A SCHOOL READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 …

1 Republic of Namibia MINISTRY OF EDUCATION. JUNIOR PRIMARY PHASE. A SCHOOL READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME . (5 WEEKS). TEACHERS' MANUAL. GRADE 1. ENGLISH VERSION. 2015. Ministry of Education National Institute for Educational Development (NIED). Private Bag 2034. Okahandja Namibia Copyright NIED, Ministry of Education, 2011. A SCHOOL READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 weeks). ISBN: 978-99945-2-028-2. Printed by NIED. Website: Publication date: 2011. First Edition Grade 1 READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 Weeks) Page 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .. 3. INTRODUCTION . 4. SECTION 1: THEORY AND PRACTICE SUPPORTING SCHOOL readiness .. 5. The Whole Child' Approach . 5. Physical Development .. 6. Social and Emotional Development . 7. Cognitive Development 8. Some SCHOOL readiness Indicators . 9. Procedures to Follow Every Day Throughout the 10. What Is Phonological Awareness and Why Is It Important? .. 10. SECTION 2: FIVE WEEK ACTIVITY PLAN.

2 Week 1 11. Week 2 15. Week 3 22. Week 4 28. Week 5 34. SECTION 3: ASSESSMENT . 40. Rationale .. 40. READINESS/PREPARATORY Assessment Record (Example) .. 41. READINESS/PREPARATORY assessment Record (Blank) .. 43. REFERENCES .. 45. Grade 1 READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 Weeks) Page 2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. This manual was developed under the auspices of the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED). The following people are acknowledged: Alina Niipare EO Lower Primary - NIED. Jo Coghlan VSO volunteer junior primary literacy advisor NIED. Junior primary panel members Junior primary advisory teachers Grade 1 teachers who participated in the consultative process The worksheet activities in the Teachers' Resource Book support this manual and have been used with permission from original authors. NIED wishes to acknowledge the following publishers and developers of websites: Maskew Miller Longman (Pty) Ltd Pearson Holdings South Africa (Pty) Ltd Longman Namibia (Pty) Ltd (Family Education Network).

3 Grade 1 READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 Weeks) Page 3. INTRODUCTION. SCHOOL readiness is a stage when a child is able to grasp those concepts and skills that are necessary for more formal learning in Grade 1. This manual has been written in response to the recognition that many learners have not acquired SCHOOL readiness before they start SCHOOL . The concepts and ideas in the manual are intended to help teachers prepare their learners for more formal learning. The readiness manual is divided into three sections: Theory and Practice Supporting SCHOOL readiness Five Week Activity Plan Assessment The manual is intended as a guide for the first 5 weeks of Grade 1 and should be used together with the preparatory activities in the Curriculum for the Junior Primary Phase Grades 1-3, Integrated Planning Manual Grade 1 and Syllabus Guides. It is also designed to be used in conjunction with the Teachers' Resource Book that contains a variety of worksheet examples corresponding to activities in the five week plan.

4 The manual does not cover every aspect of SCHOOL readiness that a learner completes in a full year of Pre-primary. Therefore, only major concepts have been selected and teachers are strongly encouraged to add further activities as they see fit. Some of the activities and worksheets could be used as they are, while others could serve as examples for teachers to design and develop their own ideas. Teachers need to be creative and innovative in their planning to suit the particular needs of their learners. NB. The examples given for First Language (L1), particularly rhymes, poems and songs will not be relevant for First Languages other than English. Teachers are encouraged to use appropriate examples while retaining the skill being taught, rhyming Grade 1 READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 Weeks) Page 4. SECTION 1: THEORY AND PRACTICE SUPPORTING SCHOOL . readiness . THE WHOLE CHILD' APPROACH. The manual is based on the Whole Child' approach.

5 The Whole Child' approach means valuing every aspect of the child and planning learning activities that consider a child's physical development, social and emotional development and cognitive development. Aesthetic, and spiritual and ethical development should also be considered. Grade 1 READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 Weeks) Page 5. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. Fine Motor Control This is control over small muscles such as eyes, fingers, toes and tongue. Provide activities like drawing, colouring in, using scissors, buttoning, zipping, unzipping, tying knots, hammering a nail g, Gross Motor Control and building with small pieces. Sing This is control over big muscles in arms, legs songs, say poems and tell news to and whole body. exercise the tongue, mouth and lips to Provide activities like dancing, running, promote speech development. walking, balancing, jumping, climbing, swinging, hopping and skipping. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.

6 Children who are ready for Grade 1 have learned how to control GROSS and FINE. MOTOR skills. They understand SPATIAL. AWARENESS and they have good BODY IMAGE. Spatial Awareness This is the way learners perceive relationships between themselves and objects. Provide activities where learners must place themselves behind, in Body Image front of, under, over, inside or Learners need to know how their bodies outside of objects. Practise placing move and come to know if they are objects to the right and left of right-handed or left-handed. Practise learners, up, down, beside, close moving parts of the body (right arm, left and far away. leg); distinguish right from left and top from bottom. Do lots of throwing, catching, kicking, drawing and writing to determine right-hand or left-hand dominance. Grade 1 READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 Weeks) Page 6. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT. Children who are socially and emotionally ready for grade 1 are confident, friendly, able to develop good relationships, able to concentrate on and persist at challenging tasks, can communicate emotions and can follow instructions.

7 They have good listening skills and are attentive. They can participate in a group and are learning to co-operate, compromise and share. They have good self-concept and can understand how their actions affect others. They are beginning to think and act independently and responsibly and can handle some problems. Within the first 5 weeks of SCHOOL you need to provide many opportunities for your learners to develop the above skills. Play games where co-operation, Give learners simple directions Read to your learners every sharing and establishing friends to follow: Go outside and find day to encourage listening, and relationships is required. 3 stones. Put them on my table. attentiveness and sitting for short periods of time. Encourage independent and responsible behaviour: Establish classroom routines and rules and Please tidy the books. practise following them. Encourage and Please go and ask Mrs Maiba in room 2 for a box of praise.

8 Chalk.. Grade 1 READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 Weeks) Page 7. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT. PERCEPTION. Children who are ready for grade 1 are beginning to develop good visual, auditory, tactile, smelling and tasting perception. Provide activities where learners develop skills in: visual discrimination find similarities and differences like size, shape and colour of objects visual sequencing sequence objects and pictures to make patterns and stories figure-ground differentiation select a particular shape from many different shapes form consistency differentiate between shapes and symbols even when they are a different size, shape or colour visual memory show objects and learners recall what they've seen visual analysis and synthesis break up pictures like jigsaws and put them back together to make a whole auditory discrimination identify differences between sounds sounds of letters, clapping, stamping, coughing auditory sequencing copy a sequence of sounds or patterns heard auditory analysis and synthesis break up words into sounds d-o-g and put together again auditory closure complete words or phrases one, two, put on my _____(shoe).

9 Auditory memory play games where learners must remember and retell what they've heard auditory-visual linking hear the sound of a letter or number and link it with its symbol touching (tactile), smelling and tasting things. preparatory MATHEMATICS is also crucial at this stage and learners LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT is very should be exposed to many activities important at this stage. Children need to which involve: develop: classification - grouping of objects phonological awareness ability to with the same properties manipulate sounds of speech sequencing - arranging of objects in a receptive skills paying attention to what pattern or order is said; understanding what is said; number - comparing and describing remembering what they hear groups of objects using words like incidental skills linking the sounds they more, less, fewer, the same hear with the words or letters they see time - differentiating between expressive skills speaking clearly using periods of time, day/night, sentences in the correct order and with morning/afternoon, long/short appropriate vocabulary space - describing the position of Provide activities where learners.

10 Their bodies in relationship with listen to and respond to stories surroundings, behind, next to, in match speech sounds, words and front of numbers to their symbols names, measurement - manipulating objects, letters of the alphabet and materials and using vocabulary to numbers show comparisons between objects, talk about their experiences, art work, long/short, heavy/light, games and emotions full/empty, bigger/smaller, more than/less than Grade 1 READINESS/PREPARATORY PROGRAMME (5 Weeks) Page 8. SOME SCHOOL readiness INDICATORS. (adapted from Love and Reilly 2003). 1. Knows how to handle books 2. Recognises some letters of the alphabet by name 3. Recognises some letter sounds 4. Tells a simple story and recounts events in sequence 5. Knows some nursery rhymes, songs and chants 6. Has early phonological awareness, rhyming and initial sound awareness 7. Is beginning to link some letters with sounds they make, m' says mmm'.