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Language Experience
Language experience helps children record their own experiences in their own words providing meaningful text that can be revisited over time if displayed attractively in the classroom.

It is most successful when based on common school experiences e.g. an excursion; a visitor to the classroom, retelling/innovating a familiar text; a play; around a theme; an event that has happened at school or a child’s individual experience.

The teacher is able to extend the child’s use of language and the work can be used to make a wall story or display in the classroom.

Shared Book Experience
For readers at the emergent and early stages a shared book may be successfully used over a week for reading, re-reading and introducing particular appropriate teaching points.   A concluding activity at the end of the week (which will have been started during the week by specific reading groups during their task board time) may be the dramatization of the story, an innovation of the story or just a reproduction of the story for a display that can be revisited by the children for many re-readings.

For older fluent readers, a shared book may be used for a day or over several days for language or associated with a particular topic.  Children’s responses may include character descriptions, retelling or innovations of the text to be displayed in the classroom.

Guided Reading

During guided reading the teacher works with a small group of children guiding them to reading the new text successfully.  The group will be ability-based i.e. the children will all be working at the same level.  Occasionally a follow-up activity will result from this guided reading session and be used as further independent reading for the children.

Class Murals

Class murals and colourful wall displays to reinforce and display children’s work in all curriculum areas and topic-based activities in language, social studies, science, health etc. will be re-visited often if attractively displayed.

Management in the Classroom

For effective use, a permanent art area may need to be set up in the classroom.  This could be a table covered with plastic sheeting and within easy access of art supplies.

Children will need to be trained in the mixing (although this task could be left to the teacher) of the dye and the maintenance of the equipment to be used with it.

Art smocks should be worn by the children at all times when working with the dyes.  These could be hanging or stored near the art area for the children to access for themselves.

A supply of newspaper will be required to place underneath artwork to be dyed and also to blot wet dyed pictures.

A range of other useful equipment will include, varying sizes of paintbrushes, cotton buds, small palette trays, spray bottles, shakers for dry dye etc.