Literacy

‘The change over the last 20 years in what and how students read has emphasised the importance not only of assessing students’ capacity to read, but also what they have learned about the credibility of what they read.’ In her latest Teacher column, Dr Sue Thomson delves into international PISA 2018 data on reading literacy and digital literacy skills.

Findings from an action research project in three West Australian schools suggest the use of quality mentor texts when explicitly teaching how to write narratives can improve students’ storytelling ability. Ron Gorman and Dr Sandy Heldsinger share more details about the teaching and assessment strategies used, and samples of student writing.

Families will often engage in the shared reading of picture books about starting Kindergarten to help children with their transition. But, how are Kindergarten teachers demographically represented in the books that children read during this time? And importantly, who is missing from these representations?

In this episode of School Improvement, we’re taking you to a school in rural New South Wales where students in Years 5 to 9 are reading 12 books each year. Head of Middle School and English teacher Alex Wharton joins us to share how this has been achieved.

A new Australian study exploring reading enjoyment, reading frequency and student achievement has challenged the gender stereotype that boys prefer non-fiction, underscoring the importance of all students being given access to a wide range of genres and text types from an early age.

A new study has explored job titles and descriptions for school librarian jobs advertised in the United States and Australia to assess the emphasis placed on a school librarian’s role in promoting reading for pleasure. Researchers found ‘Australian school librarians are far more likely to be expected to foster reading for pleasure’.

Reading for pleasure has been shown to have a powerful influence on children’s learning. In our latest reader submission about learning during lockdown, Junior School Curriculum Director Vanessa Collins shares details of the ‘Just Read’ action research project to build a culture of reading at Sydney’s Queenwood School for Girls, and ignite in students a love of reading for pleasure.

In today’s episode of Teacher Staffroom, we shine a spotlight on reading. From encouraging students to find a love of reading, to ensuring they have access to a wide variety of texts, to the books children borrowed most frequently from libraries in 2020 – there was so much to squeeze into today’s podcast.

‘Every assembly I read a book to the whole school and I expect all of our teachers to be reading aloud to our kids every day.’ Christies Beach Primary School Principal Catherine O’Dea shares why encouraging students to develop a love of reading is the key aim of the South Australian school’s improvement plan.

The most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey measured the attitudes held by 15-year-olds on reading. An Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Snapshot report has analysed these attitudes, and looked at how they differ between girls and boys, Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, and most disadvantaged and least disadvantaged students.