Simple classroom strategies can prove the key to bridging gaps in young children’s communication and language skills, says Sarah Philpot…
Early writing is a huge challenge for little learners. They must develop a wide combination of skills, from knowledge of phonetic sounds to correct pencil grip and how to form letters.
Perhaps the biggest challenge, though, is knowing what to write. This is where oracy can unlock the confidence to not only communicate effectively through speech but also translate this to written literacy.
Ofsted’s English Subject Report recognised that schools understand that spoken language comes first, before reading and writing development. It also observed that the writing curriculum “often introduces complex tasks too early, before many pupils are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills that underpin these”.
So what is the solution? Across United Learning schools, we recognise that, alongside the national trend, communication and language levels have been lower on entry across the board than expected in recent years.
As a result, we screen all children for communication and language baseline as they enter Reception to look for limiting factors in each cohort and help teachers plan how to bridge these gaps.
Tackling the issue as a whole-class approach rather than solely relying on interventions should provide the key to developing children’s communication and language skills first.
The following suggestions are all designed to improve children’s oracy skills throughout the day in the classroom.
Verbal routines can support language development and involve saying the same words in the same way many, many times!
This approach helps children gain confidence, as they feel familiar with the routines, which in turn makes it more likely that they will use language independently. Here are some suggestions:
Imaginative play in the role play area can spark creative conversations and mimic the everyday interactions children experience in real life.
Ask the children, “Who will you be today?” Whether it’s a shopkeeper, a train driver or a postal worker, there are several key questions you can ask to develop children’s oracy skills.
Let’s explore these with the example of a firefighter. Firstly, ask the children, “What does a firefighter wear?” Children may reply that they wear a helmet to keep themselves safe in a burning building.
Next, “How does a firefighter move?” They may respond that a firefighter moves quickly because they have to put out the fire fast!
Next, you could ask, “How does a firefighter talk?” Children may say that a firefighter needs to talk loudly because they are at an emergency.
Interactions like these help children build their descriptive skills, which will later translate into their written work. Using the prompt “why?” supports them to extend their thinking, use more exciting vocabulary, and really imagine themselves as the character they are pretending to be.
Much of the focus with oracy is on conversational talk; however, an ongoing study by Read Oxford has turned the spotlight on the benefits of using “book language” to provide children with the extensive vocabulary and sentence structures not found in conversational talk.
The early conclusions from the first stage of this research project show that “ook language provides access to types of sentence structures that are rarely encountered in speech, but which are important for children’s own developing literacy skills.”
Repeating familiar sentence structures found in texts can really aid children’s written development. Try repeating these as a whole class and writing the sentence structures using symbols on story maps to give children opportunities to practise what they have learnt.
You can also use books to highlight exciting language that you may not encounter in speech. Encourage children to be “synonym spotters” and write these words on whiteboard paper when you find new vocabulary in the books you read.
It’s an excellent way to introduce new vocabulary in context, making it easier to understand.
Remember to refer to the words you have found in books throughout the day in different situations that relate to the word.
A common misconception is that “bigger” words are better; make sure children know this isn’t the case, and that instead we want to use interesting words that help us paint a picture in our imaginations.
Try involving children in speaking games during small pockets of time in the day. You can play “Would you rather…” to help children develop their sentences.
Aim to get the whole staff team involved, from office staff to lunchtime supervisors. Use the following structure: the adult asks the child a “would you rather” question, and the child follows a sentence structure to reply.
For example, a pupil is asked, “Would you rather live in the sky or under the sea?” and replies, “I would rather live under the sea because I enjoy swimming at the weekend.”
Children will surprise you with their out-of-the-box thinking skills, and this helps them to develop their sentence structure, using their own ideas without needing prior knowledge of a subject.
Voice 21’s classroom research used this activity and concluded that significant improvements were made to children’s confidence and critical-thinking abilities
Help practitioners in your setting make the most of interactions during continuous provision. You may want to think of the following prompts and print them onto a lanyard for a quick visual reminder…
Sarah Philpot is EYFS curriculum lead for United Learning.
