Useful resources for the Literacy Classroom

In our Literacy lessons, we can use general resources we already know such as flashcards, the Smartboard, puppets, etc. But in this post I want to point out some specific resources focused on the Literacy area I didn't know before starting this term and which I consider now as indispensable:

• Kidpiration
• VCOP Pyramids
• Word Walls

KIDSPIRATION SOFTWARE

Promotional clip of Kidspiration sowftware.

Kidspiration is an educational software you can use to work on different subjects. We are interested in the part devoted to literacy skills, aimed to strengthen reading and writing skills. With Kidspiration, students create, organize and explain ideas and information visually. They can develop stories and descriptions using engaging visual tools and explore new ideas with thought webs and maps. They can combine pictures, text and audio to develop comprehension, organize ideas and create stories. In the official webpage you can get further information.

What I like best and I think it must be pointed out of Kidspiration is what they call 'Integrated Picture and Writing Views'. In the maps and activities you can create with this software, children can work with both types of views at the same time and go from one to another with a single click. In Picture View, students develop thought webs and other graphic organizers. In Writing View, they expand their ideas into written expression. As they visualize, plan and organize, students build essential skills and confidence in reading and writing. You can see some examples in my activities for the books I've work through this term - just surf the tab menu.

VCOP PYRAMIDS

VCOP are the initial letters of Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation. I usually refer to these pyramids as writing pyramids. They are pyramids made of paper which cab be used as a desk-top reminder/referent point to the children at writing time. We can find variations of these pyramids, with different number of 'bands' on each face. We also can find pyramids for the whole period of Primary Education or a pyramid just for one specific writing activity. Anyway, I find this pyramids incredibly useful and I wish I had used them when I was a child. 

In the pictures below you can see some examples of VCOP pyramids. The lower down the pyramid you go, the more sophisticated the writing should be.

Example of pyramid banded according to ages.

Example of pyramid for an age (Year 6)

Example of pyramid for describing characters of a particular story, made by me and my work team.
It's for Year 3.

You can download some examples and VCOP pyramid templates HERE and HERE.

WORD WALL

This is a simple and well-known resource, but this term I reflected on how to work with it. The main 'innovation' that my work team made to this resource was the use of velcro  to stick the words to a poster board. In this way, you can use the same poster every time, remove and change words, etc. We also added a picture about the scene or topic we were working on at that time.

Example of word wall I created together with my team work for the middle part of the story 'Fat Cat On a Mat'.

There are lots of ways you can use a frieze like this. You can choose a part of the story, a topic, what you want, and work on some words of it. You can work phonics, sentence formation,... That means you can work every level in Literacy: word, sentence and text level. You can find some specific examples of how to work with a word wall in the post devoted to the story 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'.