Teacher's Resource Book 1-2 [antikvár]

Introduction to Nelson English What is Nelson English? Nelson English is a twin-track course which aims to provide an underpinning structure to the teaching of English for key stages 1 and 2 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and levels A-D/E (Scotland), focusing particularly on the knowledge, skills and understanding of writing. Throughout the course reading, listening and speaking opportunities are built in at all levels. Nelson English (NE) is alsó suitable for those older pupils who need more support. The basic skills (including punctuation, grammar, spelling etc.) are mainly tackled within the Skills track while the conceptual skills relating to the craft of writing are the stuff of the Development track. In the Skills track the material tends to be more skills focused but stül within a context. In the Development track the material tends to be more developmental or meaning based, but again, not without skills. You simply can't have one without the other. Nelson English recognises the richness and rangé of good practice in most schools, and provides a systematic progression to enable young writers to acquire and develop the skills necessary to realise their full potential. Any craft, including good functional, personal and imaginative writing, requires key skills and knowledge. Whilst recognising that there are many different approaches and attitudes to the teaching of English, NE provides teaching materials that can offer a graded progression to the acquisition of basic skills and understanding of language. Nelson English seeks, unambiguously, to help to teach the skills of English and to provide the young writer with the 'tools of the trade'. These go beyond simply covering the predictable rules of punctuation, grammar, spelling, vocabulary etc., important as these are. The course alsó identifies as skills those strategies which are required to 'convey meaning in written language matching style to audience and purpose'. (;English in the National Curriculum, Attainment target 3: Writing, page 12.) NE addresses these concepts, supplying learning opportunities to facilitate wellconstructed plot, character creation, and so on. By using throughout a wide rangé of carefully selected stimulus material, the course provides opportunities to work in the full rangé of genre appropriate to the children's interests, and complementary to other curricula requirements. What does Nelson English comprise? Nelson English begins at Foundation Level with a Skills Big Book supported by three Skills Workbooks. (The workbook material is alsó available as copymasters in the Teacher's Resource Book.) The parallel Development track comprises a pupils' book which ties in with the Skills Big Book or can stand alone if required. Nelson English Teacher's Resource Book 1 Introduction The Foundation Level is followed by five further levels, each comprising a pupils' book in each track. The pupils' books contain a number of teaching units: most units are four or six pages in extent, and each might be expected to provide the English work for an average child for about a week. The material is so sequenced that the units from the two tracks complement each other, and may be used together - either with the whole class, with groups or with individual children. However the tracks are carefully devised to stand alone if required. All English teaching requires a context, and NE has focused on the themes which research in many schools has indicated are consistently used by many teachers. These themes provide a purposeful context in both tracks on which the underpinning English work is built. Pupils will perhaps have had previous exposure to the themes used, will currently be working on them, or this course will serve as an introduction to forthcoming work in other curricular areas. But whatever the circumstances in each particular classroom, the context is essentially secondary to the core English teaching for which the books are designed. The pupils' material is supported and extended by a Teacher's Resource Book at each level. These books contain extensive photocopiable material devised to help children who need additional support and consolidation. Somé of these photocopy masters alsó provide extension activities. These books give the answers to the pupils' book exercises where appropriate. How should Nelson English be used? Different schools will have different approaches, so methods of usage will differ, but the course has been planned from the outset for maximum flexibility of use. Providing the 'essential diet', NE can be used as a comprehensive, stand-alone English course. The tracks can be used in parallel, with pupils in a class working on complementary units across both tracks. Altematively, the tracks may be followed sequentially or even independently from each other. Many schools will want their pupils to work through much of NE independently and at their own pace, but the books are written assuming a degree of teacher intervention and support if the most effective use is to be made of the ideas and material offered. Attention to page design at an early stage has resulted in an accessible and inviting layout to children. As a rich resource, NE might be dipped into, to reinforce the work of the whole class or individuals as required. As a complement to cross-curricular topic work, NE will deepen and extend the opportunities for language work. I At Foundation Level, the school may elect either to adopt the Workbooks to support the skills introduced in the Skills Big Book, or teachers may opt to photocopy this material from the accompanying Teacher's Resource Book. 3