relatively more or less time to the Home and First Additional Languages

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 depending on the needs of their learners. The minimum time for the Home Language and First
Additional Languages is provided in brackets in the table below.

Home Language First Additional Language

Grade R 8 (7) hours 3 (2) hours
Grade 1 8 (7) hours 3 (2) hours
Grade 2 8 (7) hours 3 (2) hours
Grade 3 8 (7) hours 4 (3) hours

The Department does not prescribe how to break down the minimum time into the different
components although the following suggestions are made for each grade.

GRADE 1 HOME LANGUAGE Total per week

Listening & speaking 15 minutes per day for 3 days 45 minutes
Reading & Phonics Phonics: 15 minutes per day for 5 days (1 hour 15 minutes) 4 hours 30minutes
Shared Reading: 15 minutes per day for 3 days
(45 minutes)
Group Reading: 30 minutes per day (2 groups each for 15
minutes) for 5 days (2 hour 30 minutes)
Handwriting 15 minutes per day for 4 days 1 hour
Writing 15 minutes per day for 3 days 45 minutes
Total per week 7 hours

GRADE 2 HOME LANGUAGE Total per week

Listening & speaking 15 minutes per day for 3 days 45 minutes
Reading & phonics Phonics: 15 minutes per day for 4 days (1 hour 15 minutes) 4 hours 30 minutes
Shared Reading: 15 minutes per day for 3 days
(45 minutes)
Group Reading: 30 minutes per day (2 groups each for 15
minutes) for 5 days (2 hours 30 minutes)
Handwriting 15 minutes per day for 3 days 45 minutes
Writing 15 minutes per day for 4 days 1 hour
Total per week 7 hours

GRADE 3 HOME LANGUAGE Total per week

Listening & speaking 15 minutes per day for 3 days 45 minutes
Reading & Phonics Phonics 15 minutes per day for 3 days (45 minutes) 4 hours 30 minutes
Shared Reading 20 minutes per day for 3 days
(1 hour)
Group Reading 30 minutes per day (2 groups each for 15
minutes) for 5 days (2 hours 30 minutes)
Handwriting 15 minutes per day for 3 days 45 minutes
Writing 20 minutes per day for 3 days 1 hour
Total per week 7 hours

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The Department does not prescribe how to break down the maximum time into the different
components although the following suggestions are made for each grade.

GRADE 1 HOME LANGUAGE Total per week

Listening & speaking 15 minutes per day for 4 days 1 hour
Reading & Phonics Phonics: 15 minutes per day for 5 days (1 hour 15 minutes) 5 hours
Shared Reading/Shared Writing: 15 minutes per day for 5 days
(1 hour 15 minutes)
Group Reading: 30 minutes per day (2 groups each for 15
minutes) for 5 days (2 hour 30 minutes)
Handwriting 15 minutes per day for 4 days 1 hour
Writing 20 minutes per day for 3 days 1 hour
Total per week 8 hours

GRADE 2 HOME LANGUAGE Total per week

Listening & speaking 15 minutes per day for 4 days 1 hour
Reading & phonics Phonics: 15 minutes per day for 5 days (1 hour 15 minutes) 5 hours
Shared Reading/Shared Writing: 15 minutes per day for 5 days
(1 hour 15 minutes)
Group Reading: 30 minutes per day (2 groups each for 15
minutes) for 5 days (2 hour 30 minutes)
Handwriting 15 minutes per day for 4 days 1 hour
Writing 20 minutes per day for 3 days 1 hour
Total per week 8 hours

GRADE 3 HOME LANGUAGE Total per week

Listening & speaking 15 minutes per day for 4 days 1 hour
Reading & phonics Phonics: 15 minutes per day for 5 days (1 hour 15 minutes) 5 hours
Shared Reading/Shared Writing: 15 minutes per day for 5 days
(1 hour 15 minutes)
Group Reading: 30 minutes per day (2 groups each for 15
minutes) for 5 days (2 hour 30 minutes)
Handwriting 15 minutes per day for 4 days 1 hour
Writing 20 minutes per day for 3 days 1 hour
Total per week 8 hours

4. ASSESSMENT
The CAPS document provides the requirements for each Formal Assessment Activity.
GRADE SUBJECT TERM 1 TERM 2 TERM 3 TERM 4 TOTAL
1 Home Language 1 2 2 2 7
2 Home Language 1 2 2 2 7
3 Home Language 1 3 3 2 9

In Term 1 there is only one Formal Assessment Activity (made up of a number of parts dealing with
different aspects of Language) in Grades 1 – 3. In Grade 1 schools are encouraged to conduct a
baseline assessment in the first term. In Grades 2 and 3 the Annual National Assessments (ANA)
will be used at the beginning of the first term. In addition, suggestions are given for informal
assessment that will inform daily teaching and learning but will not be formally recorded.

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5. LISTENING AND SPEAKING
Children are constantly developing their listening and speaking skills not only in each of the
components of Language but also during other subjects. Because listening and speaking are crucial
to all learning, it is important that these skills are effectively developed early in a child‟s academic
life. Hence, in the Foundation Phase, there is time specifically dedicated to the development of
these two important skills.

The time allocation for Listening and Speaking provides for (1) the time spent at the beginning of
the day and (2) focussed listening and speaking activities.

5.1 Oral work at the beginning of the day

Each morning should begin with a brief whole class oral activity with children. Use this time to:
 Talk about the day, date, the weather chart, children who have birthdays and any special
events for the day.
 Check attendance: take a roll call to identify children present / absent
 Hear a few children share their news, „show and tell‟ about a picture or object, talk about the
diary, sports, concerts, topical events and story-telling. Try to listen to every child‟s news at
least once every two weeks.

5.2 Focussed activities

Specific attention should be given to listening and speaking skills throughout the Foundation Phase.
The time allocated to Oral includes Listening and Speaking Activities that target specific skills at
least twice a week. The CAPS document thus provides (1) daily/weekly listening and speaking
skills and (2) a list of other essential listening and speaking skills. This division helps teachers to
plan their teaching so that their focussed listening and speaking lessons concentrate on developing 2
– 3 specific skills at a time. These focussed activities should be integrated with Drama which is part
of Creative Arts in Life Skills.

6. READING AND WRITING FOCUS TIME

In Grades 1 – 3, Reading and Writing take place in Reading and Writing Focus Time. It is here,
through clear, focussed lessons that children will be taught to be effective readers and writers. Time
every day must be set aside for focussed lessons covering reading (Shared Reading, Group Guided
Reading, Paired and Independent Reading, Phonics) and writing (Shared Writing, Group Writing
and Individual Writing, grammar and spelling activities). During this time the teacher does group

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guided reading with two groups while other children are busy with consolidation activities such as
written comprehension, phonics, spelling, grammar and writing. Paired / independent reading can
also take place at the same time.

The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for the Foundation Phase divides
the requirements for Reading into:
 Shared Reading (including Shared Writing)
 Group Guided Reading
 Paired / Independent Reading
 Phonics (including Phonemic Awareness)

6.1 Shared Reading

Shared Reading (and/or Shared Writing) usually happens in the first 15 minutes of the Reading
and Writing Focus Time. The teacher works with the whole class. Shared Reading will happen on
two to four days a week using a single, enlarged text for the whole class such as Big Books, posters
and pictures or a text on an overhead transparency or individual fiction and non-fiction texts for
each child. Although there will normally be only one text used per week, the texts selected for each
grade should increase in length and complexity across the year and across the grades. Children will
be introduced to a range of stories, poems, rhymes and plays as well as information and graphical
texts.

Each Shared Reading session will have a learning focus from the following: concepts of print, text
features, phonics, language patterns, word identification strategies and comprehension at a range
of levels (e.g. literal, reorganization, inferential, evaluation and appreciation questions). The first
session focuses on the enjoyment and first „look‟ at the text, with the children giving a personal
response to the text. In the next session the same text is used and the focus shifts to more
involvement in the reading with the teacher using the discussions that take place to develop
vocabulary, comprehension, decoding skills and text structures (grammar, punctuation etc). On the
third, and possibly the fourth day, children read the text themselves and engage in oral, practical
and written activities based on the text. Some texts might only be used over a day or two, especially
in Grade 2 and Grade 3.

6.2 Shared Writing

Where possible, the Shared Reading text should inform the Shared Writing where the teacher
models how to write a text. Children engage in the composition of the text while the teacher takes

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on the role of facilitator and scribe. The Shared Reading text can be consulted to provide examples
of language patterns, spelling choices or other text features useful in the preparation of new texts.
This modelling of the writing process helps to prepare children for their own writing tasks. Shared
Reading and Shared Writing should take place in Grades 1 – 3.

6.3 Group, Guided Reading

This is an ability-group reading teaching strategy where all the members in the group read the
same text under the direction of the teacher and should take place every day. Guided reading
involves the teacher in a session with a group of between 6 and 10 children. The teacher plans the
lessons to include a range of word-attack strategies that children will learn to apply when meeting
challenges in texts. The „text talk‟ between teacher and children (and children with each other) is
central to this approach. During this time the teacher should not be interrupted by other children
who are doing independent activities. Each group session should be between 10 and 15 minutes
long with two groups reading with the teacher every day (approximately half an hour per day in
total).

6.4 Forming ability groups

Texts are selected according to the group‟s instructional reading level. The easiest way of
establishing this level and dividing children into groups is through observation of the readers as
they read a text. Here is a list of observable behaviour that will help in grouping children for Guided
Reading sessions.
 The text must be read with ease but still have a few challenges for the reader either at a
decoding or at the comprehension level. The reader should recognise and quickly decode
90% – 95% of the words. They should all finish reading the selection within a minute of
each other.
 They will read fluently and with appropriate expression
 They will be interested in the text
 They will not need to finger-point while reading
 They will read silently

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Steps in a Group Guided Reading Lesson
I. Select an appropriate text:
Graded readers will mostly be used for group reading. They should be at a lower level than the
texts used for Shared Reading. Read through the text beforehand and note any features of
structure, vocabulary or syntax that may be challenging for the children. These may provide
the teacher with a teaching focus.

II. Introduction:
Introduce the type of book or chapter for the session and introduce the topic. Assist the
children to make connections with the topic and their own life experiences. Keep this „talk‟
focused and just enough for the children to read successfully (2 – 3 minutes).

III. Picture Talk or Browsing:

With very young children briefly talk through the illustrations of the book or the chapter
pointing out significant details and raising questions about what might be happening at this
point in the text. With older children teach them to browse through the text paying attention to
captions, chapter headings and any other organisational features such as table of contents
and/or sub-headings within the text. Where new or difficult words appear in the text, the
teacher introduces these words in the „text talk‟, prior to the children reading the text
themselves. This should last for 2 – 3 minutes.

IV. First Reading:

Children read the text individually. The very early readers can read aloud or „whisper read‟
the text, while more experienced readers read silently until the teacher asks them to read out
loud. The teacher observes the children‟s reading behaviours and may select an additional
teaching focus based on these observations. The teacher moves from child to child and listens
to each read a small section of the text aloud. The teacher prompts the children at this stage by
saying, e.g.:
 What do you expect to read in this book?
 Does that make sense to you?
 Well done! You corrected yourself. That makes sense.
 What would sound right in this sentence?
 Look at the illustration.
 It could be but look at the first letter again.

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 V. Discussion:
If children raised questions in the picture talk stage, return to these questions and discuss the
answers. The discussion could also include a focus on phonics, comprehension or on an aspect
of grammar. Discuss the text bearing in mind the range of questions that should be integrated
into the discussion to develop comprehension.

VI. Second and subsequent readings:

On subsequent days children re-read the text either in pairs or alone. The prime focus here is
to develop fluency and provide opportunities to use the text to develop vocabulary, grammar
and deeper comprehension of the text. Vary the manner in which this is done, e.g., reading
parts of a character or taking turns to read a page or paragraph. Older, more experienced
readers may select a particular passage to work on in this time.

Paired and Independent Reading

Paired and Independent Reading provides children with reading practice and encourages reading for
enjoyment.

Children can reread their class or group readers, or they can read simple „fun‟ books or
supplementary readers. The text should be at a lower level than that used for Shared and Group
Guided Reading. Paired reading can take place at any time, anywhere, as a class reading activity.
Children can sit in pairs inside or outside of the classroom to read together or take turns to read or
two children who have completed their tasks can read together while other children complete their
work.

If children read books on their own they also develop fluency, provided that the books are easy
enough for the children to read without help. Short, simple books with predictable text and
colourful illustrations are ideal. Some teachers like to give children individual reading to do at
home. This home reading should consist of re-reading the group reading book or reading simple,
„fun‟ books. This extra reading practice, done on a regular basis every day, plays an important
role in learning to read.

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The five components of teaching reading
Most reading experts agree that there are five main components to the teaching of reading:
 Phonemic awareness
 Word recognition (sight words and phonics)
 Comprehension
 Vocabulary
 Fluency
Each of these components needs to be taught explicitly and practised on a daily basis.

Phonemic awareness
Phonemic awareness is recognising that speech consists of a sequence of sounds and being able to
recognise these individual sounds, how they make words and how these words can make sentences.
Developing this awareness should begin early in Grade 1.

A sequence for the teaching of phonemic awareness could be:

 Activities that focus on rhyme (e.g. What rhymes with cow?)
 Activities that focus on syllable units (e.g. Clap for your name, e.g. Pau – la)
 Activities that focus on onset (the part before the vowel) and rime (the vowel(s) + the
consonant(s) that follow) (e.g. St + and, br + own).
 Activities that focus on phonemes: Put these sounds together: /st/-/o/-/p/
 Matching activities: Do these start the same? Sandwich/sandbag
 Isolation activities: What do you hear at the beginning of black?
 Substitution activities: What word would you have if you replaced /st/ in stool with /f/?
 Blending activities: Which word would you have if you put these sounds together:
 /str/ā/n/ (blending phonemes)
 /str/ain/ (blending onset and rime)
 /mu/mmy/ (blending syllables)
 Segmentation activities: Say the parts you hear in this word:
 Stable: /stā-/ble/ (separating syllables)
 Dog: /d/-/o/-/g/ (separating phonemes)
 Deletion activities
 Say stirfry without the stir (syllable deletion)
 Say friend without the /fr/ (onset deletion)

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  Say Pete without the /p/ (phoneme deletion)

Useful activities to develop basic skills such as listening include listening games, nursery rhymes,
rhyming games and games using alliteration (words that begin with the same sound).

Phonics
Phonics refers to the sounds in words and the symbols (letters of the alphabet) used to represent
them. It is an important tool in both reading and writing.

There are a range of phonic programmes available. Schools may select the programme that will
support explicit and systematic teaching of phonics through the school. Schools should remain loyal
to their chosen programme. The suggested sequence of introducing the phonic elements in the
CAPS document is a guide. Where phonic programmes have different sequences, follow these
instead. However, the pacing of introducing the phonic elements should be similar to the pacing in
the CAPS document.

Phonics and handwriting should be linked as the teaching of the letter sound and how to write it go
together. Teach the more frequently used sounds first in Grade 1. Also bear in mind letter formation
so that, for example, one might choose to teach the letter c before a and the letter l before h and b.
The CAPS document paces the introduction of phonics so that 1 – 2 new sounds are introduced
each week during the first two terms so that at least eight sounds are taught by the end of the first
term and the remainder by the end of the second term. Some consonant and vowel combinations can
be introduced in the second half of Grade 1. At the same time continue practice in building and
breaking down words.

In Grade 2 and Grade 3 more consonant and vowel combinations are taught, increasing in
complexity over the year and across the two grades. The teaching of phonics is not an isolated
activity and should be linked to the Shared Reading programme.

As children are learning the sound symbol system of the language taught, they should be
encouraged to use „invented spelling‟ until such time that they learn conventional spellings.
Children who use „invented spelling‟ become better spellers than those who do not. Strive for the
children to write with phonemic accuracy where each sound in a word is represented in writing such
as „becors‟ or „stashun‟.

19
Spelling is closely linked to phonics and the spelling programme should be informed by the phonics
taught during that week. Whilst the teaching of spelling will be informal during Grades 1 and 2, in
Grade 3 a more formal spelling programme should be implemented with periodic, informal spelling
tests and dictations. However, correct spelling needs to be evident in children‟s written work and
not only in spelling tests and dictations.

Word Recognition
Sight words (or „look and say‟ words) involve the child recognising an individual word „on sight‟
through the use of continued repetition of a word. Words that appear frequently in text (high
frequency words) can be learnt in this way. English, unlike many languages, contains a large
percentage of irregular words,that is, words that are not spelt as they sound so there is a strong
argument for teaching sight words in English.

Use the Shared Reading and Group Guided Reading lessons to model the following five finger
strategy where each finger represents a strategy the reader can use to systematically figure out how
to read an unknown word and its meaning:
 The thumb: Leave the word out and read to the end of the sentence.
 The first finger: Look at the picture
 The second finger: Look at the word and to see if any parts of the word are known.
 The third finger: Sound the word out
 The fourth finger: Ask for help in reading the word or understanding its meaning
Start teaching children this process when they meet unknown words.

Comprehension:
During the reading lessons the teacher has many opportunities to engage children in a range of
levels of thinking and questioning. Here are a few ways of starting questions that will help to
develop both lower and higher order comprehension skills.

Literal comprehension
 Identify…. (e.g. Identify the main character in the story.)
 Point out… (e.g. Point out the car the robber was driving.)
 Read/quote the line that… (e.g. Read the line that tells you the grandmother was unhappy.)
 Describe… (e.g. Describe the villain of the story.)
 Find… (e.g. Find the name of the book she was reading.)
 Show … (e.g. Show me the part of the story you liked best.)
20
  Locate … (e.g. Locate the place the family was driving to in the story.)
 State… (e.g. State the name of the little black dog that ran away.)
Reorganisation
 Compare…. (e.g. Compare the two sisters. What was different?)
 List …. (e.g. List the places the grandfather visited.)
 Contrast… (e.g. Contrast the place where they were living with their new home.)
 Divide….into…. (e.g. Divide the different animals in the story into two groups, those that
were kind to the girl and those that tried to eat her.)
 Classify… (e.g. Classify the animals in the story.)
 Summarise… (e.g. Summarise the story in not more than four sentences.)
 How is….different to… (e.g. How is the hero different from the villain?)
Inferential
 Pretend… (e.g. Pretend you were the hero. What would you have done?)
 Suppose… (e.g. Suppose the zookeeper had left the cage door open. What would have
happened?)
 Could…. (e.g. Could the man have reached the other side of the river a different way?)
 What are the implications … (e.g. What happened because of that decision?)
 What might have happened if…. (e.g. What might have happened if his father had gone to see
his uncle?)
 What consequences…. (e.g. What were the consequences of her actions?)
Evaluation
 Should… (e.g. Should her grandmother have told her the story?)
 In your opinion… (e.g. In your opinion was the boy right to behave that way?)
 Do you agree… (e.g. Do you agree that leaving home was the best choice?)
 Would you have… (e.g. Would you have done the same thing if you were in that position?
 Is it right that… (e.g. Is it right that his uncle threw him out of the house because he stole
some bread?)
 What best describes… (e.g. What best describes the main character in the story?)
Appreciation
 What did you think when… (e.g. What did you think would happen when the lion opened his
mouth?)
 Is this word/phrase effective for… (e.g. Is this word a good word to describe the villain?)
 Do you know anyone like… (e.g. Do you know anyone who behaves like his sister?)
 Why did you like/dislike… (e.g. Why did you dislike her uncle?)

21
Work also on meta-cognitive skills to teach children to monitor themselves when reading, both in
the area of word recognition and comprehension. Children should be taught to ask: „Does it sound
right?‟, „Does it look right?‟ and „Does it make sense?‟ Model the process in Shared Reading and
apply it in Guided Reading with support.

Reading fluency
Fluency in reading involves:
 Accuracy in decoding: being able to accurately identify the majority of words
 The rate or speed of reading: immediately recognising words or being able to get the words
off the page quickly and effortlessly
 :Reading smoothly with appropriate phrasing and expression
 Comprehension
Fluency levels can be improved by teaching specific reading skills for decoding and word
recognition, by selecting simpler texts, by providing more interesting texts, by rereading books and
by increasing the volume of texts read.

“Read alouds” by the teacher

A final and vital component of a balanced reading programme is the reading aloud (story-time) by
the teacher. This develops a whole range of language skills (including those of reading) in a
meaningful context and is at the heart of a balanced programme for literacy. Through “read alouds”
teachers can create in children a love of reading and a passion for stories.

More information on all aspects of the teaching of reading can be found in the Department of Basic
Education‟s handbook, Teaching Reading in the Early Grades. (2008).

7. WRITING
Children begin Grade 1 by „writing‟ using pictures but as they master the skills of letter formation
they can start to copy individual words, captions and full sentences which they can then illustrate.
By the middle of Grade 1 children should be able to write their own captions for their pictures and
construct at least one sentence. Give support by providing sentence starters or frames, e.g., „I
want…‟. Give each child an A5 book to use as a personal dictionary. Provide cloze procedure
exercises in which children complete a sentence by adding a word and simple questions that
children can answer with Yes/No or a single word.

22
The Shared Writing activities model the writing process so that children understand how individual
letters form a word, how separate words form a sentence, the importance of spaces between words
and the use of punctuation. Through Shared Writing children develop an extended vocabulary and
come to understand how sentences can be enriched by the use of interesting adjectives and adverbs.
As children become more skilled in writing their own sentences, introduce the concept of
paragraphs.

The CAPS uses the process approach to writing. The process involves children in drafting, writing,
editing and presenting text for others to read. Foundation Phase children will not rewrite their work,
but rather edit by drawing a line through unwanted words and adding text where necessary.

Handwriting
The CAPS document makes provision for the systematic teaching of the skills of handwriting, in
short periods in the various grade levels, for approximately 15 minutes per day.

Pre-writing programme
Before starting to teach formal handwriting in Grade 1, children should follow a pre-writing
programme to develop visual discrimination, gross and fine motor and hand-eye coordination, body
image etc. They need to be taught the correct pencil grip, how to form the letters, the starting point,
size, shape, and direction of movement. Later guide children to position and space letters on and
between the lines. The correct sitting position is also important. Young children often have
difficulty in copying from the board as their eyes need time to refocus from the board to the page in
front of them and their short-term visual memory may not be well developed. It helps to give
children in Grades 1 – 3 writing strips containing a row of letters for the children to copy during
Handwriting.

Transition to a joined script or cursive writing

By the end of Grade 1 children should be able to form all the lower and upper case letters correctly
and fluently and copy sentences correctly from the board or from sentence strips. In Grade 2
children develop greater speed in writing print script and it is in this grade that most schools will
begin teaching a joined script or cursive writing. Whilst the choice in regard to the handwriting
script remains with a school/province children should be taught to write a form of joined script or
cursive writing by the end of Grade 3. Most children make the transition to this script during the
first half of Grade 3.

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Materials
In Grade 1 children begin by writing on blank paper using wax crayons. In time they progress to
writing on 17mm lines using pencils for formal handwriting lessons, although many schools prefer
to continue using blank jotters for other written work even in Grade 2. By Grade 3 children make
the transition to using 8.5mm lined books. The exact time for these transitions will depend on the
level of the children and the school‟s policy.

Barriers to learning
The Language periods should provide opportunities to support children with barriers to learning,
enrichment for those who are doing well, assessment activities and time to write. Written work must
be marked and overseen by the teacher so that progress of each individual child can be tracked,
monitored and can be used to inform the next steps to be taken in the learning pathway. Read aloud
to the children daily to ensure vocabulary growth and development.

8. GRADE R
The Grade R organisation of language learning is based on principles of integration and play-
based learning. The teacher should be pro-active, a mediator rather than a facilitator. A mediator
makes the most of incidental learning opportunities that arise spontaneously through a range of
child-centred activities, such as free-play in the fantasy corner or block construction site, and
teacher-directed activities such as a story „ring‟ or other „rings‟. Issues relating to language as well
as social, emotional and other forms of development such as fine and gross motor present
themselves naturally in the routines and activities of a quality Grade R daily schedule. All these
settings could provide opportunities for a teacher to purposely intervene and „mediate‟ incidental
learning that promotes emergent literacy. A traditional, formal classroom-based learning
programme that is tightly structured and „basics bound‟ should be avoided as it does not optimise
literacy acquisition for the Grade R child. Grade R should not be a „watered down‟ Grade One. It
has its own unique characteristics based on how children in this age group make sense of their
world and acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that will allow them to maximise the
opportunities afforded in the formal learning years.

Focus on informal and spontaneous learning in various „rings‟ during the day. Also develop a
daily programme that allows optimal time for free play and is coupled with an acute awareness on
the part of the teacher of what could be called „teachable moments‟, moments that arise in many
instances out of the children‟s own interests and creativity. The entire school day should be viewed
as possibilities for enhancing literacy learning; either because of the direct intervention of the

24
teacher, through planned mediated moments, including teacher-guided activities or because of the
numerous incidental learning opportunities that occur during the day and enable the teacher to
promote learning though utilising the „teachable moment‟. Such moments most frequently occur
during routine periods and, of course, free play.

From a literacy perspective, teachable moments will afford the teacher the opportunity to ask, for
example, open-ended questions or to offer an alternative suggestion to the child and so instil in the
child the desire to further his/her own learning. It becomes a question of the teacher knowing when
to intervene in the learning process and when to stand back and allow the child the opportunity of
providing his/her own solution to the problem at hand.

In the Grade R year the time table is called the daily programme and it comprises three main
components, namely teacher-guided activities, routines and child-initiated activities or free
play. Specific teacher-guided literacy learning opportunities are offered during the morning
language ring (for example, theme/topic discussion/language ring; daily weather discussions; telling
„news‟; show and tell rings and story time). Depending on the choice of focus (i.e. the teacher must
have a clear idea of what learning s/he wants to promote) creative art activities, perceptual rings,
movement, music and dramatisation rings can have a very specific literacy focus especially in
refining the perceptual-motor concepts and skills which underpin formal reading.

Routines provide excellent opportunities for incidentally promoting various literacy skills. For
example, instead of letting the children stand in a queue and wait to go to the bathroom, the teacher
can use this time to promote phonemic awareness. All children whose names begin with the
letter/sound „S‟ go to the bathroom, now children whose names begin with the letter/sound „N‟ etc.
The other children could be playing word games such as „I spy with my little eye‟ or having
vocabulary reinforced, for example, what rhymes with dog; what do you think dogs like to eat?
Snack time and tidy up time provide similar learning opportunities as the teacher encourages the
children to play fun sound and word games.

During free-play the teacher can promote literacy in two ways. Firstly, through the structuring of
the free play area. The teacher provides choices based on the types of learning opportunities she/he
would like to promote. Outdoor free play such as climbing on a wooden climbing frame or riding on
the cycle track might promote spatial awareness behaviours such as crossing the midline (one of the
important perceptual-motor behaviours for acquiring both reading and writing skills) and encourage
letter/word recognition by providing opportunities for children to „read‟ road signs. Indoor free play
activities should provide similar literacy learning opportunities. A memory game encourages visual

25
memory and a fantasy corner promotes speaking and listening opportunities. The second way of
promoting literacy during free play is through purposeful intervention. This can be done through,
for example, the asking of thoughtful questions which extend thinking and enlarge vocabulary. By
making helpful suggestions and inviting a child to think about alternative answers and ways of
problem solving, a teacher can encourage a child to think more deeply about an issue and find good
reasons for the choices they make. In this way not only literacy but holistic development is
addressed.

In a balanced, flexible language rich daily programme, literacy learning opportunities are offered
throughout the day. At the same time, important principles underpinning early learning are
reinforced, namely, that young children learn best through movement (kinaesthetically) and then
through interacting with concrete materials (three dimensional learning) before engaging with table
top and paper and pencil activities (two dimensional representational activities).

Assessment practices in Grade R should be informal and children should not be subjected to a
„test ‟ situation. For this reason Assessment Activities have not been included in the Grade R
Curriculum and Assessment Policy Document (CAPS). Each activity used for assessment should be
carefully planned so that it integrates a variety of skills. In Grade R most of the assessment takes
place through observation with the teacher recording the results of the assessment using a checklist.
Thus, as the year progresses a full picture of each child complete with challenges and strengths is
gradually built. This allows for challenges to be addressed and strengths to be maximised.

26
 LANGUAGE
DAILY PROGRAMME: GRADE R
 ACTIVITIES DESIGNED
(FROM ± 7:30 – 13:00) FROM CAPS (HOME
LANGUAGE)
30  STORIES
MIN ARRIVAL AND FREE PLAY
 DRAMATISATION
 BOOKS/PICTURES
 PICTURE READING
GREETING BIRTHDAYS
Language  PICTURE -DISCUSSIONS
REGISTER NEWS
40 Mathematics  PERCEPTUAL
WEATHER CHART
MIN Life Skills ACTIVITIES
TEACHER Lang  PARENT POSTER
GUIDED Math  PARENT LETTER
ACTIVITY LS  NEWS
 POEMS/RHYMES
 MUSIC/SONGS/RHYMES
FANTASY PLAY  TAPES
ART ACTIVITY (every ROLE PLAY  THEME DISCUSSIONS
CONSTRUCTION  HUMAN MOVEMENT
day: 1 MAIN + 2/3
- PLAY
supporting activities ACTIVITIES
60 BLOCKS  ROUTINES
MIN FREE PLAY INSIDE EDUCATIONAL  FREE PLAY
TIDY UP INSIDE TOYS
PERCEPTUAL -
30 GAMES LIFE SKILLS
TEACHER Lang PUZZLES
MIN GUIDED Maths BOOK CORNER  ACTIVITIES DESIGNED
ACTIVITY LS QUIET TIME FROM CAPS (LIFE
SKILLS)
10 MIN TOILET ROUTINE Lang, Math, LS, QUIET AREA
 HUMAN MOVEMENT
ACTIVITIES
20 MIN REFRESHMENTS Lang, Math, LS  SONGS AND MUSIC
 POEMS AND RHYMES
WATER PLAY  THEME DISCUSSION
SAND PLAY  BIRTHDAYS
ROLE PLAY  ROUTINES
FREE PLAY
60 BALLS  FREE PLAY
OUTSIDE
MIN SWINGS
and
WHEEL TOYS
TIDY UP
EDUCATIONAL
TOYS MATHEMATICS
JUNGLE GYM
TYRES  ACTIVITIES DESIGNED
10 MIN TOILET ROUTINE Lang, Math, LS
H. MOVEMENT FROM CAPS (MATH)
GAMES  SONGS AND MUSIC
ACTIVITIES
TEACHER Lang  PERCEPTUAL
30
GUIDED Math ACTIVITIES
MIN
ACTIVITY LS
 COUNTING RHYMES
 THEME DISCUSSIONS
 SCIENCE
30 EXPERIMENTS
MIN STORY Every day  FREE PLAY
 ROUTINES

15 REST/QUIET TIME and

MIN DEPARTURE

27
OVERVIEW OF THE LANGUAGE SKILLS TO BE TAUGHT IN THE HOME LANGUAGE GRADES R – 3
GRADE R GRADE 1 GRADE 2 GRADE 3
 Listens to stories and acts these  Listens to stories and expresses  Listens to stories and poems and  Listens for the main idea and for
out feelings about the story answers higher-order questions detail in stories and answers open-
 Listens and responds to simple  Listens to instructions and  Listens to a complex sequence of ended questions
questions announcements and responds instructions and responds  Listens to a story and works out
 Listens to and repeats rhythmic appropriately appropriately cause and effect
patterns, and copies correctly  Listens without interrupting, taking  Listens without interrupting showing  Expresses feelings about a text and
 Listens to and recalls simple turns to speak and asking questions respect for the speaker, asking gives reasons
word sequences in order (e.g. for clarification questions and commenting on what  Listens to a complex sequence of
big, beg, bag)  Listens, enjoys and responds to was heard instructions and responds
 Names and points to parts of the picture and word puzzles, riddles  Talks about personal experiences and appropriately
body and jokes more general news  Engages in conversation as a
 Sings simple songs and does  Talks about personal experiences  Tells a story that has a beginning, social skill, accepting and
action rhymes and feelings middle and end respecting the way others speak
 Talks about pictures in posters,  Tells a familiar story which has a  Expresses feelings about a story or  Makes an oral presentation (e.g.
theme charts, books etc beginning, middle and end poem and gives reasons tells personal news, describes
  
LISTENING AND SPEAKING

Matches and sorts things Answers closed and open-ended Answers open-ended questions and something experienced, recounts
according to shape, colour etc questions justifies answer an event)
 Participates in discussions and  Role plays different situations  Makes up own rhymes  Tells a short story with a simple
asks questions  Participates in class discussions  Role plays different situations plot and different characters
 Uses terms such as sentence, capital  Participates in discussions, and reports  Uses language imaginatively (e.g.
letter, full stop back on the group‟s work tells jokes and riddles)
 Uses terms such as noun, adjective,  Interviews people for a particular
verb, pronoun, preposition, comma, purpose
question mark, paragraph  Uses terms such as subject, verb,
object, question, statement,
command, synonym, antonym,
exclamation mark

28
OVERVIEW OF THE LANGUAGE SKILLS TO BE TAUGHT IN THE HOME LANGUAGE GRADES R – 3

GRADE R GRADE 1 GRADE 2 GRADE 3

 Identifies rhyming words  Identifies letter–sound  Consolidates Grade 1 phonics  Consolidates Grade 1&2 phonics
in well known rhymes and relationships of all single  Revises common consonant digraphs  Recognises consonant digraphs at the
songs such as Humpty letters (sh, ch, th) at the beginning and end of beginning and end of words (sh-, -sh,
Dumpty  Builds words using sounds words ch-, -ch, th-, -th and wh-) at the
 Begins to recognise that learnt (e.g. words with. -at, -  Recognises „wh‟ at the beginning of a beginning and end of words
words are made up of et, -it, -ot, -ut, -ag, e.g. -ig, - word  Recognises „silent e‟ or split digraphs
sounds, e.g. the beginning og, -ug, -an, -en, -in, -un, -  Uses initial and final consonant blends in words (e.g. same, bite, note)
letter(s) of their names am) to build up and break down words, ,  Recognises vowels such as -ere, -air, -
 Segments oral sentences  Uses consonant blends to e.g. bl-a-ck, bri-ng, sa-ng 3-letter are
into individual words build up and break down consonant blends at the beginning of  Recognises and uses spelling patterns
 Divides multisyllabic words (r and l blends ) words, e.g. str-ip, str-ap (e.g. -igh (high), -ough (tough), -eigh
words into syllables  Recognises common  Recognises vowel digraphs, e.g. „oo‟ as (neigh), -augh (caught)
 Recognises aurally and consonant digraphs at the in moon, „ee‟ as in tree, „oa‟; „ea‟ short  Recognises and uses rhyming words
visually some initial beginning and end of a „oo‟ as in book, „ai‟ as in „rain‟ (e.g. blow, flow, glow)
consonants and vowels word, e.g. sh, ch and th  Recognises „silent e‟/split digraph in  Recognises that some sounds can be
especially at the beginning  Recognises plurals („s‟ and words, for xample. tape represented by a number of different
of a word „es‟) and word endings (  Recognises at least 5 new vowel spelling choices, e.g. ow (cow) ou
„ing‟ and „ed‟) aurally digraphs, e.g. „ar‟ as in car, „er‟ as in (found), aw (draw), au (autumn); tie,
 Groups common words into fern, „ir‟ as in shirt, „or‟ as in short, „ur‟ high, sky; few, blue
sound families as in church etc.  Recognises digraphs making /f/, e.g.
 Recognises common double consonants „ph‟ as in elephant)
such as ll,at the end of words  Recognises silent letters in words, i.e.
 Recognises and uses suffixes such as – „k‟, „l‟, „b‟ „w‟
ly, -ies  Recognises hard and soft sounds of „c‟
 Spells words correctly using their and „g‟
phonic knowledge  Recognises and uses synonyms and
 Builds words using the phonic sounds antonyms
taught during the year.  Recognises and uses prefixes such as
un-, re-) and suffixes such as -ful, -
ness)
 Uses words that are pronounced and
spelt the same but have different
meanings (homophones)
PHONICS

 Uses words that sound the same but

are spelt differently
 Builds 3, 4 and 5-letter words
 Sorts letters and words into

29
 alphabetical order
 Spells words correctly using their
phonic knowledge

OVERVIEW OF THE LANGUAGE SKILLS TO BE TAUGHT IN THE HOME LANGUAGE GRADES R – 3

GRADE R GRADE 1 GRADE 2 GRADE 3
Emergent Reading Skills Emergent Reading Skills Shared Reading as a class with Shared Reading as a class with teacher
 Recognises and points out  Develops book handling skills teacher  Reads enlarged texts such as fiction
common objects in pictures (holding the book and turning  Reads Big Books or other enlarged and non-fiction big books,
 Arranges a set of pictures in pages correctly) texts (e.g. fiction and non-fiction newspaper articles, plays, dialogues
such a way that they form a  Interprets pictures to make up books, poems and songs) and electronic texts (computer texts)
story own story i.e. „reads‟ the  Uses visual cues i.e. pictures and  Reads book and discusses the main
 Interprets pictures , e.g. pictures the cover of a book to predict what idea, the characters, the „problem‟ in
makes up own story and  Reads logos, labels and other the story is about the story, the plot and the values in
„reads‟ the pictures words from environmental print  Identifies key details in what was the text
 Acts out parts of a story,  Recognises own name and read  Answers a range of higher order
song or rhyme names of peers  Expresses whether a story was questions based on the passage read
 Holds the book the right way  Reads labels and captions in the liked and is able to justify the  Reads different poems on a topic
up and turns pages correctly classroom response, e.g. „I didn‟t enjoy the  Uses visual cues to talk about a
 Pretends to read and adopts a  Develops basic concepts of print story because…‟ graphical text, e.g. advertisements,
„reading voice‟ including  Answers higher order questions pictures, graphs, charts and maps
 Recognises own name and *Concept of a book based on the text read, e.g. „In your  Finds and uses sources of
names of some other *Concept of words and letters opinion…‟ information, e.g. community
children in the class *Directionality – Start reading at  Discusses different cultures members, library books
 Begins to „read‟ high front, end at back; read from left represented in stories  Uses table of contents, index and
READING AND VIEWING

frequency words seen in the to right and top to bottom of a  Interprets pictures and other print page numbers to find information
classroom and at school, e.g. page media, e.g. photographs, calendars,  Uses key words and headings to find
door, cupboard) advertisements; newspaper and information in non-fiction texts
Shared Reading as a class with magazine pictures, posters  Uses a dictionary to find new
teacher vocabulary and their meanings
Shared Reading as a class with  Reads Big Books or other
teacher enlarged texts
 „Reads‟ enlarged texts such  Uses pictures and the book cover
as poems, Big Books. to predict what the story is about
posters  Discusses the story, identifying

30
 Makes links to own the main idea and characters
experience when reading  Sequences the events in the
with the teacher story
 Describes characters in  Recognises cause and effect in a
stories and gives opinions story, e.g. The girl got into
 Predicts what will happen in trouble because she broke a
a story through the pictures window
 Answers questions based on  Gives an opinion on what was
the story read read
 Draws pictures capturing  Answers open-ended questions
main idea of the stories based on the passage read
 Interprets information from
posters, pictures and simple
tables, e.g. a. calendar

31
OVERVIEW OF THE LANGUAGE SKILLS TO BE TAUGHT IN THE HOME LANGUAGE GRADES R – 3

GRADE R GRADE 1 GRADE 2 GRADE 3

Group guided reading Group guided reading Group guided reading
 Reads aloud from own book in a  Reads silently and aloud from  Reads both silently and out loud
guided reading group with teacher fiction and non-fiction books at own from own book in a guided reading
i.e. the whole group reads the same level in a guided reading group with group with the teacher i.e. whole
story teacher, i.e. whole group reads same group reads the same text
 Uses phonics, context clues, text  Uses phonics, contextual and
structural analysis and sight words  Uses sight words, phonics, structural analysis, when reading
when reading contextual and structural analysis, unfamiliar words
 Reads with increasing fluency and and comprehension skills to make  Uses self-correcting strategies when
expression meaning reading
 Monitors self when reading, both in  Reads with increasing fluency and  Monitors self when reading, both in
the area of word recognition and speed using correct pronunciation the area of word recognition and
comprehension.  Uses self-correcting strategies when comprehension
READING AND VIEWING (contd)

 Shows an understanding of reading  Uses diagrams and illustrations in

punctuation when reading aloud  Monitors themselves when reading, text to increase understanding
both in the area of word recognition  Reads with increasing fluency, speed
and comprehension and expression
Independent Reading Paired/Independent Reading Paired/Independent Reading Paired/Independent Reading
 Reads picture books  Reads own writing, starting to  Reads own and others writing  Reads own and others writing
correct errors  Reads aloud to a partner  Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads independently books read in  Reads independently simple fiction  Reads independently simple fiction
Shared Reading sessions, simple and non-fiction books, poetry cards, and non-fiction books and books
picture story books and books from comics from different cultures, books read in
the classroom reading corner.  Plays reading games and completes Shared Reading sessions, magazines
crosswords and comics

32
OVERVIEW OF THE LANGUAGE SKILLS TO BE TAUGHT IN THE HOME LANGUAGE GRADES R – 3

GRADE R GRADE 1 GRADE 2 GRADE 3

 Develops small muscle skills  Practises holding and manipulating Maintenance of the print script Transition to a joined script or cursive
through finger play, e.g. play dough, crayon and pencil  Uses handwriting tools effectively, writing
screwing nuts onto bolts  Develops directionality: left to right; e.g. pencil, eraser, ruler  Uses handwriting tools effectively,
 Develops fine motor control using and top to bottom  Aligns writing on 17 mm ruled lines e.g. pencil, eraser, ruler
scissors to cut out bold outlined  Develops hand–eye co-ordination by  Forms upper and lower case letters  Writes a sentence legibly and
pictures, shapes etc drawing patterns and tracing correctly correctly in both the print script and
 Develops eye–hand co-ordination by  Copies and writes own name, short  Writes words with correct spacing the joined script or cursive writing
playing eg catching and throwing, words and sentences between letters and words  Forms all lower and upper-case
drawing and painting  Begins to write using drawings and  Writes in print script all capitals and letters in joined script or cursive
 Traces simple outlines of pictures, copies letters, numbers, words and lower case letters writing
patterns and letters in own name simple sentences  Copies and writes one paragraph of  Writes short words in the joined
where the correct starting point and  Forms lower and upper case letters between 3 – 4 lines from a printed script or cursive writing
direction arrows are included on all correctly and fluently text  Transcribes words and sentences
letters  Forms numerals correctly  Copies and writes different formats correctly in the joined script or
 Forms letters using finger painting,  Copies and writes short sentences of writing (short invitations such as cursive writing
paint brushes, wax crayons etc correctly with correct spacing birthday invitations; messages; lists  Makes transition to the joined script
starting at the right point and  Holds pencil and crayon correctly etc or cursive writing in all written
following the correct direction  Uses print script in all forms of recording (i.e. the date, own name;
 Copies patterns, words and letters written recording and own written texts)
(using the correct starting point and  Copies written text from the board,
direction when forming letters) Transition to a joined script or cursive textbooks, work cards etc. correctly
 Uses a range of writing tools, e.g. writing  Writes neatly and legibly with
paintbrushes, wax crayons  Copies and writes writing patterns in confidence and speed in a joined
the joined script or cursive writing script or cursive writing
 Copies and writes all lower case  Experiments with using a pen for
HANDWRITING

letters and commonly used capital writing

letters in the joined script or cursive
writing
 Copies, writes and reads short words
in joined script or cursive writing
 Copies and writes short sentences in
joined script or cursive writing.

33
OVERVIEW OF THE LANGUAGE SKILLS TO BE TAUGHT IN THE HOME LANGUAGE GRADES R – 3
GRADE R GRADE 1 GRADE 2 GRADE 3
 Draws or paints pictures to  Draws pictures to convey a message,  Contributes ideas and words for a  Contributes ideas, words and sentences
convey a message e.g. draws about a personal experience class story (Shared Writing) for a class story (Shared Writing)
 Copies known letters in own  Contributes ideas for and helps to  Writes a simple poem  Uses pre-writing strategies to gather
name to represent writing revise a class/group story (Shared  Writes an expressive text such as a information and plan writing
 „Writes‟ from left to right and Writing). birthday card or letter  Writes a selection of short texts for
top to bottom  Copies one sentence of news from the  Writes at least two paragraphs (ten different purposes, e.g. writes recounts,
 Contributes ideas for a class board/chart correctly sentences) on personal experiences dialogues
news book by means of  Writes a message on a card such as a or events such as a family  Writes about personal experiences in
drawings get well card celebration different forms, e.g. writes a short
 Makes an attempt to write  Writes and illustrates a caption or  Drafts, writes and „publishes‟ own newspaper article
letters using squiggles, short sentence on a topic, e.g. to story of at least two paragraphs for  Drafts, writes, edits and „publishes‟ own
scribbles etc contribute to a book for the reading others to read story of at least two paragraphs (at least
 Talks to own writing, e.g. corner  Uses informational structures when 12 sentences) for others to read
„reads‟ what squiggles „say‟  Writes at least three sentences of own writing, e.g. writes recipes  Writes and illustrates six to eight
 Makes own books and news or creative story using capital  Organises information in a chart or sentences on a topic to contribute to a
WRITING

contributes to class book letters and full stops table book for the class library
collection  Writes sentences using words  Writes and illustrates sentences (4 –  Uses informational structures when
containing the phonic sounds and 6 sentences) on a topic to contribute writing, e.g. experiments, recipes
common sight words already taught to a book for the reading corner  Keeps a diary for one week
 With help uses nouns and pronouns (I,  Uses the writing process (drafting,  Writes a simple book review
you, she, he, it etc) correctly in writing and editing)  Sequences information and puts it under
writing  Uses correct punctuation (full stops, headings
 Begins to use present and past tense commas, question marks and  Summarises and records information,
correctly in writing exclamation marks) e.g. using mind maps
 Forms the plurals of familiar words  Spells common words correctly and  Uses punctuation correctly, e.g. capital
 Spells common words correctly attempts to spell unfamiliar words letters, full stops, commas, question
 Uses prepositions correctly using phonic knowledge marks, exclamation marks, inverted
 Organises information into a simple  Uses present, past and future tenses commas, apostrophes in contractions)
graphic form (chart or timeline) correctly  Uses conjunctions to form compound
 Builds own word bank and personal  Uses prepositions, nouns, verbs and sentences
dictionary pronouns correctly  Uses phonics knowledge and spelling
 Builds own word bank and personal rules to write more difficult words
dictionary  Uses a dictionary
 Uses a dictionary

34
 GRADE R HOME LANGUAGE ENGLISH
REQUIREMENTS PER TERM

SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME PER WEEK : Minimum time: 7 hours

Maximum Time: 8 hours

SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME PER DAY : Minimum time:1 hour 25 minutes

Maximum time:1 hour 35 minutes
Integrated in Daily Programme

TERM 1
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL)

CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily activities in all areas of Language and other subjects.
The following activities could be introduced during any or all of the Grade R rings (circles): music,
movement, science, language, news, show and tell, story as well as creative activities.
In Grade R perceptual work is extremely important because it underpins and prepares the foundations for
future learning. Make sure sufficient time is spent building these perceptual skills daily and throughout
the course of the school year.
 Listens attentively to simple questions and announcements and responds appropriately
 Listens to simple instructions and acts on them
 Listens to and repeats rhythmic patterns, e.g. clap, clap-clap, clap, and copies correctly
 Listens without interrupting
 Listens to short stories with enjoyment and joins in choruses at the appropriate time
 Sings simple songs and does actions (with help), e.g. „This is the way I wash my hands, wash my hands,
wash my hands…‟ (Do the same with „comb my hair….‟, „brush my teeth…..‟)
 Recites simple rhymes and does actions (with help)
 Listens to and recalls simple word sequences, in order, such as big, beg, bag. Start with three words and
build up to four or more so that memory of what the ears have heard is developed
 Develops skills to select and identify a specific sound when a background noise is present or music is
playing, e.g. select the teacher‟s voice from noises or sounds in the background

35
 Talks about pictures in posters, theme charts, books etc. related to a minimum of five themes per term
 Tells stories and retells stories of others in own words

Uses language to develop concepts in all subjects

 Develops language to develop concepts: shape, colour, age, time and sequence

Uses language to think and reason:

 Identifies and describes similarities and differences
 Matches things that go together, and compares things that are different
 Classifies familiar items such as puts all toys in box, books on shelves, crayons in tins, sorts according to
colour etc.
 Identifies parts from the whole such as names and points to parts of the body

Uses language to investigate and explore

 Asks questions
 Gives explanations
 Solves and completes at least five or more piece jig-saw puzzles

Processes information:
 Picks out selected information from a description

Uses visual and pictorial cues to make meaning

 Recognises and points out common objects in pictures
 Participates in activities to perceive objects in the foreground and the background and to separate them
meaningfully such as finds an image in a busy or detailed picture
 Plays games such as „Where is it?‟ finding an object hidden in a classroom among other items
 Distinguishes between the shape of different letters and words through activities such as sorting
identical objects, viewing sequence of nearly identical pictures, picking out the one that is different and
explaining why it is different
 Arranges a set of three pictures in such a way that they form a story and a logical sequence of events
when verbalised and relates the story created
 Remembers what the eyes have seen in a memory game. For example: put different objects on the table,
children look at these, teacher covers objects and children have to recall what they saw on the table.
 Completes a puzzle or picture

36
ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Listens attentively to simple questions and announcements and responds appropriately
 Sings and recites simple songs and rhymes
 Listens to short stories with enjoyment and joins in choruses at the appropriate time
 Tells stories and retells stories of others in own words
 Develops language to develop concepts for shape, colour, age
 Identifies and describes similarities and differences
 Identifies parts from the whole such as names and points to parts of the body
 Uses language to give explanations
 Solves and completes at least five or more piece jig-saw puzzles
 Recognises and points out common objects in pictures

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

37
 TERM 1
EMERGENT READING
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Reading
Emergent reading skills
 Develops correct eye movements such as following a swinging ball moved from left to right.
 Participates in directionality activities such as moving the body left to right and top to bottom
 Distinguishes between the shapes of different letters and words such sorting objects that are the same,
sequencing of pictures, picking out the picture that is different
 Uses sequencing skills to order three pictures and relate the story created
 Uses memory skills to recall items seen such as letters, shapes or concrete objects
 Completes a visual picture such as building puzzles, completing pictures
 Holds the book the right way up and turns pages correctly
 Uses pictures to predict what the story is about: „reads‟ pictures and captions showing an understanding
that pictures and words are related but different
 Makes up own story by „reading‟ the pictures
 Pretends to read and adopts a „reading voice‟
 Recognises own name and names of at least five other children in the class
 Matches words to words on objects and named items such as name cards on tables, door, window

Begins to make meaning of written text

 Understands that print communicates meaning: a word can represent one‟s own name
 Recognises own name and names of at least five other children in the class
 Understands that written words refer to spoken words
 „Reads‟ high frequency words: own name, common brand names such as SPAR, Coke, and television
programme titles etc.

Shared Reading
Activities of 15 minutes two or three times a week using enlarged texts such as Big Books, posters of
songs and rhymes. Teacher models process with the whole class during discussion or language rings over
a minimum of two sessions in the Language Focus Time.
Use at least five Big Books per term.
 „Reads‟ enlarged texts such as poems, big books and posters as a whole class with the teacher (Shared
Reading)

38
 Discusses and describes characters in stories
 Draws pictures capturing main idea of the stories, songs or rhymes
 Sequences pictures in a story
 Responds to stories through movement and drama activities or rings

Independent Reading
 „Reads‟ independently books for pleasure in the library or classroom reading corner

Phonological/ Phonemic Awareness

Daily 15 minute activities
Many of the sound activities listed below can be introduced during routines and rings
 Distinguishes aurally between different sounds especially at the beginning of own name
 Identifies a sound that does not belong in a sequence: „Which sound does not belong – b, b, k, b; d, d, d,
t ?‟
 Identifies whether two given sounds are the same or different: /p/, /p/ [same]; /p/, /d/ [different]
 Can identify that oral sentences are made up of individual words: clap on each word in a sentence where
all words have only one syllable [Ben is good]
Relates sounds to letters and words
 Begins to recognise that words are made up of sounds: gives the beginning sound of own name

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Distinguishes aurally between different letter sounds especially at the beginning of own name
 Identifies a sound that does not belong in a sequence: „Which sound does not belong - b, b, k, b; d, d, d,
t?

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

39
 TERM 1
EMERGENT WRITING
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Emergent Handwriting:
Daily activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
Creative art activities and music rings are ideal opportunities for the development of fine motor skills
 Develops fine-motor skills for strengthening hands: rolls plasticine, models with play dough, screws nuts
onto bolts, plays the piano in the air, etc.
 Develops fine-motor control to strengthen fingers: plays finger rhymes with finger actions or rolls small
paper balls between fingers, etc.
 Develops fine-motor control: uses scissors to cut fringes on paper mats etc.
 Develops eye-hand co-ordination: plays catch with bean bags, balls, paper balls, draws with crayons or
paints informally during outdoor play etc.
 Develops directionality: moves parts of the body to the left or right, up or down etc.
 Crosses the midline: takes the right hand across the midline to touch the left shoulder etc.
 Forms letters in various ways using the whole body: by using own body to make the letter „l‟
 Traces simple outlines of pictures and patterns
 Copies patterns onto pegboards
 Uses a range of writing tools: paint brushes, wax crayons etc. during free indoor play or creative art
activities
 „Writes‟ in sand trays
Emergent Writing:
 Draws or paints pictures to convey messages during creative art activities such as about a personal
experience
 Understands that writing and drawing are different: pretend writing represented using squiggles
 „Reads‟ own writing: „reads‟ what squiggles „say‟
 Role-plays writing in play situations: takes a telephone message, writes a traffic fine etc.
 Copies known letters in own name to represent writing: copies own name
 „Writes‟ from left to right and top to bottom
 Contributes ideas for a class news book by means of drawings
Works with words
 Groups words: those that start with same initial sound such as „Charmaine‟ and „Shireen; or same letter
such as „Mpho‟ and „Michael‟)

40
 Identifies name in print

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Draws or paints pictures to convey messages during creative art activities such as about a personal
experience
 Forms letters in various ways using the whole body: by using own body to make the letter „l‟
 „Writes‟ in sand trays
 Understands that writing and drawing are different: pretend writing represented using squiggles
 „Reads‟ own writing: „reads‟ what squiggles „say‟
 Uses a range of writing tools: paint brushes, wax crayons etc. during free indoor play or creative art
activities

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

41
 TERM 2
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL)

CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Daily activities in all areas of Language and other subjects

The following activities could be introduced during any or all of the Grade R rings (circles): music,
movement, science, language, news, show and tell, story as well as creative activities
 Listens to two or three part instructions, announcements and responds appropriately (e.g. „Collect the
crayons and put them on the shelf.‟)
 Listens without interrupting, taking turns to speak
 Listens to stories and acts these out
 Tells stories and retells the stories of other children in own words
 Sings songs, recites rhymes and performs actions with the whole class
 Recites poems and rhymes and adds actions to them in a group
 Sequences pictures of a story
 Participates in discussions and asks questions
 Talks about pictures in posters, theme charts, books etc. related to a minimum of five themes per term
 Listens to and recalls in order simple word sequences such as big, beg, bag. Start with three words, build
up to four or more
Uses language to develop concepts
 Uses language to develop concepts in all subject areas such as quantity, direction, time, sequence,
colour, age

Uses language to think and reason

 Identifies and describes similarities and differences
 Matches things that go together, and compares things that are different
 Classifies things according to colour, shape or size
 Identifies parts from the whole. For example names parts of the body such as elbow, wrist, knee etc.

Uses language to investigate and explore

 Asks questions and asks for explanations
 Gives explanations and asks for clarification
 Solves and completes ten or more piece jig-saw puzzles

42
Processes information:
 Picks out selected information from a description

Uses visual and pictorial cues to make meaning

 Looks carefully at pictures and talks about common experiences
 Finds specified images in a busy or detailed picture
 Plays games such as „Search!‟ finding an object hidden in a classroom among other items
 Distinguishes between the shape of different letters and words. For example, sorts identical objects,
views a sequence of nearly identical pictures and picks out the one that is different and explains why it
is different
 Orders a sequence of pictures and relates the story created

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Listens without interrupting, taking turns to speak
 Sings songs, recites rhymes and performs actions with the whole class
 Recites poems and rhymes and adds actions to them in a group
 Tells stories and retells the stories of other children in own words
 Uses language to develop concepts in all subject areas such as quantity, direction, time, sequence,
colour, age
 Participates in discussions and asks questions
 Finds specified images in a busy or detailed picture
 Identifies and describes similarities and differences
 Looks carefully at pictures and talks about common experiences

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

43
 TERM 2
EMERGENT READING
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Reading
Emergent reading
 Develops correct eye movement such as following a ball moved from left to right
 Develops directionality such as moving blocks from left to right and top to bottom
 Holds the book the right way up and turns pages correctly when „reading‟
 Uses pictures to predict what the story is about. For example, „reads‟ picture and caption books showing
an understanding that pictures and words are related, but different. Points to words when „reading‟
 Interprets pictures to make up own story: „reads‟ the pictures
 Pretends to read and adopts a „reading voice‟
 Understands that print communicates meaning. Knows words can represent own name, names of people,
places and things
 Recognises own name and names of five other children in the class
 „Reads„ theme related flashcards and captions in a group with the teacher
 Understands that written words refer to spoken words such as daily news written down by the teacher as
the child speaks
 „Reads‟ high frequency words: peer names, calendar and weather words
 Uses pictures to „read‟ simple phrase or caption books. The dog – a page with a picture of a dog)
 Acts out parts of a story, song or rhyme
 Listens to and discusses stories and other texts read or told aloud. Recalls details and states main idea
 Talks about texts such as stories using terms such as „beginning‟, „middle‟, „end‟, „sound‟, „word‟,
„letter‟, „rhyme‟

Shared Reading
Activities of 15 minutes two or three times a week using enlarged texts such as Big Books, posters etc.
Teacher models the process with the whole class during for example a discussion or language ring over a
minimum of two sessions in the Language Focus Time. Use at least five Big Books per term.
 „Reads‟ enlarged texts such as poems, big books, posters and electronic texts (computer texts) as a whole
class with the teacher (Shared Reading)
 Discusses and describes characters in stories
 Draws pictures capturing the main idea of stories, songs or rhymes

44
 Arranges a set of pictures in such a way that they form a story and then ‟reads‟ the story
 Responds to stories through movement and drama activities or rings (e.g. „The Three Little Pigs‟)
 Predicts what will happen next in the story using familiar texts and picture cues
 Responds to stories through creative art: paints a picture of the story

Independent Reading
 „Reads‟ independently books for pleasure in the library or classroom reading corner

Phonological/Phonemic Awareness
Daily 15 minute activities
Many of the sound activities listed below could be introduced during routines and rings
 Distinguishes aurally between different sounds especially at the beginning of words
 Listens for the odd word in a sequence where all words begin with the same sound. For example, ring,
rose, round, pose) or identifies whether two given sounds are the same or different . /c/, /c/ [same] or /c/,
/g/ [different]
 Divides multisyllabic words into syllables: uses clapping or drum beats on each syllable in the word „ba-
na-na‟ or identifies the number of syllables (claps) in the names of the children in the class: „Lu-ne-tta‟
has three claps, „Rose‟ one clap
 Identifies rhyming words in well known rhymes and songs. For example, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
– Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
 Anticipates rhyming words in new songs and rhymes and completes the line or sentence
 Recognises initial spoken sounds especially at the beginning of own name

Relates sounds to letters and words

 Understands that words consist of more than one sound. For example, sat – s-a-t done aurally
 Can recognise sounds at the beginning of some words such as friends‟ names

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Understands that print communicates meaning: words can represent own name, names of people, places
and things
 Holds the book the right way up and turns pages correctly when „reading‟

45
 „Reads‟ enlarged texts such as poems, big books, posters and electronic texts (computer texts) as a whole
class with the teacher (Shared Reading)
 Discusses and describes characters in stories
 Distinguishes aurally between different sounds especially at the beginning of words

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

46
 TERM 2
EMERGENT WRITING
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Daily activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
Creative art activities and music rings are ideal opportunities for the development of fine motor skills
 Develops fine motor skills for strengthening hand muscles: rolls plasticine, models with play dough,
plays a trumpet in the air, threads lacing cards, beads etc.
 Develops fine-motor control by playing more finger rhymes with finger actions
 Develops fine-motor control using scissors to cut out bold outlined pictures, shapes etc
 Develops eye–hand co-ordination: plays catch with bean bags, large or tennis balls, paper balls; creates
drawings and makes more complex patterns with crayons
 Develops large muscle control: works in pairs or on own to form letters with their bodies
 Begins to form letters using finger painting, paint brushes, wax crayons
 Traces simple outlines of pictures, patterns and own names where the correct starting point and writing
direction are indicated on letters
 Copies patterns onto pegboards and copies patterns, words and letters onto paper
 Uses a range of writing tools: paint brushes, wax crayons etc.
 Holds crayons correctly using an acceptable pencil grip
 „Writes‟ using a correct sitting position

Emergent Writing:
 Draws pictures to convey a message such as own „news‟
 Understands that writing and drawing are different and begins to copy letters and numerals from the
classroom environment in own writing attempts: pretend writing using a mixture of copied letters and
squiggles
 „Reads‟ what letters and squiggles „say‟
 Role plays writing in play situations: makes greeting cards, writes letters etc.
 Begins to „write‟ observing conventions of directionality: „writes‟ from left to right, top to bottom of
page
 Spontaneously copies print from the environment such as labels on common household products when
playing

47
Works with words
 Groups words that share the same initial sound or letter
 Identifies a letter or a space between words in print: own names or familiar words or in a book
 Contributes sentences to a class piece of writing: child dictates as the teacher writes
ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Draws pictures to convey a message such as own „news‟
 Develops large muscle control: work in pairs or on own to form letters with their bodies
 Begins to form letters using finger painting, paint brushes, wax crayons
 Understands that writing and drawing are different and begins to copy letters and numerals from the
classroom environment in own writing attempts: pretend writing using a mixture of copied letters and
squiggles
 „Reads‟ what letters and squiggles „say‟
 Begins to „write‟ observing conventions of directionality: „writes‟ from left to right, top to bottom of
page

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

48
 TERM 3
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL)

CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Daily activities in all areas of Language and other subjects.

The following activities could be introduced during any or all of the Grade R rings (circles): music,
movement, science, language, news, show and tell, story as well as creative activities
 Listens attentively to questions and gives answers
 Listens to announcements and responds appropriately
 Listens to a complex string of instructions and acts on them
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker and takes turns to speak
 Tells stories and retells other children‟s stories in own words
 Sings songs and rhymes and performs actions on own
 Recites poems and rhymes and adds actions to them with growing confidence
 Listens to longer stories and shows understanding by answering questions related to the story
 Sequences pictures of a story
 Listens to and recalls in order simple word sequences. For example, rat, mat, cat, sat. Start with three
words and build up to four or more
 Talks about pictures in posters, theme charts, books etc. related to a minimum of five themes per term

Uses language to develop concepts

 Uses language to develop concepts in all subjects. For example, Mathematics: quantity, size, time,
shape, age, direction and colour during ring time or informally during free play

Uses language to think and reason

 Identifies and describes similarities and differences
 Matches things that go together and compares things that are different
 Classifies things according to own criteria
 Identifies parts from the whole (e.g. parts that make up a picture)

Uses language to investigate and explore

 Asks questions and looks to books for explanations
 Gives explanations and offers solutions

49
 Completes between ten and twenty piece jig-saw puzzles

Processes information:
 Picks out selected information from a description

Uses visual and pictorial cues to make meaning

 Understands that pictures and photographs convey meaning about events, people, places and things and
talks about these
 Looks carefully at pictures and talks about common experiences
 Isolates images from the foreground and background in pictures and simple designs
 Finds object hidden in a classroom among other items and guides peers to items using simple directions
 Distinguishes between the shape of different letters and words (e.g. „c‟ and „a‟)
 Sequences pictures and relates the story created

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Listens attentively to questions and gives answers
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker and takes turns to speak
 Sings songs and rhymes and performs actions on own
 Tells stories and retells other children‟s stories in own words
 Uses language to develop concepts in all subjects (e.g. Mathematics – quantity, size, time, shape, age,
direction and colour)
 Matches things that go together, and compares things that are different
 Understands that pictures and photographs convey meaning about events, people, places and things and
talks about these
 Looks carefully at pictures and talks about common experiences
Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

50
 TERM 3

EMERGENT READING

CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Reading:
Emergent reading skills
 Develops eye movements. For example, follows a pencil moved from left to right
 Develops directionality: „reads‟ a series of pictures or arrows from left to right and top to bottom
 Can match words to objects: matches labels to labelled items on an interest table
 Uses pictures to understand simple phrases and sentences in a book. For example, a picture of a dog and
a sentence that reads „Look at the dog.‟
 Holds the book the right way up and turns pages correctly
 Interprets pictures to make up own story, that is, „reads‟ the pictures
 Distinguishes pictures from print: points to a word and asks what the word is
 Pretends to „read‟ and adopts a „reading‟ voice
 „Reads‟ high frequency words in the community: road signs, shop names
 Begins to recognise high frequency words used in the classroom: weather words, days of the week,
peers‟ names, months of the year
 „Reads‟ picture books with three or four predictable sentences. For example, It is a dog. Look at the dog.
It is a big dog.
 Acts out a story, song or rhyme
 Recalls details and states main idea from a story read by the teacher
 Draws pictures of stories, songs or rhymes
 Discusses book handling and care
 Listens to, and discusses, stories and other texts read aloud
 Uses words like „sound‟, „word‟, „letter‟, „rhyme‟, „beginning‟, „middle‟, „end‟ when talking about text

Shared Reading
Activities of 15 minutes two or three times a week using enlarged texts such as Big Books, posters etc.
Teacher models the process with the whole class during for example a discussion or language ring over a
minimum of two sessions in the Language Focus Time. Use a minimum of five Big Books per term.
 „Reads‟ big books or other enlarged texts as a whole class with the teacher
 „Reads‟ class or group generated texts. For example, sentences written by the teacher while the children

51
 are watching, talking and dictating
 Makes links to own experience when reading with the teacher, viewing television or pictures
 Describes the characteristics of characters in stories or television and gives opinions
 Identifies the sequence of events in simple stories
 Uses cover of book and illustrations throughout the text to predict storyline
 Joins in the shared reading of texts with increasing confidence and enjoyment
 Answers a range of questions based on the story read

Independent Reading
 „Reads‟ books independently for pleasure in the library or classroom reading corner, turning the pages
correctly, showing respect for books

Phonological/Phonemic Awareness
Daily 15 minute activities
Many of the sound activities listed below could be introduced during routines and rings
 Segments oral sentences into individual words using words of one syllable first (e.g. Sam – is – a – boy )
 Divides multisyllabic words into syllables: uses claps or drumbeats on each syllable in words and names
such as „cup-board‟, „Jacqueline‟. Children then count the syllables
 Identifies rhyming words in well known rhymes and songs and in sequences of rhyming words such as
Incey Wincey Spider…
 Substitutes rhyming words in common songs and rhymes. For example, Humpty Dumpty sat on a ball.
Humpty Dumpty said “Oh! I‟ll fall”.
 Recognises and names some letters of the alphabet especially own name. For example, My name, Diane,
begins with a letter d

Relates sounds to letters and words

 Recognises aurally and visually some initial consonants and vowels especially at the beginning of
common words. For example, in Helen‟s name she tells the teacher as she points to the „h‟ that it says /h/
 Understands that words consist of more than one sound. For example, „hand‟ has four sounds h-a-n-d
 Recognises sounds at the beginning of some words: friends‟ names or names of animals

52
ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Uses pictures to understand simple phrases and sentences in a book. For example, a picture of a dog and
a sentence that reads „Look at the dog.‟
 Can match words to objects: matches labels to labelled items on an interest table
 Holds the book the right way up and turns pages correctly
 Interprets pictures to make up own story, that is, „reads‟ the pictures
 „Reads‟ class or group generated texts. For example, sentences written by the teacher while the children
are watching and talking and dictating
 Describes the characteristics of characters in stories or television and gives opinions
 „Reads‟ high frequency words in the community: road signs, shop names
 Recognises aurally and visually some initial consonants and vowels especially at the beginning of
common words. For example, in Helen‟s name she tells the teacher as she points to the „h‟ that it says
/h/
 Recognises and names some letters of the alphabet especially own name

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

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 TERM 3
EMERGENT WRITING

CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Emergent Handwriting:
Daily activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
Creative art activities and music rings are ideal opportunities for the development of fine motor skills
 Develops fine motor skills for strengthening hand muscles: forms letters with play dough, threads lacing
cards, beads
 Develops fine-motor control by playing more finger rhymes with finger actions
 Develops fine-motor control using scissors to cut out bold outlined pictures, shapes etc
 Develops eye–hand co-ordination: plays catch with bean bags, large or tennis balls, paper balls etc.,
creates drawings, makes more complex patterns with crayons
 Develops large muscle control: works in pairs or on own to form letters with their bodies
 Begins to form letters: uses finger painting, paint brushes, wax crayons, pegboards or elastic boards
 Traces simple outlines of pictures, patterns and own names where the correct starting point and
writing direction are indicated on letters
 Copies patterns onto pegboards and words and letters onto paper
 Holds crayons using an acceptable pencil grip and writes using a good writing position

Emergent Writing:
 Draws pictures to convey a message about a personal experience and uses this as a starting point for
writing. With help adds a word or phrase to a drawing
 Understands that writing and drawing are different and begins to copy letters and numerals from the
classroom environment in own writing attempts: pretend writing using a mixture of copied letters and
squiggles
 Role plays writing in play situations. For example, „writes‟ lists
 Begins to „write‟ observing conventions of directionality: „writes‟ from left to right, top to bottom of
page
 Copies print from the environment when playing. For example, labels from advertisements
 Contributes ideas for a class news book
 Uses writing tools with greater confidence and ease: crayons and pencils

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Works with words
 Groups pictures of rhyming words, e.g. „bat‟, „cat‟, „hat‟)
 Identifies a letter or a space between words in print, e.g. their names or familiar words or in a book
 Contributes sentences to a class piece of writing: child dictates as the teacher writes
 Uses terms like „beginning‟, „middle‟, „end‟, „sound‟, „word‟, „letter‟ when talking about texts

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Draws pictures to convey a message about a personal experience and uses this as a starting point for
writing. With help adds a word or phrase to a drawing
 Understands that writing and drawing are different and begins to copy letters and numerals from the
classroom environment in own writing attempts; pretend writing using a mixture of copied letters and
squiggles
 Role plays writing in play situations. For example, „writes‟ lists
 Begins to „write‟ observing conventions of directionality: „writes‟ from left to right, top to bottom of
page

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

55
 TERM 4
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL)

CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Daily activities in all areas of Language and other subjects

The following activities could be introduced during any or all of the Grade R rings (circles): music,
movement, science, language, news, show and tell, story as well as creative activities
 Listens attentively to questions and gives answers
 Listens to announcements and responds appropriately
 Passes on messages
 Listens to complex string of instructions and acts on them
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker and takes turns to speak
 Listens to longer stories and shows understanding by answering questions related to the story
 Tells stories and retells other children‟s stories in own words
 Sings songs and rhymes and performs actions on own with confidence
 Recites poems and rhymes and adds actions to them with confidence
 Sequences pictures of a story
 Participates in discussions and asks questions
 Listens to and recalls simple word sequences such as „spark‟, „bark‟, „cart‟, „start‟. Start with three
words and build up to four or more
 Talks about pictures in posters, theme charts, books related to a minimum of five themes per term

Uses language to develop concepts

 Uses language to develop concepts in all subjects such as quantity, size, shape, direction, colour, speed,
time, age and sequence

Uses language to think and reason

 Identifies and describes similarities and differences
 Matches things that go together, and compares things that are different
 Classifies things according to own criteria and more complex criteria such as textures
 Identifies parts from the whole in a 2-Dimensional format and constructs in 3-Dimensional format.
Copies a picture or a pattern from a card [2-D] using blocks or plastic shapes [3-D]

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Uses language to investigate and explore
 Asks questions and looks to books, television, computers for explanations
 Listens to problems and offers solutions
 Completes 20 piece or more jig-saw puzzles

Processes information:
 Picks out selected information from an oral description. For example, listens for the starting time of an
event from an announcement

Uses visual and pictorial cues to make meaning

 Understands that pictures and photographs convey meaning about events, people, places and things and
talks about these
 Uses pictures to predict content of stories
 Identifies the foreground and background in pictures as separate elements
 Plays direction games with teacher and friends. Example: „snakes and ladders‟ board game
 Distinguishes between the shapes of different letters and words: sorts plastic letters into groups of the
same letter
 Matches pictures and words using puzzles

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker and takes turns to speak
 Sings songs and rhymes and performs actions on own with confidence
 Tells stories and retells other children‟s stories in own words
 Identifies and describes similarities and differences
 Matches things that go together, and compares things that are different
 Looks carefully at pictures and talks about common experiences
 Uses language to develop concepts in all subjects: quantity, size, shape, direction, colour, speed, time,
age and sequence
Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

57
 TERM 4
EMERGENT READING
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Reading
Emergent reading skills
 Matches words to pictures in print such as word-picture puzzles
 Interprets pictures to construct ideas. For example, makes up own story and „reads‟ the pictures
 Distinguishes pictures from print. For example, points to a word and asks for it to be read
 „Reads‟ personal texts such as sentences written by the teacher
 Begins to „read‟ high frequency words seen in the classroom and at school: door, cupboard etc.
 „Reads‟ picture books of increasing complexity
 Acts out a story, song or rhyme
 Recalls details and states main idea
 Draws pictures of stories, songs or rhymes
 Discusses book handling and care

Shared Reading
Activities of 15 minutes two or three times a week using enlarged texts such as Big Books, posters etc. (a
minimum of five Big Books per term )
 Reads big books or other enlarged texts as a whole class with the teacher
 „Reads‟ class generated texts such as sentences scribed by the teacher, in a group with the teacher
 Points at words rather than pictures when „reading‟
 Makes links to own experience when reading with the teacher, viewing television or pictures
 Describes the characteristics of characters in stories or television and gives opinions
 Identifies the sequence of events in simple stories
 Uses cover of book and illustrations throughout the text to predict storyline
 Joins in the shared reading of texts with increasing confidence and enjoyment
 Answers a range of questions based on the story read

Independent Reading
 „Reads‟ books independently for pleasure in the library or classroom reading corner, turning the pages
correctly, showing respect for books

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Phonological/Phonemic Awareness
Daily 15 minute activities
Many of the sound activities listed below could be introduced during routines rings
 Segments oral sentences into individual words. For example, claps on each word in a sentence using
words of one syllable first –„It is time for lunch‟.
 Divides multisyllabic words into syllables: crocodile – croc-o-dile
 Identifies rhyming words in well known rhymes and songs and in sequences of rhyming words
 Recognises aurally and visually some initial consonants and vowels especially at the beginning of
common words
 Recognises and names some letters of the alphabet such as letters in own name
 Relates sounds to letters and words and understands that words consist of more than one sound: duck is
d-u-ck – done aurally
 Recognises sounds at the beginning of some words
 Begins to recognise that words are made up of sounds such as the beginning letter/s of their names

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Interprets pictures to construct ideas: makes up own story and „reads‟ the pictures
 Reads big books or other enlarged texts as a whole class with the teacher
 Recognises aurally and visually some initial consonants and vowels especially at the beginning of
common words
 Recognises and names some letters of the alphabet such as letters in own name

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

59
 TERM 4
EMERGENT WRITING
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Emergent Handwriting
Daily activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
Creative art activities and music rings are ideal opportunities for the development of fine motor skills
 Develops fine motor skills for strengthening hand muscles
 Plays finger rhymes with finger actions
 Uses scissors to cut out bold outlined pictures, shapes etc.
 Plays catch with bean bags, large or tennis balls, paper balls etc. as well as through creating drawings,
making more complex patterns with crayons
 Form letters with their bodies in pairs or on their own
 Forms letters using finger paint, paint brushes, wax crayons
 Traces simple outlines of pictures, patterns and own names where the correct starting point and
writing direction are indicated on letters
 Copies patterns, words and letters
 Uses a range of writing tools such as paint brushes, wax crayons
 Forms letters with a variety of writing tools such as crayons, pencils, chalk
 Holds crayons correctly showing preference for a particular hand to be used: left/right hand dominance
 Forms some lower case letters correctly, that is, starts and ends in the correct place

Emergent Writing:
 Draws pictures to convey a message about a personal experience and uses this as a starting point for
writing: with help adds a word, phrase or sentence
 Copies letters and numerals from the classroom environment when „writing‟
 „Reads‟ own and others „writing‟
 „Writes‟ and asks others to give meaning to what has been written
 Role plays „writing‟ in play situations. For example, „writes‟ lists
 „Writes‟ observing conventions of directionality: „writes‟ from left to right, top to bottom of page
 Copies print from the environment when playing such as labels from advertisements
 Makes attempts at familiar forms of writing, using known letters. For example, „writes‟ a letter home
 Contributes ideas for a class news book
 Uses writing tools with increased confidence and ease

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Works with words
 Groups pictures of rhyming words such as „can‟, „fan‟, „pan‟
 Copies short sentences and words written by the teacher
 Identifies a letter or a space between words in print such as their names or familiar words or in a book
 Contributes sentences to a class piece of writing: child dictates as the teacher writes
 Uses terms like „beginning‟, „middle‟, „end‟, „sound‟, „word‟, „letter‟, „rhyme‟

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Assessment:
Informal
Oral and / or practical
Observation
 Draws pictures to convey a message about a personal experience and uses this as a starting point for
writing. With help adds a word, phrase or sentence
 „Writes‟ and asks others to give meaning to what has been written
 „Reads‟ own and others‟ „writing‟
 Copies letters and numerals from the classroom environment when „writing‟
 Makes attempts at familiar forms of writing, using known letters. For example, „writes‟ a letter home

Use checklists and a holistic rubric for Language assessment

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RECOMMENDED TEXTS/RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR

LISTENING AND SPEAKING

 Pictures and posters
 Colour charts
 Number charts
 Games
 Objects related to the themes and topics
 Story board pieces
 Pictures to sequence
 Jig-saw puzzles (at least 20 pieces)
 Toys such as blocks, construction toys, cars, dolls, puppets, masks etc.
 Sand tray and water play items
 Plastic bottles, jars, boxes etc.
 CDs or tapes with stories (read or told), poems, rhymes and songs, CD player or tape recorder, television
and video tapes/DVDs
 Musical/ percussion instruments, e.g. a drum, bells, sticks etc.
READING AND PHONICS
 Pictures and posters
 Alphabet charts
 Big books – some produced in Shared writing sessions
 Enlarged texts such as poems, songs, rhymes etc.
 Story books and picture books
 Logos and relevant examples of environmental print
 Newspapers and magazines
 Flash card labels for classroom items and displays
 Name cards for children
 Pointers for both teacher and groups of children to use when reading enlarged texts, wall stories,
displays
 Fantasy corner
 Theme table
 Daily helpers‟ chart
 Birthday and weather chart

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WRITING AND HANDWRITING
 Apparatus such as balls of various sizes, hoops, bean bags, pegboards and pegs, beads and laces, lacing
cards and laces, nuts and bolts, clothes pegs
 Materials such as scissors, plasticine or play dough, paint, paint brushes, wax crayons, chalk and slates
or white boards and markers
 Newsprint
 Writing strips or charts where letters of the alphabet are written in print script with correct starting points
and writing direction indicated
 Blank paper in various sizes (A3, A4, A5)
 Sand tray

63
 GRADE 1
GRADE 1 HOME LANGUAGE ENGLISH
REQUIREMENTS PER TERM

TERM 1
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Listens without interrupting
 Talks about personal experiences: tells news, describes weather news, other topical events etc.
 Sings songs and does the actions

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 5
 Listens to simple instructions (classroom routines) and responds appropriately
 Listens to stories, rhymes, poems and songs with interest and acts out part of the story, song or rhyme
 Answers questions such as questions related to personal details etc.

Weeks 6 – 10
 Sequences pictures of a story communicating through retelling the sequence of ideas
 Talks about pictures in posters, theme charts, books etc.
 Participates in discussions, taking turns to speak and respecting others in the group
 Describes objects in terms of colour, size, shape, quantity using correct vocabulary

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Answers questions such as questions related to personal details etc.
 Sings songs and does the actions
 Participates in discussions, taking turns to speak and respecting others in the group
Formal Assessment Activity 1:

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Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Talks about personal experiences such as tells news, describes weather news, other topical events etc
 Listens to stories, rhymes, poems and songs with interest and acts out part of the story, song or rhyme
 Sequences pictures of a story communicating through retelling the sequence of ideas
 Describes objects in terms of colour, size, shape, quantity using correct vocabulary

65
 TERM 1
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4hours 30 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Daily Phonemic Awareness/ Phonic Activities of 15 minutes:

Begin phonemic awareness activities, teach 1 – 2 new letters every week and introduce word building
using sounds learnt
 Distinguishes aurally between different initial sounds of words
 Participates in whole class phonemic awareness oral activities: blending sounds [c-a-t into cat];
segmenting words [cat into c-a-t]; consonant and vowel substitution word play [ replace the „h‟ in hat
with „b‟ to make bat]
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of some single letters. For example, l, o, h, m, a, b, t, c. There
should be 2 vowels and at least 6 consonants
 Recognises and names some letters of the alphabet: 2 vowels and at least 6 consonants
 Begins to build up short words using sounds learnt such as c-a-t – cat
 Begins to use blending to make words. For example, „at‟ c-at, m-at, identifying the rhymes

Daily Reading Activities

Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions per week.

Emergent reading skills (taught in Shared and Group Guided Reading lessons)
 Holds the book the right way up and turns pages correctly
 Uses pictures to predict what the story is about: reads picture books
 Interprets pictures to make up own story, that is, „reads‟ the pictures
 Collects and reads logos and other words from environmental print
 Recognises own name and names of at least ten peers
 Reads labels and captions in the classroom
 Discusses book handling and care
 Listens to and discusses stories and other texts read aloud
 Develops basic concepts of print including:
 Concept of book - cover, front, back, title
 Concept of text - word, same words, letter, names of letters, one-to-one correspondence

66
  Directionality: starts reading at front, ends at back; reads from left to right and top to bottom of a
page, first, last, middle words or letters or position on a page
 Punctuation: capital letter, lowercase letter, full stop, comma, question mark

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week; a teacher-modelled
process with the whole class.
Each session will have a learning focus from the following: concepts of print, text features, phonics,
language patterns, word identification strategies and comprehension at a range of levels using literal,
reorganization, inferential, evaluation and appreciation questions.
 Reads as a whole class with the teacher enlarged texts such as poems, posters, big books and class
stories developed in shared writing sessions

Group Guided Reading

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
The teacher works with same-ability groups of children, matching children to texts at the instructional
level (word recognition between 90 – 95% accuracy). Graded reading schemes will mostly be used.
 Reads aloud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads the
same story
 Begins to build a sight vocabulary from the incidental reading programme, graded reader series and high
frequency word lists

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Phonics: (oral and/or practical)
 Distinguishes aurally between different initial sounds of words
 Participates in whole class phonemic awareness activities: blending sounds (c-a-t into cat) ; segmenting
words (cat into c-a-t); consonant and vowel substitution word play (replace the „h‟ in hat with „b‟ to
make bat)
 Recognises and names some letters of the alphabet (2 vowels and at least 6 consonants)
 Begins to build up short words using sounds learnt(e.g. c-a-t – cat)
 Begins to use blending to make words such as „at‟ c-at, m-at, identifying the rhymes

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Formal Assessment Activity 1:
Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Identifies letter-sound relationships of some single letters, for example, l, o, h, m, a, b, t, c. There should
be 2 vowels and at least 6 consonants
 Begins to build up short words using sounds learnt (e.g. c-a-t – cat)

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading (oral and/or practical)
Emergent reading skills to be taught in Shared and Guided Reading lessons.
 Holds the book the right way up and turns pages correctly
 Interprets pictures to make up own story, that is, „reads‟ the pictures
 Collects and reads logos and other words from environmental print
 Recognises own name and names of some peers
 Reads labels and captions in the classroom
 Discusses book handling and care
 Develops basic concepts of print including:
 Concept of book: cover, front, back, title
 Concept of text: word, some words, letter, names of some letters, one-to-one correspondence
 Directionality: starts reading at front, ends at back, reads from left to right and top to bottom of a
page, first, last, middle words or letters or position on a page
 Punctuation: capital letter, lowercase letter, full stop, comma, question mark

Shared Reading
 Reads enlarged texts such as poems, big books, posters and electronic texts as a whole class with
teacher

Group Guided Reading

 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole
group works on the same story

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)
Emergent reading skills.

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 Uses pictures to predict what the story is about. For example, reads picture books
 Listens to and discusses stories and other texts read aloud

Shared Reading
 Reads as a whole class with teacher enlarged texts such as poems, posters, big books and class stories
developed in shared writing sessions

Group Guided Reading

 Reads aloud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads the
same story

69
 TERM 1
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal Lessons four times a week of 15 minutes
Activities to strengthen fine muscles and develop fine and gross motor skills and eye–hand co-ordination
 Draws with wax crayons
 Practises holding and manipulating crayon and pencil
 Develops directionality: left to right and top to bottom, draws straight lines, joins dots, clockwise and
anti clockwise formations
 Makes plasticine or play dough models of letters and objects
 Develops hand–eye co-ordination through painting, paper tearing, cutting and tracing activities
 Draws patterns: up and down movements (zig-zags), circle patterns, vertical and horizontal patterns
 Traces over, copies and writes own name from template where the correct starting point and writing
direction of individual letters are indicated

Development of letter formation in formal handwriting lessons

Align the order of teaching of the lower case letters to the phonics programme. Model correct letter
formation and directionality. Children practise 2 letters per week, copying from writing strips. Check that
children use the correct pencil grip. Use blank paper or unlined A4 jotters for written recording. Align the
order of teaching the lower case letters to the phonics programme. Where possible, introduce the tracing
and copying of the entire alphabet from the very beginning of the year, using alphabet strips where the
correct starting points and writing direction are indicated.
 Forms lower case letters correctly (2 vowels and at least 6 consonants, e.g. l, o, h, m, a, b, t, c)
 Copies and writes own name, short words and sentences from labels, posters, chalkboard etc.
 Begins to express written recording with drawings, letters, numbers, words and simple sentences

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group / individual writing sessions three times a week for 15 minutes building on and
linking to the Shared Reading, discussions and personal experiences
 Draws pictures to convey a message. For example, about a personal experience
 Writes a caption for a drawing or picture

70
 Writes words using letter sounds learnt
 Copies one sentence of news from the board/chart correctly
 Contributes ideas in Shared Writing for a class story recorded by the teacher on charts to create new
texts for reading and display in the classroom reading corner

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Handwriting
 Draws with wax crayons
 Develops directionality: left to right and top to bottom, draws straight lines, join dots, clockwise and anti
clockwise formations
 Traces over, copies and writes own name from template where the correct starting points and writing
direction are indicated
 Copies and writes own name, short words and sentences from labels, posters, chalkboard etc.
 Begins to express written recording with drawings, letters, numbers, words and simple sentences

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
 Practises holding and manipulating crayon and pencil
 Draws patterns: up and down movements [zig-zags], circle patterns, vertical and horizontal patterns
 Forms lower case letters correctly: 2 vowels and at least 6 consonants – l, o, h, m, a, b, t, c
 Copies and writes own name, short words and sentences from labels, poster, chalkboard etc.

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities

Writing
 Draws pictures to convey a message. For example, about a personal experience
 Writes a caption for a drawing or picture
 Writes words using letter sounds learnt
 Copies one sentence of news from the board/chart correctly
 Contributes ideas in Shared Writing for a class story recorded by the teacher on charts to create new
texts for reading and display in the classroom reading corner

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

71
Writing
 Draws pictures to convey a message. For example, about a personal experience
 Writes a caption for a drawing or picture
 Copies one sentence of news from the board/chart correctly

72
 TERM 2
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Listens without interrupting, taking turns to speak in whole class and group sessions
 Talks about personal experiences. For example, tells news using correct sequence
 Joins in the choruses of songs, stories, rhymes
 Says poems and rhymes and does the actions
 Identifies part from the whole such as parts of a bicycle, plant

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 5
 Listens to instructions (group and daily routines) and responds appropriately
 Passes on messages
 Listens to stories with interest, drawing a picture to show understanding
 Answers closed and open-ended questions

Weeks 6 – 10
 Describes objects in terms of age, direction, sequence using correct vocabulary
 Listens to stories and identifies the main idea
 Sequences pictures of a story
 Participates in classroom discussions
 Asks questions related to stories told and read
 Understands and uses appropriate language of different subjects

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Listens without interrupting, taking turns to speak in whole class and group sessions
 Talks about personal experiences. For example, tells news using correct sequence
 Joins in the choruses of songs, stories, rhymes

73
 Listens to instructions (group and daily routines) and responds appropriately
 Participates in classroom discussions
 Asks questions related to stories told and read
 Understands and uses appropriate language of different subjects

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Talks about personal experiences. For example, tells news using correct sequence
 Listens to stories with interest, drawing a picture to show understanding
 Answers closed and open-ended questions

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Describes objects in terms of age, direction, sequence using correct vocabulary
 Listens to stories and identifies the main idea
 Sequences pictures of a story

74
 TERM 2
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Daily Phonemic Awareness/ Phonic Activities of 15 minutes

Teach the remainder of the single letters (3 vowels and 13 consonants) by the end of the term, continue
with phonemic awareness and word building activities
 Distinguishes aurally between different beginning and end sounds of words
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of most single letters
 Participates in whole class phonemic awareness activities: blending sounds [h-op into hop]; segmenting
words [hop into h-o-p]; consonant and vowel substitution word play [replace the „h‟ in hop with „m‟ to
make mop]
 Builds words using sounds learnt ( -at, -et, -it, -ot, -ut, -ag, -eg, -ig, -og, -ug, -an, -en, -in, -un -am - at
least two word families per week)
 Builds up and breaks down simple words beginning with a single consonant into onset (the initial sound)
and rime (the last part of the syllable), e.g. h-en, p-en; t-in, p-in, identifying the rhymes
 Groups common words into sound families, e.g. hot, hop, hob
 Reads phonic words in sentences and other texts

Daily Reading Activities: Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions
per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week; a teacher-modelled
process with the whole class.
When reading, model the use of phonic decoding skills and other strategies that include context clues and
structural analysis. Refer to the Five Finger Strategy. Start teaching children this process when they meet
unknown words.
 Reads big books or other enlarged texts as a whole class with teacher
 Uses pictures to predict what the story is about
 Interprets pictures to make up own story, that is, „reads‟ the pictures
 Uses clues and pictures in the text for understanding

75
 Discusses the story, identifying the main idea in the text, the main characters etc.
 Answers a wide variety of types of questions based on the texts read including higher order type
questions
 Discusses the use of capital letters and full stops

Group Guided Reading

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
The teacher works with same-ability groups of children, matching children to texts at the instructional
level. Graded reading schemes will mostly be used.

Teach children to monitor themselves when reading, both in the area of word recognition and
comprehension. (Children are taught to ask: ‘Does it sound right?’, ‘Does it look right?’ and ‘Does it
make sense?’) Model the process in Shared Reading and apply it in Guided Reading with support.

 Reads aloud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads the
same story
 Uses phonics, context clues and sight words when reading
 Begins to monitor self when reading, both in the area of word recognition and comprehension
 Continues to build a sight vocabulary from the incidental reading programme, the graded reading series
and high-frequency word lists

Paired/Independent Reading (twice a week in Language focus time)

Introduce Paired/Independent reading. Select texts that are at the independent reading level of the child
(simpler than those used in Shared Reading with more than 95% word recognition accuracy when
reading the text)
 Reads to a partner from prepared or known texts to develop fluency
 Rereads familiar texts such as those read in Shared Reading sessions

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Phonics: (oral and/or practical)
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of all single sounds
 Participates in whole class phonemic awareness activities: blending sounds [h-op into hop];

76
 segmenting words [hop into h-o-p]; consonant and vowel substitution word play [ replace the „h‟
in hop by „m‟ to make mop]
 Builds words using sounds learnt (e.g. -at, -et, -it, -ot, -ut, -ag, e.g. -ig, -og, -ug, -an, -en, -in,-un, -am - at
least two word families per week)
 Builds up and breaks down simple words beginning with a single consonant into onset (the initial sound)
and rime (the last part of the syllable) , e.g. h-en, p-en; t-in, p-in, identifying the rhymes
 Groups common words into sound families such as hot, hop, hob
 Reads phonic words in sentences and other texts

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Distinguishes aurally between different beginning and end sounds of words
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of most single letters
 Builds words using sounds learnt (e.g. -at, -et, -it, -ot, -ut, -ag, e.g., -ig, -og, -ug, -an, -en, -in, -un, -am –
at least two word families per week)

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of most single letters
 Builds words using sounds learnt (e.g. -at, -et, -it, -ot, -ut, -ag, e.g. -ig, -og, -ug, -an, -en, -in, -un, -am -
at least two word families per week
 Groups common words into sound families (e.g. hot, hop, hob)

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading (oral and/or practical)
Shared Reading
 Reads with the whole class big books or other enlarged texts
 Uses clues and pictures in the text for understanding
 Discusses the story, identifying the main idea in the text, the main characters etc.
 Answers a wide variety of types of questions based on the texts read including higher order type
questions
 Discusses the use of capital letters and full stops
Group Guided Reading:
 Reads aloud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads the
same story

77
 Begins to monitor self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension
Paired/Independent Reading
 Reads to a partner from prepared or known texts to develop fluency
 Rereads familiar texts such as those read in Shared Reading sessions

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)
Shared Reading
 Reads with the whole class big books or other enlarged texts
 Uses pictures to predict what the story is about
 Uses clues and pictures in the text for understanding
 Discusses the story, identifying the main idea in the text, the main characters etc.
Group Guided Reading
 Reads aloud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads the
same story
 Uses phonics, context clues and sight words when reading

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)
Shared Reading
 Reads with the whole class big books or other enlarged texts
 Interprets pictures to make up own story, that is, „reads‟ the pictures
 Uses clues and pictures in the text for understanding
 Answers a wide variety of types of questions based on the texts read including higher order type
questions
Group Guided Reading
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole
group works on the same story
 Uses phonics, context clues and sight words when reading

78
 TERM 2
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal lessons four times a week of 15 minutes
Development of letter formation in formal handwriting lessons
Align the order of teaching of the lower case letters to the phonics programme. Model correct letter
formation and directionality. Child practises 2 letters per week, copying from writing strips so that, by the
end of the term at least 20 lower case letters have been taught. Demonstrate the correct spacing of letters
in a word and words in a sentence. Towards the end of the term introduce the formation of frequently
used capital letters (A, C, H, I, T, W). Use blank paper or A4 unlined / 17 mm lined jotters for written
recording.
 Holds pencil and crayon correctly
 Forms at least 20 lower case letters correctly according to size and position, that is, starts and ends in the
correct place
 Forms some frequently used capital letters correctly (e.g. A, C, H, I, T, W)
 Writes words with correct spacing
 Writes and copies short, simple sentences from writing strip, chalkboard
In addition, continue activities that strengthen fine muscles and develop fine and gross motor skills and
eye-hand co-ordination. Ensure that children use the correct sitting position when they write.

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group / individual writing sessions three times a week for 15 minutes building on and
linking to the Shared Reading, discussions and personal experiences. Provide sentence starters and other
support so that children can begin writing their own news etc. Introduce the use of a personal dictionary.
 Draws pictures to convey a message, adding a label or caption. For example, about a personal
experience
 Writes words using sounds learnt
 Writes one sentence of own news or shared writing
 Compiles a list of words according to instructions such as food
 Contributes ideas for a class story (Shared Writing)
 Writes and illustrates a caption or short sentence on a topic to contribute to a book for the reading corner

79
 Begins to build own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of words such as ant, book,
cat
 Writes sentences using words containing the phonic sounds already taught
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Handwriting
 Holds pencil and crayon correctly
 Forms some frequently used capital letters correctly (e.g. A, C, H, I, T, W)
 Writes words with correct spacing
 Writes and copies short, simple sentences from writing strip, chalkboard

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
 Holds pencil and crayon correctly
 Forms at least 20 lower case letters correctly according to size and position, that is, starts and ends in the
correct place

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Handwriting
 Forms at least 20 lower case letters correctly according to size and position i.e. starts and ends in the
correct place
 Forms some frequently used capital letters correctly (e.g. A, C, H, I, T, W)
 Writes words with correct spacing

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Writing
 Writes sentences using words containing the phonic sounds already taught
 Writes one sentence of own news or shared writing
 Compiles a list of words according to instructions such as food
 Contributes ideas for a class story (Shared Writing)
 Begins to build own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of words (e.g. ant, book, cat)

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

80
Writing
 Draws pictures to convey a message, adding a label or caption, e.g. about a personal experience
 Writes sentences using words containing the phonic sounds already taught
 Contributes ideas for a class story (Shared Writing).

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Writing
 Draws pictures to convey a message, adding a label or caption, e.g. about a personal experience
 Writes one sentence of own news or shared writing
 Compiles a list of words according to instructions such as a list of words related to transport

81
 TERM 3
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of language and other subjects
 Listens to instructions and announcements and responds appropriately
 Listens without interrupting showing respect for the speaker
 Talks about personal experiences such as tells news using the correct sequence
 Says poems and rhymes and does the actions
 Understands and uses appropriate language of different subjects

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 5
 Listens to a story with interest and enjoyment, drawing a picture and writing a caption about it
 Sequences pictures of a story and matches captions with the pictures
 Role plays different situations, using appropriate language
 Participates in discussions, asking and answering questions

Weeks 6 – 10
 Listens for the detail in stories and answers open-ended questions
 Identifies similarities and differences using correct vocabulary
 Uses an ever-increasing vocabulary when speaking

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Listening and Speaking: (oral and/ or practical)
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker
 Says poems and rhymes and does the actions
 Listens to a story with interest and enjoyment, drawing a picture and writing a caption about it
 Role plays different situations, using appropriate language
 Participates in discussions, asking and answering questions
Formal Assessment Activity 1:

82
Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Talks about personal experiences such as tells news using the correct sequence
 Says poems and rhymes and does the actions
 Sequences pictures of a story and matches captions with the pictures

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Listens to instructions and announcements and responds appropriately
 Talks about personal experiences such as tells news using the correct sequence
 Listens for the detail in stories and answers open-ended questions

83
 TERM 3
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Daily Phonic Activities of 15 minutes:

Revise the single letters and introduce common consonant blends and consonant digraphs. Continue
word building activities.
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of all single letters
 Revises word families using short vowel sounds learnt
 Builds 3-letter words using all single letters
 Uses consonant blends to build up and break down words (e.g. r and l blends- bl-ack, fl-op,
sl-ip etc.)
 Recognises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch and th) at the beginning of a word (e.g. sh-ip, ch-ip, th-
ink)
 Groups common words into sound families
 Reads phonic words in sentences and other texts

Daily Reading Activities: Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions
per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week; a teacher-modelled
process with the whole class.
Demonstrate the Five Finger Strategy in Shared Reading and encourage children to use it in Guided and
Independent Reading.
 Reads big books or other enlarged texts as a whole class with teacher
 Identifies the sequence of events and the setting of the story
 Uses cover of book to predict ending and storyline
 Recognises cause and effect in a story (e.g. The boy fell off his bike because he rode too quickly down
the steep hill.)
 Answers higher order questions based on the passage read (e.g. “Do you think…?” “Why did…?” )
 Gives an opinion on what was read

84
 Interprets information from posters, pictures and simple tables (e.g. calendar)

Group Guided Reading

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
 Reads aloud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads the
same story
 Uses phonics, context clues, and structural analysis and sight words when reading
 Monitors self when reading, both in the area of word recognition and comprehension
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression
 Continues to build a sight vocabulary from the incidental reading programme, the graded reading series
and high-frequency word lists

Paired/Independent Reading (three times a week)

 Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads own and others writing
 Reads books read in Shared Reading sessions and books from the classroom reading corner
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Phonics: (oral and/or practical)
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of all single letters
 Uses consonant blends to build up and break down words (r and l blends, e.g. bl-ack, fl-op, sl-ip etc.)
 Recognises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch and th) at the beginning of a word (e.g. sh-ip, ch-ip, th-
ink)
 Reads phonic words in sentences and other texts

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of all single letters
 Revises word families using short vowel sounds learnt (e.g. bus, mum, run, hip, hop etc.)
 Builds 3-letter words using all single letters
 Uses consonant blends to build up and break down words (e.g. r blends – cr-ack, dr-op,
tr-ip etc. )

85
Formal Assessment Activity 2:
Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Builds 3-letter words using all single letters
 Uses consonant blends to build up and break down words (e.g. l blends - bl-ack, fl-op, sl-ip)
 Recognises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch and th) at the beginning of a word (e.g. sh-ip, ch-ip, th-
ink)
 Groups common words into sound families

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading (oral and/or practical)
Shared Reading
 Reads big books or other enlarged texts as a whole class with teacher
 Answers higher order questions based on the passage read (e.g. “Do you think…?” “Why did…?” )
 Gives an opinion on what was read
 Recognises cause and effect in a story (e.g. The boy fell off his bike because he rode too quickly down
the steep hill)
Group Guided Reading
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension.
Paired/Independent reading
 Reads books read in Shared Reading sessions and books from the classroom reading corner

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)
Shared Reading
 Reads big books or other enlarged texts as a whole class with teacher
 Identifies the sequence of events and the setting of the story
 Uses cover of book to predict ending and storyline
Group Guided Reading
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher i.e. whole group
works on the same story
 Uses phonics, context clues, and structural analysis and sight words when reading

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)

86
Shared Reading
 Reads big books or other enlarged texts as a whole class with teacher
 Identifies the sequence of events and the setting of the story
 Answers higher order questions based on the passage read (e.g. “Do you think…?” “Why did…?” )
 Interprets information from posters, pictures and simple tables such as calendar
Group Guided Reading
 Reads aloud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads the
same story
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression
Paired/Independent reading
 Reads aloud to a partner

87
TERM 3
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal Lessons four times a week of 15 minutes
Revise the formation of lower case letters and continue to teach the capital letters and the numerals.
Demonstrate the correct spacing of letters in a word and words in a sentence.
 Holds pencil and crayon correctly
 Forms lower case letters correctly according to size and position, that is, starts and ends in the correct
place automatically
 Forms frequently used upper case letters correctly (e.g. B, D, E, F, G, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, and Y)
 Forms numerals correctly
 Copies and writes words with correct spacing
 Copies and writes short sentences correctly

Shared, Group and Independent Writing:

Whole class / small group / individual writing sessions three times a week for 15 minutes building on and
linking to the Shared Reading, discussions and personal experiences.

Demonstrate the writing process (drafting, editing, writing and publishing) during Shared Writing. Model
the use of correct punctuation and writing in the past tense. Provide additional support to those children
who still cannot write a sentence of own news.
 Writes a message on a card such as a get well card
 Writes words to form a sentence using sounds learnt and common sight words
 Writes at least two sentences of own news or shared writing using the past tense
 Begins to use capital letters and full stops, including capital letters for names
 With help uses nouns and pronouns (I, you, she, he, it ) correctly in writing
 Contributes ideas and words for a class story in Shared Writing sessions
 Writes and illustrates a short sentence on a topic to contribute to a book for the reading corner
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of word such as cat, dog, eat

88
ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Handwriting
 Holds pencil and crayon correctly

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
 Forms lower case letters correctly according to size and position, that is, starts and ends in the correct
place automatically
 Forms numerals correctly
 Copies and writes words with correct spacing

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Handwriting
 Forms frequently used upper case letters correctly
 Copies and writes short sentences correctly

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Writing:
 Writes words to form a sentence using sounds learnt and common sight words
 Begins to use capital letters and full stops, including capital letters for names
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of word such as cat, dog, eat

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Writing
 Writes words to form a sentence using sounds learnt and common sight words
 With help uses nouns and pronouns (I, you, she, he, it ) correctly in writing
 Contributes ideas and words for a class story in Shared Writing Session

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Writing
 Writes a message on a card such as a get well card
 Writes at least two sentences of own news or shared writing using the past tense
 Begins to use capital letters and full stops, including capital letters for names
 With help uses nouns and pronouns (I, you, she, he, it ) correctly in writing

89
 TERM 4
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 50 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of language and other subjects
 Listens without interrupting, taking turns to speak and asking questions for clarification.
 Talks about personal experiences and feelings such as tells news
 Listens to stories and expresses feelings about the story
 Uses terms such as sentence, capital letter, full stop

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 5
 Listens, enjoys and responds to picture and word puzzles, riddles and jokes, using language
imaginatively
 Participates in discussions, reporting back on behalf of the group
 Uses simple strategies for finding information. For example, carries out a survey on how children come
to school
 Classifies information. For example, by using loose pictures

Weeks 6 – 10
 Listens to instructions and announcements and responds appropriately
 Tells a familiar story which has a beginning, middle and end, varying tone and volume of voice
 Answers closed and open-ended questions
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Listens without interrupting, taking turns to speak and asking questions for clarification
 Listens to stories and expresses feelings about the story
 Uses terms such as sentence, capital letter, full stop
 Participates in discussions, reporting back on behalf of the group

90
Formal Assessment Activity 1:
Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Talks about personal experiences and feelings (e.g. tells news)
 Listens to instructions and announcements and responds appropriately
 Tells a familiar story which has a beginning, middle and end, varying tone and volume of voice
 Answers closed and open-ended questions

91
 TERM 4
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily Phonic Activities of 15 minutes
Introduce new consonant blends. Continue word building and aural recognition activities.
 Revises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch and th) at the beginning of a word. For example, sh-ip, ch-
ip, th-in
 Recognises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch and th) at the end of a word. For example, fi-sh, mu-ch,
wi-th
 Uses consonant blends to build up and break down words. For example, sp-o-t, fr-o-g, dr-i-nk, st-i-ck
 Builds words using sounds learnt
 Groups common words into sound families
 Recognises plurals ( „s‟ and „es‟)
 Reads phonic words in sentences and other texts
 Learns to spell ten words a week taken from phonics lessons

Daily Reading Activities: Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and two to three Shared Reading
sessions per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week; a teacher-modelled
process with the whole class.

 Reads as a whole class with teacher big books or other enlarged texts
 Uses book cover to predict what the book is about
 Identifies the initial problem in a story that sets the story in motion. In the story of the Three Bears the
problem is the morning porridge is too hot and the bears leave their house and go for a walk
 Uses clues and pictures in the book for understanding
 Identifies the sequence of events in what was read
 Recognises cause and effect in a story. The girl got into trouble because she broke a window
 Answers open-ended questions based on the passage read

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 Interprets information from posters

Group Guided Reading

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
 Reads aloud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads the
same story
 Uses phonics, context clues, structural analysis and sight words when reading
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension
 Shows an understanding of punctuation when reading aloud
 Continues to build a sight vocabulary from the incidental reading programme, the graded reading series
and high-frequency word lists

Paired/Independent Reading (three times a week)

Use books from Shared Reading sessions, simple picture story books and books from the reading corner
as well as own writing.
 Reads own writing, starting to correct errors
 Reads books read in Shared Reading sessions and books from the classroom reading corner

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Formal Assessment Activities :

Phonics: (oral and/or practical)
 Recognises plurals (e.g. „s‟ and „es‟)
 Revises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch and th) at the beginning of a word ( sh-ip, ch-ip, th-in)
 Reads phonic words in sentences and other texts

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch and th) at the end of a word ( fi-sh, mu-ch, wi-th)
 Uses consonant blends to build up and break down words (sp-o-t, fr-o-g, dr-i-nk, st-i-ck)
 Builds words using sounds learnt
 Groups common words into sound families

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Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Reading (oral and/or practical)

Shared Reading
 Uses book cover to predict what the book is about
 Identifies the initial problem in a story that sets the story in motion
 Uses clues and pictures in the book for understanding
 Interprets information from posters
Group Guided Reading
 Uses phonics, context clues, structural analysis and sight words when reading
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension
 Shows an understanding of punctuation when reading aloud
Paired/Independent reading
 Reads own writing, starting to correct errors

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)
Shared Reading
 Reads big books or other enlarged texts as a whole class with teacher
 Identifies the sequence of events in what was read
 Recognises cause and effect in a story. The girl got into trouble because she broke a window
 Answers open-ended questions based on the passage read
Group Guided Reading
 Reads aloud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads the
same story
 Uses phonics, context clues, structural analysis and sight words when reading
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression
Paired/Independent reading
 Reads books read in Shared Reading sessions and books from the classroom reading corner

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 TERM 4
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal lessons four times a week of 15 minutes
Revise the formation of lower and upper case letters. Continue to teach the correct spacing of letters in a
word and words in a sentence as children copy words and sentences from the chalkboard and from
sentence strips.
 Holds pencil and crayon correctly
 Forms lower and upper case letters correctly and fluently according to size and position, that is, starts
and ends in the correct place
 Copies and writes words with correct spacing
 Copies and writes a sentence correctly

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group / individual writing sessions three times a week for 15 minutes building on and
linking to the Shared Reading, discussions and personal experiences. Use the Shared Writing activities to
also model the use of correct punctuation, spelling and grammar (tenses, plurals, prepositions).
 Contributes ideas for and helps to revise a class/group story (Shared Writing)
 Discusses with classmates ideas for writing
 Writes at least three sentences of own news or creative story using sounds learnt and common sight
words, capital letters and full stops
 Writes and illustrates sentences on a topic to contribute to a book for the reading corner
 Spells common words correctly
 Begins to use present and past tense correctly in writing
 Forms the plurals of familiar words by adding „s‟ or „es‟
 Uses prepositions correctly
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of word. For example, far, good, hat
 Organises information into a simple graphic form such as chart or timeline, e.g. uses a chart to record the
results of a survey on how children come to school

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ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Handwriting
 Holds pencil and crayon correctly
 Forms lower and upper case letters correctly and fluently according to size and position, that is, starts
and ends in the correct place
 Copies and writes a sentence correctly

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
 Forms lower and upper case letters correctly and fluently according to size and position, that is, starts
and ends in the correct place
 Copies and writes words with correct spacing
 Copies and writes a sentence correctly

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Writing
 Contributes ideas for and helps to revise a class/group story (Shared Writing)
 Discusses with classmates ideas for writing
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of word. For example, far, good, hat

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Writing
 Writes at least three sentences of own news or creative story using sounds learnt and common sight
words, capital letters and full stops
 Spells common words correctly
 Begins to use present and past tense correctly in writing
 Forms the plurals of familiar words by adding „s‟ or „es‟
 Uses prepositions correctly
 Organises information into a simple graphic form using a chart or timeline, e.g., uses a chart to record
the results of a survey on how children come to school

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RECOMMENDED TEXTS/RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR
LISTENING AND SPEAKING
 Pictures and posters
 Objects related to the themes and topics, puppets, masks etc.
 Story board pieces, jig-saws, tangrams and matching puzzles
 Pictures to sequence
 Improvised costumes for role-play
 Musical instruments (tambourine, percussion sets etc.)
 CD s or tapes with stories (read or told), poems, rhymes and songs, CD player or tape recorder,
television and video tapes/DVDs
 Storybooks and oral stories
 Poems, songs and rhymes
READING AND PHONICS
 Pictures and posters
 Phonic wall charts
 Logos and relevant examples of environmental print such as shopping bags, brand names on packaging
etc.
 Graded reading scheme/s
 Big books – some produced in Shared Writing sessions
 Nursery rhymes, poems and songs
 Other enlarged texts such as poems, songs, rhymes etc.
 Story books and picture books for the reading corner
 Short „fun‟ books with 1 – 2 sentences on a page for the reading corner
 Flash card labels for classroom items, displays and for sight words
 Name cards for children
 Pointers to use when reading enlarged texts, wall stories, displays
WRITING AND HANDWRITING
 Apparatus and materials for hand–eye co-ordination activities: balls of various sizes, hoops, bean bags,
scissors, plasticine or play dough, pegboards and pegs, beads and laces, lacing cards and laces, nuts and
bolts, clothes pegs, sand tray)
 Writing materials, e.g., pencils, coloured pencils, wax crayons, paint, paintbrushes, blank paper in
various sizes (A3, A4, A5), ruler, eraser, blank jotters, 17mm lined jotters
 Writing and sentence strips or charts (desk sized) indicating starting points and correct direction of
movement when writing letters

97
 Flipchart paper and thick Koki pens
 Personal dictionaries

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 GRADE 2

GRADE 2 HOME LANGUAGE ENGLISH

REQUIREMENTS PER TERM

TERM 1
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week

CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker
 Takes turns to speak
 Talks about personal experiences. For example, tells personal news
 Uses correct words for the context such as an invitation
 Suggests solutions to a problem especially during Mathematics

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 5
 Listens to a story with enjoyment and answers questions related to the story
 Repeats a sequence of events in the story correctly
 Listens to instructions containing at least two parts and responds appropriately

Weeks 6 – 10
 Tells a story that has a beginning, middle and end
 Participates in discussions, asking and answering questions and suggesting ideas

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Repeats a sequence of events in the story correctly
 Participates in discussions, asking and answering questions and suggesting ideas

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Formal Assessment Activity 1:
Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Talks about personal experiences. For example, tells personal news
 Listens to instructions containing at least two parts and responds appropriately
 Listens to a story with enjoyment and answers questions related to the story
 Tells a story that has a beginning, middle and end

100
 TERM 1
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Daily Phonic Activities of 15 minutes:

Revise the single letters and consonant digraphs taught in Grade 1. Introduce common vowel digraphs.
Simultaneously work on word building and aural recognition activities. Use opportunities to revise the
phonics being taught in other Language activities, for example in Shared Reading and Shared Writing.
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of all single letters
 Revises word families with short vowel sounds: -at ,-ag, -am, -it, etc.
 Revises common consonant digraphs: sh, ch, th
 Recognises „wh‟ at the beginning of a word such as wh-en, wh-y, wh-at, etc.
 Uses initial and final consonant blends to build up and break down words such as bl-a-ck, bri-ng, sa-ng
 Revises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th) at the end of words such as fi-sh, ri-ch, clo-th
 Recognises vowel digraphs such as „oo‟ as in moon and „ee‟ as in tree
 Recognises rhyming words such as rack, sack, back, lack, pack
 Builds 3 and 4-letter words using the single letters and digraphs taught this term
 Reads words from phonics lessons in sentences and other texts
 Learns to spell ten words a week taken from phonics lessons

Daily Reading Activities

Group guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week; a teacher-modelled
process with the whole class.
Each session will have a learning focus from the following: concepts of print, text features, phonics,
language patterns, word identification strategies and comprehension at a range of levels (e.g. literal,
reorganisation, inferential, evaluation and appreciation). Model the use of phonic decoding skills when
reading and other strategies that include context clues and structural analysis.
Model the five finger strategy where each finger represents a strategy the reader can use to systematically
figure out how to read an unknown word and its meaning.

101
 Reads simple instructions in the classroom
 Interprets pictures and other print media such as a photograph or an advertisement, to make up own
story. „Reads‟ the photograph or advertisement
 Reads books as a whole class with teacher (shared reading) and describes the main ideas
 Uses visual cues to predict what the story is about: the cover of the book, illustrations in the book
 Expresses a personal response to a text read
 Identifies key details in what was read such as the sequence of events
 Answers higher order questions before, during and after reading a shared text: . “What would happen
if…”

Group Guided Reading

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
The teacher works with same-ability groups of children, matching children to texts at the instructional
level (word recognition between 90 – 95% accuracy). Graded reading schemes will mostly be used.
 Reads both silently and aloud at own level in a Guided Reading group with teacher, that is, whole group
reads same story based on the instructional reading level of the group
 Uses pictures in text for understanding
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading
 Shows an understanding of punctuation (full stops, commas, question marks and exclamation marks)
when reading aloud
 Continues to build a sight vocabulary from the incidental reading programme, the graded reading series
and high-frequency word lists

Paired/Independent Reading (three times a week)

Introduce Paired/Independent reading. Select texts that are known or are at the independent reading level
of the child (simpler than those used in shared reading with more than 95% word recognition accuracy
when reading the text)
 Reads independently: picture books, poetry cards, story books from the library or classroom reading
corner
ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Phonics (oral and/or practical)
 Revises word families with short vowel sounds: -at, -ag, -am, -it etc.
 Recognises rhyming words: rack, sack, back, lack, pack

102
 Builds 3 and 4-letter words using the single letters and digraphs taught this term
 Reads words from phonics lessons in sentences and other texts

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of all single letters
 Revises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th)
 Recognises „wh‟ at the beginning of a word such as wh-en, wh-y, wh-at etc.
 Uses initial and final consonant blends to build up and break down words such as bl-a-ck, bri-ng, sa-ng
 Revises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th) at the end of words such as fi-sh, ri-ch, clo-th
 Recognises vowel digraphs such as „oo‟ as in moon and „ee‟ as in tree

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading (oral and/or practical)
Shared Reading
 Reads simple instructions in the classroom
 Interprets pictures and other print media such as a photograph or an advertisement, to make up own
story. „Reads‟ the photograph or advertisement
 Reads books as a whole class with teacher (shared reading) and describes the main ideas
 Uses visual cues i.e. the cover of a book to predict what the story is about, expressing a personal
response
 Identifies key details in what was read such as the sequence of events
 Answers higher order questions before, during and after reading a shared text: “What would happen
if…”

Group Guided Reading

 Reads both silently and aloud at own level in a Guided Reading group with teacher, that is, whole group
reads same story based on the instructional reading level of the group
 Uses pictures in text for understanding
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading
 Shows an understanding of punctuation (full stops, commas, question marks and exclamation marks)
when reading aloud

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

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Reading (oral and/ or practical)
Shared Reading
 Interprets pictures and other print media such as a photograph or an advertisement, to make up own
story. „Reads‟ the photograph or advertisement
 Reads books as a whole class with teacher (shared reading) and describes the main ideas
 Uses visual cues i.e. the cover of a book to predict what the story is about, expressing a personal
response
 Identifies key details in what was read such as the sequence of events

Group Guided Reading

 Reads aloud at own level in a Guided Reading group with teacher, that is, the whole group reads same
story based on the instructional reading level of the group
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading

104
 TERM 1
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time:1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal lessons three times a week of 15 minutes
Revise the formation of lower and upper case letters, the correct spacing of letters in a word and words in
a sentence. Children copy words and sentences from the chalkboard and from sentence strips.
 Holds pencil and positions writing materials (book/page) correctly
 Forms 26 lower and upper case letters correctly: directionality, formation and spacing within lines
 Writes words with correct spacing between letters and words
 Copies and writes two or more sentences legibly and correctly
 Writes and uses punctuation marks (full stops, question marks, commas, exclamation marks)

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group lessons two to three times a week for 20 minutes building on and linking to the
Shared Reading. Use the Shared Writing activities to also model the use of correct punctuation and
spelling. Use sentence starters to assist children to write their own sentences. Introduce personal
dictionaries.
 Draws pictures to convey a message such as about a personal experience
 Contributes ideas and words for a class story (Shared Writing)
 Writes a list using a comma to separate the items such as tasks for the day
 Writes at least three sentences of own news or creative story using sounds learned and common sight
words, capital letters and full stops
 Writes and illustrates sentences (2 – 4 sentences) on a topic to contribute to a book for the classroom
reading corner
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of word to develop dictionary skills
such as car, door
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Handwriting

105
 Holds pencil and positions writing materials (book/page) correctly
 Forms 26 lower and upper case letters correctly: directionality, formation and spacing within lines
 Writes and uses punctuation marks: full stops, question marks, commas, exclamation marks
 Writes words with correct spacing between letters and words

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
 Forms 26 lower and upper case letters correctly – directionality, formation and spacing within lines
 Copies and writes two or more sentences legibly and correctly

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Writing
 Writes a list using a comma to separate the items such as tasks for the day
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of word to develop dictionary skills ;
identifies correct page for noting words such as car, door

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Writing
 Draws pictures to convey a message, e.g., about a personal experience
 Writes at least three sentences of own news or creative story using sounds learned and common sight
words, capital letters and full stops
 Contributes ideas and words for a class story (Shared Writing)

106
 TERM 2
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Listens without interrupting showing respect for the speaker
 Takes turns to talk, showing sensitivity to others and giving positive feedback
 Talks about personal experiences. For example, tells news without repetition
 Understands and uses appropriate language of different subjects such as language specific to
Mathematics
 Suggests solutions to a problem especially during Mathematics

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 5
 Listens to stories for a longer period with enjoyment
 Expresses feelings about a story or poem
 Identifies similarities and differences
 Compares and classifies things explaining classification such as animals with 4 legs and those with 2
legs

Weeks 6 – 10
 Listens to more complex instructions and responds appropriately
 Listens to stories and poems and identifies the main idea, details and sequence of events
 Answers closed and open-ended questions and gives reasons for answers
 Responds to riddles and jokes
 Makes up own rhymes using imaginative language
 Participates in discussions and asks questions for clarity

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities:

Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker

107
 Takes turns to talk, showing sensitivity to others and giving positive feedback
 Identifies similarities and differences
 Compares and classifies things explaining classification (e.g. animals with 4 legs and those with 2 legs)

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Talks about personal experiences. For example, tells news without repetition
 Listens to stories for a longer period with enjoyment
 Expresses feelings about a story or poem

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Listens to stories and poems and identifies the main idea, details and sequence of events
 Answers closed and open-ended questions and gives reasons for answers
 Participates in discussions and asks questions for clarity

108
 TERM 2
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Daily Phonic Activities of 15 minutes

Introduce 3 new vowel digraphs, silent ‘e’ and 3-letter consonant blends. Continue word building and
aural recognition activities. Ensure that children understand the words they are sounding and can use
them to form meaningful sentences.
 Recognises 3-letter consonant blends at the beginning of words. For example str-ip, str-ap
 Recognises 3-letter consonant blends at the end of words For example. ca-tch, fe-tch, i-tch
 Recognises at least 3 new vowel digraphs For example „oa‟ as in boat, „ea‟ as in eat, short „oo‟ as in
book, „ai‟ as in „rain‟
 Recognises „silent e‟/split digraph in words For example tape, time, note
 Builds 3, 4 and 5-letter words using the consonant blends, vowel digraphs taught this term.
 Reads words from phonics lessons in sentences and other texts
 Learns to spell ten words a week taken from phonics lessons

Daily Reading Activities

Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week; a teacher-modelled
process with the whole class.
Model the use of phonic decoding skills and other strategies that include context clues and structural
analysis.
 Uses visual cues to identify the purpose of advertisements and the intended audience
 Reads book as a whole class with teacher (shared reading) and discusses cause–effect relations
 Identifies key details in what was read such as main characters and setting
 Reads well-known nursery rhymes, poems and songs as a whole class with teacher (shared reading) and
discusses the different formats
 Answers higher order questions based on the text read. “How is the lion‟s behaviour different from that
of the mouse?”

109
 Gives an opinion on what was read

Group Guided Reading

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.

Teach children to monitor themselves when reading, both in the area of word recognition and
comprehension. (Children taught to ask: ‘Does it sound right?’, ‘Does it look right?’ and ‘Does it make
sense?’) Model the process in Shared Reading and apply it in Guided Reading with support.
 Reads aloud from book at own level in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole group reads
same story
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading
 Begins to monitor self when reading, both recognition and comprehension
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression
 Continues to build a sight vocabulary from the incidental reading programme, the graded reading series
and high-frequency word lists

Paired/Independent Reading
Daily reading related activities for 20 minutes while some groups are doing guided reading with the
teacher.
 Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads independently texts such as comics and simple fiction books
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Phonics: (oral and/or practical)
 Reads words from phonics lessons in sentences and other texts

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises 3-letter consonant blends at the beginning of words. For example . str-ip, str-ap)
 Recognises 3-letter consonant blends at the end of words. For example ca-tch, fe-tch, i-tch)
 Builds 3, 4 and 5-letter words using the consonant blends, vowel digraphs taught this term

110
Formal Assessment Activity 2:
Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises at least 3 new vowel digraphs. For example „oa‟ as in boat, „ea‟ as in eat, short „oo‟ as in
book, „ai‟ as in „rain‟
 Recognises „silent e‟/split digraph in words . For example tape, time, note
 Builds 3, 4 and 5-letter words using the consonant blends, vowel digraphs taught this term

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading: (oral and/or practical)
Shared Reading
 Uses visual cues to identify the purpose of advertisements and the intended audience
 Answers higher order questions based on the text read. “How is the lion‟s behaviour different from that
of the mouse?”
Group Guided Reading
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression
 Begins to monitor self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension
Paired/Independent Reading
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads independently texts such as comics and simple fiction books

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)
Shared Reading
 Reads book as a whole class with teacher (shared reading) and discusses cause effect relations
 Identifies key details in what was read such as main characters and setting
Group Guided Reading
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression
Paired/Independent Reading
 Reads independently texts such as comics and simple fiction books

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)
Shared Reading
 Uses visual cues to identify the purpose of advertisements and the intended audience

111
 Reads book as a whole class with teacher (shared reading) and discusses cause effect relations
 Answers higher order questions based on the text read. “How is the lion‟s behaviour different from that
of the mouse?”
 Gives an opinion on what was read

Group Guided Reading

 Reads aloud from book at own level in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole group reads
same story
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading
Paired/Independent Reading
 Reads aloud to a partner

112
 TERM 2
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal lessons three times a week of 15 minutes
Children use print script to copy and write longer and more varied pieces of writing neatly and correctly
from a printed text.
 Writes in print script all capitals and lower case letters confidently and accurately
 Uses appropriate spacing between words in a sentence.
 Aligns writing properly on 17 mm ruled lines
 Copies and writes one paragraph of between 3 – 4 lines from a printed text (a story, a poem etc)
 Copies and writes different formats of writing (short invitations such as birthday; messages; lists etc)
 Draws patterns in preparation for a joined script or cursive writing
 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group lessons two to three times a week for 20 minutes. Use the Shared Writing
activities to model the use of correct punctuation and spelling. Provide a writing frame to assist children
to write their own stories.
 Participates in a discussion to choose a topic to write about
 Writes an expressive text such as a thank you card or letter using a given format
 Writes own story of at least one paragraph (at least five sentences) using a writing frame
 Writes one paragraph (at least five sentences) on personal experiences or events such as daily news
 Writes and illustrates sentences (4 – 6 sentences) on a topic to contribute to a book for the reading corner
 Uses the writing process (drafting, writing and editing)
 Uses capital letters (at the beginning of a sentence and for proper names) and correct punctuation (full
stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks)
 Begins to spell common words correctly
 Uses present and past tenses correctly
 Uses prepositions correctly
 Reads own writing to a partner

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 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of word to develop dictionary skills
such as far, granny, home
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Handwriting
 Uses appropriate spacing between words in a sentence
 Aligns writing properly on 17 mm ruled lines
 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
 Writes in print script all capitals and lower case letters confidently and accurately
 Copies and writes different formats of writing such as short birthday invitations, messages, lists etc.

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Handwriting
 Writes in print script all capitals and lower case letters confidently and accurately
 Copies and writes one paragraph of between 3 – 4 lines from a printed text such as a story, a poem etc.

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Writing:
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of word to develop dictionary skills
such as far, granny, home
 Begins to spell common words correctly

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Writing
 Writes an expressive text such as a thank you card or letter
 Participates in a discussion to choose a topic to write about
 Writes own story of at least one paragraph (at least 5 sentences) using a writing frame
 Uses capital letters (at the beginning of a sentence and for proper names) and correct punctuation (full
stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks)

114
Formal Assessment Activity 2:
Writing
 Writes own story of at least one paragraph (at least five sentences) using a writing frame
 Writes one paragraph (at least five sentences) on personal experiences or events such as daily news
 Uses the writing process (drafting, writing, editing and publishing)
 Begins to spell common words correctly
 Uses present and past tenses correctly
 Reads own writing to a partner

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 TERM 3
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker and asking questions for clarification
 Talks about personal experiences and more general news, e.g., tells news
 Uses an ever-increasing vocabulary when speaking
 Participates in discussions, asking and answering questions
 Suggests solutions to a problem especially during Mathematics

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 - 5
 Listens to a sequence of instructions and responds appropriately
 Listens to stories and predicts the ending, or makes up own ending for the story
 Tells simple stories varying tone and volume of voice

Weeks 6 - 10
 Listens for the detail in stories and answers open-ended questions. For example, works out cause and
effect
 Role plays different situations, e.g., takes on the role of news presenter
 Uses appropriate language with different people such as interviews different people
 Tells jokes and riddles using language imaginatively

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Listens without interrupting showing respect for the speaker and asking questions for clarification
 Talks about personal experiences and more general news. For example, tells news
 Uses appropriate language with different people such as interviews different people
 Tells jokes and riddles using language imaginatively

116
Formal Assessment Activity 1:
Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Talks about personal experiences and more general news. For example, tells news
 Uses an ever-increasing vocabulary when speaking
 Listens to stories and predicts the ending, or makes up own ending for the story
 Tells simple stories varying tone and volume of voice

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Participates in discussions, asking and answering questions
 Listens to a sequence of instructions and responds appropriately
 Listens for the detail in stories and answers open-ended questions. For example, works out cause and
effect
 Role plays different situations, e.g., takes on the role of news presenter

117
 TERM 3
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily Phonic Activities of 15 minutes:
Use consonant blends and digraphs to build up and break down words. Continue aural recognition
activities (building up and breaking down words aurally and not visually) as this is an aid to spelling.
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of all single letters
 Uses consonant blends to build up and break down words
 Aurally revises plurals („s‟ and „es‟), „ing‟ and „ed‟ at the end of words
 Revises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th) at the end of words (e.g. ca-sh, su-ch, mo-th)
 Recognises common double consonants such as ll, ss and zz) at the end of words such as do-ll, fu-ss,
buzz
 Recognises the first sound (onset) and the last syllable (rime) in more complex patterns
such as. dr-eam, cr-eam, scr-eam, str-eam
 Recognises vowel digraphs and diphthongs such as „oy‟, „oi‟, „ay‟, „ai‟
 Builds words using the consonant and vowel digraphs, consonant blends and double consonants taught
this year
 Groups common words into sound families such as „oy‟, „oi‟; „ay‟, „ai‟
 Reads words from phonics lessons in sentences and other texts
 Learns to spell ten words a week taken from phonics lessons and sight words

Daily Reading Activities: Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions
per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 - 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week.
 Reads book as a whole class with teacher, identifying the sequence of events and the setting
 Uses the cover of a book for prediction
 Answers higher order questions based on the text read (“What would have happened if…?”)
 Gives an opinion on what was read
 Identifies some synonyms and antonyms

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 Interprets information from simple tables such as calendar

Group Guided Reading

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
 Reads aloud from book at own level in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole group reads
same story
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension.
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression
 Continues to build a sight vocabulary from the incidental reading programme, the graded reading series
and high-frequency word lists

Paired/Independent reading
Daily reading related activities for 20 minutes while some groups are doing guided reading with the
teacher.
 Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads independently: short fiction books and poems
 Plays reading games and completes crosswords to reinforce reading and vocabulary skills such as bingo,
track games

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Phonics: (oral and/or practical)
 Identifies letter–sound relationships of all single letters
 Builds words using the consonant and vowel digraphs, consonant blends and double consonants taught
this year
 Aurally revises plurals („s‟ and „es‟), „ing‟ and „ed‟ at the end of words
 Reads words from phonics lessons in sentences and other texts

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Uses consonant blends to build up and break down words

119
 Revises common consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th) at the end of words such as. ca-sh, su-ch, mo-th
 Recognises common double consonants such as ll, ss and zz at the end of words. For example do-ll, fu-
ss, buzz
 Builds words using the consonant and vowel digraphs, consonant blends and double consonants taught
this term
 Groups common words into sound families. For example „oy‟, „oi‟, „ay‟, „ai‟

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises the first sound (onset) and the last syllable (rime) in more complex patterns. For example dr-
eam, cr-eam, scr-eam, str-eam
 Recognises vowel digraphs and diphthongs For example „oy‟, „oi‟, „ay‟, „ai‟
 Builds words using the consonant and vowel digraphs, consonant blends and double consonants taught
this year
 Groups common words into sound families such as. „oy‟, „oi‟, „ay‟, „ai‟

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading (oral and/or practical)
Shared Reading
 Answers higher order questions based on the text read. For example “What would have happened if…?”
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension
 Identifies some synonyms and antonyms

Group Guided Reading

 Reads aloud from book at own level in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole group reads
same story
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression

Paired/Independent reading
 Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads own and others‟ writing

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)

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Shared Reading
 Reads book as a whole class with teacher, identifying the sequence of events and the setting
 Uses the cover of a book for prediction
 Gives an opinion on what was read

Group Guided Reading:

 Reads aloud from book at own level in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole group reads
same story
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)

Shared Reading
 Reads book as a whole class with teacher, identifying the sequence of events and the setting
 Answers higher order questions based on the passage read. For example “What would have happened
if…?”
 Interprets information from simple tables such as calendar

Group Guided Reading

 Reads aloud from book at own level in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole group reads
same story
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression

Paired/Independent reading
 Reads independently: short fiction books and poems

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 TERM 3
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal lessons three times a week of 15 minutes
Children continue to use print script in written recording but begin to learn a type of joined print script.
The type of joined script or cursive writing will be informed by the school’s handwriting policy/Provincial
Policy

Maintenance of the print script

 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler
 Forms upper and lower case letters correctly and with greater speed and accuracy
 Maintains uniformity and alignment: size of lower case and upper case letters in a word
 Uses print script in all forms of written recording

Transition to a joined script or cursive writing

 Copies and writes writing patterns in joined script or cursive writing
 Copies and writes at least two letters of joined script or cursive writing per week (size and uniformity)
 Copies and writes short words in joined script or cursive writing: 2 and 3 letter words such as an; am; at;
it; in; on; of; he; we; us; be; so; see; can; our
 Recognises and reads short words written in the joined script or cursive writing

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group lessons two to three times a week for 20 minutes. Use the Shared Writing
activities to model the writing process (drafting, writing and publishing). Provide a writing frame to assist
children to write their own stories.
 Participates in a discussion to choose a topic to write about
 Writes an expressive text such as get well card, post card etc.
 Drafts, writes and publishes own story of at least six sentences
 Writes 1 – 2 paragraphs (at least eight sentences) on personal experiences or events
 Uses correct punctuation (full stops, commas, question marks and exclamation marks) so that others can

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 read what has been written
 Spells common words correctly and attempts to spell unfamiliar words using phonic knowledge
 Uses present, past and future tenses correctly
 Identifies and uses nouns and verbs correctly
 Identifies and uses pronouns correctly
 Reads and discusses own writing with a partner
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Handwriting
 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
Maintenance of the print script
 Forms upper and lower case letters correctly and with greater speed and accuracy
Transition to a joined script or cursive writing
 Copies and writes writing patterns in joined script or cursive writing
 Copies and writes at least two letters of joined script or cursive writing per week (size and uniformity)

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Handwriting
Transition to a joined script or cursive writing
 Copies and writes at least two letters of joined script or cursive writing per week (size and uniformity)
 Copies and writes short words in joined script or cursive writing: 2 and 3 letter words such as an; am; at;
it; in; on; of; he; we; us; be; so; see; can; our
 Recognises and reads short words written in the joined script or cursive writing

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Writing:
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary
 Identifies and uses nouns and verbs correctly

123
Formal Assessment Activity 1:
Writing
 Writes an expressive text such as get well card, post card etc.
 Writes 1 – 2 paragraphs (at least eight sentences) on personal experiences or events
 Spells common words correctly and attempts to spell unfamiliar words using phonic knowledge
 Uses present, past and future tenses correctly

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Writing
 Participates in a discussion to choose a topic to write about
 Drafts, writes and publishes own story of at least six sentences and adds a suitable title
 Uses correct punctuation (full stops, commas, question marks and exclamation marks) so that others can
read what has been written
 Identifies and uses pronouns correctly
 Reads and discusses own writing with a partner

124
 TERM 4
SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Listens without interrupting, asking questions for clarification and commenting on what was heard
 Talks about personal experiences and more general news. For example, tells news using descriptive
language
 Uses terms such as noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, preposition, comma, question mark, paragraph when
talking about own writing
 Understands and uses appropriate language of different subjects
 Suggests solutions to a problem especially during Mathematics

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 5
 Listens to a complex sequence of instructions and responds appropriately
 Participates in discussions, suggesting topics for discussion and asking questions for information and
reporting back on the group‟s work
 Participates in playing word games such as I spy…
 Tells jokes and riddles using appropriate volume and intonation

Weeks 6 – 10
 Listens and responds to a speaker the child cannot see
 Listens for the detail in stories and answers higher-order questions, e.g., “Do you think he was right
to…?”
 Answers open-ended questions and justifies answer, e.g., “Why do you say that?”
 Expresses feelings about a text and gives reasons, e.g., “It made me angry because…”

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Listens without interrupting, asking questions for clarification and commenting on what was heard
 Uses terms such as noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, preposition, comma, question mark, paragraph when

125
 talking about own writing
 Suggests solutions to a problem especially during Mathematics
 Participates in playing word games such as I spy…
 Tells jokes and riddles using appropriate volume and intonation
 Answers open-ended questions and justifies answer, e.g., “Why do you say that?”

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Talks about personal experiences and more general news. For example, tells news using descriptive
language
 Listens to a complex sequence of instructions and responds appropriately
 Participates in discussions, suggesting topics for discussion and asking questions for information and
reporting back on the group‟s work
 Listens for the detail in stories and answers higher-order questions, e.g., “Do you think he was right
to…?”
 Expresses feelings about a text and gives reasons, e.g., “It made me angry because…”

126
 TERM 4
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Daily Phonic Activities of 15 minutes

Introduce new vowel digraphs, diphthongs and blends. Ensure that children understand the words they
are sounding and can use them to form meaningful sentences. Guide children to use their phonic
knowledge to spell unfamiliar words.
 Recognises at least 5 new vowel digraphs (e.g. „ar‟ as in car, „er‟ as in fern, „ir‟ as in shirt, „or‟ as in
short, „ur‟ as in church etc.)
 Recognises vowel digraphs and diphthongs (e.g. „oa‟, „oe‟, ‟ow‟ as in „cow‟ and „ow‟ as in „show‟)
 Recognises and uses suffixes (e.g. -ly, -ies)
 Revises „silent e‟/ split digraph in words (e.g. cake, time, hope)
 Builds words using the phonic sounds taught during the year
 Builds sentences using phonics vocabulary
 Reads words from phonics lessons in sentences and other texts
 Learns to spell ten words a week taken from phonics lessons and sight words
 Writes two short sentences dictated by teacher

Daily Reading Activities

Guided Reading (two groups per day) and two to three Shared Reading sessions per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week.
 Reads poems and songs as a whole class with teacher (Shared Reading) and discusses the different
formats and the poet‟s choice of words
 Reads fiction and non-fiction books as a whole class with teacher
 Answers higher order questions based on the text read, e.g., “In your opinion…”
 Expresses whether a story was liked and is able to justify the response, e.g., “I didn‟t enjoy the story
because…”
 Expresses a personal response to print media images such as newspaper and magazine pictures, posters,

127
 advertisements, e.g., “I preferred that magazine picture because this advert made me…”
 Recognises apostrophes in contractions showing both possession and contractions such as John‟s car,
don‟t

Group Guided Reading

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
 Reads silently and aloud from fiction and non-fiction books at own level in a guided reading group with
teacher, that is, whole group reads same text
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills and comprehension skills to
make meaning
 Reads with increasing fluency and speed using correct pronunciation
 Uses self-correcting strategies when reading: re-reading, pausing, practising a word before saying it
aloud
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension
 Continues to build a sight vocabulary from the incidental reading programme, the graded reading series
and high-frequency word lists

Paired/Independent reading:
Daily reading related activities for 20 minutes while some groups are doing guided reading with the
teacher.
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads independently at a more complex level for enjoyment or information from a variety of available
texts: comics, simple fiction and non-fiction books
 Plays reading games such as reading dominoes, and completes crosswords to reinforce reading and
vocabulary skills

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Formal Assessment Activities :

Phonics: (oral and/or practical)
 Recognises and uses suffixes such as -ly, -ies
 Revises „silent e‟/ split digraph in words such as cake, time, hope
 Builds sentences using phonics vocabulary

128
 Reads words from phonics lessons in sentences and other texts

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises at least 5 new vowel digraphs. For example „ar‟ as in car, „er‟ as in fern, „ir‟ as in shirt, „or‟
as in short, „ur‟ as in church etc.
 Recognises vowel digraphs and diphthongs. For example „oa‟, „oe‟, ‟ow‟ as in „cow‟ and „ow‟ as in
„show‟)
 Builds words using the phonic sounds taught during the year

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading: (oral and/or practical)
Shared Reading
 Answers higher order questions based on the text read, e.g., “In your opinion…?”
 Expresses whether a story was liked and is able to justify the response, e.g., “I didn‟t enjoy the story
because…”
Group Guided Reading:
 Uses self-correcting strategies when reading: re-reading, pausing, practising a word before saying it
aloud
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension.
Paired/Independent reading
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads aloud to a partner

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical)
Shared Reading
 Reads fiction and non-fiction books as a whole class with teacher
 Answers higher order questions based on the text read, e.g., “In your opinion…?”
 Expresses a personal response to print media images such as newspaper and magazine pictures, posters,
advertisements, e.g., “I preferred that magazine picture because this advert made me…”
Group Guided Reading
 Reads silently and aloud from fiction and non-fiction books at own level in a guided reading group with

129
 teacher, that is, whole group reads same text
 Uses sight words, phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills and comprehension skills to
make meaning
 Reads with increasing fluency and speed using correct pronunciation
Paired/Independent reading
 Reads independently at a more complex level for enjoyment or information from a variety of available
texts: comics, simple fiction and non-fiction books

130
 TERM 4
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal Lessons three times a week of 15 minutes
Children continue to use print script in written recording but begin to learn a type of joined print script.
The type of joined script or cursive writing will be informed by the school’s handwriting policy/Provincial
Policy

Maintenance of the print script

 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler
 Maintains the use of print script for written recording

Transition to a joined script or cursive writing

 Copies and writes at least two letters of joined script or cursive writing per week, completing all letters
by the end of the term
 Copies and writes short words in joined script or cursive writing
 Copies and writes commonly used capital letters in joined script or cursive writing (e.g. A, E, H, I, M, O,
S, T, W, Y.)
 Copies and writes short sentences in joined script or cursive writing

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group lessons two to three times a week for 20 minutes building on and linking to the
Shared Reading. Use the Shared Writing activities to also model the use of correct punctuation, spelling
and grammar (tenses, plurals, prepositions). Provide a frame to assist children to write a recipe and a
framework to organise information into a chart or table. Model how to use a simple dictionary, explaining
alphabetical order.
 Participates in a discussion and contributes ideas
 Experiments with words: writes a simple poem or song
 Writes at least two paragraphs (ten sentences) on personal experiences or events such as a family
celebration
 Drafts, writes and publishes own story of at least two paragraphs, using language such as „once upon a

131
 time‟ and „in the end‟
 Organizes information in a chart or table
 Uses informational structures when writing such as writes recipes
 Sequences text by using words like „first‟, „next‟ and „finally‟
 Uses correct punctuation (full stops, commas, question marks and exclamation marks) so that others can
read what has been written
 Spells common words correctly and attempts to spell unfamiliar words using phonic knowledge
 Uses present, past and future tenses correctly
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary
 Uses a dictionary to check on meanings and spellings of words
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Handwriting
Maintenance of the print script
 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler
 Maintains the use of print script for written recording

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
Transition to a joined script or cursive writing
 Copies and writes at least two letters of joined script or cursive writing per week, completing all letters
by the end of the term
 Copies and writes short words in joined script or cursive writing
 Copies and writes commonly used capital letters in joined script or cursive writing . A, E, H, I, M, O, S,
T, W, Y
 Copies and writes short sentences in joined script or cursive writing

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Writing:
 Experiments with words: writes a simple poem or song
 Drafts, writes and publishes own story of at least two paragraphs, using language such as „once upon a
time‟ and „in the end‟
 Uses correct punctuation (full stops, commas, question marks and exclamation marks) so that others can

132
 read what has been written
 Spells common words correctly and attempts to spell unfamiliar words using phonic knowledge
 Uses present, past and future tenses correctly
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Writing
 Writes at least two paragraphs (ten sentences) on personal experiences or events such as a family
celebration
 Organizes information in a chart or table
 Uses informational structures when writing such as writes recipes
 Sequences text by using words like „first‟, „next‟ and „finally‟
 Uses correct punctuation (full stops, commas, question marks and exclamation marks) so that others can
read what has been written
 Spells common words correctly and attempts to spell unfamiliar words using phonic knowledge
 Uses present, past and future tenses correctly

133
RECOMMENDED TEXTS/RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR
LISTENING AND SPEAKING
 Pictures and posters
 Objects related to the themes and topics, puppets, masks etc
 Story board pieces and jig-saw puzzles
 Pictures to sequence
 Improvised costumes for role-play and other oral activities
 Musical instruments (tambourine; percussion sets etc)
 CDs or tapes with stories, poems, rhymes and songs, CD player or tape recorder, television and video
tapes/DVDs
 Storybooks and oral stories
READING AND PHONICS
 Pictures and posters
 Phonic wall charts
 Graded reading scheme/s
 Big books – some produced in Shared writing sessions
 Other enlarged texts such as poems, songs, rhymes etc.
 Story books, non-fiction books and picture books for the classroom reading corner
 Stories developed during shared writing sessions
 Nursery rhymes, poems and songs
 Short „fun‟ books with 1 – 2 sentences on a page for the classroom reading corner
 Flash card labels for classroom items, displays and for sight words
 Name cards for children
 Pointers to use when reading enlarged texts, wall stories, displays
 Picture and word puzzles and games
 Newspapers and magazines
WRITING AND HANDWRITING
 Writing materials such as pencils, coloured pencils, wax crayons, blank paper in various sizes (A3, A4,
A5), ruler, eraser, 17mm / 8.5mm lined jotters, blank jotters
 Writing and sentence strips or desk sized charts for print script, joined script and/or cursive writing
 Flipchart paper and thick Koki pens
 Personal dictionaries
 Simple children‟s dictionaries

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GRADE 3 HOME LANGUAGE ENGLISH
REQUIREMENTS PER TERM

TERM 1
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Talks about personal experiences. For example, tells news expressing feelings and opinions
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker and taking turns to speak
 Uses appropriate language when speaking to friends and adults, recognising the way the class uses slang.
For example, telling parents how the ball came to break the window and then telling friends about the
same incident

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 5
 Listens to a complex sequence of instructions (at least 4) and responds appropriately
 Listens for the main idea and for detail in stories and answers higher-order questions, e.g., “Do you think
the title is the best one for this story? Why?”
 Asks questions for clarification and comments on what was heard, e.g., “Did that really happen? Then
what did you do?”
 Expresses feelings about a text and gives reasons, e.g., “I really feel that the author could have given a
happier ending to the story. The dolphin tried so hard to escape.”

Weeks 6 – 10
 Participates in discussions, asking questions and showing sensitivity to the feelings of others
 Answers questions and gives reasons for the answers, e.g., “Yes. I think the title tells the reader what the
story is about.”

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

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Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Listens without interrupting, showing respect for the speaker and taking turns to speak
 Expresses feelings about a text and gives reasons, e.g., “I really feel that the author could have given a
happier ending to the story. The dolphin tried so hard to escape.”
 Participates in discussions, asking questions and showing sensitivity to the feelings of others

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Talks about personal experiences. For example, tells news expressing feelings and opinions
 Listens to a complex sequence of instructions (at least 4) and responds appropriately
 Listens for the main idea and for detail in stories and answers higher-order questions, e.g., “Do you think Comment [J M1]: Remove space

the title is the best one for this story? Why?”

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 TERM 1
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Phonic Activities three times a week for 15 minutes

Revise the single sounds and the consonant and vowel digraphs taught in Grade 2. Discuss the role of
letters of the alphabet in different words drawing attention to the different sounds the same letter or
letters represent. For example ‘a’ as in ‘apple’ and ‘a’ as in ‘zebra’; ‘g’ as in ‘gate’ and ‘g’ as in ‘giant’.
Simultaneously work on word building and aural recognition activities. Use opportunities to revise the
phonics being used in other language activities. For example, in Shared Reading and Shared Writing.
Use the Phonics to inform the spelling programme for the year.
 Identifies letter–sound and letter–name relationships of all single letters
 Recognises consonant digraphs (sh-, -sh, ch-, -ch, th-, -th and wh-) at the beginning and end of words (
sh-irt, ch-irp, th-ink, wh-en, wi-sh, ri-ch, bo-th)
 Recognises vowel digraphs taught in Grade 2 such as „oo‟, „ee‟, „ea‟, „ai‟, „oa‟, „ay‟
 Recognises that some sounds are represented by a number of different spelling choices (play, pain,
plate; feet, read, key; boat, blow, note; tiger, like, sigh, fly)
 Recognises „silent e‟ or split digraphs in words such as same, bite, note
 Recognises and uses rhyming words such as blow, flow, and glow
 Builds 3, 4 and 5-letter words using the consonant and vowel digraphs taught this term
 Sorts letters and words into alphabetical order
 Spells words correctly using phonic knowledge
 Learns to spell ten words a week taken from phonics lessons and sight words
 Writes three short sentences dictated by teacher

Daily Reading Activities

Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week; a teacher-modelled
process with the whole class.
Each session will have a learning focus from the following: concepts of print, text features, phonics,

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language patterns, word identification strategies and comprehension at a range of levels – literal,
reorganisation, inferential, evaluation and appreciation questions.

Model the five finger strategy where each finger represents a strategy the reader can use to systematically
figure out how to read an unknown word and its meaning: children check by asking whether the word
they ‘solve’ sounds right, looks right and makes sense. Start teaching children this process when they
meet unknown words.

 Uses visual cues to talk about a graphical text, e.g., looks at a photograph, and discusses what it is
about, where it was taken, etc.
 Reads enlarged texts such as poems, big books, posters and electronic texts as a whole class with the
teacher (shared reading)
 Reads book as a whole class with the teacher (shared reading) and describes the main idea and the main
characters
 Reads instructions in the classroom
 Reads different poems around a topic and discusses these (both form and meanings)
 Answers higher order questions before, during and after reading a shared text, e.g., “What do you think
will happen next? Why do you say this?”
 Recognises inverted commas to show direct speech in written stories
 Recognises apostrophes in contractions showing both possession and contractions such as Sipho‟s book,
can‟t

Group Guided Reading:

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week. Teacher works with same-ability groups of children, matching children to
texts at the instructional level (word recognition between 90 – 95% accuracy). Graded reading schemes
will mostly be used.
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with the teacher, that is,
whole group reads the same story on the instructional reading level of the group
 Uses phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading both silently and aloud
 Uses self-correcting strategies when reading: re-reading, pausing, practising a word before saying it
aloud
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension
 Shows an understanding of punctuation (full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, inverted
commas) when reading aloud

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Paired/Independent reading (three times a week)
Introduce Paired/Independent reading. Select texts that are known or are at the independent reading level
of the child (simpler than those used in shared reading with more than 95% word recognition accuracy
when reading the text)
 Reads independently: picture books and simple story books
 Plays reading games and completes crosswords to reinforce reading and vocabulary skills such as Snap,
Memory
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Phonics: (oral and/or practical)
 Recognises that some sounds are represented by a number of different spelling choices (play, pain,
plate; feet, read, key; boat, blow, note; tiger, like, sigh, fly)
 Recognises and uses rhyming words such as blow, flow, and glow
 Builds 3, 4 and 5-letter words using the consonant and vowel digraphs taught this term

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Identifies letter–sound and letter–name relationships of all single letters
 Recognises consonant digraphs (sh-, -sh, ch-, -ch, th-, -th and wh-) at the beginning and end of words
(sh-irt, ch-irp, th-ink, wh-en, wi-sh, ri-ch, bo-th)
 Recognises vowel digraphs taught in Grade 2 such as „oo‟, „ee‟, „ea‟, „ai‟, „oa‟, „ay‟
 Recognises „silent e‟ or split digraphs in words such as same, bite, note

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading: (oral and/or practical and/or written)

Shared Reading
 Reads enlarged texts such as poems, big books, posters and electronic texts as a whole class with the
teacher (shared reading)
 Reads instructions in the classroom

Group Guided Reading:

 Reads both silently and aloud at own level in a Guided Reading group with the teacher, that is, the whole

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 group reads same story based on the instructional reading level of the group
 Uses phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading
 Shows an understanding of punctuation (full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, inverted
commas) when reading aloud
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Uses visual cues to talk about a graphical text such as a photograph and discusses what it is about,
where it was taken, etc.
 Reads book as a whole class with the teacher (shared reading) and describes the main idea and the main
characters
 Answers higher order questions before, during and after reading a shared text, e.g., “What do you think
will happen next? Why do you say this?”

Group Guided Reading:

 Reads aloud at own level in a Guided Reading group with the teacher, that is, the whole group reads
same story based on the instructional reading level of the group
 Uses phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills when reading

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 TERM 1
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting:
Formal Lessons three times a week of 15 minutes
Children may still be using print script in written recording until the end of the second term although
handwriting lessons will focus on practising the individual letters and joins needed for the joined script or
cursive writing. The type of joined script or cursive writing will be informed by the school’s handwriting
policy/Provincial Policy
 Forms all lower and upper-case letters in joined script or cursive writing and begins to join various
letters and to form words in the selected joined script or cursive writing
 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler
 Writes short words in the joined script or cursive writing
 Spaces words correctly in lines
 Writes a sentence legibly and correctly in both the print script and the joined script or cursive writing

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group lessons two to three times a week for 20 minutes. Use the Shared Writing
activities to model the use of correct punctuation, spelling and grammar (tenses, plurals). Provide a
writing frame to assist children to write a story or a description and guide them through the steps of the
writing process. Children start their personal dictionaries.

 Draws pictures and writes sentences to show understanding of a story

 Writes instructions, e.g., to a friend
 Contributes ideas, words and sentences for a class story (shared writing)
 Uses a picture to choose a topic to write about
 Talks to a partner to begin planning writing
 Asks questions to help define the writing task
 Writes at least one paragraph of eight sentences such as own news, creative story, description of an
incident/experiment
 Writes and illustrates sentences (six to eight sentences) on a topic to contribute to a book for the class

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 library
 Writes words to form a sentence using capital letters, full stops, question marks, commas, exclamation
marks and inverted commas
 Uses phonic knowledge and spelling rules to write unfamiliar words
 Uses present, past and future tense correctly
 Uses subject–verb agreement correctly, e.g., I want / She wants …
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of words such as apple, book, cat, etc.
ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Handwriting
 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler
 Spaces words correctly in lines
Formal Assessment Activity 1:
Handwriting
 Forms all lower and upper-case letters in joined script or cursive writing and begins to join various
letters and to form words in the selected joined script or cursive writing
 Writes short words in the joined script or cursive writing
 Writes a sentence legibly and correctly in both the print script and the joined script or cursive writing

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Writing
 Draws pictures and writes sentences to show understanding of a story
 Writes instructions, e.g., to a friend
 Contributes ideas, words and sentences for a class story (shared writing)
 Uses subject–verb agreement correctly, e.g., I want / She wants
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial sound of words such as apple, book, cat, etc.

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Writing
 Writes at least one paragraph of eight sentences on own news, creative story, description of an
incident/experiment etc.
 Writes words to form a sentence using capital letters, full stops, question marks, commas, exclamation
marks and inverted commas
 Uses phonic knowledge and spelling rules to write unfamiliar words

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 Uses present, past and future tense correctly

TERM 2
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week

CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Listens and responds to radio or intercom announcements and instructions
 Talks about personal experiences such as tells news expressing feelings and opinions
 Listens to stories, poems and songs and expresses feelings about the story, poem or song, giving reasons
 With support, predicts what will happen in a story, e.g., “Look at the title and the cover of the book.
What do you think is going to happen?”
 Works out cause and effect in a story using connecting words such as „because‟, e.g., „“The children fell
off the bridge because…”
 Uses language to investigate and explore such as suggesting alternatives, e.g., „I think it could…‟,
„If…then…‟
 Asks questions to clarify, plan and get information on an activity
 Analyses, compares and contrasts information such as the eating habits of a child and a monkey
 Understands and uses appropriate language of different subjects such as Life Skills
 Suggests solutions to a problem, specifically word problems in Mathematics

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 3
 Listens to more complex instructions (at least 5) and responds appropriately
 Makes an oral presentation. For example, „Show and Tell‟ – describes and compares an object

Weeks 4 – 6
 Listens to stories, read by the teacher or over the radio, for a longer period with interest
 Tells a short story with a simple plot and different characters

Weeks 7 – 10

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 Participates in group and class discussions, suggests topics and contributes ideas
 Talks about a general news event, expressing feelings and opinions
 Listens to, and composes, riddles and jokes
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Listens and responds to radio or intercom announcements and instructions
 Talks about a general news event, expressing feelings and opinions
 Listens to, and composes, riddles and jokes
 Uses language to investigate and explore. Suggests alternatives such as „I think it could…‟, „If…then…‟
 Asks questions to clarify, plan and get information on an activity
 Analyses, compares and contrasts information such as the eating habits of a child and a monkey
 Understands and uses appropriate language of different subjects such as Life Skills
 Suggests solutions to a problem, specifically word problems in Mathematics

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Listens to more complex instructions (at least 5) and responds appropriately
 Makes an oral presentation. For example, „Show and Tell‟ – describes and compares an object

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Listens to stories, read by the teacher or over the radio, for a longer period with interest
 Tells a short story with a simple plot and different characters

Formal Assessment Activity 3 :

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Participates in group and class discussions, suggests topics and contributes ideas
 Listens to stories, poems and songs and expresses feelings about the story, poem or song, giving reasons
 With support, predicts what will happen in a story, e.g., “Look at the title and the cover of the book.
What do you think is going to happen?”
 Works out cause and effect in a story using connecting words such as „because‟, e.g., “The children fell
off the bridge because…”

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145
 TERM 2
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week

CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Phonic Activities three times a week for 15 minutes:

Introduce new vowel blends and guide children to recognise that a particular sound can be represented by
different combinations of letters. This has important implications for spelling. Ensure that children
understand the words they are sounding and can use them to form meaningful sentences. Use the
Phonics to inform the spelling programme.
 Recognises that some sounds can be represented by a number of different spelling choices such as
 ow (cow) ou (found)
 aw (draw), au (autumn)
 tie, high, sky
 few, blue)
 Recognises digraphs making /f/ (e.g. „ph‟ as in elephant, „gh‟ as in laugh)
 Recognises that the same spelling can represent different sounds, e.g. „bread‟, „read‟
 Uses words in written sentences that are pronounced the same way, but have different meanings. For
example „read‟ and „reed‟ – I like to read books. I saw a bird on a reed.
 Builds words using the phonic skills taught this year
 Spells words correctly using phonic knowledge in informal tests, in dictation and in all written work

Daily Reading Activities

Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week; a teacher-modelled
process with the whole class. Include graphical and non-fiction texts during this term.
 Reads enlarged texts such as poems, big books, posters and electronic texts as a whole class with the
teacher (shared reading)
 Uses visual cues to identify the purpose of advertisements and the intended audience

146
 Reads book as a whole class with the teacher (shared reading) and discusses the sequence of events,
setting and cause–effect relations
 Uses the information from a graphical text, e.g., takes part in a walk around the school by following the
directions on a map
 Finds and uses sources of information such as community members, library books
 Uses table of contents, index and page numbers to find information
 Uses key words and headings to find information in non-fiction texts
 Answers a range of higher order questions based on the passage read, e.g., “How would you describe
the behaviour of the troll?”

Group Guided Reading

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
Teach children to monitor self when reading, both in the area of word recognition and comprehension.
(Children are taught to ask: ‘Does it sound right?’, ‘Does it look right?’ and ‘Does it make sense?’)
Model the process in Shared Reading and apply it in Guided Reading with support.
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with the teacher, that is, the
whole group reads the same story at the instructional level of the group
 Uses phonics, context clues and structural analysis decoding skills when reading unfamiliar words
 Uses self-correcting strategies when reading: re-reading, pausing, practising a word before saying it
aloud
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension
 Uses diagrams and illustrations in text to increase understanding
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression

Paired/Independent Reading
Daily reading related activities for 20 minutes while some groups are doing guided reading with the
teacher.
 Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads independently books read in Shared Reading sessions, simple story books and books from the
reading corner as well as any other texts, such as readers read in the previous year or at the beginning of
this year, at the independent reading level of the children
ASSESSMENT

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Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Phonics (oral and/or practical)
 Builds words using the phonic skills taught this year
Formal Assessment Activity 1:
Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises that some sounds can be represented by a number of different spelling choices
 ow (cow) ou (found)
 aw (draw), au (autumn)

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises that some sounds can be represented by a number of different spelling choices
 tie, high, sky
 few, blue

Formal Assessment Activity 3:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises digraphs making /f/ such as „ph‟ as in elephant, „gh‟ as in laugh
 Recognises that the same spelling can represent different sounds such as „bread‟, „read‟
 Uses words in written sentences that are pronounced the same way, but have different meanings („read‟
and „reed‟ – I like to read books. I saw a bird on a reed.)

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading: (oral and/or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Answers a range of higher order questions based on the passage read, e.g., “How would you describe
the behaviour of the troll?”

Group Guided Reading:

 Uses self-correcting strategies when reading: re-reading, pausing, practising a word before saying it
aloud
 Monitors self when reading, both in the area of word recognition and comprehension

Paired/Independent Reading
 Reads aloud to a partner

148
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads independently books read in Shared Reading sessions, picture story books and books from the
reading corner as well as any other texts, such as readers read in the previous year or at the beginning of
this year, at the independent reading level of the children

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Reads enlarged texts such as poems, big books, posters and electronic texts as a whole class with teacher
(shared reading)
 Uses visual cues to identify the purpose of advertisements and the intended audience
Group Guided Reading:
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole
group reads the same story at the instructional level of the group
 Uses phonics, context clues and structural analysis decoding skills when reading unfamiliar words
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Reading (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Reads book as a whole class with teacher (shared reading) and discusses sequence of events, setting and
cause effect relations
 Answers a range of higher order questions based on the passage read, e.g., “How would you describe
the behaviour of the troll?”
Paired/Independent Reading
 Reads independently books read in Shared Reading sessions, simple story books and books from the
reading corner as well as any other texts, such as readers read in the previous year or at the beginning of
this year, at the independent reading level of the children

Formal Assessment Activity 3:

Reading (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Uses the information from a graphical text, e.g., takes part in a walk around the school by following the
directions on a map
 Finds and uses sources of information such as community members, library books

149
 Uses table of contents, index and page numbers to find information
 Uses key words and headings to find information in non-fiction texts
Group Guided Reading:
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, whole
group reads the same story at the instructional level of the group
 Uses phonics, context clues and structural analysis decoding skills when reading unfamiliar words
 Uses diagrams and illustrations in text to increase understanding

150
 TERM 2
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal Lessons three times a week of 15 minutes
Children make the transition from using print script in written recording to a joined script or cursive
writing by the end of this term. Handwriting lessons will focus on practising the individual lower case and
capital letters and the joins needed for the new script. Children must be able to transcribe from print
script (e.g. in a book) into the joined script or cursive writing.
 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler
 Transcribes words and sentences correctly in the joined script or cursive writing
 Forms all upper and lower case letters correctly and automatically in the joined script or cursive writing
 Uses correct letter formation in all written work
 Copies words correctly from a variety of sources, that is, board, strips, work cards etc. and writes with
increased speed in the joined script or cursive writing
 Makes transition to the joined script or cursive writing in all written recording, that is, the date, own
name, and own written texts

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group lessons two to three times a week for 20 minutes. Use the Shared Writing
activities to model the use of correct punctuation, grammar and spelling. Provide a writing frame to assist
children to write their own stories.
 Participates in a discussion to choose a topic to write about
 Writes at least two paragraphs (ten or more sentences) on personal experiences such as daily news or a
school event
 Writes own story or a familiar story or another creative text of at least ten sentences
 Keeps a diary for one week, noting the weather and one other piece of information
 Writes a simple book review
 Writes and illustrates a story to contribute to a book for the class library
 Uses correct grammar so that others can read and understand what has been written
 Uses punctuation correctly: capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks and

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 inverted commas
 Identifies and uses nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs correctly
 Uses phonics knowledge and spelling rules to write unfamiliar words
 Uses more complex tenses such as present and past progressive. For example, He is reading a book.
They were watching TV last night.
 Reads and edits own writing by correcting spelling, punctuation, etc.
 Reads own writing to a friend or a group
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of words such as gate, happy, ink

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Handwriting
 Uses handwriting tools effectively: pencil, eraser, ruler

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
 Forms all upper and lower case letters correctly and automatically in the joined script or cursive writing
 Transcribes words and sentences correctly in the joined script or cursive writing

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Handwriting
 Forms all upper and lower case letters correctly and automatically in the joined script or cursive writing
 Makes transition to the joined script or cursive writing in all written recording, that is, the date, own
name and own written texts

Formal Assessment Activity 3:

Handwriting
 Copies words correctly from a variety of sources, that is, board, strips, work cards etc. and writes with
increased speed in the joined script or cursive writing
 Uses correct letter formation in all written work

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Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Writing:
 Uses more complex tenses such as present and past progressive. For example, He is reading a book.
They were watching TV last night.
 Reads own writing to a friend or a group
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary using initial letter of words such as gate, happy, ink

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Writing
 Writes a simple book review
 Writes at least two paragraphs (ten or more sentences) on personal experiences such as daily news or a
school event
 Uses correct grammar so that others can read and understand what has been written
 Uses phonics knowledge and spelling rules to write unfamiliar words
 Uses punctuation correctly; capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks and
inverted commas

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Writing
 Keeps a diary for one week, noting the weather and one other piece of information
 Identifies and uses nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs correctly

Formal Assessment Activity 3:

Writing
 Participates in a discussion to choose a topic to write about
 Writes own story or a familiar story or another creative text of at least ten sentences
 Reads and edits own writing by correcting spelling, punctuation, etc.

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 TERM 3
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Makes an oral presentation: tells news or talks about an experience logically and in sequence
 Uses an ever-increasing vocabulary when speaking
 Suggests solutions to a problem, specifically word problems in Mathematics

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 3
 Interviews people for a particular purpose such as to find out about a person‟s work
 Listens to a story and works out cause and effect in the story

Weeks 4 – 6
 Participates in discussions, giving useful feedback to others
 Puts events in order of logical sequence

Weeks 7 – 10
 Listens for the detail in stories and other oral texts and answers open-ended questions, e.g., “What will
you do when you grow up?”
 Tells a story with a beginning, middle and end

ASSESSMENT
Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Uses an ever-increasing vocabulary when speaking
 Suggests solutions to a problem, specifically word problems in Mathematics

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Interviews people for a particular purpose such as to find out about a person‟s work
 Listens to a story and works out cause and effect in the story

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Formal Assessment Activity 2:
Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Participates in discussions, giving useful feedback to others
 Puts events in order of logical sequence

Formal Assessment Activity 3:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Listens for the detail in stories and other oral texts and answers open-ended questions, e.g., “What will
you do when you grow up?”
 Tells a story with a beginning, middle and end
 Makes an oral presentation such as tells news or talks about an experience logically and in sequence

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 TERM 3
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Phonic Activities three times a week for 15 minutes:
Continue to use the phonics to inform the spelling programme for the term.
 Recognises all vowel and consonant blends learnt so far
 Recognises silent letters in words, that is, „k‟ as in know, „l‟ as in half, „b‟ as in comb, „w‟ as in write,
„h‟ as in hour
 Uses words that are pronounced and spelt the same but have different meanings such as fly : to fly in an
aeroplane or a fly that is an insect
 Uses words that sound the same but are spelt differently such as „pair‟ and „pear‟, „hair‟ and „hare‟
 Uses both the letter sound as well as the letter name to spell words
 Builds words using the phonic skills taught this year
 Spells words correctly using phonic knowledge in informal tests, in dictation and in all written work

Daily Reading Activities

Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week.
Introduce different genre such as plays and different types of poems.
 Reads enlarged texts such as poems, big books of stories, plays, posters and electronic texts as a whole
class with teacher (shared reading)
 Reads a range of different types of poems around a topic and discusses these (both form and meanings,
word selection)
 Interprets information from graphical texts such as advertisements, pictures, graphs, charts
 Reads book as a whole class with teacher (shared reading) and discusses main idea, characters and plot
 Expresses whether a story was liked and is able to justify answer, e.g., “I loved this story because it
reminded me of…”
 Answers a range of higher order questions based on the text read, e.g., “Should her grandmother have
told her that…?”

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 Uses a dictionary to find new vocabulary and their meanings

Group Guided Reading:

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with the teacher, that is, the
whole group reads the same story at the instructional level of the group
 Reads different genres such as play scripts
 Uses a range of self-correcting methods when reading: re-reading, reading on, pausing
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression, pronouncing words correctly and accurately
 Uses phonics, contextual or structural analysis decoding skills when reading unfamiliar words
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension

Paired/Independent Reading:
Daily reading related activities for 20 minutes while some groups are doing guided reading with the
teacher.
 Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads independently books read in Shared Reading sessions, story books and books from the reading
corner and any other texts, such as readers read earlier in the year, at the independent reading level of the
children
 Finds information independently or in pairs from level-appropriate non-fiction texts

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Phonics (oral and/or practical)
 Uses both the letter sound as well as the letter name to spell words
 Builds words using the phonic skills taught this year

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises all vowel and consonant blends learnt so far

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

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Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Recognises silent letters in words, that is, „k‟ as in know, „l‟ as in half, „b‟ as in comb, „w‟ as in write,
„h‟ as in hour

Formal Assessment Activity 3:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
 Uses words that are pronounced and spelt the same but have different meanings such as fly : to fly in an
aeroplane or a fly that is an insect
 Uses words that sound the same but are spelt differently such as „pair‟ and „pear‟, „hair‟ and „hare‟

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading: (oral and/or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Answers a range of higher order questions based on the text read, e.g., “Should her grandmother have
told her that…?”
Group Guided Reading:
 Reads different genres such as play scripts
 Monitors self when reading, both in the area of word recognition and comprehension
Paired/Independent Reading
 Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads own and others‟ writing

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Reads book as a whole class with the teacher (shared reading) and discusses main idea, characters and
plot
 Expresses whether a story was liked and is able to justify answer, e.g., “I loved this story because it
reminded me of…”
Group Guided Reading
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with the teacher, that is, the
whole group reads the same story at the instructional level of the group
 Uses phonics, contextual or structural analysis decoding skills when reading unfamiliar words

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Formal Assessment Activity 2:
Reading (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Interprets information from graphical texts: advertisements, pictures, graphs, charts

Paired/Independent Reading
 Reads independently books read in Shared Reading sessions, story books and books from the reading
corner and any other texts, such as readers read earlier in the year, at the independent reading level of the
children

Formal Assessment Activity 3:

Reading (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Reads enlarged texts such as poems, big books of stories, plays, posters and electronic texts as a whole
class with teacher (shared reading)
 Reads a range of different types of poems around a topic and discusses these (both form and meanings,
word selection)
Group Guided Reading
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with teacher, that is, the
whole group reads the same story at the instructional level of the group
 Uses a range of self-correcting methods when reading: re-reading, reading on, pausing
 Reads with increasing fluency and expression, pronouncing words correctly and accurately

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 TERM 3
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal Lessons three times a week of 15 minutes
Children made the transition from using print script in written recording to a joined script or cursive
writing by the end of the second term. Handwriting lessons will focus on practising the individual lower
case and capital letters and the joins needed for the new script. Children must be able to transcribe from
print script, e.g., in a book, into the joined script or cursive writing.
 Copies written text from the board, textbooks, work cards, correctly, paying attention to correct letter
formation and spacing in the joined script or cursive writing
 Writes with increasing speed

Shared, Group and Independent Writing

Whole class / small group lessons two to three times a week for 20 minutes. Provide a writing frame to
assist children to write personal texts such as a letter. Use Shared Writing activities to model the correct
use of punctuation, grammar and parts of speech. Use Shared Reading activities to teach grammar,
different sentence types and punctuation.
 Writes personal texts in different forms: a diary entry, a letter to a relative, description
 Drafts, writes, edits and publishes own story of at least two paragraphs (ten or more sentences), with a
title
 Writes and illustrates sentences on a topic to contribute to a book for the class library
 Summarises and records information using mind maps, tables, notices, diagrams or charts
 Uses different sentence types when writing such as statements, questions, commands
 Uses punctuation correctly: capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks and
inverted commas
 Identifies and uses nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and prepositions correctly
 Joins sentences using conjunctions such as „and‟, „but‟
 Uses a variety of vocabulary to make the writing more interesting
 Uses phonics knowledge and spelling rules to write unfamiliar words
 Reads own writing to the class

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 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Handwriting
 Copies written text from the board, textbooks, work cards correctly, paying attention to correct letter
formation and spacing in the joined script or cursive writing

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
 Copies written text from the board, textbooks, work cards correctly, paying attention to correct letter
formation and spacing in the joined script or cursive writing

Formal Assessment Activity 2:

Handwriting
 Copies written text from the board, textbooks, work cards correctly, paying attention to correct letter
formation and spacing in the joined script or cursive writing

Formal Assessment Activity 3:

Handwriting
 Writes with increasing speed

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Writing
 Reads own writing to the class
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Writing
 Writes personal texts in different forms: a diary entry, a letter to a relative, description
 Uses a variety of vocabulary to make the writing more interesting
 Uses different sentence types when writing such as statements, questions, commands, etc.

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Formal Assessment Activity 2:
Writing
 Drafts, writes, edits and presents own story of at least two paragraphs of ten or more sentences, with a
title
 Uses punctuation correctly: capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks and
inverted commas
 Uses phonics knowledge and spelling rules to write unfamiliar words

Formal Assessment Activity 3:

Writing
 Summarises and records information using mind maps, tables, notices, diagrams or charts
 Identifies and uses nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and prepositions correctly
 Joins sentences using conjunctions such as „and‟, „but‟

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 TERM 4
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (ORAL) SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 1 hour per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Daily / Weekly activities in all areas of Language and other subjects
 Uses terms such as subject, verb, object, question, statement, command, synonym, antonym, exclamation
mark when discussing texts
 Understands and uses appropriate language of different subjects

Twice weekly focussed listening and speaking activities

Weeks 1 – 5
 Engages in conversation as a social skill, accepting and respecting the way others speak
 Uses language imaginatively: tells jokes and riddles using appropriate volume and intonation
 Listens for the detail in stories and answers open-ended questions, e.g., “Do you think it is right that you
have to wear school uniform?”
 Tells a story using descriptive language, different gestures and facial expressions

Weeks 6 – 10
 Listens to a story and works out cause and effect in response to questions such as “What would have
happened if the dog had not been found?”
 Plans and makes an oral presentation: tells personal news, describes something experienced, recounts an
event etc. using a visual aid
 Expresses feelings and opinions about a text and gives reasons, e.g., “This book is boring because it has
no pictures and many long words!”
 Discusses solutions to a problem using higher order thinking skills, e.g., “If your father can‟t collect you
this afternoon you could…”
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Listening and Speaking: (oral and/or practical)
 Uses terms such as subject, verb, object, question, statement, command, synonym, antonym, exclamation
mark when discussing texts
 Expresses feelings and opinions about a text and gives reasons, e.g., “This book is boring because it has

163
 no pictures and many long words!”
 Discusses solutions to a problem using higher order thinking skills, e.g., “If your father can‟t collect you
this afternoon you could…”

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Listening and Speaking (oral and/ or practical)
 Tells a story using descriptive language, different gestures and facial expressions
 Listens for the detail in stories and answers open-ended questions, e.g., “Do you think it is right that you
have to wear school uniform?”
 Uses language imaginatively: tells jokes and riddles using appropriate volume and intonation
 Plans and makes an oral presentation: tells personal news, describes something experienced, recounts an
event etc. using a visual aid

164
 TERM 4
READING AND PHONICS SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 4 hours 30 minutes per
week
Maximum Time: 5 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS
Phonic Activities three times a week for 15 minutes
Revise the phonics taught so far and introduce more complex combinations. Link to the spelling
programme for each week.
 Recognises and uses all phonics learnt so far
 Recognises hard and soft sounds of „c‟ and „g‟ such as „c‟ as in city; „g‟ as in giant
 Recognises vowels such as -ere in „here‟, -air as in „hair‟, -are as in „square‟
 Recognises and uses spelling patterns such as -igh [high], -ough [tough], -eigh [neigh], -augh [caught]
 Recognises and uses synonyms: happy is the same as glad and antonyms: good is the opposite of bad
 Recognises and uses prefixes such as un-, re- and suffixes such as -ful, -ness
 Breaks down multi-syllabic words into separate syllables: re-mem-ber
 Builds words using the phonic skills taught this year
 Spells words correctly using their phonic knowledge in informal tests, in dictation and in all written
work

Daily Reading Activities

Group Guided Reading (two groups per day) and 2 – 3 Shared Reading sessions per week.

Shared Reading
Whole class lessons 2 – 3 times weekly for 15 minutes using at least one text per week.
Include fiction, non-fiction, newspaper articles, dialogues and graphical texts.
 Reads enlarged texts such as fiction and non-fiction big books, newspaper articles, dialogues and
electronic texts as a whole class with the teacher (shared reading)
 Reads written texts as a whole class with the teacher (shared reading) and discusses characters, the
„problem‟ in the story, the plot and the values in the text
 Uses visual cues to read graphical texts and starts to analyse text for attitudes and assumptions, e.g.,
“Who is this advertisement meant to appeal to? Why do you think this?”
 Answers a range of higher order questions based on the passage read, e.g., “Suppose the shop owner left
the door open when he went home that night. What might have happened?”

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 Uses a dictionary to find new vocabulary and their meanings

Group Guided Reading:

The teacher works with two groups each day, spending 15 minutes with each group. Each group works
with the teacher twice a week.
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with the teacher; whole group
reads the same story at the instructional level of the group
 Reads with increasing fluency, speed and expression
 Uses phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills and comprehension skills to make
meaning
 Monitors self when reading, both in the area of word recognition and comprehension
 Uses self-correcting strategies when reading: reading, pausing, practising a word before saying it aloud
 Plays word games that draw on reading and vocabulary knowledge and skills

Paired/Independent Reading
Daily reading related activities for 20 minutes while some groups are doing guided reading with the
teacher. Use texts that are known or are at the independent reading level of the child.
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads aloud to a partner
 Reads independently at a more complex level for enjoyment or information from a variety of available
texts: magazines and comics, simple fiction and non-fiction books and books from different cultures,
books read in Shared Reading sessions

ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Phonics: (oral and/or practical)
 Recognises and uses all phonics learnt so far
 Recognises hard and soft sounds of „c‟ and „g‟ such as „c‟ as in city; „g‟ as in giant
 Recognises vowels such – as „ere‟ in „here‟, -air as in „hair‟, -are as in „square‟
 Breaks down multi-syllabic words into separate syllables such as re-mem-ber
 Builds words using the phonic skills taught this year

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Phonics (oral and/ or practical and/or written)

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 Recognises and uses all phonics learnt so far
 Recognises and uses spelling patterns such as -igh (high), -ough (tough), -eigh (neigh), -augh (caught)
 Recognises and uses synonyms such as happy is the same as glad and antonyms: good is the opposite of
bad
 Recognises and uses prefixes such as un-, re- and suffixes such as -ful, -ness

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Reading (oral and/or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Reads enlarged texts such as fiction and non-fiction big books, newspaper articles, dialogues and
electronic texts (computer texts) as a whole class with the teacher (shared reading)
Group Guided Reading
 Plays word games that draw on reading and vocabulary knowledge and skills
Paired/Independent reading
 Reads own and others‟ writing
 Reads aloud to a partner

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Reading (oral and/ or practical and/or written)
Shared Reading
 Reads written texts as a whole class with the teacher (shared reading) and discusses characters, the
„problem‟ in the story, the plot and the values in the text
 Uses visual cues to read graphical texts and starts to analyse text for attitudes and assumptions, e.g.,
“Who is this advertisement meant to appeal to? Why do you think this?
 Answers a range of higher order questions based on the passage read, e.g., “Suppose the shop owner left
the door open when he went home that night. What might have happened?”
Group Guided Reading
 Reads both silently and out loud from own book in a guided reading group with the teacher, that is, the
whole group reads the same story at the instructional level of the group
 Reads with increasing fluency, speed and expression
 Uses phonics, contextual and structural analysis decoding skills and comprehension skills to make
meaning
 Monitors self when reading, both word recognition and comprehension
 Uses self-correcting strategies when reading: re-reading, pausing, practising a word before saying it
aloud

167
Paired/Independent reading
 Reads independently at a more complex level for enjoyment or information from a variety of available
texts: magazines and comics, simple fiction and non-fiction books and books from different cultures,
books read in Shared Reading sessions

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 TERM 4
WRITING SUGGESTED CONTACT TIME
Minimum Time: 1 hour 45 minutes per week
Maximum Time: 2 hours per week
CONTENT/CONCEPTS/SKILLS

Handwriting
Formal Lessons three times a week of 15 minutes
Focus on activities that increase the writing speed whilst maintaining neatness and legibility. Include
activities that require children to transpose from print to the joined script or cursive writing.
 Copies written text from the board, textbooks, work cards correctly, paying attention to correct letter
formation and spacing
 Uses the joined script or cursive writing for all written recording
 Experiments with using a pen for writing
 Writes neatly and legibly with confidence and speed in a joined script or cursive writing

Shared, Group and Independent Writing:

Whole class / small group lessons two to three times a week for 20 minutes. Use the Shared Writing
activities to model the use of correct punctuation, spelling and grammar (e.g. use of conjunctions,
apostrophes). Provide writing frames to assist children to write a dialogue and a newspaper article. Guide
them through the steps of the writing process.
 Uses pre-writing strategies to gather information and plan writing: talks to a partner, creates a mind map,
a planning frame
 Writes a selection of short texts for different purposes such as recounts, dialogues
 Writes about personal experiences in different forms such as a short newspaper article
 Drafts, writes, edits and publishes own story of at least two paragraphs (at least 12 sentences)
 Uses informational structures when writing such as experiments, recipes
 Sequences information and puts it under headings
 Uses apostrophes in contractions such as can‟t, Mary‟s
 Uses punctuation correctly: capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks,
inverted commas
 Uses conjunctions to form compound sentences
 Uses phonics knowledge and spelling rules to write more difficult words
 Builds own word bank and personal dictionary

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 Uses a dictionary to find new vocabulary and check spelling
 Discusses own and others‟ writing to get and give feedback
 Makes own books and contributes to class book collection
ASSESSMENT

Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :

Handwriting
 Copies written text from the board, textbooks, work cards correctly, paying attention to correct letter
formation and spacing
 Experiments with using a pen for writing

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Handwriting
 Uses the joined script or cursive writing for all written recording
 Writes neatly and legibly with confidence and speed in a joined script or cursive writing
Suggestions for Informal Assessment Activities :
Writing
 Uses pre-writing strategies to gather information and plan writing: talks to a partner, creates a mind map,
a planning frame
 Uses apostrophes in contractions such as can‟t, Mary‟s
 Uses conjunctions to form compound sentences
 Discusses own and others‟ writing to get and give feedback

Formal Assessment Activity 1:

Writing
 Writes a selection of short texts for different purposes such as recounts, dialogues
 Writes about personal experiences in different forms such as a short newspaper article
 Drafts, writes, edits and presents own story of at least two paragraphs(at least 12 sentences)
 Uses informational structures when writing such as experiments, recipes
 Sequences information and puts it under headings
 Uses punctuation correctly: capital letters, full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks,
inverted commas
 Uses phonics knowledge and spelling rules to write more difficult words

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RECOMMENDED TEXTS/RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR
LISTENING AND SPEAKING
 Pictures and posters
 Objects related to the themes and topics, puppets, masks etc
 Story board pieces
 Sequence pictures
 Improvised costumes for role-play and other oral activities
 CDs or tapes with stories, poems, rhymes and songs, CD player or tape recorder, television and video
tapes/DVDs
 Storybooks

READING AND PHONICS

 Pictures and posters
 Phonic wall charts
 Graded reading scheme/s which include a variety of genres (plays, non-fiction, poetry etc.)
 Big books – some produced in Shared Writing sessions
 Enlarged texts such as poems, songs, rhymes, stories etc.
 Story books and picture books for the class library
 Short „fun‟ books with 1 – 2 sentences on a page
 Grade appropriate non-fiction texts on a range of topics
 Flash card labels for classroom items and displays, high frequency words etc.
 Pointers to use when reading enlarged texts, wall stories, displays
 Picture and word puzzles and games
 Newspapers and magazines
 Wall charts showing simple maps, flow diagrams

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WRITING AND HANDWRITING
 Writing materials (e.g. pencils, coloured pencils, wax crayons, blank paper in various sizes (A3, A4,
A5), ruler, eraser, 8.5mm lined jotters and exercise books
 Writing and sentence strips in joined script or cursive writing indicating starting points and writing
direction
 Flipchart paper and thick Koki pens
 Personal dictionaries
 Simple grade appropriate dictionaries

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 Section 3: Glossary
This is an alphabetical list of key terms used in the Foundation Phase Home Language CAPS document.

antonym – a word that means the opposite of another word

assessment – a continuous planned process of gathering information, formally or informally, on child
performance
assessment activity – an activity used to assess learners consisting of a number of sub-activities or parts
aurally – by means of listening/hearing
baseline assessment – initial assessment used to find out what children already know
browse – to look through a book without a particular purpose, just reading the interesting parts
caption – words printed or written below a picture explaining what it is about
closed questions – questions that require a specific answer. For example „Do you like coffee?‟ The
answer must be „yes‟ or „no‟. „How old are you?‟ The answer will be, e.g. „Ten‟.
continuous assessment – ongoing assessment that forms part of teaching and supports learners‟
literacy development by providing ongoing feedback
cursive writing – handwriting that is carried out in a running hand, so that the letters are formed quickly without
the lifting of the pen or pencil.
blends, blending – an aspect of phonics in which children learn how to put together two or three letters to make
a sound. For example „spl‟ in „split‟.
cloze procedure – a technique in which words are deleted from a passage (e.g. every fifth word). The reader has
to use context clues to fill in the blanks. Cloze activities can be used to test comprehension and language mastery
level
crossing the midline – actions which involve crossing over an invisible line running from head to toe down the
middle of one‟s body, e.g., touching one‟s opposite elbow or putting one foot over the other. Some experts
believe that the kind of co-ordination needed to do these activities is in important in early literacy. They believe
that doing activities that involve crossing the midline, provides an important foundation for literacy.
decoding – the ability to translate a word from print to speech, usually by using knowledge of sound-letter
relationships; also the act of deciphering a new word by sounding it out
emergent literacy – refers to children‟s growing knowledge of the printed word. Children see print and
begin to
understand its purpose. They learn about books and stories by being read to by adults or older children.
They may begin to try and write their names using their own ideas about spelling (invented spelling or

173
emergent spelling) and they may begin to pretend to read books. These behaviours all point to their
growing literacy knowledge – emergent literacy
fine motor skills – the coordination of small muscle movements, often involving the fingers and eyes,
e.g., threading a needle or using scissors to cut something out. Writing involves the use of fine motor
skills.
fantasy corner – a corner of the classroom where children can engage in imaginative play, e.g.,
dressing up in different clothes, acting out different roles
free play – a time that allows children to choose where and how they will play and what they will play
with
graded reading series – a series of readers divided in levels (e.g. Grade 1 – Level 1, 2 and 3). The
levels go from easiest (simple vocabulary, short sentences, short text) to more difficult. Each level has
a number of readers in it. The teacher assesses a learner and gets him/her started at the correct level.
The learner reads several books at that level until he/she can read fluently at that level. The learner then
moves up a level.
graphic text – a text where information is presented visually. For example diagrams, graphs etc.
guided reading – a group reading session where children are all of the same instructional level and the
teacher scaffolds learning so that children increasingly take control
guided writing – involves individuals or small groups of children writing a range of text types after the
teacher has provided mini-lessons on aspects of writing such as format, punctuation, grammar or
spelling
higher-order questions – questions that require children to bring together information from different
parts of a text (i.e. synthesise), to infer (i.e. read between the lines), to evaluate what happens (i.e. give
an opinion) and/or to appreciate a text (e.g. say whether one liked or disliked it and why)
high frequency words – a small group of common words (300 – 500) that appear often in English
print. For example, „the‟, „a‟, „and‟, „to‟, „said‟, „in‟, „he‟. The Dolch Word list and the Fry Word list
are lists of high frequency words found in primary school texts.
incidental learning – learning that happens without deliberate teaching
independent reading level – the level at which a reader can read text with 95% accuracy (i.e. no more
than one error per 20 words read). Independent reading level is fairly easy text for the reader.
instructional reading level – the level at which a reader can read text with 90% accuracy (i.e. no more
than one error per 10 words read). Instructional reading level is challenging but manageable. Texts at
this level are used in Guided Reading

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invented spelling – an attempt to spell a word based on the learner‟s current knowledge of letter-sound
relationships. For example, kt for cat).
jigsaw puzzle – a picture cut up into many pieces that one tries to fit together
joined script – a style of handwriting in which most letters in words are joined together to allow one to
write quickly
kinaesthetic – kinaesthetic learning is learning which takes place through physical activity, i.e.
learning by doing
lower-order questions – questions which require children to remember facts, e.g. Who were the main
characters in the story? What was the main character‟s name? Where did she go to school?
meta-cognition – a learner‟s awareness of his/her own thinking processes; the development of reading
and writing strategies depends on meta-cognition
onset – the part of a syllable before the first vowel (e.g. m –ap)
open-ended questions – questions that can be answered in different ways; the learner has to answer the
questions in his or her own words. For example, Why do you think the boy ran away? What do you
think he should have done?
perceptual – perceptual learning is learning through the senses such as sight and hearing; perceptual
skills involve using sight (visual skills) and hearing (auditory skills)
perceptual motor – perceptual motor skills involving co-ordinating sight and hearing with bodily
action. For example e handwriting involves co-ordinating one‟s sight and the movement of one‟s
hands. Visual-motor difficulties can lead to poor handwriting and copying skills and poor memory of
what was written, due to the extreme effort needed to write the information down.
phoneme – the separate sounds in a language (e.g. „t‟, „th‟, „k‟, „sh‟, „ai/ay‟ are all phonemes in
English). The word „meat‟ has three phonemes. These are „m‟, „ea‟ and t‟.
phonemic awareness – the ability to distinguish between the separate sounds of the language
phonics – the relationship between the sounds of a language and their spelling. Phonics is used in both
reading and writing.
phonological awareness – the ability to pay attention to the sounds of a language as distinct from its
meaning
picture talk – talking about the pictures or illustrations in a book to make sense of them. For example
„What are Kagiso and her grandfather doing?‟ „Yes, they‟re bending down looking at something. What
is it?‟
plasticine – a soft, clay-like substance used by young children to make small models, shapes, etc.

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publish – when learners publish their work, they make it public by sharing it, e.g. by handing it in to
the teacher, putting it on the class wall or notice board, or including it in a class anthology.
reading behaviours – exactly what readers do when they read in order to decode and make sense of
text
rhyme – words or lines in a poem that end in the same sound including a vowel. For example the
words „sad‟, „mad‟, „bad‟, „glad‟ all rhyme.
rime – the part of the syllable from the first vowel onwards (e.g. m-ap). It has the potential to rhyme.
shared reading – an activity in which children share the reading of an enlarged text with the teacher.
This is a lesson with the whole class. The text used is aimed at the top group in the class. Some
children will be at a listening level, others will be beginning to engage in the reading and more will be
engaging fully. The same text is used over several days. Each day a new focus is selected by the
teacher. The text is used to introduce text features, phonics, grammar and reading skills in context.
sight words – words that readers recognise automatically (on sight). There is no need to decode these
words. In early reading sight words are usually frequently occurring or „high frequency‟ words such as
„he‟, „she‟, „like‟ and „were‟.
story board – a series (or sequence) of pictures illustrating a story
spatial awareness – an awareness of objects in space around us, and awareness of our own body‟s
position in space. With regard to literacy, this involves such things as directionality – left/right
orientation; reading print from left to right and top to bottom; forming the shapes of letters
strategy – strategies are ways that learners engage in thinking about reading, writing and oral language
in order to enhance learning and comprehension. Examples of reading comprehension strategies are
prediction, making connections, visualising, etc.
structural analysis – this involves analysing the parts of words such as prefixes and suffixesto
recognise and understand a word that is unfamiliar in print
synonym – a word with the same meaning as another word
syntax – the way words are arranged to form sentences or phrases, or the rules of grammar which
control this
tangram – a Chinese puzzle consisting of a square divided into seven pieces that must be arranged to
match particular designs
teachable moment – a time at which a child is likely to be particularly interested and able to learn
something, e.g., the time when a child receives birthday cards is one where a parent or teacher could
help him/her to notice the words and see that they say „Happy birthday!‟

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text talk – talking about a text to make sense of it, e.g., „Why do you think the boy left home?‟ „I think
he wanted a better life.‟ „Why do you think that?‟ „Because he didn‟t have money for shoes.‟ „What do
you think is going to happen to him?‟ etc.
tone – the way your voice sounds which shows how you are feeling
word attack skills – include phonics, structural analysis, and context clues or contextual analysis,
used by a reader, separately or in conjunction with each other to decode words not known on sight
word bank – a list of words that a learner knows or is in the process of learning; a personal dictionary
(or vocabulary book)

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