AbstractsUsing guided inquiry in a year 3 classroomNovember 2013;
Pages 22–24
A year 3 teacher describes her collaboration with a teacher librarian to develop a guided inquiry approach within her classroom. The process integrated science; writing; and reading, listening and speaking. The topic of the inquiry was ‘the human body’. To immerse students in the topic they were called on to use interactive websites to put together virtual body parts and test themselves on knowledge about the human body. The library space was booked four mornings per week: students read books about the body then wrote about what they had read and ranked the books by interest level. The topic of the book they found most interesting then became the focus of their individual research area. They were then encouraged to read as widely as possible on that topic. They completed a question sheet designed to make them think more deeply on the topic; the question they identified as most interesting then became the specific focus for their research. They expanded their initial search question with other questions, with help from either the teacher, the teacher librarian, a practicum student or a teacher aide involved in the process. For the following week one of these adults then assisted each student to find books, or sometimes online resources, relevant to their research. The next step was for students to learn how to create and then deliver a report, using presentation software. After that students summarised their reports as promotional blurbs. In science classes students were called on to design an experiment that tested a particular aspect of their research. The personalised nature of the process effectively prevented cut-and-paste answers, but in any case the learning process excited and inspired the students to take ownership of their own research work.The article includes a table of cross-disciplinary learning tasks recording outcomes, learning focus and products for each disciplinary area. Key Learning AreasScienceEnglish Subject HeadingsInquiry based learningLiteracy Science Primary education Investigating synergies between literacy, technology and classroom practice
Volume 36
Number 3, 2013;
Pages 135–147
An Australian study has examined how the teaching and learning of literacy has been affected by the ‘digital revolution’ and the expansion of technological resources. The article reports on one aspect of the study, a survey of 213 primary teachers covering each state and territory, and the government, Catholic and Independent sectors. Most respondents were from NSW and Queensland; the pattern of responses reflected the current distribution between sectors, and the gender distribution, in the teaching workforce. A disproportionate number of responses came from early primary teachers, working with students aged 4 to 8 years. The survey design was informed by Activity Theory, so as to situate the responses effectively within the social context of their use. One issue in the results was access to ICT. The most widely available technologies were desktop computers, laptops, printers, scanners, IWBs, and wired internet access; digital cameras and DVD players were also fairly common. Just under 40 per cent of respondents had access to either iPads or Kindles; however, more 80 per cent had never used either device. Most ICT was available at the school rather than classroom level. Another issue concerned the context in which the technology was used. Pressure to use ICT came from students, school leaders, the syllabus, and ‘from the teachers themselves’. Two thirds of respondents expressed confidence in their own skills and knowledge as to technology use. Approximately three in four respondents reported inadequate technical support and lack of time to source and prepare ICT resources for student learning. Respondents’ students commonly used ICT to create text, or to search for or to present information. Most also used it to store and retrieve data. Four in ten used it to synthesise data. The teachers noted that ICT at their school tended to be older and less well maintained than their personal devices, aggravating problems of transferability and incompatibility of school and home devices. The article also discusses the relationship of literacy learning and technology more broadly. One issue is the rise of multimodality and non-linear text formats. Another concerns the barriers to the adoption of ICT in teaching. Teachers often lack confidence to adopt new technologies, or may not see their advantages. Other barriers include limited access to ICT and to professional development; inequitable access to technology; poor student behaviour when using ICT; and students’ frustrations at the way ICT is used for learning. Key Learning AreasEnglishSubject HeadingsInformation and Communications Technology (ICT)Teaching and learning Literacy English language teaching Points of entry
Volume 71
Number 3, November 2013;
Pages 34–38
Informational text may be defined as ‘text that teaches about the physical, biological or social world’. This definition excludes literary nonfiction such as biographies, which tend to use narrative structures. Teachers need to provide students with access points to informational text. The author offers the example of a teacher introducing a text about the surface tension of water to her class. Initially the teacher introduces students to the purpose of the text, and how they are going to use it, eg the class will work through experiments set out in the text. The teacher reads out difficult sections of the book, thinking aloud to model ways to interpret these passages. While doing so she also models problem-solving strategies, eg she re-reads dense passages, or makes links between the written text and accompanying illustrations. She records her read-aloud so that parents and students can go over it at home. Her students learn the need to persist when reading challenging texts. In general, students need to undertake close reading of informational texts, to identify central concepts and crucial details, and help them come to terms with unfamiliar words and structures within the text. During class discussion, students should be encouraged to make use of critical thinking skills to link texts to events and other external phenomena. Teachers should pose substantial questions and resist the temptation to answer them themselves; it is acceptable, perhaps even necessary, for students to be confused for significant time periods as they mull over these problems. Teachers should use short passages of text; encourage students to annotate the text; and encourage re-reading. The teacher needs to be alert to the impact of text structure on students’ thinking. For example, the use of bulleted points in the text may lead students to separate them unduly, and ignore interconnections between each point. Students should discuss the texts, using academic language, facilitated by routines such as ‘book clubs, reciprocal teaching, and Socratic seminars’. At the start of the year the teacher may show the new class video clips of previous students’ quality collaborative discussions. Wide reading also helps students to access informational texts, by developing background knowledge and vocabulary. However, evidence suggests that students are reading less widely than a decade ago. There is a risk that the increasing complexity of students’ informational texts will reduce the amount of time that students spend reading. To encourage wide reading students need access to appealing texts; opportunities to select from large and varied range of material; an ‘environment conducing to reading’; opportunities to discuss books with peers and teachers; and teachers well-equipped to promote these factors. Students are likely to read more widely when they do not have to report on and document their reading. After reading they should have opportunities to discuss ideas from the texts, as ungraded activities. Reading time should be distributed and almost daily, to build their reading stamina. (To access this article, go to the ASCD home page and type "points of entry" into the search box.) Key Learning AreasEnglishScience Subject HeadingsScience teachingTeaching and learning Reading comprehension Reading The complex process of teaching reading
Volume 17
Number 9, October 2014;
Pages 1, 3–6, 8
Children’s ability to read is affected by many factors beyond school, such as SES, brain development, the role played by their parents, their exposure to literature, and their wider life experiences. Nevertheless, the vast majority of students should emerge from school as competent readers. The article reviews research on issues surrounding the teaching of reading. Research has identified a range of qualities characteristic of a fluent reader. Fluent readers understand word boundaries, and the meaning of individual words; the grammatical relations between words; the different structures of different sorts of text and speech; and cultural conventions and general knowledge assumed in a text. Children from language-deprived backgrounds, and second language learners, need added support in all these aspects of reading. Fluent readers automatically recognise letters and words, without needing to use cognitive resources finding clues about meaning from the context of the word. Fluent readers have phonetic awareness, recognising connections between letters and sounds, and phonological awareness, recognising connections between sounds and word segments. The article includes an extended discussion of analytic and synthetic phonics, noting evidence highlighting the value of synthetic phonics as a teaching strategy. Fluent readers are also well developed as writers and spellers, underscoring the close connection between these skills. Research highlights the value of dramatic play in the preschool: it helps children's language development, especially when children tell and act out stories themselves. Research also highlights the value of parental involvement in children’s preschool literacy work, when parents have received guidance from educators. Parental involvement is much less helpful without such guidance: for example, unsupported parents are less likely than teachers to pause in joint reading, and so encourage children to make guesses or self-correct. Further recommendations emerge from the research. Children need the opportunity to read aloud and read silently. They should have a chance to read widely. Pre-reading instruction should go beyond teaching about the letters of the alphabet: children also should learn how to hold a book the correct way up; how to locate the start and end of a story, and how to separate the text from features such as page numbers. They should learn that reading of English takes place left to right and top down. The article goes on to discuss effective methods for vocabulary instruction and the teaching of comprehension; the role of computer technology in reading instruction; and methods to assist children with reading difficulties. KLA Subject HeadingsReadingReading comprehension Teaching and learning Phonetics Reading difficulties Who gets the purple plastic purse? Beyond inclusion in children’s books
Volume 4
Number 2, June 2013;
Pages 22–27
Historically, children’s story books tended to exclude or under-represent minority or disadvantaged groups. The authors of modern children’s books often try to address this issue, but the approaches they take do not always reach the heart of the problem. Sometimes the ‘different’ child appears only in the background of the story, and has a tokenistic quality. Sometimes a child from a minority group is the hero of the story and overcomes stereotyping and discrimination through extraordinary talents; an unintended message from such books is that minority children have to display exceptional abilities to be accepted. Even when exceptional abilities are not demanded, however, it is problematic when the hero’s disadvantage or minority status is the clear focus of the tale. Such books aim to educate mainstream children to be inclusive, but tend to be unhelpful to minority or disadvantaged children themselves. Whether they are ‘black, female, disabled or otherwise “different” ’, these readers find it ‘excruciatingly boring’ when they see themselves in stories only in terms of this status, repeatedly overcoming adversity. It is far more satisfying and affirming for them when the hero of the story is someone similar but whose ‘difference’ goes unremarked, accepted as a given: the story revolves instead around some interest or wish typical of children more generally, like a child in a wheelchair who simply wants to show her purple plastic purse to a favourite teacher. KLA Subject HeadingsSocial stereotypingGirls Children's literature Ethnic groups Disabled Gendered marketing in children’s books: the big pink book of low expectations
Volume 4
Number 2, June 2013;
Pages 71–80
Marketing is becoming increasingly gendered, particularly marketing to children, generating concerns that gender-stereotyping may also be on the increase in the marketing of children’s books. There are some signs that this is indeed the case: books marketed to girls are more and more likely to have pastel or glitter covers, with boys’ books using stronger colours. Anecdotal evidence also suggests a rise in gender-stereotyping of content as well, such as Scholastic’s How to be Clever and How to be Gorgeous titles, which respectively feature a boy and a girl on the front covers. Publishers tend to explain their approaches as a means to maximise sales, and to give children what they want. However a recent global study found that boys and girls have many similar interests. In a recent survey conducted for Britain’s National Literacy Trust, the most popular titles nominated by both girls and boys centred around a sensitive male in one case, and an adventurous female protagonist in another. Wider research evidence highlights the commonality of psychological traits between men and women. Gender-based marketing of a book makes it less likely that children of the non-targeted gender will read it. This is particularly true for boys, where ‘pink’ packaging reinforces a tendency to see reading itself as a feminine activity. Children should be exposed to the widest possible range of books, and helped to learn how to select material suitable for them. All those involved in book publishing and sales need to challenge ‘restrictive assumptions about gender roles and preferences’. More generally, adults buying or selecting books for children need to ‘stop pushing your own agendas, ideas and hang-ups’ on children. KLA Subject HeadingsChildren's literatureSocial stereotyping Girls Boys Marketing Place-based education and the Australian Curriculum
Volume 21
Number 3, October 2013;
Pages 17–23
Place-based education ‘uses place as a resource and catalyst for learning activities’, via specific activities or an entire curriculum. It emphasises hands-on, real-world activities. Through place-based education, students draw on knowledge gained from their families and communities, and also learn more about those communities. Place-based education has emerged from various other approaches, including environmental education, outdoor education, schools’ community service work, and vocational education. Place-based education can also be linked to critical pedagogy, encouraging students to learn about the influences that have affected their communities, and how to care for the place and its people. Rather than encouraging parochialism, place-based education ‘leads to engagement with events and issues beyond the local’. One teacher who uses place-based education, Marg Wells, recommends starting from the concerns of the students themselves, elicited through open-ended questioning. The article describes how this approach led to her students taking action to protect street trees, and public housing, including students’ own homes, threatened by a redevelopment. Another example described in the article refers to the remote Papunya indigenous community in central Australia. A further case, captured in the picture book Going Bush, describes a Sydney project where students learnt about native bushland and the activities of traditional owners of the land. Involving eight local schools, the project enabled students to meet and form friendships with peers from varied cultural and religious backgrounds. Another option for place-based education is for students to create a biography of a ‘local hero’ – an older person, or person of note in their community. Students learn the structure and language features of a biography, and learn how to interview, which may also involve 'switching codes that are relevant to their local situation and community'. They develop other research skills as well, and learn how to draft and edit their work. Place-based education can be particularly helpful for students currently disengaged from their learning. KLA Subject HeadingsPlace based educationAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies How they decide: a case study examining the decision-making process for keeping or cutting music in a K–12 public school district
Volume 61
Number 1, 2013;
Pages 5–25
School music in the USA has been portrayed as a ‘dying subject’: music programs have declined as a result of budgetary pressures on education systems, and accountability concerns that prioritise core subject areas. Despite these pressures, some school music programs have survived and flourished. The author reports on a case study of the Lekbery School District in Michigan, whose music program survived more or less unscathed for ten years. Research involved interviews, study of documents, and observation of participants, during the 2009–2010 school year. Factors influencing the district administrators' decision to support the program included their own values and attitudes toward music education; the values of their school communities; the quality of music education that the district provided, or could provide; and music’s contribution to the schools' image. At a political level, changes to the school curriculum were decided by the district’s governing body, which was in turn influenced by prevailing attitudes within the school community. However, members of the school community were in turn influenced by the beliefs of teachers and educational leaders, and by the quality of the music program offered. The results suggest that a high-quality music program, and support for music from the community and governing bodies, can be mutually reinforcing, but also that ‘the removal of any one part of this model would cause the entire system to crumble’ as administrators acceded to pressures to cut back the music program. It is also important to recognise that parents are driven by the needs of their own children and do not necessarily grasp the holistic needs of the school community. Key Learning AreasThe ArtsSubject HeadingsMusicSchool administration School leadership Curriculum planning There are no Conferences available in this issue. |