It’s that time of the year again when many teachers and parents begin preparing students for NAPLAN. However, just having students do practice papers is not really going to address any areas of underlying weakness. To really improve their literacy … Continued
There is an abundance of research demonstrating the importance of reading to children from a very young age. They learn about the structure of books, it increases their vocabulary and exposes them to concepts and ideas that they might not … Continued
The number one reason that students perform poorly on comprehension assessments is that they can’t decode (see for example Gentaz et al.’s 2013 research). So, teaching students how to decode (i.e., read) always needs to be the starting point. However, … Continued
Once students have mastered decoding, reading with prosody is another skill that needs to be mastered. Prosody means reading smoothly, at an appropriate speed with expression and intonation that reflects the content of the text. Assessing prosody is an important … Continued
Higher order level comprehension requires you to evaluate and infer. However, these are very difficult skills to teach students. Modelling can often be a powerful means of helping students understand the thinking process underpinning comprehension. Thinking Aloud 1. Plan ahead. … Continued