Back to school
Back at school, we need ways to ensure that the classroom’s richness as a learning environment is maximised.
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.
Literacy, assessment and where to from here?
I have been clearing out many of my old and well used resources. The Graded Reading Vocabulary Test, was the ‘go to’ guide for many years. It was designed to ‘calculate a reading age’, and consisted of a list of words to be read to the teacher. The test began with: tree little milk egg…
Addressing spelling
I have had a query from a concerned teacher, a member of the school’s Literacy Committee, about ways to ‘effectively boost spelling outcomes across the school’.
Vocabulary – more than just words
My latest online course, Exploring literacy – vocabulary, guides us through an understanding of ways to take our students’ vocabulary from that of the everyday – part of the ‘literate identity’ that starts in the home and the child brings to school – through to the academic literacy acquired through learning, and required for school…
May the fourth be with you!
It’s Star Wars Day. May the fourth be with you! This contemporary acknowledgement of the classic movie series provides an introduction to the power of those sayings that we often quote, and frequently use to guide – or justify – our behaviour. It’s time to share some of these words of wisdom with our students.…
Exploring Literacy – Talking about learning
As part of Primary Learning’s online professional resources, we are launching the ‘Exploring Literacy’ series of courses for teachers. Each course consists of a reading or research, questions to consider, and ideas for implementation in the learning process; possibilities for our students’ learning are introduced. Each course is available as a ‘stand-alone’, or as part…
Story-telling
Telling stories has always been an essential feature of human life. Ancient stories have enthralled and informed our lives, and stories continue to remind us of who we are, where we have come from, and how to make meaning out of life.
Working at home
In this new world we are inhabiting for a while, everyone is working at home with the family. It can seem daunting to have to do your own work, and at the same time manage your children’s learning. It’s a big ask for everyone.
National Events
In the next few weeks we have some major, national and religious events that we can acknowledge in our schools. They provide the opportunity to examine the Australian Curriculum’s general capability of Intercultural Understanding and examining some of the stated and unstated values in our everyday context.
Which book will I read to my class?
We have an amazing choice of reading material as we fulfill the obligation to read widely to our students. How can we broaden our knowledge of how and what to choose?