Programme overview
Introduction:
Early-grade literacy and numeracy teaching, covering phonics, fluency and number sense, is a 5-day course for kindergarten to Grade 3 class teachers, literacy and numeracy coaches and early-years supervisors, ending with a Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Improvement Plan for a case primary school. Many children reach Grade 3 still sounding out words or counting on fingers, because decoding and number sense are taught without a sequence and checked too late. Nominees already teach or coach young children and analyse case files of reading probes, maths screeners and class timetables. CoreConcept Training Center delivers this early-grade literacy and numeracy course.
Course Objectives:
- Teach letter-sound correspondences, blending and segmenting in a fixed systematic synthetic phonics sequence, including Arabic short vowels, long vowels, sukun and shadda
- Run daily oral reading fluency and comprehension routines such as repeated reading, partner reading, retell and question generation with decodable and graded texts
- Build early number sense through subitising, counting principles, magnitude comparison and the number line using concrete-pictorial-abstract materials
- Teach place value, addition and subtraction strategies along an early maths learning progression from kindergarten to Grade 3
- Administer one-minute reading and maths probes, score them and sort a class into whole-class, small-group and individual support tiers
- Plan, timetable and monitor targeted intervention groups and report foundational literacy and numeracy progress to school leaders
Target Audience:
- Class teaching teams responsible for reading, writing and maths in kindergarten and the first three primary grades
- Literacy and numeracy coaching teams that model lessons and support early-grade teachers in classrooms
- Early-years supervision teams that observe lessons and review foundational learning data across classes
- Learning support teams that deliver small-group catch-up sessions in reading and early maths
- Arabic language and maths lead teams that select decodable texts, manipulatives and practice materials for the early grades
Course Outline:
Day 1: Foundational Learning Gaps and the Science of Early Reading
- Simple View of Reading Decoding Times Language Comprehension
- Scarborough Reading Rope Word Recognition and Language Strands
- Early Maths Learning Trajectories From Counting to Place Value
- Grade 3 Foundational Gap Profile From Class Results
- Classroom Walkthrough Checklist for Phonics and Number Routines
Day 2: Systematic Phonics, Arabic Decoding and Phonemic Awareness
- Systematic Synthetic Phonics Scope and Letter-Sound Teaching Order
- Phonemic Awareness Games for Isolating, Blending and Segmenting Sounds
- Arabic Short Vowels, Long Vowels, Sukun and Shadda Decoding
- Arabic Letter Position Forms and Syllable Building Drills
- Decodable Text Selection Matched to Taught Letter-Sound Correspondences
Day 3: Fluency, Comprehension and Early Number Sense Routines
- Repeated Reading and Partner Reading Fluency Routine Design
- Retell, Question Generation and Vocabulary Talk Comprehension Routines
- Dot Card and Ten-Frame Subitising Warm-Up Activities
- Counting Principles, Magnitude Comparison and Number Line Tasks
- Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract Lessons for Place Value and Addition
Day 4: Diagnostic Probes, Intervention Groups and Common Teaching Errors
- One-Minute Letter-Sound and Nonword Decoding Probe Administration
- Words Correct per Minute Scoring and Accuracy Error Analysis
- Early Maths Probes for Number Identification and Missing Numbers
- Tiered Small-Group Intervention Timetable and Group Rotation Plan
- Progress-Monitoring Charts, Aim Lines and Group Exit Decisions
Day 5: Case Study Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Improvement Plan
- Case School Reading and Maths Probe Data Review
- Case Phonics Sequence and Decodable Text Set Selection
- Case Number Sense Lesson Cycle With Manipulative Kit List
- Case Intervention Group Roster, Timetable and Coaching Schedule
- Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Improvement Plan Completion
Skills You Will Gain:
- Systematic Phonics Teaching
- Arabic Letter-Sound Decoding
- Oral Reading Fluency Coaching
- Reading Comprehension Routines
- Number Sense Development
- Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract Sequencing
- Curriculum-Based Probe Scoring
- Intervention Group Planning
Why Attend This Course:
- Hand the school principal and the early-years coordinator a Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Improvement Plan for a case primary school, ready to adapt to their own classes
- Decide from probe scores which children stay in whole-class teaching, join a small intervention group or need individual follow-up
- Avoid children reaching Grade 3 unable to decode fluently or reason about quantity, and the costly late catch-up classes that follow
- Coach fellow kindergarten and early-grade teachers with the phonics sequence, fluency routines, subitising activities and probe scoring sheets
Conclusion:
Back at school, the participant presents the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Improvement Plan to the principal, the early-years coordinator and the Arabic and maths leads. They use it to agree the phonics teaching order, the decodable text and manipulative sets to buy, the screening windows and the timetable for intervention groups. After the first screening cycle under the plan, the school should review how many children moved out of intervention groups, words correct per minute and maths probe gains by class, and whether coaching visits took place as scheduled.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What should participants know before the early-grade literacy and numeracy course?
Participants should already teach, coach or supervise reading or maths with children aged roughly four to nine. No assessment software is needed; bringing anonymised class reading or maths results and a current weekly timetable helps them apply the case work to their own school.
How does early-grade literacy and numeracy teaching differ from a general teaching strategies course?
It concentrates on how young children learn to decode, read fluently and build number sense, with phonics sequences, probes and intervention groups. General teaching strategies courses cover lesson design and classroom management for all ages, and special education courses cover individual plans for learners with diagnosed needs.
Why does early-grade literacy and numeracy teaching start with phonics and number sense?
Phonics gives children a reliable way to turn letters into sounds and words, and number sense gives them a feel for quantity before written calculation. Without both, later reading comprehension and arithmetic rest on guessing and memorised procedures.
What do participants take back from the early-grade literacy and numeracy course?
Participants take back a Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Improvement Plan for a case primary school, with a phonics sequence, decodable text list, number sense lesson cycle, probe scoring sheets and an intervention group timetable they can adapt to their own classes.