Functional Grammar in the Early Years

1. Functional Grammarin theEarly Years Presenter: Gail Young Holland Park State School For National Literacy Week Saturday 8 September, 2007

2. My Focus ‘Language for Learning’ Fostering an explicit consciousness in a multi-age Early Phase classroom of how language functions in the learning process

3. My Belief “It is not only helpful but crucial that understanding of how functional grammar is used to make more complex meanings in texts can help teachers support students develop literacy skills.”

4. Literacy - the Key to learningFramework for Action 2006 - 2008 Recognises it is the quality of teaching that makes the biggest differences to students’ literacy outcomes across the phases of learning.

5. The systematic teaching of: • Reading • Writing • Spelling and phonic skills • Explicit teaching of texts and grammar • Scaffolded and contextualised teaching of reading comprehension • Social-critical approaches – purposeful teaching of critical literacy

6. The integration of these essential skills based on explicit instruction enables children to: • Read and view • Speak and listen • Write and shape for learning in and out of school

7. IntroductionRegister Register is a way of describing how the context influences the language produced in a particular situation. The ways in which a teacher constructs a classroom context can help promote the sort of language which contributes to learning. ( Halliday, M. A. K., A Short Introduction to Functional Grammar, Edward Arnold, London, 1985)

8. Field The field of a situation refers to “what is going on” – the doings and happenings, who or what is involved in them (the participants) and the circumstances in which they are taking place (where and when).

9. Tenor The Tenor of a text will depend on the roles of the participants and their relationships: • How well they know each other • Their ages • Their relative status • How they feel towards each other

10. Mode Mode deals with the channel of communication. Learning can take place through the oral mode or the written mode.

11. Context of Situation REGISTER Tenor (roles/relationships Field (subject matter) Mode (written > spoken) TEXT

12. Farm Yard Bliss

13. Observing, describing through oral language, defining, comparing, contrasting, grouping, classifying and generalising through play.

14. Sharing the text “Harriet and the Fox” by Rina A. Foti illustrated by Judith Rossell

15. Prep One GY’s Responses to the Text

20. Prep One GY’s Plans to Outwit the Fox Oscar’s organised, clever plan – I would put poison on the eggs and I’d pay him and then I would give him an egg and then he would go crazy and crash into a wall. Yuri’s secret, hiding plan – I would go in a tree and get a fish. I would build a spider and I would put my fishing line out of the tree and the fox would come and I will scare it with the spider.

21. Gabrielle’s yummy, food plan – I’d put some food on the grass. I would bring the food to the big trap with a lot of eggs and when he jumps on the eggs and eats them all I’d press a red button that would make the trap close up. We’d put him in the bag and take him to gaol. Hamish’s spider hanging plan – I’m going to cut out a spider and then I’m going to put it on a piece of string and then I’ll make a loop and put it on the tree and blow it until the fox comes. I’ll say a word and then it will run away. Harriet’s open-the-mouth plan – I can open up his mouth with my hands then I can put chilli in it. Then I’ll open and close and open and close his mouth and when it swallows it might be a bit spicy. Then he might run away. Then he might not come again because he’ll think I will do it again.

22. Harriet’s slippery slide plan – I’m going to make the fox go up the slippery slide and when he comes down I’ll pull the rope and the cage will come down on him. Matthew’s rollercoaster plan – First I make a rollercoaster and then the fox slides on it and then he goes in a lava thing and then he dies. Annie’s high swing plan – I’d put a chair behind the swing then he swings off it and goes into a trap. Zachary’s brown snake plan – I’d make a cardboard snake and scare the fox with it. I would make the snake move.

23. Harry’s digital camera plan – I’d take a photo of the fox and then I’d pull it out of the camera and then I would try to put it on the ground so he would know it is a picture of him. Then he will try to chase people. Spyro’s letter writing plan – I’d write a letter to the fox catcher and tell him to catch the fox. Jack’s huge rock plan – You sneak up on the fox and throw some rocks at him and then a cage comes down then there is something in the cage that comes out of the ground and spears him. Ruby’s trap cage plan - I’m going to put round white chocolate that looks like eggs on a plate and there is a trap on the roof and it’s going to fall while he is eating.

24. Shatalii’s chocolate eating plan – I’m going to go home and get a piece of chocolate. I’m going to put the chocolate on the ground on the grass and then when the fox comes to my house I’m going to hide behind the garage and scare the fox away. Jasmine’s bouncing ping-pong ball plan – He’s going to eat all the ping-pong balls because he thinks they are eggs. He will blow up. Ethan’s rope trip plan – I’d make a rope and make it trip. It would hurt itself and it could bleed. Chloe’s fox trap plan – When the fox comes to the hen house when he tries to get in he can’t because the trap is there. We put him and trap in the bushes.

25. Monisha’s stripy snake plan – It scares the fox so the fox can’t get Harriet any more. Kos’s fish spike plan – The fox is going on spikes to get a fish. That will hurt him! Ella’s plan - I build a pool and the fox comes. He jumps in the pool to have a swim and he drowns.

26. Putting it Into PracticeFARM YARD BLISS Structure the learning context in terms of Mode – Field - Tenor. • Mode ranges from oral/active through to written reflective • Field increases knowledge of farmyard animals • Tenor reflects the roles and relationships engaged in by the teacher and the children.