| Literacy 2011 |
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Literacy in English gives students access to the understanding, knowledge, and skills that they need to participate fully in the social, cultural, political, and economic life of New Zealand and the wider world. To be successful participants our students need to be effective oral, written, and visual communicators who are able to think critically and in depth.
Our New Zealand English Curriculum is structured around two interconnected strands, each encompassing the oral, written, and visual forms of the language. The strands differentiate between the modes in which students are primarily:
· Making meaning of ideas or information they receive (Listening, Reading, and Viewing);
· Creating meaning for themselves or others (Speaking, Writing, and Presenting).
Literacy Goals at V.A.S:
Assessment in Literacy
Writing: A writing sample is taken with all students in Years 1 to 6 whereby the surface and deeper features are analysed to determine student needs. At Victoria Avenue school we use National Exemplars and Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning (asTTle) to help teachers analysis of students’ writing in Years 1 – 6. This involves the teachers looking at:
Deeper Features of the writing:
Surface Features of the Writing:
Spelling:
Teachers at all year levels monitor student performance in spelling. However, this year we introduced the Supplementary Spelling Assessments (SSpA), which are standardised tests to identify strengths and weaknesses in spelling for students in Year 4 to 6. This test is administered in March and the results are reported at the parent interview in Term 2.
Reading:
Information on student achievement in ‘reading’ is collected both formally and informally. Teachers formally collect and record information about what students have learned, and also observe informally what students know and are able to do. What teachers record, see and know about students’ reading will all be used to plan and motivate students to take their next learning steps.
Reading Assessment Tools:
Year 1-2 - PM Reading Assessment Year 3 - STAR Supplementary Test of Achievement in Reading
Year 4-6 - Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) Comprehension
Year 4-6 – Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) Vocabulary
Year 3-6 – Probe - Prose Reading Observation Behaviour and Evaluation of Comprehension
Year 4-6 – Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning (asTTle)
Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT):
These are standardised tests developedspecifically for use in New Zealand schools. We administer these tests each year.
PAT Reading Comprehension (Year 4-6): Estimates a student’s current performance in the comprehension of prose material. PAT Reading Vocabulary (Year 4-6): Estimates a student’s current level of understanding of the meaning of common English words.
PM Benchmark Reading Kit (Year 1-2):
Teachers use the PM Benchmark Kit to assess students’ reading abilites using seen and unseen texts.
PROBE Prose Reading Observation Behaviour and Evaluation of Comprehension (Year 3-6):
PROBE determines the reading accuracy and comprehension of students Year 3 to Year 6.
asTTle Reading (Year 4-6):
asTTle Reading is an assessment tool developed for the Ministry of Education by the University of Auckland, and enables teachers to track the progress and achievement of both individual students and groups of students against national standards.
STAR Supplementary Test of Achievement in Reading (Year 3)
At V.A.S Year 3 students are tested on STAR twice a year, Term 1 & 3.
STAR helps teachers to:
• identify those needing extra help
• group children by ability and needs
• diagnose areas of difficulty
• evaluate programmes.
Four subtests of STAR:
• word recognition
• sentence comprehension
• paragraph comprehension
• vocabulary range
Literacy Support Programmes:
At V.A.S we offer a number of programmes for students who need extra
Literacy support. These include:
Online Computer Programmes:
Helping with Literacy at Home:
Reading:
Learning to read between the lines
Readers who successfully "read between the lines" are able to pick up clues that the author leaves in the text. They also connect their own life experiences to what they are reading.
This type of reading requires that the reader act like a detective. She needs to make logical conclusions about the meaning of the text by using evidence. This evidence can take two forms – clues left by the author and experiences from the reader's own life.
Help develop reading comprehension by reading and discussing what your child reads
One way to help your child can improve his reading comprehension is to read what he is reading yourself. Once you have some knowledge of the texts your child is reading, try opening up a conversation with questions or statement starters like:
• I wonder why...
• Why do you think...?
• What do you think will happen...?
• This reminds me of ...
• What do you think the author means by...?
• This is similar to...
• I'm confused about ... Questions and statements such as these will stimulate deeper levels of understanding of the reading material and may open the door to some rich conversation between you and your child.
Spelling:
Year 0-2 Find different ways to help your child write their name Encourage your child to join in when you write lists, letters, birthday cards give lots of praise Enjoy your child’s attempts at writing and spelling when you write with your child try to use lower case [not capital letters] except at the beginning of a sentence Name look at words together when you’re out shopping, on television, or reading together learn songs and rhymes together read books together tell and share stories in English or your home language. Year 1 students need to be using ‘Reading Eggs’ the online spelling/ phonics programme daily. Year 3-6 Encouraging them to look closely at words and talking to them about words. Encouraging them to try new words. Make sure they use ‘Spellodrome’ the online spelling programme daily. Playing word games with them, such as: Hangman, Boggle, Scrabble Helping your child to use a dictionary. Encourage your child to read through their own writing and check for errors, building up his image of himself as a speller by praising near misses Do praise new words that are learned.Encourage them to write to people who will want to know their news Websites for Parents: Strategies and suggestions to use at home in all areas of reading development including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, comprehension and reading aloud. Sites for Parents: www.sitesforparents.com Literacy Matters: www.literacymatters.org Reading Rockets: www.readingrockets.org We Read: Literacy and Education for Life: www.weread.org Family Education: www.familyeducation.com Reading Success Lab: www.readingsuccesslab.com Read To Me www.readtome.biz For additional information with on-line games, stories and printable resources: Reading Is Fundamental (Creating a Nation of Lifelong Readers): www.rif.org Scholastic: www.scholastic.com Public Broadcasting System: www.pbskids.org Starfall: www.starfall.com Literactive www.literactive.com Grade Level Reading Lists/purchase books www.gradelevelreadinglists.org and www.rif.org/readingplanet/gamestation Kid’s Domain www.kidsdomain.com Primary Games www.primarygames.com Read-Write-Think www.readwritethink.org Making Words www.wordles.com Chateau Meddybemps Fun and Games www.meddybemps.com/funandgames.html Brainchild www.brainchild.com Headsprout www.headsprout.com Adrian Bruce Resources www.adrianbruce.com TAKS Practice www.taks-reading.blogspot.com Websites for Fluency Related Reading Activities: These include books online for your reader to enjoy! Literactive www.literactive.com Story Place www.storyplace.com Wired for Books www.wiredforbooks.org/kids.htm Book Hive www.bookhive.com Children’s On-line Library www.aolschool.childrenselibrary.com Absolute Whootie- Stories www.storiestogrowby.com Book Pals www.bookpals.net Poetry www.poetry4kids.com Book Spot www.bookspot.com Auckland Libraries http://www.aucklandcitylibraries.com These sites will give you a wealth of information, ideas and activities for you and your reader. Enjoy! I hope you find these sites useful! Jane Cameron
Literacy Leader
Deputy Principal
Email for further information:
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Click on the red words to go to the websites:
ABC Reading Eggs Spellodrome BBC Kids Games Spelling City |
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