What is the Literacy Hour?

Literacy Hour in England
and Year Group Objectives.

The daily Literacy Hour is divided up into four sections:

The lesson starts with the whole class working on a shared text where the teacher is able to model effective reading or writing and where all pupils can actively participate.
Then comes a short period of word level or sentence level work. The focus of this part of the lesson is to teach and consolidate phonic knowledge which the children can then apply in their reading and writing or on spelling or sentence construction.
Twenty minutes of the lesson is for independent work where pupils apply their literacy skills in meaningful tasks individually, in pairs or in groups. The teacher works with small groups to improve specific skills through guided reading or writing.
The final 10 minutes of the lesson is the plenary session which allows teachers and children to reflect on and assess what has been learnt and to think about how to develop what they have learnt further.

The main objectives for each Year group are:

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

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