The document provides information from a video training on teaching themes, literacy, and phonics for Grade R teachers. It covers: 1. How to implement theme-based teaching using themes, tables, posters and outdoor activities to engage multiple intelligences. 2. Tips for choosing books, using the Big Book, and making storytelling interactive through voices and questions to develop literacy skills. 3. An introduction to phonics including using mnemonic devices, phonics tables and activities to teach letter sounds in an engaging way.

1. Grade R Video Teacher Training
4-6
Discussion Questions

2. The video covered
• What is theme based education?
• What skills you can teach from themes
• How to set up a theme based table
• What are multiple intelligences?
• Teaching using Posters
• Outdoor themes

3. 4. Themes
Question 1
What is meant by theme based
teaching?

4. Answer to Question 1
It means teaching by topic
For example: My Family
Animals
Seasons
Transport

5. Question 2
Think of as many themes as you
can that would be interesting to
children

6. Question 2 answers
• Here are a few you may have thought of more:
• Transport
• Health
• Seasons :Summer, Winter Spring Autumn
• Insects
• Christmas
• Easter
• Mandela Day
• Music

7. Question 2 answers
• Here are a few more
• Farms
• Towns and cities
• Night and Day

8. Question 3
• What skills can you teach through
themes?

9. Answer to Question 3
• Literacy through labeling items with flash
cards
• Language skills – learning new words
• Numeracy by counting
• Size and shape
• colours
• Position – behind, on top, under etc.
• Life skills

10. Question 4
• How can you set up a theme
table?

11. Answer to Question 4
• Use a coloured table cloth which goes with
the theme e.g. brown for earth, blue for ocean
Put a Title
Background
Items like plastic animals, insects they can touch
Label items

12. Question 5
• In the video they talk about
“multiple intelligences”. What does
that mean?

13. Answers to Question 5
• Some children learn best by touching
things,
• some by seeing things,
• some by hearing,
• some are very socially
aware.

14. Question 6
• So how can a theme table help
you to teach all your children
even though they may learn
best in different ways?

15. Answer to Question 6
• Using a theme table can encourage
children to use all their different
skills by observing, hearing you talk
about it, share their own
experiences, touching items etc.

16. Question 7
• Why are posters useful? Try to
think of as many ways as
possible.
• The answers are taken from Page 19 of
the Teachers’ Handbook.

17. Answer to Question 7
• Just as with themes, they can
Introduce an idea or concept.
• Reinforce a topic
• Stimulate discussion
• Settle learners and gain
their attention

18. More Answers for Question 7
• Work on observational skills (visual
discrimination)
• Encourage them to share their
experience
• Extend the learners’ experience
• Teach visual literacy (how to read a
picture)
• Create stories around the picture.

19. Question 8
• What sort of outdoor themes can
you think of?

20. Answers to Question 8
• Lie down and look at the shapes of the clouds
• Look at different types of trees, learn their
names, collect bark and leaves
• Build different types of houses, shops castles
in sand.
• Water – what floats and what doesn’t.

21. Question 9
• Can you remember some of the
suggested tips for parents mentioned
in the video?

22. Question 9 Answers:Tips for
Parents
• Encourage parents to talk about everything
with their children, when they cook, when
they walk, at the park, in the shops.
• Count things, how heavy, how light, how
much does it cost, what are the names of
trees, colours etc etc.
• Teach kids life skills how to cook, making beds
setting tables, folding laundry etc.

23. You have learned:
• What is theme based education?
• What skills you can teach from themes
• How to set up a theme based table
• What are multiple intelligences and how to
help children with different ways of learning?
• Teaching using Posters
• Outdoor themes

24. 5. Literacy, Stories and the Big
Book

25. Question 1
What things should you think
about when choosing a book?
(There are 4 slides of answers to
this question!)

26. Answers to Question 1
Simple language
Age appropriate
Clear Sequencing (the order in
which the story develops)
Same age characters
Animal characters

27. Answers to Question 1
Mixture of information they
already know and don’t know
which will stretch them and
increase their vocabulary and
knowledge.

28. Answers to Question 1
Stories that are relevant to the
themes you are teaching
Stories that include counting,
prepositions (words which show
position), size etc
Stories which include repetition of
sounds or phrases.

29. Answers to Question 1
Stories which help to stretch their
creativity and imagination.
Life skills – crossing the road,
hygiene etc.

30. Question 2
The Big Book in the
Education Department ‘s Grade R kit
is in how many languages?

31. Answer to Question 2
The Big Book in the
Education Department ‘s Grade R kit.
Is in how many languages?
4 languages

32. Question 3
The Big Book in the
Education Department ‘s Grade R kit.
How does it reinforce the suggested
themes?

33. Answer to Question 3
The Big Book in the
Education Department ‘s Grade R kit.
How does it reinforce the suggested
themes?
Helps to introduce or reinforce the themes
Makes the themes come alive, add interest
and more information

34. Question 4
Why is story telling important?

35. Answer to Question 4
Stories help the children to
interpret pictures,
associate words on the page with
meaning,
develops a love of reading,
improves language skills,
comprehension skills

36. Question 5
• Why should there be lots of
colourful pictures?

37. Answer to Question 5
• Helps the children to interpret
the story before hearing the
words.
• Keeps their interest.

38. Question 6
• Why is it important to read the
story yourself before reading it to
the children?

39. Answers to Question 6
• This will help you to know and
understand the content, read with more
expression, make it more interesting for
the children and to formulate questions
which add more value to the educational
experience for the children. You may also
wish to retell it in your own words.

40. Question 7
• When you tell a story how can
you make it more interesting for
the children in the way you read
it.

41. Answer to Question 7
• Tell the story with expression,
change the pace (speed) to build
excitement, use high and low
voice pitch. Use different voices
for different characters.
• Stop at intervals to ask questions.

42. Practice what we just learned in
Question 7
• Tell the story with expression, change the pace (speed) to
build excitement, use high and low voice pitch. Use different
voices for different characters.
• Let’s read a book – read a page
and pass it round!

43. Question 8
• What is the difference between
open and closed questions?

44. Answer to Question 8
• An answer to a closed question
will always be a simple answer or
yes or no.
• For example: What colour is the
sky?
• Do you like dogs?

45. Answer to question 8
• An open question will lead to a longer
answer which makes the child think more
deeply about the subject or bring out
how they feel.
• For example
• What was the boy doing?
• How does that make you feel?

46. Question 9
• What skills can you assess
through using questions?

47. Answers to Question 9
• Listening skills
• Auditory, memory and critical
thinking
• Ability to sequence a story
(understand the order of events)
• Comprehension
• Ability to predict what is going to
happen next.

48. Question 10
• In children’s books there is often a
lot of repetition of phrases.
• Why is this important?

49. Answer to Question 10
• Repetition helps the children to learn new
phrases (It can be good idea to get everyone
to say them together.)
• Children love repetition – it makes them enjoy
the story more, adds interest and helps with
comprehension.

50. Question 11
• What other ways can you
develop on the story?

51. Answer to Question 11
• Children can draw pictures of the
story.
• Play “I spy” with words in the
pictures
• Learn words to do with the story
• Dramatise the story. (Act it out)

52. Remember
• That if you encourage the children to love
reading they will develop reading and
comprehension skills and numeracy skills
more quickly and be successful at school.
• Also get parents involved and encourage them
to read with their children every day before
bed or whenever they have time.

53. Section 6
Literacy and
Phonics

54. The video covered:
• What is Phonics?
• Mnemonic devices ( ways to help you to
remember the sound)
• Phonics table
• Best phonic lessons in practice

55. Question 1
• When we teach phonics are we teaching
the name of the letter or the sound of
the letter?

56. Answer to Question 1
• The sound

57. Question 2
• When we introduce a new
sound how can we make the
sound easier for the child to
learn?

58. Answer to Question 2
• Put letters into a context.
• Make meaningful visual, auditory associations
• Visual means what the child sees should mean
something to the child e.g. l lion with a
picture of a lion
• Auditory – what the child hears – make the
sound clearly and give lots of practice.

59. Question 3
• Why should you tell a story
associated with the new sound?

60. Answer to Question 3
• It makes the sound easier to
remember, makes it more
meaningful, it is lots of fun for the
child.

61. Question 4
• Please give some examples of a story
you could tell about a sound.

62. Answer to Question 4
• There could be many but here is one
mentioned in the video
• Harry the helpful happy handyman likes
everything beginning with h.
• ham, honey, hammers etc.
• Can you think of more things Harry would
like?

63. Question 5
• Why is it important to emphasize and
exaggerate the first sound of the word
when introducing sounds?

64. Answer to Question 5
• It is not easy for the child at first to
hear and isolate the first sound – it
takes practice.
• It also helps the child to remember
the sound.

65. Answer to Question 6
• How do you prepare a phonics
table?

66. Answer to Question 6
• Low table easy to access for the
children
• Coloured table cloth associated with
sound if possible( red for r)
• Objects starting with sound
• Flash cards with words with
first sound highlighted.

67. Question 7
• What other activities can you
use to help the children learn
the sounds?

68. Answer to Question 7
• Put up a mirror so the children can
see themselves making the sound
• Sandpaper letter
• Trace on the back of another child
• Trace the sounds in the air
• Or use salt or sand

69. Answers to Question 7
• Use play dough to make the sounds
• I spy games
• Write in Chalk the sound outside
• Play sound hop skotch
• Twist and turn the body into the
shape of the sound
• Worksheets with sound

70. Question 8
• Let’s run through a perfect
phonics lesson.

71. Answers to Question 8
• Introduce a new sound or letter
every week
• Introduce the sound with a
picture
• Introduce sound on its own
• Repeat

72. Answers to Question 8
• Tell a story about the sound
• Ask questions like “What else
starts with this sound?”
• Then continue with some of
the activities listed in
previous question.

73. Question 9
• What is one of the biggest
challenges to teaching phonics
in South Africa?

74. Answer to Question 9
• There are 11 official languages
and many more and the
pronunciation of sounds may
be different

75. Question 10
• How can we help children to
overcome this challenge?

76. Answer to Question 10
• By making we say the sound
carefully (don’t say t like tea
but like tuh) and also in an
exaggerated way

77. Please note…
Please note Alphabetti Spaghetti series
on the resource kit is really great for
this!

78. Question 11
• How can we get parents
involved?
• Can you suggest some activities
they can do with their child at
home?

79. Answer to Question 11
• When cooking the can say the name of a
food and ask the child to think of other
words starting with the same sound
• Make a match Say a word and ask the
child to point to something or find
something with same sound
• Play “I spy” at home or when
out.

80. You have learned:
• What is Phonics?
• Mnemonic devices ( ways to help you to
remember the sound)
• How to set up a Phonics table
• Best phonic lessons in practice

81. Congratulations !!!!
You have
completed
Sections 4-6