ABSTRACT
The two literacy activities ‘Big Brother’ and ‘The Chill Night Air’ are designed for Key Stage Three pupils working with the Literacy Strategy, although similar activities could be devised for Key Stage Two. Each activity is divided into three sections, beginning with a cloze procedure, followed by several open-ended questions and ending with opportunities for extended work. Since its focus is word- and sentence-level work, the cloze procedure could be used for whole-class teaching, with or without the key words. The accompanying questions invite pupils to consider the text and its sub-textual possibilities. Unlike conventional comprehension work, the open-ended nature of the questions is designed to raise issues rather than lead pupils to find specific answers. In order to explore the sub-text, pupils need to draw upon their own experiences and knowledge of the world, especially their social and cultural awareness. For this reason, different pupils will have different interpretations of the text and will come to different conclusions, depending on their own social and cultural backgrounds, or knowledge of backgrounds different from their own. The questions should therefore elicit exploratory talk and will have a greater effect on learning if pupils discuss possible answers in pairs or small groups. The outcome of their group discussions and any issues and further questions that arise can be fed back to the whole class, which may lead to further discussion and sharing of knowledge. In this way, the whole class is involved and those pupils with particular cultural insights are likely to feel empowered. For example, in the case of ‘Big Brother’, pupils from Asian backgrounds may read the significance of Kamaldeep’s presence differently from other pupils, although all pupils are likely to discern his possible disapproval of what he sees. Some may question why the older brother’s name is Sikh whilst his sister’s is Muslim. Does this imply that the brother and sister have parents of both religions, which would be unusual and could lead to discussion of further issues? How would the parents view a possible relationship between their daughter, Ashraz, and Paolo, if one should develop? Other pupils may draw comparisons between this short text and other texts, such as Romeo and Juliet, where two young people enter into a ‘forbidden’ love match. The second activity ‘The Chill Night Air’ is not so imbued with cultural allusion. Most pupils will appreciate the fear of walking alone along a dark street at night, although reactions may differ according to gender and ‘race’. These differences would make interesting discussion points in themselves. They are certainly likely to elicit from pupils their anecdotal experiences. It may be possible to discern similar patterns in experience. For example, there might be a tendency for girls to say they would not walk alone at night. Some pupils may connect the setting of the text, Lancashire, with recent unrest involving White and Asian youths in Oldham and Burnley. By means of skilful handling of the subject matter this could enable the teacher to explore with pupils the causes and consequences of this particular social problem. By engaging with their social world, pupils could be guided to devise creative ways of resolving conflict.
