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TeachingreadingandwritingwithAboriginalchildren

DavidRose

InHarrison,N.2015.TeachingandLearninginAboriginalEducation,¢ƘƛNJd Edition.Sydney:OxfordUniversityPress

Thischapteroutlinesasetofstrategiesforteachingreadingandwritinginschool,thathavebeenproventorapidlyacceleratethelearningofAboriginalandnon-Aboriginalstudents,atallyearlevels.Thestrategieshavebeendevelopedwithteachers,intheprofessionallearningprogramReadingtoLearn(Rose,2015;Rose&Martin,2012).Theyincludetechniquesforteachingbeginningreadingandwritingintheearlyyears,andforintegratingreadingandwritingwithcurriculumstudyinprimaryandsecondaryschool.

Thestrategiesarecarefullydesignedtoclosethegapbetweenthemostandleastsuccessfulstudentsinanyclass,atthesametimeastheyacceleratethelearningofallstudents.Theyaredesignedtobeintegratedwithteachingtheschoolcurriculum,atallyearlevels,aspartofnormalclassroompractice,andtheymayalsobeusedforadditionalsupportwithindividualsandgroups.

Thechaptercoversthefollowing:

• TheimportanceofliteracyforAboriginalstudents

• WhyweneedtochangeteachingpracticestomeetAboriginalchildren’sneeds

• Theimportanceofteachingallstudentsatthesamelevel

• Readingandwritingintheearlyyears

• Teachingreadingandwritingacrossthecurriculum

TheimportanceofliteracyforAboriginalstudents

Keymarginpoint1:ToomanyAboriginalstudentsleaveschoolearlyorfinishwithlowoutcomes,particularlyinruralandremotecommunities.

LiteracyisperhapsthegreatestsinglechallengeforteachersofAboriginalchildren.Inallyearsofschool,averageliteracylevelsforAboriginalstudentsarefarlowerthantheaveragelevelsforAustralianstudentsasawhole.Inremotecommunityschools,literacylevelshavebeenconsistentlythreetoeightyearsbehindnationalaverages,accordingtonational,stateandterritoryassessments.ThesestatisticshaveseriousconsequencesfortheeducationofAboriginalchildren,fortheirfutureopportunities,andthefutureoftheircommunities.

Intheprimaryschool,itispossibleforteacherstomanagestudentswithweakliteracy,aslongasclassroomactivitiesarenottoodifficultforthem.ButitisnotpossibleforanystudenttohandlethesecondaryschoolcurriculumwithweakEnglishliteracyskills,unlessitismodifiedtoalowlevel.Asaresult,toomanyAboriginalstudentsleaveschoolearlyorfinishwithlowoutcomes,particularlyinruralandremotecommunities.

Aboriginalparentsandcommunitiesareveryconcernedabouttheseliteracyproblems,andtheirconcernsarereflectedintheAboriginaleducationpoliciesatalllevelsofgovernment.

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Box4.1:TheimportanceofEnglishliteracy

ChrisJapangardiPoulson,anIndigenousteacherinthecentralAustraliancommunityofYuendumuexplainswhyEnglishliteracyisessential.

Englishisimportant,itisthelanguageoftheworldoutsidethecommunity.WeneedAboriginalteachers,managers,storekeepers,lawyersanddoctors-ineveryareaoflifeweneedtohaveAboriginalpeopleintheredoingthejobsforthemselvesandforanyofthesejobstheyneedEnglish.SchoolwhichdoesnotgiveprioritytoteachingEnglishisfailingtotrainleadersforthefuture.AtthemomentnotenoughEnglishistaughtinschoolandbecauseofthistherearemanyAboriginalpeoplewhocannotgetworkofanykind(JapangardiPoulson,1988).

WhydoordinaryteachingpracticesfailformanyAboriginalstudents?

SeveralreasonsarecommonlyputforwardforthelowliteracyandoutcomesofAboriginalstudents.ThemostfrequentlycitedarethatAboriginalchildrenspeakadifferentlanguageordifferentdialectofEnglish(‘AboriginalEnglish’)athome,andthatmanydonotattendschoolregularly.

ThesearebothvalidreasonsfordifferencesbetweensomeAboriginalandnon-Aboriginalstudents,buttheydonotexplainthelargegulfinliteracyandlearningoutcomes.OnethirdofAustralianscomefromnon-Englishspeakingbackgrounds,butaverageliteracylevelsforthesestudentsarenotfarbehindnationalaverages.ItistruethatattendancelevelsforsomeAboriginalstudentsarelowerthanforotherstudents,butthisdoesnotexplainthelowliteracyofstudentswhodoattendregularly.

ThetroubleisthattheseexplanationslocatethesourceofAboriginalstudents’difficultiesoutsidetheschool,andsodivertattentionfromthepracticesoftheschoolthatmightcontributetotheproblem,andtopossiblesolutions.IfweareseriousaboutaddressingtheneedsofAboriginalstudents,thenwemustlookatourownpracticesintheclassroom,andhowwecanchangeourpracticestomeetourAboriginalstudents’needs(Rose,1999,2011).

SowhyisitthatordinaryteachingpracticesfailformanyAboriginalstudents,whentheyappeartoworkforotherstudents?Regardlessofallotherdifferencesinlanguageandculturethatchildrenbringtoschool,themostsignificantforschoollearningistheirexperienceofreadingwithparentsinthehome.

Childrenfromliteratemiddleclassfamiliesspendaround1000hoursinparent-childreadingbeforetheystartschool,givingthemtremendouspreparationforlearninginschool(Adams,1990).Thesechildrengetimmediatebenefitfromthestandardjuniorprimaryliteracypracticessuchasalphabet,sound-letter(phonics)andsightworddrills,aswellassharedbookreading,groupandindividualreadingpractice,andstorywriting.Theysoonbecomeindependentreadersandsuccessfulwriters,andstartreadingforpleasureaswellaslearning.Thetraditionofparent-childreadingisveryrecentinwesternsocieties.Ithasevolvedalongsidetheliteracypracticesoftheprimaryschool,sothatthetwoworktogethertoprovidemiddleclasschildrenwithafoundationforsuccess.

ManyAboriginalchildren,ontheotherhand,comefromfamilieswhosetraditionsarehandeddownorally,andwheretheremayberelativelylittleparent-childreadinginthe

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home.Whentheystartschool,thesechildrenmaynotbeaswellpreparedfortheliteracypracticesoftheearlyyears,andthereforedonotgetthesamebenefits.Thereisagapbetweenwhatstandardteachingpracticescando,andtheneedsofmanyAboriginalstudents,sothattheydonotbecomeindependentreadersasquicklyasotherstudents.Forexample,literacyassessmentshaveshownthatAboriginalchildreninYear3inNSWarealready19monthsbehindstateaverages(NewSouthWalesDepartmentofEducationandTrainingandNewSouthWalesAboriginalEducationConsultativeGroupIncorporated,2004c,p.22).

IfastudentisnotreadingindependentlywithunderstandingandengagementbytheendofYear2-3,theywillnotbereadyforthedemandsoftheupperprimaryyears,whicharefocusedonlearningfromreading,andwritingacrosssubjectareas.Inanurbanorruralclassroomthesestudentsmaybeleftfarbehindinclasslearningactivities.Inremotecommunityschools,whereamajorityofstudentsarewellbehind,classesoftenbecomereducedtolowlevelactivitiessuchasbusyworksheets(Folds,1987).

WhyweneedtochangeteachingpracticestomeetAboriginalchildren’sneeds

Keymarginpoint2:ReadingtoLearnstrategiesarecarefullydesignedtoclosethegapbetweenthemostandleastsuccessfulstudentsinanyclass,atthesametimeastheyacceleratethelearningofallstudents.

TheliteracyoutcomesforAboriginalchildrenmostemphaticallydoesnotmeanthattheyhaveaso-called‘deficit’intheirlanguageskills.Whatitdoesmeanisthattheycometoschoolwithdifferencesintheculturalpracticesoftheirfamilies.Themostsignificantdifferencewithchildrenfromliteratemiddleclassfamiliesisinthereadingpracticesinthehome.Toaddressthisdifference,weneedteachingstrategiesthatgiveallstudentsthereadingandwritingskillstheyneedtosucceed.

ItisimportanttonotethatthisdoesnotonlyapplytoAboriginalstudents,buttoalargenumberofstudentswhoarenotsuccessfulinourschoolsystem,asliteracyassessmentsconsistentlyshow,andeveryteacherknows.AsmostAboriginalstudentsareinclasseswithamajorityofnon-Aboriginalstudents,addressingtheneedsofAboriginalstudentsmeansthatwemustaddresstheneedsofallotherstudentsatthesametime.

Forthesereasons,theliteracyteachingstrategiesdescribedinthischapteraredeliberatelyfocused,notsomuchonthedifferencesofindividualstudentsorgroupsofstudents,butonthetasksofreadingandwritingthatallstudentsneedtolearn,andhowtoteachthem.TheywerefirstdevelopedtomeettheneedsofAboriginalstudentsandtheirteachers(Rose,Gray&Cowey,1999),buttheyareequallyusefulforallstudentsandteachersinallclassrooms(Rose,2011,2015,Rose&Acevedo,2006,Rose&Martin,2013).

Allteachingpracticesprovidesomemeasureofsupportforstudentlearning.Thestrategiesdescribedhereprovidemoreintensivesupportforlearningskillsinreadingandwriting.Theyarecarefullydesignedtoprovidethissupportatthepointswhereitisneededmost.Theyarenotintendedtoreplaceeverythingthatteachersalreadydo,butthereareseveraldifferenceswithcommonteachingpractices.Inreadingthischapteritisimportanttokeepacriticaleyeoutforthesedifferences,andconsiderthepointswhereyoumightchoosetousethesestrategies.

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Theimportanceofteachingallstudentstodothesametasks

Afundamentalissuethatallteachersworkwithisthedifferencesinso-called‘abilitylevels’ofstudentsineveryclass.Amajorpartofthesedifferencescomesdowntoliteracy,inparticularabilitiesinreadingwithunderstanding,andlearningfromreading.

Therearetwocommonapproachestothisissueinschools.Oneistoteachtothecurriculum,andaimclassroomactivitiesandlearningtasksatalevelthatsuccessfuloraveragestudentscanachieve.Thisisatraditionalapproach,andispredominantinsecondaryschools,whereteachersareobligedtoteachtothecurriculumintheirsubjectareas.Theproblemwiththisapproachisthatweakerstudentsoftencannotkeepupandfallfurtherbehindthroughtheschoolyears.

Keymarginpoint3:JeanPiaget(1896-1980)thoughtthatlearningwasanindividualcognitiveprocessthathappenedinfixedsteps,irrespectiveofchildren’sbackgrounds.Piaget’sideashavebeenusedtojustifyso-called‘abilitydifferences’betweenchildren,andteachingpracticeslike‘processwriting’thatdonothelpAboriginalchildrentoimprovetheirliteracyskills.

Anotherapproachistoteachtotheassessed‘abilitylevels’ofindividualsorgroupsofstudents,givingstudentsdifferentlearningtasksaccordingtotheirabilities.Thisisacommonpracticeinprimaryschools.Itisbasedonatheorythatstudentsmustlearnonestepatatime,promotedbytheFrenchpsychologistJeanPiaget.Theproblemwiththisapproachisthatlesssuccessfulstudentsaregivenlowerlevelactivitiesthanmoresuccessfulstudents,andsoprogressmoreslowly.Itisintendedtoavoidmakingweakerstudentsfeellikefailures,butovertimetheystillfallfurtherandfurtherbehindthemoresuccessfulstudents.

NeitherapproachishelpfulinitselfforAboriginalstudents,whoareofteninthelesssuccessfulgroupinaclass.Thethirdalternativeistoprovideallstudentswithsufficientsupporttodothesamehighleveltasks.Thisapproachisbasedonthetheorythatlearningoccurswhenateachersupportsor‘scaffolds’studentstodotasksthatarewellbeyondtheirindependentabilities,thatoriginateswiththesocialpsychologistLevVygotsky.

Keymarginpoint4:Byobservingmothersteachingtheirchildren,LevVygotsky(1896-1934)recognisedthatlearningisasocialprocess.Heconsideredthatlearningtakesplaceinthezonebetweenwhatchildrencandoindependently,andwhattheycandowiththesupportofateacher,whichhefamouslycalledthezoneofproximaldevelopment.Vygotsky’sideasaregraduallyreplacingPiaget’sincurrentteachingtheory.

Thestrategiesdescribedherearebasedonthisapproach.Theyaredesignedtogiveallstudentsthesupporttheyneedtodothereadingandwritingtasksexpectedoftheirageandgradelevel.Withthesestrategiesthereisnoneedtogivelowleveltextsorlowleveltaskstoweakerstudents,becausetheteachersupportsallstudentsinaclasstoreadandwritethesametexts.Itistheunderstandingoflanguageoutlinedabove,combinedwiththetechniquesdescribedbelow,thatenablesustodothis.

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Readingandwritingstoriesintheearlyyears

TeachingAboriginalchildrentoreadandwritestoriesiscriticallyimportantfortheirdevelopmentaslearnersinschool.Itisalsoaidealentrypointfordevelopingliteracy,asallchildrenlovestories,andstorytellingisacentralpartofAboriginaloralculture.

Thestrategiesforteachingreadingandwritingintheearlyyearsofschoolincludefivesteps.Thissequenceofstepsisdesignedtopreparestudentstoindependentlyreadandwritestoriessuccessfully.

ThefirststepisthecommonearlyyearspracticeofSharedBookReading,inwhichtheteachersupportschildrentounderstandandsaythewordsinabigbookstory.Wethenuseasetofintensivestrategiesthatsupportallchildrentorecognisethewordsinsentencesfromthestory,untiltheycanreadthemindependently.Theyarethensupportedtospellthewordsfromthesesentences,bybreakingthemdownintotheirletterpatterns.Oncetheycanspellthewords,theypractisewritingthesentencesfromthestory,todevelopfluentwritingskills.Finallytheypractisewritingnewstoriesusingthesamelanguagepatternsasthereadingstory.

Usingthesestrategies,allchildrencanbetaughttostartreadingandwritingwithinonehourofpractice,buttheyshouldbeusedcontinuallytobuilduptheirindependentreadingandwritingskills.Let’snowlookateachstepinmoredetail.

SharedBookReading

Keymarginpoint5:Earlyyearsteachersareexpertatengagingchildreninstories,explaining,usingpicturesandactivities,andencouragingallchildrentosaythewords.

InSharedBookReading,earlyyearsteacherstellthechildrenwhatthestoryisaboutastheyreadthroughit,usingthepictures.Thisisalsowhatparentsdoastheyreadwithyoungchildren.Ifchildrenenjoythestory,parentswillreadandtalkaboutitoverandoveragain.EarlyyearsteachersalsoreadabookmanytimesinSharedBookReading,untilthechildrenknowitreallywellandcanrecitemanyofthesentencesinit.

Thisisalsowhatparentsdoinoralcultures,includingAboriginalAustraliancultures,tellingastoryrepeatedlyintermsthatchildrenunderstanduntiltheyknowitwell.ItisbecauseofthisculturalpreparationthatSharedBookReadingusuallyworksverywellwithAboriginalchildren,evenwhentheirfirstlanguageisnotEnglish.

Asearlyyearsteachersareexpertatengagingchildreninstories,explaining,usingpicturesandactivities,andencouragingallchildrentosaythewords,AboriginalchildrentypicallylovetheactivityandcometoknowthestorywellafteracoupleofweeksofSharedBookReading.Thetrickistothengetthemallreadingthestoryindependently.

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Figure4.1:SharedBookReading

IdeallyatleasttwoweeksshouldbespentwitheachbookonSharedBookReading

andthefollowingactivities,sothatthechildrenarereallyfamiliarwithit.Itisfinetointroduceotherbooksduringthistime,buttheintensiveworkoneachbookisthemostpowerfulstrategyforacceleratingtheirliteracy.

TomakesurethatallchildrenintheclassgetthemostbenefitfromSharedBookReading,havethemsittingonthefloorinfrontofyou,andtheeaselholdingthebigbookofthestory.Ifyoudon’thaveabigbook,makeonebycopyingthebook’spagesontoA3sizepaper,andlaminatethemifpossible.Ifyouareusinganelectronicboard,itmustbelowenoughthatyouandthechildrencanpointatthepictures.Ifitisnotlowenough,useaneaselandbigbookinstead.

Beforereadingthestorythefirsttime,tellthestoryinsimplewordsbypointingatthepictures,anddescribingwhatishappening.Getallthechildrentorepeatsignificantwordsandnamesaloud.Youcanalsoaskchildreniftheycanseewhatyouhavesaid,andtocomeupandpointatthingsinthepictures.Thepointofthisissotheythoroughlyunderstandwhatisgoingonbeforethestoryisread,andcanalreadysaysomeofitsimportantwords.Thenyoucangobackandreadthestory,pointingtothepicturesagain,sothechildrenrecognisetherelationbetweenthestoryandwhatyouhavetoldthembefore.

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Engagingandpraisingallchildren

Keymarginpoint6:Allchildrenintheclassshouldbecontinuallysuccessfulandpraisedforeachtasktheydo.Wecanachievethisbypreparingthemforeachtask,addressingchildrenbyname,andpraisingtheirsuccess.

Throughouttheseandotheractivities,itisessentialtocontinuallypraiseallchildrenintheclassforeachtasktheydo.Thisisbecauseofthecloserelationbetweenlearningandemotion.Ifchildrenarepraised,theirgoodfeelingsenhancelearning,engagementandgoodbehaviour.Incontrast,iftheyarenotpraised,ortheiranswersarewrong,ortheirbehaviourisadmonished,theircapacityforlearningandengagementisreduced,oftenresultinginpoorbehaviour.

Whenyouaskquestionsoftheclass,becarefulnottoaskquestionsthatchildrencan’tanswereasily.Theeasiestquestionstoansweraresimplygivingbackwhatyouhavejusttoldthem.Forexample,youcanaskthemtosayandpointtothingsinthepicturesthatyouhavepointedoutbefore.Youcanalsoaskwhatelsetheycanseeinthepictures,thingsyouhavesaidaboutthem,andwhattheyknowaboutthem.Asyoureadthestory,andchildrenbecomefamiliarwithit,youcankeepaskingthemtosaythingstheyknowaboutit.

Thesekindsofquestionsandanswerscontinuallyaffirmchildren,atthesametimeasreinforcinganddeepeningtheirunderstanding,andtheirabilitytosaythewordsinthestory.Eventually,theywillbeabletosayalotofstoryalongwithyouasyoure-readitaloud,particularlythepartsthataremostexcitingandmostrepeated.Forthisreason,itisgoodtousepicturesbookswithrepeatedelements,suchassongs,rhymesorrepeatedlines.

Itisalsocriticallyimportanttomakesurethateverychildisregularlyandequallypraisedforansweringquestions.Thishasmajorimplicationsforsomecommonclassroompractices.Forexample,thecommonpracticeofaskingquestionsofthewholeclassensuresthatafewchildrenaremorelikelytoanswercorrectlyandgetmostofthepraise.Furthermore,thepracticeof‘hands-up’andchoosingchildrentoanswerturnsansweringintoacompetition.Thisensuresthatthemostenthusiasticchildrenalwaysputtheirhandsup,whiletheleastconfidentchildrenareleastlikelytoputhandsupandbechosen.

Thisdoesnotmeanthatyouneverusehands-up,butthatitisusedjudiciously,whenallchildrenarelikelytoparticipateactively.Themosteffectivewaytocontinuallyengageandpraiseallchildren,andmanagetheclassatthesametime,istoaskchildrenbyname,withouthands-up.Bythismeansyoucanaddressquestionstoanychild,andpraisetheiranswers.Iftheyknowtheywillalwaysbepraised,andnobodyknowswhowillbeasked,itisastrongmotivationtopayattention.Ifachildisnotattendingwhentheyneedto,ortheyareaweakerstudent,thesearetheverystudentstoaskquestionsof.

Butofcourseyourquestionsmustbecarefullyphrasedsothateachchildcananswer(moreorless)correctlyandbepraised.Onewaytodothisistoprepareforthequestion,bygivinganeasyclue,orremindingtheclassofsomethingtheyalreadyknow.Forexample,youcanremindthemofanelementofthestory,thenaskachildtocomeoutandpointatit,oryoucanaskthemsomethingtheyalreadyknow.Ifthechilddidnothearorunderstandthequestion,youcanrepeatorrephraseit.Onethingyoushouldneverdo,iftheycan’tanswer,istoaskanotherchild,asthisonlyreinforcesthefeelingoffailure.Iftheycan’tanswerstraightaway,youmustthinkofawaytomakeiteasierforthem.Iftheydon'tgive

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youtheexactanswer,youcanstillpraisethemandrephraseitcorrectlyforeveryonetohear.

UsingSharedBookReadingtoteachreadingandwriting

Keymarginpoint7:Enjoying,understanding,andbeingabletosaythesentencesinSharedReadingbooksisthebestcontextforchildrentolearnhowtoreadandwrite.Practisingtheseskillswithrealtextsisfarmoreeffectivethanteachingskillsinisolation.

Itiswidelyassumedthatchildrenmustbeabletorecogniseeachletterinthealphabet,andthesoundstheymake,beforetheycanreadwrittenwords.Itisalsoassumedthatchildrenmustbeabletorecogniseso-called‘sightwords’beforetheycanreadasentence.Bothoftheseassumptionsaresimplyuntrue.Infact,childrencaneasilyreadwordsinthesequenceofafamiliarsentencebeforetheylearntospellthem,andthisisfarmoreeffectivestartingpointforlearningreadingandwriting.

Instead,theusualmemorydrillsinthealphabet,phonicsandsightwordsimposeenormouslearningtasksonveryyoungchildrenbeforetheyareallowedtomakemeaningfromtexts.Firstly,childrenareexpectedtomemorisethelettersofthealphabet,theirnames,andthe‘sounds’eachletterissupposedtomakeonitsown.Asindividuallettersaremeaninglesssymbols,thisisalargeanddifficultmemorytask.Moreover,theso-called‘sounds’oflettersareusuallynotthesoundstheymakeinactualwords.Infact,theyarereallyjustasecondsetofletternamesthatchildrenmustmemorise.Theseletter‘sounds’canbehighlymisleading,especiallywhenchildrenaretoldto‘soundout’words,andtheytrysoundingthemletter-by-letter.Thissimplyimposesanextraloadonmanychildren,impedingmanychildrenfromreadingformeaning.

Secondly,thelettersoftheRomanalphabetdonotmatchallthesoundsoftheEnglishlanguage,sotheEnglishspellingsystemincludesmanycombinationsofletterstocovertheothersounds.So,inadditiontomemorisingindividualletters,childrenareexpectedtomemoriselettercombinationsin‘phonics’programs.Again,astheselettercombinationsaremeaninglessoutofcontext,thisisanotherlargeanddifficultmemorytask.Moreover,thesoundsthatlettercombinationsmakedependonthewordstheyareinandtheirpositionintheword.Forexample,canyouthinkofhowmanydifferentsounds‘ou’makesindifferentwords?

Thirdly,childrenareexpectedtomemorisedozensofso-called‘sightwords’,thatarethemostcommonwrittenwords.Thesearecommonbecausetheyare‘function’or‘structure’words,thatorganisethegrammaticalstructuresofsentences,wordslike‘the’,‘were’,‘there’andsoon.Justlikelettersandlettercombinations,thesewordsaremeaninglesswhentakenoutofasentence.Theyareonlymeaningfulincombinationwith‘content’wordsthatexpressthemeaningofthesentence.Somemorisingsightwordsisyetanothermeaninglessmemorytaskthatchildrenmuststrugglewith.

Infact,themosteffectivewaytoteachallchildrentoreadandwriteistopractiserecognising,sayingandspellingthewordsthattheyalreadyknowandunderstandinsentencesfromSharedBookReading,andthentopractisewritingthesentences.Thereasonthisismosteffectiveisthatnearlyallofreadingisaboutrecognisingmeaning,and‘decoding’lettersinwordsisonlyasmallpartofreading.

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Thisshouldbeobviousfromseeinghowchildrenlearntheirmothertongues.Nomotherwouldconsiderteachingherchildtomemorisethesoundsofthelanguage,andthecommonstructurewords,beforetheylearnthowtomean.Ratherweexchangemeaningswithchildrenfromtheverybeginning,longbeforetheystarttotalkforthemselves,thenwecontinuallyguidethemtoconstructmeaningstogether,constantlypraisingandrarelycorrectingthem.Childrenlearnallthecomponentsoflanguageintheprocessofcommunicatingwiththepeoplearoundthem.

Forthesamereason,learningtoreadandwriteshouldstartwiththepleasurablesharedactivityofreadingstoriestogether.Thisishowreadingstartsforchildreninliteratefamilieswiththeirparents,andthisiswhySharedBookReadingissuchanimportantactivityforallyoungchildreninschool,particularlychildrenfromoralculturalbackgrounds.Enjoying,understanding,andbeingabletosaythesentencesinthesharedreadingbookisthebestcontextforchildrentolearnhowtoreadandwrite.

Oncechildrencanunderstandandsaythewordsinasentence,astheteacherreadsitaloud,theycaneasilybeshownhowtorecognisethesamewordsinthewrittensentence.Theycandothisbecausetheyknowthesequenceofspokenwordsinthesentence.Iftheyareshownhowtorecogniseeachwrittenwordinthesentence,byrepeatedlypointingandsayingthem,theywillsoonbeabletoaccuratelypointandsaythewordsthemselves.Inotherwords,theyhave‘one-for-onewordrecognition’betweenthespokenandwrittenwords.Thisispossible,firstlybecausetheyknowthesequenceofmeanings,andsecondlybecauseeachwordinthesequencelooksdifferent,withdifferentlengths,andstartingandendingwithdifferentletters.Itiseasierifthesentenceiswritteninbiglettersonastripofcardboard.

Oncechildrencanaccuratelypointandsayallthewordsinthesentence,itcanbecutupintoitsindividualwords,andchildrencanplaywithmixingthemupandputtingthemtogetheruntiltheyarethoroughlyfamiliarwitheachword.Whentheycanrecogniseeachwordonitsown,wordscanbecutupintotheirletterpatterns,andchildrencanpractisespellingthem.Oncetheycanspellallthewords,theycanpractisewritingthewholesentence.

Theseactivitiescanberepeatedwithasmanysentencesinasharedreadingbookasyouwish.Theycanthenberepeatedwithsentencesfromthenextreadingbook,andsoon.Inthisway,allchildrenveryquicklylearntoreadandwrite.Thereisnoneedtoteachthealphabet,lettercombinations,orsightwordsseparatelyfromlearningtoreadandwritethestories,becauseeveryletter,everyletterpattern,andeverystructurewordwillsoonbepractisedinthecontextofmeaningfulsentences.Bythesemeans,aschildrenbuilduptheirknowledgeofwrittenlanguagetheywillsoonbeabletoreadforthemselves,andwritestoriesoftheirown.Everychildwillbeabletoindependentlyreadandwritewithinthefirstyearofschool.Incontrast,withstandardliteracypractices,manyAboriginalchildrenarestillnotabletoreadandwriteindependentlyafterthreeyearsofschool(Rose,Gray&Cowey1999).

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Recognisingwordsandmakingsentences:foursteps

Keymarginpoint8:RecognisingwordsinSharedReadingbooksistheessentialfirststeptochildrenindependentlyreadingandwriting.FormanyAboriginalchildrenitisthemissinglinkbetweenSharedBookReadingandletter-soundknowledge.

Weusethefollowingfourtechniquestorapidlyteachchildrentorecogniseeachwordinfamiliarsentences.Thechildrendonotneedtospellthewordsyet,buttheycanrecognisethewordsbecausetheycansaythem,theyknowwhattheymean,andtheycanseedifferencesbetweenthem,suchasfirstandlastletters.Thisisdoneusingcardboardstripssothechildrencanpointandcutupthewordseasily.

Eachoftheseactivitiesshouldstartwiththewholeclass,onthefloorinfrontoftheeasel,withtheteacherseatedalongsidetheeasel,soyoucanhelpchildrentopointandcutupthewords.Positionthecardboardsentencestripontheeasel,andinviteallthechildreninturntocomeoutinturn,topointandsaythewordsasthewholeclassreadsalong,andthentocutupandmanipulatethewords.

Onceeachchildhashadaturnwiththewholeclass,theactivitiescanberepeatedingroupsofchildren,directedbytheteacher,eitheronthefloororatdesks.Thismeansthechildrenmustlearntocooperateingroups,takingturnstopoint,read,cutupandmanipulatethewords.Thebenefitsarethattheactivitiesarefunandmucheasierifthewholegroupishelping.Italsomakesiteasierfortheteachertodirect,watch,andhelpeachgroup.

Step1:Recognisingeachwordinthesentence

Theteachershowsthechildrenhowtorecogniseeachwordastheyreadit,bypointingtothewordsandsayingthemastheyread.

Readthesentencetwoorthreetimes,pointslowlyandsaythewordsclearly,sothechildrencanfollowyou.Youcanholdtheirhandandpointtoeachwordasyouandthechildsaythemtogether.Dothistwoorthreetimesuntilthechildispointingtothewordsandsayingthematthesametime.Thenthechildcanpointtoeachwordthemselvesastheysaythewords.

Theycandothisbecausetheyknowthemeaningsofthewordsandtheirsequenceinthesentence.Astheypointandsay,theyarelearningtodistinguisheachwrittenword,andtheyarestartingtorecognisedifferencesbetweeneachwordinthesentence,suchastheirfirstandlastletters.

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Figure4.2:Guidingwordrecognition

Step2:Cuttingupwordgroups

Keymarginpoint9:Animportantpartofreadingandwritingisrecognisingthechunksofmeaningineachsentence,expressedbygroupsofwords–whoorwhatit’sabout,whattheyaredoing,where,when,how.

Onceallchildrencansayandpointtoeachwordinthesentenceaccurately,theyarereadytostartpointingateachgroupofwordsinthesentenceandcuttingthemoff.Forexample,thefollowingsentenceconsistsoffourgroupsofwords–whoit’sabout,whathewas,whatkindofmanhewas,andtheconnectingword‘was’:

MrCreepthecrookwasabadman.

Askthechildrentosaythefirstgroupofwordsinthesentenceandpointtothem.

Youcanuse‘wh’wordstohelpwiththemeaning–suchaswhoorwhatit’sabout,whattheyaredoing,where,whenandhow.Justrememberthatthesearenotquestionstotestchildren!Instead,thinkabouthowtohelpchildrendothetask.Forexample,youcouldsay‘Itstartsbysayingwhoit’sabout.Canyouseewhoit’sabout?’Inthisway,youhelpchildrentorecognisethewordsinsteadoftestingtheirknowledge.Donotsay‘Canyoufindthewords?’,becausethismakeschildrenthinktheyhavetosearchforwordsinthesentence,whichmakesthetaskharder.Instead,alwaysstartfromthebeginningofthesentence,andtellchildrenexactlywheretolook–itstarts,then,next,attheend.

Whenthechildrenpointandsaythewords,alwayspraisethem.Thentheycutthewordsoffthecardboardstrip,putthewordsbackinthesentence,andreadthesentenceagain.

Askthemtopointtothenextwordgroupinthesentenceandcutthemoff.Dothesameforthelastwordgroupinthesentence.Thenthechildrenputthesentenceback

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together.Askthemtosaythewordsastheyputthemdown.Thentheycansaythewholesentencetothemselves,tohelpthemrememberthesequenceofwords.

Figure4.3:Cuttingupwordsandgroups

Step3:Makingsentences

Childrennowgetmorepracticeinrecognisingthewordsbymixingupthecards,andputtingthesentencebacktogetheragain.Thishelpschildrentorecognisethechunksofmeaningthatmakeupasentence–whoandwhatit’sabout,whattheyaredoing,where,when,how.Eachofthesemeaningchunksisexpressedbyagroupofwords.Whenwereadaloudthesemeaningchunksshapetherhythmofourreading.Forexample,herearesomemeaningchunksinafamiliarsentence:Rosie/thehen//went/forawalk//acrosstheyard.Eachslashmarksameaningchunk,anddoubleslashesmarkabreakinrhythm.Doyouthinkyoucouldidentifythesekindsofmeaningchunksinsentences?

Whileyouguidetheclasstocutupthewordgroups,it’sveryimportanttoallowthechildrentoputthembacktogetherthemselves,asmuchaspossible.Youcanhelpthembyre-readingthesentencetogetherandshowingthemhowtocheckformeaning.Letthechildrenpointthemselvesastheyreadthewords.Keepdoingthisuntilallchildrencanputthesentencebacktogetheraccurately,andreadit.

Thenthechildrencanplaywithchangingtheorderofwordgroupsinthesentence,suchasabadman/was/thecrook/MrCreep,orforawalk/acrosstheyard/went/thehen/Rosie.Thenewsentencescanmakesenseornonsense,whichyoucantalkabouttogether.It’sbestforchildrentodothisingroups,andthenreadthedifferentideaswiththewholeclass,andpraisethem.It’sfunandanimportantsteptowardscreatingnewsentencesinwriting.

Next,guidetheclasstocutupthewordgroupsintoindividualwords,suchasabadman.Again,thechildrenplaythesamegamesofmixing,puttingtogetherandreading.Thisreinforcestheirwordrecognition,andhelpsthemtoseethefunctionsofeachwordinthe

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sentence,whichyoucantalkabouttogether.Puttingthewordsintodifferentordershelpstoseewhichwordcombinationsmakesenseandwhichdon’t.

However,it’simportantnottodothesere-arrangingactivitiesanddiscussionstoosoon.Attheverybeginning,it’senoughforchildrentoputthesentencesbacktogether,andthengoontospellingandwritingpractice.Butoncetheyhaveafewoftheseskills,theycanstartplayingwithwordorders.

Step4:Recognisingwordsinandoutofthesentence

Onceallchildrencanputthesentencebacktogether,checkthattheycanrecogniseeachwordbyitself,firstinthesentence,andthenoutofthesentence.Thisisnecessarybeforegoingontospelling,aschildrenmustbeabletorecogniseawordbeforetheyarereadytopractiseitsspellingpatterns.

Nameeachofthecontentwordsandaskchildrentopointtoitinthesentence.Thisshowsthattheycanrecogniseeachwordinthesequenceofthesentence.Thentakethesewordsoutofthesentence,andaskchildrentonameit.Thisshowsthattheycanrecognisethewordsontheirown.

DothisfirstwithcontentwordssuchasCreep,crook,bad,man,thathavespecificmeanings.ItmaynotworkaswellwithstructurewordssuchasMr,the,a,was,becausethesedonothaveaspecificmeaningcontent,soitisharderforchildrentorecogniseandrememberthemoutsideofthesentence.ThesestructurewordscanbepractisedinSentenceWriting,whenyouguidechildrentowritethewholesentence.Structurewordsaremucheasiertorecogniseandrememberinthesequenceofthesentence.(Thisiswhymemorising‘sightwords’outofcontextishardformanychildren.)

SpellingandFormingLetters

Keymarginpoint10:Childrencanonlyunderstandsound-lettermatchesintheEnglishspellingsystemaftertheycanrecognisewordsinsentences.LongexperienceshowsthatteachingphonicsandphonemicawarenessinisolationdoesnothelpAboriginalchildren,unlesstheycanalreadyrecogniseandunderstandwholewords.

Onceyouaresurethatchildrencanrecogniseallthewordsinthesentence,youcanteachthemtospellsomeofthesewords.Thisisdonebyshowingchildrenhowtocutupwordsintotheirletterpatterns,andhowtowritetheseletterpatternsandwords.Youcanalsoshowthemhowtoformlettersaccuratelyastheypractisespelling.

Childrenpractisespellingthewordstheyknowbycuttingthemupintotheirletterpatterns.Showthechildrenhowtocutupwordsintogroupsofletters,byholdingthewordandguidingachildtocutit,thenshowthepatterntothewholeclass.

Box4.2

ThebasicunitoftheEnglishspellingsystemiswrittensyllables.Eachwrittenwordconsistsofonesyllable,suchascrook,morethanonesyllables,suchascaterpillar.Eachsyllableconsistsofoneortwoletterpatterns.Thesearetheinitialconsonants,calledOnset,andtheremainder,calledRhyme(orRime),suchascrandook.(SomesyllableshavenoOnset.)ItisusuallyeasytoseetheOnsetandRhymepatternsinasyllable,becausetheyarecommoninotherwords,althoughsomearetrickier.

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Thefirststepincuttingupletterpatternsistocutoffprefixesandsuffixes,suchascrookedorswimming.Keeppatternslikedoubleletterstogether.Ifthereismorethanonesyllableintheword,cutthemoff,suchasgrumble.Iftherearetwoletterpatternsinthesyllable,cutthemup,suchasgrumborcrook.Ifthewordisverysimple,suchasdog,thereisnoneedtocutitup.Moreinformationaboutletterpatternsisgivenlaterinthischapter.

Whenyoushowtheclasstheletterpattern,theypractisewritingitontheirownwhiteboards,eachletterpatterninturn.Thismakesiteasierforthemtoremembereachletterpatternatatime,beforetheytrywritingthewholeword.(Ifthewordisverysimpletheycanpractisethewholeword.)Showthemthepattern,thenturnoverthecardandletthemwriteitfrommemory.Thenshowthecardagainandletthemcheckitforthemselves.Theycancorrectitifnecessary.Oncetheyhaveitright,theycanwriteitthreeormoretimestorememberit.

Whentheycanremembereachletterpatterntheycanwritethewholeword.Showthemthewordfirst,thenturnoverthecardandletthemwriteitfrommemory.Thenletthechildrenchecktheirspellingforthemselves,withouttellingthemthattheyhavemademistakes.Letthemchecktheword,sayitagainoutloud,correctitifnecessary,andpractisewritingitagain.

Thesepracticeshelpchildrentorecogniseandrememberspellingpatternseasily.Theyaresupportedbyknowingthewordswell,andmotivatedtowanttowritethem.Showingandlettingthemself-correctkeepsthemfeelinggoodaboutthemselves,astheyarenevertoldtheyarewrong,andteachesthemskillsinself-correction.

Figure4.4:Spellingandformingletters

Youcanusethistechniquetoteachletterformationfromtheverystartofschool.

Later,ifchildrenhaveproblemsformingletters,youcanshowthemhowtowritetheletters

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properly.Forexample,showthemhowtokeepthepenontheboardandgo‘down-up-andaround’or‘around-up-anddown’.Thisisimportanttopreventorcorrectcommonproblemssuchasstartinglettersfromthebottomorbackwards.

Watchwhateachchildisdoingandshowthemonyourownboard.Itisfarmoreeffectiveforchildrentowatchyouformingtheletter,andthencopyyou,thantryingtodoitthemselvesfromactivitysheets.Youcandothiswiththewholeclasssittinginfrontofyouonthefloor.Demonstrateonyourownboard,andthenwatchtheweakerstudentsinparticular.Later,whentheyarepractisingattheirdesksyoucansitbesidethemandhelp.

Oncetheycanformtheletteraccurately,letthempractisedoingitmanytimes.Theycanalwaysruboutanddoitagainiftheyneedto.Oncetheycanwritethefirstletterpatternwell,theycanpractisewritingthenextletterpattern.Thentheycanwritethewholeword.Youcanalwaysshowthemtheletterpatternsagaintohelpthemremember.

Figure4.5:Guidingletterforming

SentenceWriting

Whenthechildrencanspellallthecontentwordsinoneormoresentences,theycanpractisewritingthesentences.Thepurposeofthisactivityistopracticetheskillsofwritingfluently,includinghandwriting,spelling,andcheckingthattheyhavenotmissedoutwords,untiltheseskillsareautomatic.

Oncetheycanspellallthemainwordsinthesentence,youcanhelpthemtowritethewholesentence,byshowingthemtheotherwords.Youcangivemorehelpbywritingsomewordsforthem,andlettingthemwritetherest.

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ThendotheWordRecognitionandSpellingactivitiesforthenextsentenceinthestory.Thentheycanwritethiswholesentence.SoontheywillbeabletowritewholepagesoftheirSharedReadingbooks.Eachtimetheydothistheywilllearntorecogniseandwritemoreandmorewords.Morethanthis,theywilldevelopskillsinrecognisingwordsandmeaningsingeneral.Theywillnowbestartingtoreadindependently.

Rewritingstories

Keymarginpoint11:Writingnewstoriesisaverycomplextask.Weshouldnotpushchildrentowritestoriesoftheirownuntiltheyhavemasteredtheskillsinreadingandwriting.Thenwecansupportthemtowrite,usingwhattheyhavelearntfromreading.

Oncespellingandwritingarebecomingautomaticskills,wecansupportchildrentostartwritingnewstories.Thisisdonebyfollowingthesentencepatternsofthesharedreadingbookveryclosely,butusingnewcontent,includingcharacters,events,descriptionsandsoon.

AfterpractisingSentenceWritingonseveralstories,sothatthechildrenarestartingtoreadindependently,andhavelearnttorecogniseandspellmanywords,theycanstartwritingnewstoriestogetherwiththeclass.UsethesamesentencepatternsoftheSharedReadingstorythattheyhavelearnttowrite,withnewcontent.

Startbybrainstormingnewcharacters,eventsandsettingsforthestory,thatwillfitintothepatternsoftheSharedReadingstory.PuttheSharedReadingstoryupasamodelonasentencemakerorenlargeitontheprojector.Pointtoeachoftheelements-characters,setting,events–anddiscusswhatnewoneswecouldwriteabout.Guidethechildrentowardsideasthatwillfitintothesamestorypatterns,andwriteasmanyideasasyoucanontheboard.TheclassthenchooseswhichonestheywantfortheJointRewrite.(Thefirsttimesyoumaychoose,untilthechildrenunderstandtheactivity.)

Thenstartwritingthenewsentencesontheboard,usingthenewcontent.Forexample,Harrythehorsewentforagallopacrossthepaddock.Importantly,beforeyoustartwriting,decideexactlywhatyouaregoingtowrite!

Theteachercanstartwritingeachsentenceontheclasswhiteboard,andthengetchildrentocomeoutinturnsandwritewordsthattheyknow.Thentheteachercanwritewordstheydon’tknow,topracticespellinglater.Astheclasswrites,theycankeepbrainstormingnewelementstofitintothepatternsoftheSharedReadingstory.

Oncethisactivityhasbeenpractisedseveraltimes,childrencanstartwritingtheirownstories,againfollowingthepatternsoftheSharedReadingstory,butwithnewcharactersandeventsthattheyhavethoughtofthemselves.

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Readingandwritingfactualtextsintheearlyyears

Keymarginpoint12:Wecanusefamiliaractivitiestoteachbeginningreadingandwriting,byplanningexactlywhattosayateachstepoftheactivity,andwritingitdown.

Allovertheworldthetextsthatchildrenfirstlearntoreadandwriteareusuallystories,becausetheyareatypeoftextthatallchildrenarefamiliarwith.Becausetheyarealreadyfamiliarwiththetextpatternsofstories,weonlyhavetotellthemwhathappensinastorytohelpthemunderstanditwhenwereadittothem.Butthereareothertypesoftextsthatchildrenarealsofamiliarwith,thatcanbeusedtostartteachingreadingandwritingacrossthecurriculum.Oneofthesetypesisproceduresfordoingactivities,anotherisexplanationsforhowthingshappen.

Proceduresconsistofaseriesofstepsinanactivity,suchasarecipeforcooking,oramanualforoperatingtechnology.Writtenprocedurestellpeoplewhocanalreadyreadhowtodotheactivity.Butwecanteachchildrentoreadandwriteaprocedurebyfirstteachingittothemorally.Whentheyarethoroughlyfamiliarwiththewordsineachstepoftheprocedure,wecanteachthemtoreadandwriteit,aswedoforthesentencesinstories.

Usingprocedurestoteachreadingandwriting

Thefirststageinteachingproceduresistochooseanactivitythatyoucandoagainandagainwiththechildren,suchasasimplecookingactivity.Examplesaremakingtoast,preparingmorningtea,orputtingtoysaway,becausetheyinvolveafewsimplesteps,andcanbedonemanytimesinonesitting.

Planthelessonbywritingdownthestepsintheprocedure,inwordsthatyoucanusewiththechildren.Thislessonplanisimportantbecauseyoumustuseexactlythesamewordsforeachstep,everytimeyoudotheactivity,soyouneedtoplanwhatyouaregoingtosay.

Eachtimeyoudotheactivity,saythesamewordsforeachstep.Afteryouhavedonethistwoorthreetimes,startaskingthechildrenwhattodonext.Theywillstartgivingbacktoyouthewordsyouhaveusedforeachstep.Makesuretoaskeachchildintheclass,alwayspraisethemforwhatevertheysay,andthenrepeattheexactwordsforthestepyourself,sotheykeephearingthecorrectwords.

Onceyouareconfidentthatallthechildrencansaythewordsineachstepoftheprocedure,youcanbegintheactivitiesofRecognisingWordsandSentenceMakingwiththem,followedbySpellingandSentenceWriting,bywritingeachsteponcardboardstrips.Doonestepatatime,untilallthechildrencanreadandwriteitsuccessfully.Thensupportthemtowritethewholeprocedureontheirboards,andthenintheirwritingbooks.

Youcanalsomakebigbooksoftheactivities,bylaminatingenlargedphotographsofeachstep.Youcanwriteeachstepinalaminatedstrip,andattachaVelcrostrip.Childrenthenpractisestickingtherightsentencesunderthephotographs,andreadingthem.

Teachingexplanationscanfollowsimilarsteps,butwithexplanationstheclassobservesanactivityhappeningagainandagain,suchaseggshatching,silkwormsmakingcocoons,flowersopening,ortadpolesbecomingfrogs.Againthesamewordsarespokeneachtimeforeachstep,untilallchildrencansaythem,andtheythenpractisereadingandwritingthem.

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OnewayofinvolvingAboriginalparents,andbringingthecultureintotheschool,istoaskthemtocomeinandteachanactivitythattheyknowwell,suchascookingjohnnycakesordamper.Photographeachstep,andthenwriteasentenceforeachstep.Thiscanbeusedforreadingandwritinginthesameway.TherearealsolotsofvideosavailableonthewebthatshowAboriginalculturalactivities,thatyoucanuseinthesameway.Planthelessonbywritingthesteps,thenwatchthevideoseveraltimes,usingthewordsyouhaveplanned.

Teachingreadingandwritingacrossthecurriculum

Keymarginpoint13:Teachingskillsinreadingandwritingshouldbeembeddedinlearningthecurriculumatallyearlevels.Wemustteachstudentshowtolearnthecurriculumthroughreading,andhowtowritewhattheyhavelearntforassessment.

Theprincipleofsystematicallysupportingstudentstosucceedwitheachcomponentofreadingandwritingtasks,onestepatatime,canbeappliedatalllevelsofschool,acrossthecurriculum,.Thefollowingteachingsequenceiscarefullydesignedtogiveallstudentsthissupportinfivestages.

1 PreparingbeforeReading:theteachergivesastep-by-steporalsummaryofwhatwillhappeninatext,whichisthenreadaloudanddiscussed.

2 DetailedReading:theteachersupportsallstudentstoreadeachsentenceinapassagefromthereadingtext.

3 IntensiveStrategies:studentspracticefoundationliteracyskillswithsentencesfromtheDetailedReadingpassage,usingSentenceMaking,SpellingandSentenceWriting(discussedaboveforEarlyYears).

4 Rewriting:theteachersupportstheclasstowriteanewpassage,thatispatternedonthepassagefromDetailedReading(discussedaboveforEarlyYears).

5 JointConstruction:theteachersupportstheclasstowriteawholetext,usingtheknowledgetheyhavelearntfromtheprecedingstrategies.Studentsthenpractisewritingwholetextsthemselveswiththeteacher’sguidance,untiltheyarereadytowriteindependently.

Thesestrategiesenableallstudentsinaclasstoreadandwritetextsexpectedoftheiryearlevel.Thereisnoneedtouselowerleveltexts,asthestrategiesenableallstudentstoengagewithchallengingtexts.

Allofthesestrategiesarelearningactivities,notassessmenttasks.Theteacher’sroleinallofthemisessential,toshow,guideandsupportstudentstodoeachactivitysuccessfully,untiltheyarereadyforindependenttasks.Onlythendoweaskstudentstoreadandwriteindependently,andassesswhattheyhavelearnt.Theassessmentthenshowsushowwellwehavetaughtthem.

ThisisespeciallyimportantforAboriginalstudents.Youshouldnotmakestudentsreadorwriteontheirownuntilyouhavetaughtthemhow.Thispracticesimplyranksstudentsontheirso-called‘ability’,makingunsuccessfulstudentsfeellikefailures,anddisengagingthemfromschool.Ifyouusethesestrategiesforguidingyourstudents’learning,youwillmakethemsuccessfulandengagetheminschoollearning,andalsomaketeachingapleasurablejob.

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Figure4.6showsthesequenceasadiagram,includingthescaleoftextusedforeachstrategy,andthelearningfocusforeachstep.Nowlet’slookateachofthesestepsinmoredetail.

Figure4.6:ReadingtoLearnteachingsequence

PreparingbeforeReading

PreparingbeforeReadingfulfilsasimilarfunctiontoSharedBookReadingwitholdergrades.Itpreparesallstudentstofollowatextwithgeneralunderstandingasitisreadaloud.Thisisdoneby:

• providingthebackgroundknowledgestudentsneedtounderstandthetext

• brieflyexplainingwhatitisabout

• summarisingthesequenceinwhichitunfolds,i.e.whathappens,intermsthatallstudentscanallunderstand.

Thiscanbedoneinafewminutesbeforereading,oritmayinvolveactivitiesthatintroducestudentstoatopicinthecurriculum.ThecrucialpartofPreparingbeforeReadingissummarisinghowthetextunfolds,asthisenablesallstudentstofollowthetextasitisread,withoutstrugglingtoworkoutwhatisgoingon.

Ifthetextisastoryorachapterofanovel,summarisewhatwillhappenandreadthewholestory.Ifitisafactualtext,youmayneedtoreaditparagraph-by-paragraph.Giveabriefoverviewofthetext,thenabriefpreviewofeachparagraphbeforereadingit.Afterreadingtheparagraphyoucanguidestudentstohighlightkeyinformationanddiscussit.Thendothesameforthenextparagraph.

Oftenyoucanusevisualimagestohelpprepareforreading,asearlyyearsteachersusethepicturesinasharedreadingbook.Theimportantpointisthatthevisualimagesmatchthesequenceofmeaningsinthetext.Agoodstrategyistogivestudentsacopyofthesameimagesthatyouprojectontheboard.Youcanlabeltheimagesasyoudiscussthem,

Preparingandreading

DetailedReading IntensiveStrategies

JointRewri6ng

JointConstruc6on

wholetexts shortpassages sentences shortpassages wholetexts

TEXTSCALE

whatthetextisabout

understandingindepth&detail

founda=onskills

usingwri?enlanguage

construc=ngwholetexts

LEARNINGFOCUS

READINGTOLEARNTEACHINGSEQUENCE

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withwordsthatareusedinthetext.Getthestudentstosaythesewordsaloudandwritethemontheircopies.Inthiswaytheywillunderstandthesewordswhenthetextisread.

Whenpreparingandreadingtogether,withstudentsofanyage,thesamemanagementissuesapplyaswediscussedabovefortheearlyyears.Thegoalsaretomakedifficulttasksaseasyandpleasurableaspossible,andgiveequalsuccessandpraisetoallstudents.Forexample,avoidaskingquestionsthatchildrencannotanswersuccessfully;insteadprepareyourquestionscarefully,andaskstudentsbyname,sothattheyallgetturnstobesuccessfulandpraised.Usesuccessandpraisetomanageyourstudents’attentionandbehaviour.Theyarebyfarthemosteffectiveclassroommanagementstrategies.

PlanningandprogrammingPreparingforReading

ToPreparebeforeReadingeffectively,youmustplanbylookingcloselyatthetextsyouchoosetoread,toseehowthetextunfolds,andthinkabouthowtosummariseitsothatallstudentswillunderstand.

Preparingandreadingtextsshouldbeadailyactivityintheprimaryschool.Itshouldbecomethemainwaythatyouteachthecurriculumcontent,becauseitgivesstudentsskillsinlearningfromreading,atthesametimeaslearningthecurriculum.Soeverydayyoushouldbereadingastoryorafactualtexttogether,foratleast20minutes.Inthesecondaryschool,Preparingandreadingshouldalsobecomethemainwaythatyouteachthecurriculumcontent.Youshouldstarteverylessonwith20minutesofreadingtogether,andthendootheractivities.

Toplanforparagraph-by-paragraphreading,readthetextcloselyandhighlightthekeyinformationthatthestudentswillhighlight.Thenmakeanoteaboutthetopicofeachparagraph,topreviewbeforereadingit.

DetailedReading

Keymarginpoint14:DetailedReadingsupportsallstudentstoreadatextwithcompletecomprehensionandfluency,byguidingthemtoidentifychunksofmeaningineachsentence,anddiscussingwhattheymean.

DetailedReadingistheturbochargedengineofReadingtoLearn.Ifitisdonewell,itenableseverystudenttoreadapassageoftextwithfullcomprehensionandfluency,nomatterwhattheirlevelofreadingskills.IttakespracticetobecomeconfidentwithteachingDetailedReading,butitwilltransformyourteachingskillsandstudentoutcomes.

Onceatexthasbeenpreparedandreadwiththeclass,ashortpassageisselected,inwhichstudentsaresupportedtoreadeachsentence,bytellingthemwhateachwordorgroupofwordsmeans,whichtheythenread.(Let’srefertowordsorgroupsofwordsas‘wordings’.)Studentsarepreparedtoreadeachwordingbymeansofthreepreparationcues:

• asummaryofthemeaningofthewholesentenceincommonsenseterms,whichtheteacherthenreadsaloud

• apositioncuethattellslearnerswheretolookforthewording

• themeaningofthewordingingeneralorcommonsenseterms.

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Studentsthenhavetoreasonfromthemeaningcuetotheactualwordingonthepage.Studentsarealwaysaffirmedforidentifyingthewording,whichtheythenmarkbyhighlightingorunderlining.

Forexample,hereisasentencefromthenovelFollowtheRabbitProofFence.InthispassageapolicemanhascometotaketheAboriginalgirlsawayfromtheirfamily.Thepolicemanhasjustappearedatthefamily’scamp:Fearandanxietysweptoverthemwhentheyrealisedthatthefatefuldaytheyhadbeendreadinghadcomeatlast.

Thissentenceisdifficultbecauseitincludesametaphor:Fearandanxietysweptoverthem,andthreemoreunfamiliarwordings:thefatefulday,dreading,andcomeatlast.Soitisessentialtotellstudentswhatthesentencemeansbeforereadingittothem,asfollows.Teacher: Innextsentence,thefamilyreactstoseeingthepoliceman.Theyaresofrightenedit’slikeawave

offearsweepingoverthem,becausetheyhavebeenexpectingthisterribledaytocome,andtheyrealisethegirlswillbetakenfromthem.NowlookatthesentencewhileIreadittoyou.

Afterreadingthesentence,wepreparestudentstoidentifyeachwordinginturn.Weprepare,thenaskonestudenttotellusthewords,praisethem,anddiscussitsmeaning,asfollows.Eachoftheselittlecyclesisshowninabox,withanumber.

Box4.3DetailedReadinglesson

1 Teacher: Nowthatsentencestartswiththetwofeelingstheyhad.

Billy,canyouseewhatthosetwofeelingswere?

Billy: Fearandanxiety

Teacher: Exactlyright.EveryonehighlightFearandanxiety.Anxietymeanstheywereworried.

2 Teacher: Emma,canyouseewhattheFearandanxietydid?

Emma: Sweptoverthem

Teacher: Excellent.Let’shighlightsweptoverthem.Theirfeelingsweresostrongitwaslikeawaveorafloodsweepingoverthem.

3 Teacher: Thenthere’sawordthatmeanstheyunderstood.

Jenny,canyouseethatword?Fearandanxietysweptoverthemwhenthey…

Jenny: Realised

Teacher: That’sright,highlightrealised.Realisedmeanstheydidn'tknowbefore,butnowtheyknew.

4 Teacher: Next,David,canyouseewhatkindofdaytheyrealised?

David: Fatefulday

Teacher: Exactly.Fateissomethingyouexpecttohappen.Sothefatefuldayisthedaytheyexpectedtocome.Highlightfatefulday.

5 Teacher: Thenthere’sawordthatmeansthey’dbeenfearingthatday.

Bobby,canseethatword?

Bobby: Fearing

Teacher: Right,dreadingmeansreallyscaredthatsomethingwillhappen.

6 Teacher: Katy,canyouseewhatthefatefuldayhaddone?

Katy: Comeatlast

Teacher: Excellent,highlightcomeatlast.Whenwesaysomethinghascomeatlast,itmeanswealwaysexpectedittohappen.Sothefamilyalwaysexpectedthisdaytocome.

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7 Teacher: Sowhathappenedonthatday,Shanara?

Shanara: Thepolicemancame

Teacher: Exactly,hecametotaketheirdaughtersaway.Andhowdidtheyfeel?

Students: Fearandanxiety,dreading

Teacher: That’sright.Sothatwastheirreactionwhentheysawthepoliceman.

Ineachoftheselittlecyclestheteachertellsthemeaningofthewords,andwheretolook,e.g.‘thatsentencestartswiththetwofeelings’,‘whatthefearandanxietydid’,‘thenthere’sawordthatmeanstheyunderstood’.Thensheaskseachstudentbyname‘canyouseethewords’.Thetaskissimplytoreadandsaythewords,nottosearchorguesstheanswer.Incycle3shemakesiteveneasierbyreadinguptothewords‘Fearandanxietysweptoverthemwhenthey…’

Becausetheteacherhaspreparedsocarefully,theanswersarealwaysright,soshepraisesthestudentandtellstheclassexactlywhatwordstohighlight.Althoughjustonestudentanswersatatime,alltheotherstudentsalsoidentifythewords.Theteacherthenelaboratestheirmeaning.Sometimesthisisdefiningwords:‘anxietymeanstheywereworried’,‘fateissomethingyouexpecttohappen’.Sometimesitisexplainingmeanings:‘theirfeelingsweresostrongitwaslikeawaveorafloodsweepingoverthem’.Othertimesitisaskingastudentfortheirknowledge:‘sowhathappenedonthatday,Shanara?’,oraskingthewholeclass:‘andhowdidtheyfeel?–fearandanxiety,dreading’.Becauseeveryoneunderstands,theycanallparticipateintheconversation.

EngagingallstudentsinDetailedReading

Cruciallytheteacherusuallystartsbygivinginformationtothestudents,ratherthanaskingaquestion.Thisisveryimportantforlesssuccessfulstudents,whooftenexperienceteacherquestionsasteststhattheycontinuallyfail.Asaresultthesestudentscansufferstressthatleadstobehaviourssuchaswithdrawingfromclassroominteractionordisruptivebehaviour.

ThisproblemcanbeparticularlyacuteforAboriginalstudents.ItisacommonexperienceofteachersinAboriginalcommunityschoolsforstudentstorefusetoanswertheirquestions.Thiscanleadtobreakdownsincommunication,sothatteachersoftenresorttounchallengingindividuatedactivitiessuchasbusyworksheets,tomaintainorderintheclassroom(Rose,Gray&Cowey,1999).

Theproblemisovercome,byfirsttellingthestudentswhatthewordsmeanandthenaskingthemtosaythewordsinthesentence.Thisquestionisnotatestoftheirknowledge,butalearningtaskthateverystudentcansucceedwith.Becausethestudentshavedonethementalworkthemselves,toreadthewordsfromtheteacher’scue,theycannowreadthewordswithunderstanding,andwilltransferthisunderstandingtosimilarreadingcontexts.

PlanningandprogrammingDetailedReading

DetailedReadingshouldbedoneatleast2or3timesaweekinprimaryclasses,andatleastonceaweekinthesecondary.TwentyorthirtyminutescanbespentonDetailedReadinginalesson.Cruciallyittakescarefulpreparationbytheteacher,toplanexactlywhatwordingstodiscusswiththestudents,andhowtoprepareandelaborateeachwording.

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Beforethelessonyoumustchooseanidealpassagetoworkon.Itshouldbeanimportantpassagefromthetext,andachallengingonetoread.Thereisnopointindoingallthisworkonatextthatistooeasy-itwillsoongetboring.Photocopyandenlargethepassageforthestudents,andforyourlessonplan.

Foryourlessonplan,highlightthewordingsyouwantthestudentstohighlight.Betweenthelineswritelittlenotesforhowyouwillpreparestudentstoidentifythewords.Underneaththetext,makesomedotpointsforwhatyouwillelaborate.Hereisanexamplefortheabovesentence.

4.4DetailedReadinglessonplan

2feelingswhattheydidunderstood

Fearandanxietysweptoverthemwhentheyrealisedthat

kindofdayfearingwhatitdid

thefatefuldaytheyhadbeendreadinghadcomeatlast.

•anxiety=worried,•likeawaveorflood,•fate=expected,•dreading,•comeatlast=expected

IntensiveStrategiesformoreintensivesupport

AfterDetailedReadingonashortpassage,youcanprovidemoreintensivesupportforstudentstobuildtheirfoundationsskillsinreadingandwriting,usingSentenceMaking,SpellingandSentenceWriting.Theseweredescribedabovefortheearlyyears,andcanbeadjustedforworkingwithstudentsatdifferentyearlevels,usingdifferenttypesoftexts.

WithSentenceMaking,youmaywriteasentence,orawholeparagraphfromtheDetailedReadingpassageoncardboardstrips.SentenceMakingshouldbedoneingroups,uptoof5or6students.Sowriteasetofstripsforeachgroup.Eightstripscanbecutlengthwisefromasheetofstandardschoolcardboard,byfoldingitlengthwise3times.Writethewordslargeenoughtobeeasilycutupandmanipulated.

Forolderstudents,SentenceMaking1)intensifiesthediscussionofmeaningsandwordingsfromDetailedReading,2)enablesstudentstomanipulatewordingstocreatenewsentences,3)leadstospellingasindividualwordsarecutout.InSentenceMakingactivitiesthelearnersaretakinggreatercontrolofthereadingandwritingprocess.Youguidethewholeclasstocutupsentencesintowordgroups,andthestudentsmanipulatethemtogether.

TheSpellingactivitiesarethesamedescribedforearlyyearsabove,butolderchildrencanoftenhandlelargerchunksofwordsatatime.Youshouldstillcutspellingwordsintotheirletterpatterns,butyoucanoftenshowtheclassthewholewordtopractiseontheirboards.However,weakerstudentsmayneedtobeshownoneletterpatternatatime,tohelpthemremember.Ateachstep,theyobservetheletterpatternorword,writeitfrommemory,andthencheckforthemselvesiftheyarecorrect,inordertoencourageself-correction(‘Look-cover-write-check’).Theythenwritetheletterpatternorwordthreeormoretimestofixitintheirmemory,forautomaticrecallinSentenceWriting.

Therearefourlevelsofspellingpatternsyoucanshowstudentstorapidlyimprovetheirspelling,usingwordstheyknowfromthetextsyouarereading:1)compoundwords,2)wordendingsandbeginnings(suffixesandprefixes),3)multiplesyllables(multisyllabic

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words)4)OnsetandRhyme(Rime).Mostspellingpatternsareobvious,butsomearehardertojudge.Ageneralruleistolookforgroupsoflettersthatareregularcommonpatterns.YoucandownloadausefullistofOnsetandRhymepatternsatwww.wilkinsfarago.com.au/PDFs/Reading_Spelling_Lists.pdf

SentenceWritingsupportsstudentstopractisewritinglongstretchesofmeaningfultext,withouttheloadofinventingastoryforthemselves,planninghowtowriteit,thinkingofthewordstouse,andknowinghowtospellthem.Oncealllearnerscanautomaticallyspellmostofthewordsintheparagraph,theycanpractisewritingthewholeparagraphfrommemoryontheirboards.

Tosupportthemtodoso,putthesentencesonasmartboardorsentencemaker.Asyoureadittogether,turnovermostofthewords.Gettheweakerstudentstocomeoutandturnoverspellingwords(andotherstheyalreadyknow),asthewholeclassreadsthem.Leavejustafewstructurewords,likea,the,then,etc,asaframeworktohelpthemrecallthesequenceofmeanings.

Whentheyhavefinishedwriting,thewordscanbeturnedbackoverforthestudentstochecktheirwording,spellingandpunctuationforthemselves.Allchildrenenjoythisactivity,whichcanbemadeacompetitivegame,atthesametimeasitrapidlyimprovestheirwritingskills.

PlanningandprogrammingIntensiveStrategies

Theseintensivestrategiesshouldbeadailypracticeintheprimaryschool,astheyaresoeffectiveatbuildingfoundationskills.Youdonotneedadditionalspelling,phonicsorhandwritingactivities.Ifyourschoolusesthesekindsofprograms,youcanstillusethemasaguide,butusetheIntensiveStrategiesasyourteachingtechnique.

JointRewriting

Keymarginpoint15:Writingbeginsonlyafterallstudentscanreadapassagewithfluencyandcomprehension.Thisprovidespowerfulsupportforstudentstowritesuccessfully.

Onceallstudentscanreadapassagewithfluencyandcomprehension,theypreparetowriteanewtextthatispatternedcloselyonit.TherearetwoapproachestoJointRewriting,dependingonthetypeoftext:

• Stories,argumentsandtextresponses:theclassbrainstormsnewcontentforatextthatwillusethesameliteraryorpersuasivelanguagepatternsastheDetailedReadingpassage.Theteacherguidestheclasstowriteanewtextwiththesamesentencepatterns.Thisprovidesverypowerfulsupportforallstudentstoborrowthesophisticatedlanguageresourcesofaccomplishedauthors.

• Factualtexts:studentswriteupthewordingstheyhavehighlightedinDetailedReading,asdotpointnotesontheboard.Theteacherguidestheclasstowriteanewtextusingthesenotes.Thenewsentenceswillbeclosertowhatstudentswouldwritethemselves.Inbothcases,studentstaketurnstowriteontheboard,astheclassandteachersay

thewordstowrite.Thisisveryimportantasitpreparesstudentsforwritingtheirowntexts,activelyinvolvesthewholeclass,andenablesyoutoseewhatproblemsstudentshave,and

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givethemhelp.Weakwritersmayjustawriteafewwords,buteverystudentshouldgetachancetoparticipate.

Forstories,youshouldhavethetextpassageprojected,soyoucanpointtoeachwordinginturn,anddiscusshowtorewriteitinthenewtext.Forfactualtexts,thenotesshouldbeononesideoftheboard,soyoucanpointtothemanddiscusshowtorewritetheminthenewtext.

Asalways,thisisnotatest,butalearningactivitythatyouareguiding.Youcanasktheclasswhattosay,butalwaysgivethemasmuchhelpastheyneedtocomeupwiththenewwordings.Onewaytohelpistostartthesentenceyourself,sostudentscanseewhattodonext.

IndividualRewriting

Beforestudentsareexpectedtowriteindependently,afurtherstageofpreparationistopractiserewritingthesametextastheyhaverewrittenjointly,withasmuchhelpastheyneedfromyou.

Forfactualtextsthismayinvolveerasingthejointtextfromtheboard,butleavingthenotes,whichstudentsusetowritetheirowntext.Forstories,argumentsortextresponses,studentsnowhavetwomodels-theoriginalreadingandthejointtext-topractiseusingthesamelanguagepatternswiththeirowncontent,whichmaybepartlyderivedfromtheearlierbrainstormingactivity.

Inbothcasesmoreexperiencedstudentsareabletopractiseindependently,allowingtheteachertoprovidemoresupportforweakerstudents.

PlanningandprogrammingRewriting

YoushouldplantodoaRewriteeachtimeyoudoDetailedReading,inotherwords2or3timesaweekinprimaryandonceaweekinsecondary.Teachersusuallyplanforabout20minutesofJointRewritingand20minutesofIndividualRewriting.Oncestudentshavedevelopedsomeskills,youcanstarttheRewritetogether,andtheyfinishontheirownoringroups.

JointConstruction

ThefunctionofJointandIndividualRewritingistopractiseusingthewrittenlanguagethatstudentslearnfromreading.Theteacher’sroleinguidingthispracticeisessential.Butteachersmustalsoguidestudentstowritewholetexts,whetherthesearestories,factualtexts,argumentsortextresponses.ThisstrategyisknownasJointConstruction.

Somestudentsareabletowritewholetextssuccessfullywithminimalguidance.Thesestudentsareusuallythosewithlotsofexperienceinreading,andlearningfromreading.Studentswhodon’thavethisexperienceoftenstruggletowritesuccessfultexts,andthisappliesespeciallytomanyAboriginalstudents.Soitisessentialthatyoushowyourstudentshowtowritewholetexts,usingwhattheyhavelearntfromthereadingactivities.

JointConstructionmeansthatyouandtheclassconstructwholetextstogether.Youshowthemhowtoorganisethetext,andhelpthemtoconstructeachsentence,astheytaketurnstoscribeontheboard,andtheclassdiscusseswhattosayandhowtosayit.

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Toguidethetext’sorganisation,youneedtoknowhowdifferenttypesoftexts(or‘genres’)areconstructed.Forexample,anarrativeisstorythatinvolvesamajorcomplicationthatthecharactersresolve,soitsstagesareOrientation,ComplicationandResolution.Abiographyrecountsthestagesofaperson’slife,soitsstagesareOrientationandLifeStages.Aninformationreportclassifiesthingsanddescribesthem,soitsstagesareClassificationandDescription.Formoreinformationaboutthestructureofdifferentgenresinschool,gotowww.readingtolearn.com.auandordertheteachingresources.

Forwritingstories,argumentsandtextresponses,youneedexcellentmodeltextsatanappropriatelevelfortheschoolstage.ManygoodmodelscanbefoundintheReadingtoLearnresources,andinthewebsitesofACARAandtheNSWBoardofStudies.Givethestudentsacopyofthemodeltext,andprojectitontheboard.Asyoudiscussthemodel,labelitsstructureontheboard,andstudentswritethelabelsontheirowncopies.Youandtheclassthenwriteanewtext,followingexactlythesamestructureasthemodel,butwithnewcontent.Themodelshouldstillbeprojectedsoyoucanpointtoitasyouwritethenewtext.

Forwritingfactualtexts,thestudentsfirstwritenotesfromreadingontheboard,thesameasinJointRewriting.ThenotesforJointConstructioncomefromtheinformationyouhighlightedinparagraph-by-paragraphreading.Thenotesmaycomefromonetext,orfrommultipletexts.Thenotesmustbeorganisedintogroupsthatgivethestructureofthenewtext,andgivenlabels.Studentscanalsowritethenotesandlabelsintheirbooks.Ifthenotescomefromonetext,theycanbewrittenontheboardandthenlabelled.Iftheycomefrommultiplesources,youcanwriteheadingsfirst,andwritenotesundereachheading.Youandtheclassthenwriteanewtext,usingthenotesandthesamestructurethatyouhavelabelled.

PlanningandprogrammingJointConstruction

JointConstructionpreparesstudentsforassessmenttasksthatrequirewritingwholetexts.JointConstructionofawholetextcantake40-60minutes,soitisnotdoneeveryday.AftereachJointConstruction,studentsshouldhaveachancetopractisethesametaskwithyourguidance,asdiscussedforIndividualRewriting,beforetheassessmenttask.Again,oncestudentshavedevelopedsomeskills,youcanstartwritingtogether,andtheyfinishontheirown.

Youshoulddo1or2JointConstructionsforeachindependentwritingtask,toensurethatallstudentswillsucceed.Intheprimaryschool,studentsareusuallyexpectedtowritealongertextevery2or3weeks.IfyoudoaJointConstructioneachweek,usingthesamegenrebutadifferentmodeltext,theywillhavelotsofresourcesfortheassessmenttask.Inthesecondaryschool,longertextsareusuallywrittenevery4-5weeks.YoushoulddoatleastoneJointConstructiontoprepareyourstudentsforthis.

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IndependentWriting

Keymarginpoint16:Wecanbeconfidentthatallstudentshavebeenadequatelypreparedtowritesuccessfully,bytheprecedingfivestagesofreadingandwritingtogether.

Allthesestagesofpreparationenableallstudentstosuccessfullywritenewtexts,usingwhattheyhavelearntintheprecedingstages.Thisisthetaskonwhichstudentsareassessed,whetheritisaresearchtaskinsocietyandenvironment,areportinscienceoranessayinEnglish.Theindependenttaskmaybeinanewfieldoraboutanewliterarytext,butitwillbethesametypeoftext,usingmanyofthesamelanguagepatternsthathavebeenpractisedintheprecedingstages.Cruciallytheteachercanbeconfidentthatallstudentshavebeenadequatelypreparedtocompletethetasksuccessfully.Assessmentswillthenprovideaclearmeasureofhowsuccessfultheteachingactivitieshavebeen.

Summary

ThischapterhasoutlinedfivesetsofstrategiesthatcanbeusedtosupportAboriginalandotherstudentstoreadandwritesuccessfully.Eachsetofstrategiesbuildoncurrentteachingpractices,butprovidemoreintensivescaffoldingsupportsothatallstudentscanbesuccessful.

StrategiesforreadingandwritingintheearlyyearsbuildonthestandardpracticeofSharedBookReading,toenableallstudentstoreadthebookindependently,spellitswords,andwritestoriesusingitslanguagepatterns.Thesetechniquesareextendedtoreadingandwritingfactualtexts,bypractisingandwritingproceduresthatearlyyearsteachersoftendowiththeirstudents.

Strategiesforthemiddleyearsgivemoreintensivesupportforstudentstoreadtextsinthecurriculum,bypreparingthembeforereadingthewholetext,andthenreadingshortpassagestogetherindetail.ThisDetailedReadingthenbecomesthebasisforwritingsuccessfultextsthatarepatternedcloselyonthereadingpassages.

Wehavetriedtoshowhoweachsetofstrategiesworks,andwhytheyprovidemoresupportthanstandardteachingpractices,butwehavenotprovideddetailedargumentsforwhyyoushouldusethemwithAboriginalstudents.Howeverthisdiscussionisprovidedintheteachingresourcesavailablefromhttp://www.readingtolearn.com.au,inthebookLearningtoWrite,ReadingtoLearn(Rose&Martin2012),andinmanyreportsandpapersavailableontheReadingtoLearnwebsite.Youcanalsowatchvideosofdemonstrationlessonsonthiswebsite,andonthewebsiteoftheNSWBoardofStudiesathttp://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/7-10-literacy-numeracy/

Someofthestrategiescanbequitedifficulttouseatfirst,andrequiresomepracticetomakethemworkeffectively,particularlytheDetailedReadingstrategiesforthemiddleyears.Buttheoutcomesofpersistentpracticearewellworththeeffort,asmanyteachershavefoundintheReadingtoLearnprogram.

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RevisionActivities

Thefollowingrevisionactivitiesaredesignedtohelpyourememberandreflectontheteachingstrategiesdescribedinthischapter.Theanswerstoeachquestioncanbefoundintherelevantsectionsofthechapter.

Thereadingandwritingtask

Whatarethesevenlevelsofpatternsintexts?

Nameeachofthefourdimensionsofcontext,anddefinethembriefly.

Whyshouldweteachreadingfromthetopdown?

Whataresomedifferencesbetweenspokenandwrittenlanguage?

Readingandwritingtheearlyyears

Writeabriefsummaryofeachofthesteps.

SharedBookReading

RecognisingWords

MakingSentences

SpellingandFormingLetters

SentenceWriting

RewritingStories

Readingandwritingfactualtextsintheearlyyears

Chooseasimpleactivityandwriteaprocedureforit,inwordsyoucouldusewithyoungchildren.Thereshouldbeaboutsixsteps,withonesentenceforeachstep.Numberyoursteps.

Teachingreadingandwritingacrossthecurriculum

NamethefivestagesintheReadingtoLearnteachingsequence

WhatarethethreeelementsofPreparingbeforeReading?

InDetailedReading,whatarethethreepreparationcuesthattheteachergivesstudents?

Afterstudentshaveidentifiedawording,whatarethethreewaysitcanbeelaborated?

InJointRewriting,whataredifferencesbetweenwritingfactualtextsandstories?

WhyisitimportanttopractiseIndividualRewriting,beforeIndependentWriting?

Strategiesformoreintensivesupport

Writeabriefsummaryoftheintensivestrategies

SentenceMaking

Spelling

SentenceWriting

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References

Rose,D.(1999)Culture,CompetenceandSchooling:ApproachestoLiteracyTeachinginIndigenousSchoolEducation,InF.Christie(ed.)PedagogyandtheShapingofConsciousness:LinguisticandSocialProcessesLondon:Cassell,1999,217-245

Rose,D.(2004).SequencingandPacingoftheHiddenCurriculum:howIndigenouschildrenareleftoutofthechain.InJ.Muller,A.Morais&B.Davies(eds.)ReadingBernstein,ResearchingBernstein.London:RoutledgeFalmer,91-107

Rose,D.(2011).Beatingeducationalinequalitywithanintegratedreadingpedagogy.InF.ChristieandA.Simpson(eds.)LiteracyandSocialResponsibility:MultiplePerspectives.London:Equinox,101-115

Rose,D.2015.Mythmakingandmeaningmaking:theschoolandAboriginalchildren.MHamilton,RHeydon,KHibbert&RStooke[eds.]MultimodalityandGovernmentality:NegotiatingSpacesinLiteracyEducation.London:Continuum,167-184

Rose,D.(2015).ReadingtoLearn:Acceleratinglearningandclosingthegap.TeachertrainingbooksandDVDs.Sydney:ReadingtoLearn,http://www.readingtolearn.com.au

Rose,D.,Gray,B.&Cowey,W.(1999).ScaffoldingReadingandWritingforIndigenousChildreninSchool.InP.Wignell(ed.)DoublePower:EnglishliteracyandIndigenouseducation.Melbourne:NationalLanguage&LiteracyInstituteofAustralia(NLLIA),23-60

Rose,D.&J.R.Martin(2012).LearningtoWrite,ReadingtoLearn:Genre,knowledgeandpedagogyintheSydneySchool.London:Equinox