Category: Literacy
-
The Spookier Side of the Oxford Australian Children’s Word of the Year
Children have vivid imaginations, and this was nowhere more apparent than in the Oxford Children’s Word of the Year writing competition. Students from primary schools across Australia were invited to submit a piece of writing about a topic of their choice. While there were fairies and unicorns, there was also a darker side to the…
-
What is going to be the Oxford Australian Children’s Word of the Year?
We have been enjoying reading through the entries for the 2018 Children’s Word of the Year writing competition, which closed this week. Hundreds of entries from primary schools across Australia, representing all year levels, have made their way into the Oxford University Press office. This year, a significant number of home-schooled students have also taken…
-
Literacy advice for teachers from the Oxford Wordlist research
The 2017 Oxford Wordlist research study was conducted in Australian schools and sought to compare date with the first Oxford Wordlist research, from 2007, and to provide an update list of high frequency words for writing and reading. This list is an important tool used by primary school teachers across Australia. The New Oxford Wordlist…
-
Developing a love of reading
A life-long reading journey commences with encouraging word-reading and comprehension skills and cultivating an enjoyment of books so reading becomes a pleasurable activity. A love of reading can set children up for education success and introduce them to people, places and ideas they may not encounter in their everyday life. Research shows that reading for…
-
Comprehension is an essential part of the literacy equation
by Annie Facchinetti, leading educator and author of OZBOX: Learning through Literacy and Oxford Literacy teaching notes. Imagine that you were lost in Turkey and the only directions you had were written in Turkish. You could probably read them out loud with reasonable accuracy, even though your phonological awareness of the language may not be perfect,…
-
Teaching systematic synthetic phonics is a ‘success for all’ approach
A Read, Write Inc. Case Study by Sophie Rasic from Mr Brendon Madden, Principal, Toowong State School, Queensland “Be prepared to see fast improvements” Age group: Prep–Year 6 | Students on roll: 284 School context: Toowong State School is a well-established Brisbane inner-city school, based in its current location since 1910. The suburb is predominately a residential area. The…
-
Systematic synthetic phonics helps all students achieve reading growth
A Read, Write Inc. Case Study from Jocelyn Seamer, Principal, Dundee Beach School, Northern Territory Every child has benefited.” Age group: Preschool–Year 6 | Students on roll: 23 School context: Dundee Beach is a remote school 2 hours outside of Darwin. Mains electricity connection came to the area in 2006. The community has only recently had the road to…
-
Research reveals shifts in language used by Aussie kids, but the gender divide remains
The new Oxford Wordlist research has revealed Australian children had learnt to love their informal lingo, with words like super, awesome, crazy, stuff and amazing, featuring in the words most regularly used by primary school students. The research, released on June 25, drew on research from more than 3,000 writing samples and detailed the top…