Creative English, Creative Curriculum: New Perspectives for Key Stage 2

200 Pages·2009·1.287 MB·English

by  Paul Gardner

Creative English, Creative Curriculum
Combining theory with practical examples, Creative English, Creative Curriculum will
stimulate students and teachers to be adventurous and creative in their teaching, while
covering the main strands of the Primary National Strategy for English: narrative,
non-fiction and poetry.
This book:
• reflects the new emphases on speaking and listening;
• contextualises recent changes to the English curriculum, reviewing models of best
practice;
• provides practical examples and research evidence of creative approaches to the
teaching of English;
• considers the cross-curricular aspects in creating a thematic approach to teaching and
learning.
This book will appeal to both students and practising teachers in the primary school
who either wish to implement creative approaches to their English teaching or are
undertaking extended study for a Masters Degree.
Paul Gardner is the Co-ordinator for Primary English at the University of
Bedfordshire, UK.
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Creative English,
Creative
Curriculum
New perspectives for Key Stage 2
Paul Gardner
First published 2010
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2010 Paul Gardner
Typeset in Garamond by
GreenGate Publishing, Tonbridge, Kent
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gardner, Paul, 1954–
Creative English, creative curriculum practical, new perspectives for key stage 2 / Paul
Gardner.
p. cm.
1. Language arts (Elementary) – Great Britain. 2. Creative teaching – Great Britain.
I. Title.
LB1576.G34 2009
372.60941–dc22
2009001986
ISBN 10: 0-415-48522-3 (hbk)
ISBN 10: 0-415-46685-7 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-48522-7 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-46685-1 (pbk)
I wish to dedicate this book to:
My children: Ashrup, Nanaki and Kiran
Maz for giving me back myself
And my students, past, present and future
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Contents
List of illustrations viii
Acknowledgements ix
List of abbreviations x
Introduction: Q8 rules, OK? 1
1 Janus: looking at English past and future 11
2 English as a creative process 19
3 Who’s talking now? 36
4 ‘The play’s the thing…’ 52
5 Scene one, take two 66
6 Story, story, story 86
7 Reading outside the box 111
8 Poetry 132
9 Reading for meaning: exploring non-fiction 160
References 175
Index 183
vii
Illustrations
Figures
2.1 Teaching Framework: Primary National Strategy 20
2.2 Writer to reader: a continuum of meaning construction 27
2.3 Writer to reader: the construction of meaning in texts 27
2.4 An integrated approach to English 32
3.1 A model of classroom communication and learning 38
3.2 Bloom’s taxonomy 39
4.1 The pedagogy of drama 64
5.1 Narrative, subtext and script 70
6.1 Pair drafting 104
6.2 Describing the dragon: word sheet 107
6.3 Story connectors 108
7.1 An active model of reading 120
7.2 Texts and readers’ prior knowledge 124
9.1 Sight and vision 167
9.2 Second language acquisition: theory and practice 169
Tables
3.1 Analysing and assessing talk 48
6.1 The dragon: description grid sheet 106
9.1 Features of fiction and non-fiction 162
9.2 Characteristic features of non-fiction texts 164
Boxes
5.1 Narrative to film adaptation 71
7.1 Interacting with texts: creative ideas for the classroom 121
7.2 Reviews 125
viii
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Maureen Desouza and Krystle Fenn for allowing me to use their
research findings from their B.Ed dissertations.
ix