The Teacher's Tool Kit For Literacy

As one of the all-time greats of Australian rock music, Paul Kelly AO needs no introduction, but here’s a very brief summary.  The singer-songwriter and guitarist has released 18 studio albums since 1979, has won countless awards including nine ARIAs and was inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame in 1997.   He has performed solo and led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the...

When it comes to teaching spelling, teachers often wrestle with a few key questions: "What is most important to teach about spelling?" "How can I teach so that there is  transfer of spelling knowledge into a student's own writing?"  "How do I find out what students need to know?" And this isn't just limited to your class. Teaching spelling requires a strategy across the whole school - developing a...

Many teachers will often see students pick up spelling and word knowledge, but struggle to transfer it to their writing. To talk about teaching spelling within the context of writing, we're joined by Diane Snowball, a highly experienced educator who led significant change in education throughout whole school districts in the US as well as Australia.   Some key considerations discussed in the episo...

As teachers, it is important to help our learners transform their thinking through talk. A thought can stay a thought only until it is transformed through talk. Until I can say it out loud, I can’t really clarify my thinking.  Talk as reflection, transformative talk, is often classified as one of the most under-utilised comprehension strategies.  So how do we get thoughtful, purposeful written and...

When it comes to the art of persuasion in writing we tend to focus on structure, but the power is in the purpose.   As a teacher, it's about shifting focus from ‘I must teach persuasive writing’ to open the doors on how I can be effective at persuading others through writing, discussions and presentations. We want to motivate students to write because they care, to find a strong voice, to write wi...

For many teachers, getting students ready for standardised testing can be a worry. In Australia we have NAPLAN.  As teachers we want to  know what preparation makes a difference, and what we don’t have to worry about. We want to change the construct from something being done to us, to an opportunity to 'showcase'. In our Timeless T’s we talk about Transformative Tracking . We value and use everyda...

This podcast episode has been designed around the research about motivation to read, and how Giselle has intentionally orchestrated her classroom, her tasks and her teaching.  Giselle first joined us back in episode six. She's a highly experienced year 6/7 teacher in Adelaide.  Definition of Reading:  Reading is a multifaceted process involving word recognition, comprehension, fluency and motivati...

Teaching the craft of writing to students is no easy task. Kids may need to improve their beginnings, endings, sentences and more ... but where do teachers start? According to Sharon, it is all about 'Reading Like A Writer'.  Sharon explains what exactly that means, how it works, how to to teach it and much more. Resources mentioned in this episode Writing Workshop Series - Writer’s Craft - Beginn...

Mike Dumbletonis a writer and Literacy Consultant.  He has worked in South Australian high schools, New York City schools and as a Literacy Curriculum Officer for the South Australian Education Department. In addition to children’s books, he has written a range of educational texts. Part of his interest in writing stems from the fact that his grandfather was a local poet in an Oxfordshire village...

As a teacher it can be tough to inspire and motivate young people to write.  How can we get our writers to be engaged,  experimenting with their reading, seeing themselves as writers, creating rich range of texts for a rich range of purposes, and build a writing community? This is where the Writing Workshop comes in. What is the Writing Workshop? The workshop model is generally described as having...

The legendary Mem Fox has inspired generations of writers, readers, creators and teachers all over the world.  In 1983 Mem became Australia’s best-selling writer. Possum Magic, her first book, is still available in hardback after 37 years and has become a beacon of children’s literature for millions of Australian families. She has written over 40 children’s books and several non-fiction books for...

"As a teacher, you don't want your students to resist reading. You want them to burn to read, be engaged and be impacted on a number of levels through the books they read and the way you teach.  The Reading Workshop provides an excellent lesson structure for this to happen. Speaking from personal experience, it starts by taking responsibility. And through learning more about the teaching of readin...

Frank Smith, one of the literacy greats, said: "We learn from the company we keep."  He said our role as teachers is to  "ensure children have access to reading materials that are relevant to the kind of writers they are interested in becoming at that particular moment - recruit the authors who will become the unwitting collaborators." Many teachers are looking for more ideas on how to make litera...

How can teachers help their students write meaningfully about their reading, instead of writing answers to predetermined questions, which typically produce low levels of thinking and engagement?  This is where the Reader's Notebook comes in.  What is the Reader's Notebook? It is a book where students write, draw, detail, describe, explore, organise, ponder, problem solve, record and share their th...

Losing momentum is a common trap for many teachers, especially in literacy and numeracy.  So how can we maximise every second of learning time? Rob Vingerhoets joins the show to share his insights on the issue.  Rob is an experienced and highly effective educator and subject matter expert who has worked with teachers and students throughout Victoria, other Australian states, New York and China. Pr...

As teachers there are always so  many things we are being asked to do, cover, implement and introduce to our students.  For Sharon Callen, a breakthrough came through one of the most practical literacy leaders on the planet, Richard Allington, and his work with Rachel Gabriel. It was Every Child, Every Day .  What is Every Child, Every Day? It is six simple elements of effective reading instructio...

Maddie is teaching Reception in South Australia. She shares her story, including starting out in teaching, a year of rapid growth and how she has learned to quickly apply her learning. In this discussion, Maddie also talks about: How literacy learning has impacted her development The importance of professional development How she connects with every child, every day and the 7 Timeless T’s Her prac...

Sometimes teachers feel like they struggle to get bang for buck from bigger and longer lessons.  But when it comes to literacy, Mini Lessons can be used strategically and effectively. So, what is an effective Mini Lesson? Mini Lessons are the time when we bring the whole class together, and then we reveal what we have noticed about our students as readers and writers. And when we fully understand...

Most teachers know the importance of reading aloud but the research also backs this up. Reading aloud has been found to be the most significant factor in the development of literacy levels of young children (Kalb & Van Ours, 2014) As a reading intervention strategy it has many benefits: Motivating children to read, improving basic comprehension and development (Bus, Van Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1...

It’s the nature of the profession that we’re always learning. And particularly as literacy consultant and expert, Sharon Callen spends time looking at old practices vs new ways to think about teaching and ask that challenging question, of others and herself, "why are you doing it that way?" What do we mean by 'levers of change'?  In short, it is new, simple ways to think about teaching and learnin...

Wayne has been making wine since 1979. He is the founder of Dutschke Wines, a family-owned boutique producer of classic Barossa red wines and fortifieds. He is also the author of children’s book, My Dad Has Purple Hands . Wayne talks about: Insights and lessons learned as both a winemaker and an author What led him to write a book The tools and techniques he used to produce the story The impact re...

What do we mean by ‘Read Alouds’? These are texts are beyond the independent reading ability of children, and are read by a fluent adult reader - it’s best if it is the teacher at school or a parent at home.  Listening to stories online are another way to hear fluent renderings of texts.  Every day, the teacher reads aloud materials that are at the students' listening level, but usually above thei...

Giselle is a year 6/7 teacher in Adelaide. She shares her insights, tools and lessons learned from her development of approaches to teaching vocabulary. Teachers are looking for more ideas on teaching  vocabulary because it isn’t easy to teach, and it can be difficult to integrate with reading and writing and other areas of the curriculum. Everyone agrees that an extensive vocabulary helps us shar...

Literacy expert Sharon Callen believes classroom libraries are incredibly important for literacy development in children. Why? Classroom libraries represent for many children the experiences that they will have with books - literature and informational - across a year of their school life. We should want to make it rich, be a collection that is enticing and accessible, and an entry point for every...

In his 30+ years in the industry, Greg Holfeld has supplied storyboards and animation for television series such as 2 Stupid Dogs, Ren and Stimpy , Pearlie , Figaro Pho, Monster Beach and Kitty Is Not a Cat, directed award-winning commercials, created short films that have screened and pulled awards in numerous international festivals, and made hundreds of pages of comics for everyone including ki...