Literacy Solutions Blog

We recently published a group of 16 vocabulary ideas and games to the Literacy Solutions website.
These resources are freely available for use in classrooms and support students to ‘be on alert’ for focus words, whilst also practising and applying using target words in context.

Vocabulary Activities
Coming Soon

Whilst on the topic of great new resources, we have a big announcement coming very soon for those of …

In this week’s Q & A video, Angela examines which texts are more suitable for GRRT and Literature Circles.

In this week’s Q & A video, Angela discusses the ‘Whole Part Whole’ Model.

Many schools adopt a ‘whole-part-whole’ approach for classroom literacy instruction. Not only does this support the gradual release of responsibility model, but it also provides a clear framework for focused teaching episodes.

When adopted by schools, this framework ensures a consistent whole-school approach is embedded across all year levels. Whole class explicit teaching, …

In response to a recent question, Angela discusses the issue of ‘Correcting every mistake in students’ writing’.

In this short video, Angela considers the yield of this practice and discusses some of the issues teachers should consider.

For decades, if not centuries, academics, educators, politicians, and more recently, the public, have weighed in on the issue of how reading should be taught. Fuelled by the best of intentions, the virtues, and shortcomings of a phonic-centred, or phonological approach and a balanced literacy approach have been contested. Though the debate remains somewhat constant, erupting periodically and then simmering over time, it has re-ignited, …

In response to a recent question, Angela Ehmer discusses Quick Writes. These short writing episodes, also referred to as demand, lightning or timed writes usually occur daily.

In this short video, Angela provides some tips for improving the implementation of quick writes in the classroom.

Literature Circles webinar

Our recent free webinar, ‘Introduction to Literature Circles’, examines this powerful reading approach in which small discussion groups are comprised of students all choosing to read the same work of fiction.

Student discussions are guided by role cards or prompts which support students to think about the text in different ways and engage in meaningful conversations. As self-reliance develops, students become less reliant …

Many students learn to apply the PEEL or TEEL structure for constructing nonfiction paragraphs.

Sentence Chart – Point Sentence

The structures have been particularly popular in supporting students to write persuasive essays, discussions and arguments, as the structure provides a framework for constructing individual, main-idea paragraphs which transition smoothly to the next main idea. As a result, student essays contain clear, focused paragraphs in which sentences are …

We have recently completed production of two new video presentations. These are ideal for Teachers’ Aides unable to attend our face-to-face workshops and great value.

Both presentations were recorded live in 2021 and are targeted specifically to the role that aides/assistants play in developing the reading and writing skills in young students.

Angela Ehmer – Teachers’ Aides Reading Workshop
Teachers’ Aides Reading

Included:

30-day access to the 10-part video …

We are pleased to share some charts to assist students to revise and edit their writing.

Writing: Reviewing, Revising, Refining Chart – Capitalisation
ARMS

The ARMS strategy supports students during the revision stage. The acronym stands for Add, Remove, Move, Substitute. It prompts writers to review, revise and refine their writing to improve their clarity. Writers are reminded to consider whether:

additional words or sentences will improve reader understanding
removing …