Reading for more than pleasure
Reading aloud to our students and building listening skills. Giving students practice in the use of skills that they can then bring to their own reading as it develops.
Annette Gray is a literacy consultant and adviser. She has many years’ successful teaching experience in classrooms K-10 across Australia and in international settings.
Classroom displays – context, purpose and audience
I have visited several schools over the past few months, and love the way the pieces on display add colour and dynamism to an environment that can be pretty sterile. Primary Learning 2019 It is obvious that teachers are proud of their students’ work – expertise in the arts, in writing, in mathematical thinking, and…
How language – and other elements of communication – change according to purpose
One of the most important aspects of literacy is the way language changes according to purpose.
Teacher learning
I have spent some time this term with Primary Masters of Teaching students who are undertaking their professional experience placements for Semester 1. This has provided the excuse to explore some of the issues of student teacher professional experience, and how the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2018) can inform this experience. Mentor Preparation…
Writing: measuring success for parents and teachers
One aspect of writing comes up repeatedly in my conversations with teachers – and that is how parents perceive how, and what, we mark to measure success. Most parents are very interested in the writing capabilities of their children. Effective writing is a marker of capability with language, and is the means by which students…
That Test
So much has been written about that test, and the messages are confusing. Indigenous students’ literacy and numeracy skills have improved at twice the rate of their peers’ over the past decade, new NAPLAN data shows. Sydney Morning Herald 08/04/2019 … since 2008 there have been statistically significant gains and year levels, particularly at the…
Pedagogical Tetris
Considering ‘Tetris’. Mark Scott, Secretary of the NSW Department of Education (DoE), was recently part of a collaboration between The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) in a get-together titled ‘Schools Summit – Future frameworks for challenging times’…
It’s time to think about why we write
The joy of writing; writing is more than just work for achieving an outcome.
Representation and Response
‘Swapped at Birth’: an art exhibition which was part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Teaching and learning: from the script to pedagogy
Our work in literacy does not have to have our students tied to a desk, involved in tedious or mind-numbingly repetition and practice.