The course offers a suite of dictation exercises which can be completed in any random order. The exercises cover a range of topics designed to interest children in the target age group. Dictation has long been recognised as a valuable means of developing the literacy skills required to write well. It was abandoned in the sixties when it was, and rightly, recognised that teachers could only dictate materials at a pace which would be frustratingly slow for very able pupils and frustratingly quick for less able pupils. Computers now make it possible for teachers to offer dictation exercises at a pace which each child determines for him or herself.
The passages are dictated in short phrases which can be repeated as often as each child requires. In the first dictation suite, the punctation is 'voiced' and in the upper dictation suite it is only implied by the readers intonation. A spelling helper is included which will spell out each word as required by individual pupils so that the writing experience they acquire is inevitably, always a successful experience. This spelling assistance provides both visual and auditory reinforcement.
It is our experience that no child who completes twenty-four of these dictation exercises at a rate of two per week, ever achieves less than Level 5 in English at Key Stage 2. No teacher should be in any doubt as to the very high value of this course in terms of extending literacy skills at Key Stage 2.
The Dictation sessions specifically exercise
1. Listening skills.
2. Reading skills.
3. Writing skills.
4. Grammar skills.
5. Spelling skills.
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