Speaking and listening for reading and writing Basing reading and writing on talk, using story examples

Maybe there will never be a time when everyone can read and write – there never has been so far. But it is a good aim. Encouraging children’s developing literacy is rightly a primary aim in classrooms. An inability to talk with others is a real deprivation. It deprives children of one important way of learning, and of ways to communicate with others in profoundly important everyday conversations. So, while the struggle towards reading and writing goes on, we really have to do our utmost to help children develop effective ways to communicate through talk.