10th March 2025 - TALKING ABOUT CATCH UP
There’s a lot of talk about talk at the moment in education, whether it’s in the Oracy Education Commission’s study: We Need to Talk about Talk (October 2024) or PlanBee’s report: The Power of Oracy in the Primary Classroom (November, 2024) or the EEF’s Blog: What does the evidence tell us about effective oral language practice (November 2024). These reports identify three interrelated, overlapping and mutually reinforcing components of oracy:
- Learning to talk
- Learning through talk
- Learning about talk
The research shows that raising the profile of oracy in schools is a highly effective tool for closing the attainment gap and that pupils from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds - who are more likely to display less developed early language and speech skills than their more advantaged peers - greatly benefit from targeted interventions.
But the
Catch Up® interventions are not oral language interventions, I hear you say. That’s true, but the Catch Up sessions do provide ideal opportunities to use talk to foster and deepen learning.
TIPS FOR DEVELOPING ORACY SKILLS IN CATCH UP® LITERACY
Modelling oral recall
At the start of each 15-minute session, ask the learner to recall what they learned in the previous session. This needs to be a succinct summary (as time is of the essence!) and initially learners may find it a challenge to briefly sum up their learning, so be prepared to model this recap for a few sessions so that learners acquire a pattern of language they can draw on when they recall independently.
N.B. Have the
Individual session record sheet and the relevant book available for the learner to refer to – the recall does not have to be a memory test!
For example, a modelled oral recall for Catch Up Levels 1-5:
Last time, you read ‘The Sad Bear’ and at the end of the book the bear had a new friend who was ….? (pause for learner to supply name). Then you practised writing the word…? (pause for the learner to supply the word). Write it for me on your whiteboard now.
After modelling a few recalls, the learner should take over this role. For example:
Last time I read ‘Stuck on the Sand’. Tom saw a whale which was stuck on the sand but he helped it to get back in the sea. Then I practised writing the word ‘came’.
By doing this oral recap you are:
- emphasising that learning is cumulative – each session builds upon the previous one
- giving the learner ownership of the session and prioritising their voice
- encouraging the learner to speak in sentences which is excellent preparation for writing in sentences
- starting the session on a positive note as learners generally have good recall of the previous session
- creating an opportunity to praise the learner right from the start
Prepared reading
During prepared reading you are aiming to give the learner an overview of the text so that they can concentrate on reading for meaning. By introducing any unfamiliar vocabulary, you enable the learner to speed up their reading which aids comprehension.
In this part of the session, you are taking the lead as the speaker with the purpose of building the confidence of the learner to articulate those ‘tricky’ words when they later read independently.
At Catch Up Levels 7-12 where the prepared reading is necessarily more selective of the vocabulary you have time to introduce, aim to contextualise the ‘tricky’ words, rather than just say them as individual words. For example, in the book ‘Sportswear’ when preparing the word ‘fabric’ say:
a karting race suit is made of strong fabric rather than just saying the word ‘fabric’.
At the end of your prepared reading, take the opportunity to ask the learner to predict the ending of the story or to react to a fact. This hands over the speaking role to them and sets up the learner for their independent reading.
Text is discussed
After the learner has read the text independently, use the guidance on the Individual session record sheet to encourage the learner to respond to the text. Most struggling readers find it difficult to articulate answers to inferential questions which require the reader to glean what is implied (but not specifically stated) in the text. The
Catch Up® Literacy session provides learners with a very supportive environment to practise the language of deduction and how to use evidence to support their answer. This will build their confidence to contribute later in small group and whole class settings.
Linked Writing
In this part of the session, the adult is able to directly talk through the learning process to support the acquisition of the spelling of the focus word. When you have modelled this in a few sessions, encourage the learner to talk through their understanding. For example:
I’m practising spelling the word ‘wanted’. I’m going to use the letter names to recall the spelling because it’s a tricky word. I remember that the ‘o’ sound is spelled with an ‘a’ and the ‘id’ sounds at the end are spelled ‘ed’.
TIPS FOR DEVELOPING ORACY SKILLS IN CATCH UP® NUMERACY
Review and introduction
In order to inject more opportunities for developing talk right at the beginning of a
Catch Up® Numeracy session, learners could be encouraged to put into their own words what they did in the previous session. This would have the benefit of consolidating learning and would be more beneficial that telling them what they learned! But learners may be very inexperienced at finding the words to talk through their learning, so initially modelling this for them is a good idea.
N.B. Allow learners to refer to the
Individual session record sheet to prompt their recall.
Numeracy activity
The sequence of learning in the 6 minutes of the numeracy activity closely maps the guidance for using talk for learning as it involves:
- Explaining
- Modelling
- Narrating what the learner is doing when they complete the task
- Thinking aloud
We can scaffold learner’s language and learning by using the technique of ‘thinking aloud’. ‘Thinking aloud’ involves verbalizing your thoughts, asking yourself questions and narrating your actions as a model for the learner. For example:
- I’m thinking of a way to work out what 6 x 2 =. What does 6 x 2 mean? It means 6 multiplied by 2 and that’s the same as saying 6 lots of 2 so I could draw 6 marks on the board, then draw another 6 marks and then add them up. That would work. Also, I know that 6 x1 = 6 so I could do that twice and add up the answers: 6 + 6 = 12.
The important thing is not to say ‘This is how to do it’ but sharing your rationale as you talk through possible ways to solve the problem.
Linked Recording
The linked recording component of the Catch Up session helps learners clarify their numeracy thinking. It is a blend of developing written methods of recording and using spoken language to reinforce the new learning. In linked recording, learners are encouraged to explain any mental calculations, develop mental imagery and see important links between numbers and processes.
To sum up …
The one-to-one format of Catch Up sessions is the perfect opportunity for struggling learners to ‘find their voice’. In this safe environment, they can consolidate their learning of literacy and numeracy through modelled, patterned and structured talk where they can rehearse and reflect on their learning and develop their skills of reasoning.
The Catch Up model of scaffolded learning draws upon Vygotsky’s 1978 theory of the ‘Zone of Proximal Development’. This theory describes the difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can do with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner. Vygotsky argued that guided talk can maximise learning experiences. He summed up his theory by saying:
What a child can do in cooperation today, tomorrow he or she will be able to do alone.
Catch Up® Literacy and
Catch Up® Numeracy might not be oracy interventions, but they are all about talking.
www.catchup.org
