Category: Literacy
-
What are Australian children talking about in 2018?
Are primary school aged children interested in technology or treehouses? Are they concerned about the contents of their lunch box or the nightly news report? Oxford University Press is on the hunt to discover what interests Australian primary school students with the launch of the 2018 Children’s Word of the Year. Primary school students from…
-
Dictionary activities for the classroom
Dictionary games can be a fun and interactive way of improving students’ literacy and fostering creativity. We asked Australian teachers how they use dictionaries to support learning in their classrooms, and here are their top ideas: Use dictionaries as a creative writing tool. Get students to pick three words they don’t know and make up…
-
The lighter side of the Oxford Children’s Word of the Year
The word ‘equality’ might have been the Oxford Word of the Year, but not all entries tackled the big issues of our time. Many of the entries from primary school students across Australia were funny and imaginative, bringing a smile to our faces as we read through the stories to put together our shortlist of…
-
‘Equality’ named the Oxford Children’s Word of the Year
After countless hours reviewing hundreds of entries, Oxford University Press Australia and New Zealand has announced its 2017 Children’s Word of the Year: equality. The word is a result of an Australia-wide writing competition in which students from Grade Prep to Grade 6 submitted a piece of free writing up to 500 words based on…
-
Thirty years of Winnie and Wilbur: author Q&A
The much-loved duo of Winnie the witch and Wilbur her cat have celebrated their 30th year. Friday the 13th of October marked three decades since Oxford University Press published the book series. Winnie and Wilbur are popular around the world, including in the UK, where they stared in a stage show in Birmingham and debuted…
-
How schools can prepare for the Phonics Screening Check – a practical guide
Oxford University Press White Paper: Phonics is Knowledge by Ruth Miskin Training consultant Hayley Goldsworthy The Federal Government last week announced its commitment to introducing literacy and numeracy checks for Year 1 students. The literacy component would include a Phonics Screening Check. Oxford University Press has developed a white paper titled ‘Phonics is Knowledge’ to…
-
Helping teachers make sense of the Year 1 phonics screening check
The Australian Government today announced its commitment to implementing a nationally consistent literacy and numeracy check for all Year 1 students across Australia. At Oxford University Press we believe effective literacy teaching, and specifically the teaching of reading, should be grounded in findings from rigorous, evidence-based research. In order to provide teachers with the tools to…
-
From cooking to a trip to the zoo – fun ways parents can build children’s early literacy skills
Many parents are looking for ways to help ensure their children are school-ready. One way of doing this is by helping children to develop early literacy skills that will set them on the path towards learning to read. The Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA) has developed the Little People’s Literacy Learning Modules to provide parents…