Power Hour is a literacy based hour which is currently being used to teach literacy in 1st and 2nd classes. It gives the pupils lots of opportunities to read books at their own level of competency. This is done through station teaching. We have 5 stations - 2 reading stations, 1 handwriting station, 1 writing station and 1 station which deals with word work i.e. spellings, phonics, grammar etc. Power Hour takes place twice weekly in all 1st and 2nd classes. Special Education Teachers (SEN), class teachers and 2/3 parent volunteers run the Power Hour. Follow-up reading is done by the SEN and class teachers on the other days.
There are many positive benefits to this type of approach to literacy. The children are given more opportunities to express themselves orally. Quieter children find their voices in a small group setting and children learning English gain confidence. The teachers have a chance to assess individual needs and to get to know the children better. Small group supervision of writing and phonics/spellings encourages the children to focus and to take more care with their written work.
Thanks to Ms. Fiona O'Doherty for all of her work in pioneering the Power Hour Programme in our school.
See Power Hour in action below:
