Cross Curricular Literacy

Policy
Definition of Literacy

Aim
For students
literacy skills
to be
developed by
every one of
their
teachers.

Speaking the ability to express oneself in a variety of situations

and to a range of audiences, from the formal to the informal.
Listening the ability to absorb, understand and respond to
information communicated by the spoken word in a variety of
different media.
Reading the ability to decode, understand and respond to
information communicated in a variety of texts, including media
texts.
Writing the ability to communicate effectively in a wide range of
forms for a variety of purposes, and for a range of audiences.

Procedures in Lessons
Speaking & Listening
This naturally happens in every single class,
and is absolutely nothing new!! The key is to
make sure that students realise that they are
practicing and developing their skills in your
lesson.

Make sure that your students:

value and respect talk of others;
see speaking & listening as part of learning;
select the appropriate degree of formality
(i.e. audience);
recognise & respect the difference between
Standard English & varied dialect around the
school;
and foster pride in their own language.

Organise lessons where:

some activities feature talk as an essential
element;
and there is a focus on using subject
vocabulary.

Give them a chance to:

use talk for a range of purposes &
audiences;
plan, discuss and evaluate their work
through speaking and listening;
explore ideas through drama and role-play;
use talk to explore & evaluate other
activities;
use talk to express feelings and opinions;
ask and answer questions in group
discussion;
deliver presentations to another group of
students;
solve problems collaboratively;
and get involved in deep questioning

Use speaking & listening to support

assessment.
Were going to see how well you can
explain this!
In one minute, explain to your partner how
you would answer this question.

Reading
Teachers & Tutors should:

Make sure your students use:

make reading an active process and scaffold

it with before & after activities;
use textual models to point out structure,
layout, format, print and other signposts;
teach students how to skim, scan and
techniques such as reading for meaning or
information retrieval;
help pupils to question, challenge and
recognise bias in a range of texts;
and provide support to pupils who are at the
early stages of reading.

reading to research the subject area

and the library & ICT to support subject
learning;
and are moving towards becoming
independent readers and learners.

Give them:
A range of up to date and attractive
materials;
texts at appropriate readability levels that
have culture/gender balance;
resources/reference materials which develop
independence in all pupils.

Writing

Every Teacher & Tutor should display key-words and vocabulary and teach
students to spell them;
offer models for writing in a range of forms;
provide resources to support independence;
help students to develop their writing
through subject content;
provide differentiated activities;
draw attention to the purpose and audience;
mark for handwriting, spelling and
punctuation;
and foster pride by displaying work which
represent all students best efforts.

Make sure students

write in a variety of forms for different
purposes;
write for a range of audiences (including real
ones);
plan and/or draft writing where appropriate;
use writing to organise thoughts & aid
learning through rough notes and diagrams;
and consistently improve the level of their
writing.

Emphasise the importance of all

written work and assessments.
Expect them to be neat and of a
students best quality.