Teach Primary Issue 19.5

www.teachwire.net | 71 T E ACH RE AD I NG & WR I T I NG Loved this? Try these... v Geoffrey Gets the Jitters by Nadia Shireen v Worry Boots by Lisa Thompson v Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival v Incredible You by Rhys Brisenden & Nathan Reed v Super Duper You by Sophy Henn rather walk in the woods or round a pond?” Again, encourage children to answer in full sentences and explain their viewpoints. • Pig’s worry advice show . Have an adult or child pretend they are on a TV show where they read a worry aloud and classmates give advice using sentence starters like ‘I think you should…’ or ‘Have you tried…?’ This would be even more powerful if the worries are taken from a worry jar of actual worries that the children have anonymously contributed. Jo Cummins is an experienced primary school teacher and English leader with a passion for children’s books and mental health awareness. She currently works for a specialist educational provision in Hampshire in a teaching and advisory role. librarygirlandbookboy.com @librarygirlandbookboy idea of a story having a beginning, middle, and end, which forms the basis of effective communication and comprehension. Following the sequence of a story also requires children to employ active listening skills and sustained attention, which children with SLC needs often find challenging. Retelling stories gives pupils the opportunity to practise new vocabulary and sentences from the book in context, too, as well as accurately using time connectives such as first , next , and then . Furthermore, it is a low-pressure way to speak in front of others, meaning that children can build confidence in speaking clearly, selecting words, and constructing sentences. • Objective: To strengthen narrative and sequencing skills. • Activity: Give pupils images of key events from the story to sort into the correct order – visuals are a key tool in supporting children with SLC needs. If using time connectives to support structure is a key concern, children could just be presented with three images to sort under first , then , finally . Add in cards and conjunctions as the children become more confident. • Extension: A natural extension of this task is to sort simple sentences to match each of the key images. For example, at the end the sentence could be, ‘They had a party’. More confident writers could use a sound mat or word bank to write their own sentences. Mindfulness (self-regulation) Some of the key skills we can teach to young people are how to identify and communicate their emotions effectively, and how to self-regulate when needed. Very often, children are unaware of the signals their bodies are giving them and how to act upon them safely. In the role-play task, I suggested some very simple ways to help children recognise how changes in facial expressions and body language can indicate a change in mood. They should also start to match feelings in their bodies with emotions. For example, when they are worried, they might get butterflies in their tummies, or when they feel angry their voice might start to get louder. Once they are able to identify these emotions themselves, that pupils can add their thoughts around it before passing it on to the next group. Children may need to do this orally with an adult scribing. Example questions: What if you lost your toy? What if you saw someone steal something? What if you were online and saw someone being called names? What if you want to be first in the line but aren’t? When every group has seen all the scenarios, get them to discuss solutions in pairs or small groups. Encourage the children to ask questions about someone else’s perspective. Story sort (sequencing & retelling) Children with SLC difficulties often struggle to understand and recall stories in a logical order. Sequencing activities help them consolidate the and have been taught appropriate strategies, they will begin to be able self-regulate rather than depend on an adult for co-regulation. • Objective: Teach self-regulation strategies for managing worries. • Activity: There are lots of different breathing techniques that you can teach children to help regulate their breathing. For example, box breathing, belly breathing, or five finger breathing. A technique which links rather nicely to the party theme of What if, Pig? is the blowing out candles technique. Hold your fingers up to represent the candles on a cake and have children take a deep breath in ready to puff out quickly and extinguish the candles. Grounding techniques can also be very effective in helping alleviate anxious feelings. Like Mouse did with Pig, taking the children on a guided meditative walk through an imaginary wood (or through a real one if you’re lucky enough to have a woodland area in your grounds) can have a very calming effect, encouraging the children to focus on what they can see, hear, smell, and feel around them in the moment. If you would like to take an inside walk to another sensory level, you might like to have tuff trays filled with natural materials such as leaves, grasses, or water for them to walk through! TP