Writing

As a teacher, knowing the words your students frequently use in their writing can help you understand where to extend their spelling and vocabulary skills. The 2024 Oxford Children’s Word of the Year report reveals words frequently used by primary aged children in their writing. 

Researchers from Edith Cowan University have recently highlighted the ongoing importance of explicitly teaching both handwriting and keyboarding skills to students, starting in the primary years. Dr Anabela Malpique joins Teacher editor Jo Earp to discuss findings of the meta-analysis and follow-up study, and tips for helping students become hybrid writers.

Looking at the content of students’ stories can give teachers an indication of what they’re interested in, as well as the issues that may be impacting their lives. Each year, Oxford University Press analyses thousands of short stories written by primary and secondary students to come up with a Children’s Word of the Year.

‘Deliberately planning to support students to build and use their vocabulary is critical to ensuring that students can both access the curriculum content and effectively demonstrate their understanding.’ Educational leader Michael Rosenbrock shares what this might look like in practice for maths and science teachers.

NAPLAN’s National Minimum Standard is the ‘agreed minimum acceptable standard of knowledge and skills without which a student will have difficulty making sufficient progress at school’. Ahead of the 2023 tests, we compare the percentage of male and female students in year 9 achieving at or above the standard in Literacy, over time.

In the National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests, the national minimum standard (NMS) is the ‘agreed minimum acceptable standard of knowledge and skills without which a student will have difficulty making sufficient progress at school’. This infographic looks at the performance of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in Year 9, over time.

Student storytelling can often give a glimpse into what’s happening in their lives, their interests and passions, and the issues that are on their mind. The latest instalment of the Australian Children’s Word of the Year reveals online safety is a top concern for students.

With the rapid growth in digital technologies, digital writing skills are becoming more and more relevant for students. A new research project from Deakin University will look at the potential to complement traditional writing tasks in schools with contemporary forms of digital writing.

Readers often get in touch with Teacher to share how their school is making a difference to student outcomes. New South Wales educator Mary Semaan contacted us recently to talk about how the teaching and leadership team at Al Sadiq College has been working to improve primary students’ writing skills.

Children’s experiences inform the development of their vocabulary and, subsequently, how they view the world around them. As we head into the third year of pandemic challenges and restrictions, interesting themes have continued to emerge through students’ writing.