Smart Work 2027: Literacy from the first grade to the top shelf
The Smart Work page presents everyday innovations and success stories developed by the employees of the City of Hämeenlinna.
Concern regarding declining literacy levels was shared across the work community. In a large school, we sought unified goals for reading. The National Core Curriculum (OPS) provides general objectives, and we wanted to clarify the goals and concrete actions for each grade level. We aimed to present literacy goals clearly and understandably for guardians and pupils. For teachers, we wanted to create a tool that makes it easy for everyone to commit to the school’s shared literacy path.
We studied the curriculum and literacy development models from various cities. Based on discussions within the literacy team and comments from the school’s teaching teams, we identified the most important literacy development goals for each grade level. Based on these, we created Seminaari Comprehensive School’s own reader development path. We phrased the goals as clearly as possible. These goals resulted in the “Literacy from the first grade to the top shelf” poster and instructional guides for teachers.
The “Literacy from the first grade to the top shelf” poster is displayed in classrooms for pupils and has been presented to guardians during parents’ evenings. For teachers, there is a specific guide for each grade level containing concrete instructions and tips for promoting and maintaining literacy in the classroom. Grade-level teams have decided how many books a pupil reads during the school year. Teachers are committed to following the plan and have responded positively to this tool.
We are collecting feedback from teachers regarding the functionality of the tool. Our literacy team continues to share concrete tips, implement the literacy path, and maintain the dialogue on literacy. We are building the school’s operational culture in line with the literacy path so that, in the future, literacy will be a natural part of the school’s daily activities. Teachers will have access to an ever-growing toolkit for reading.
Developers
Seminaari Comprehensive School:
Reetta Heinonen, Class Teacher
Mira Lakkonen, S2 Teacher
Tanja Määttä, Class Teacher
Sanna Oksa, Resource Teacher
Anna-Maria Falgren-Piekkari, Swedish-language Class and Swedish Teacher
Virpi Myllyniemi, Class Teacher
Outi Pohjanvirta, Class Teacher
Katri Vihtilä, Class Teacher