LSTAQ PD Event 18 March 2023
LSTAQ hosted a fantastic Professional Development opportunity for teachers and allied professionals.
Attendees please check email junk folder if you haven’t received the slides from the workshops.
Professor Pamela Snow
Teaching reading in the primary years: How the Simple View of Reading can help.
Download slides Professor Pamela Snow
The Simple View of Reading (SVR) is a theoretical framework that was published by US reading scientists Gough and Tunmer, in 1986. Unfortunately, because of the dominance of whole language and balanced literacy ideologies in education at that time and since, many primary teachers only stumble on the model via their own internet searching or via engagement with social media discussions.
In this workshop the components of the SVR will be explained and examined, and their practical implications for classroom instruction in the primary years will be explored. Particular emphasis will be placed on the first three years of school and the role of decodable (phonically controlled) texts will be considered. Scarborough’s Reading Rope (2001), which aligns closely with the SVR will also be used to support discussion of language and literacy domains that require explicit and sequential focus across the primary years, in order to promote successful reading comprehension.
Dr Samantha Hornery
Practical strategies to support low progress readers (and spellers) in secondary classrooms.
Download slides Dr Samantha Hornery
The most common question from secondary teachers working with low progress readers and spellers is “What do we need to do differently when our students are older?” One answer to this is “nothing different” – there is only one way to progress in reading and spelling – and that is through explicit systematic synthetic phonics instruction! But of course, it isn’t that simple!
Your students may have already experienced this instruction, but something hasn’t stuck and there is still more to do. Their reading may be correct, but it is slow and effortful, and their spelling is often unintelligible. Regardless of those challenges, they still need to read Shakespeare’s Macbeth and film a TED Talk.
So, the answer to this very important question is “a few things need to be different” when your students are older and reading and spelling is still hard for them.
In this workshop you’ll learn how to:
- Conduct quick screening assessments to identify what needs review in a synthetic phonics program for your learners
- Select or create age-appropriate resources to review these reading and spelling skills
- Utilise technology supports to enable learning, ensure participation, and maintain motivation while progressing in reading and spelling
There are so many ways to help our students get there!
Professor Pamela Snow
Teaching reading in the secondary years: How the Simple View of Reading can help.
Download slides Professor Pamela Snow
The Simple View of Reading (SVR) is a theoretical framework that was published by US reading scientists Gough and Tunmer, in 1986. Originally proposed as a framework to support the work of teachers in the primary years, it has also been explored with respect to its implications for secondary teachers.
In this workshop, the nature of reading as a complex cognitive process will be explained, and the academic and psychosocial implications of low literacy (reading, writing, and spelling) skills in the secondary years will be emphasised. The SVR will be used as a framework for assisting secondary teachers across subject areas and year levels to understand ways in which they can support struggling students, as well as boosting the performance of proficient students. The role of decodable (phonically controlled) texts for supporting struggling older readers will be examined, and particular emphasis will be placed on building vocabulary skills via a focus on morphology and etymology knowledge.
Dr Samantha Hornery
Practical strategies to support low progress readers (and spellers) in primary classrooms.
Download slides Dr Samantha Hornery
Our focus during the early years of school is to teach reading and spelling to our students, there is time to dedicate to explicit systematic synthetic phonics instruction. At some point during those early years, a group of students will find this more challenging than others and their progress will be much slower than their peers.
We persevere – and continue to teach and re-teach how to recognise, blend and segment these phonemes and graphemes to read and spell words, sentences and paragraphs – for many students this will be sufficient (yeah!). Others will need more than one repeat of this instruction, more time to learn to read and spell and a few more supports along the way.
In this workshop you’ll learn how to:
- Recognise where reading and spelling is becoming difficult for your students.
- Adjust systematic synthetic phonics resources for Tier 2 and 3 instruction
- Introduce technology supports to maintain motivation, continue to participate in learning, and prepare students for independence in secondary school.
In primary school we have the opportunity to start reading and spelling instruction right, using evidence-based materials and practices – we just may need to slow this down and review more regularly to support some our students to get there.
Jeff Souter
Practical technology to enhance to support engagement with reading and writing.
Many students engaging with curriculum activities involving reading and writing will benefit from the use of technology to either develop their reading and writing ability, or to respond to these tasks where they are challenged with the knowledge and processes involved in these areas of literacy. This session will provide a range of practical examples of technologies likely to be available on your devices, or readily accessible for students. A hands-on session will allow you to explore these tools on iPads and Windows devices.
