Infused with our authors’ personal experiences teaching, Literacy in Australia, 3rd Edition is delivered as a full colour printed textbook with an interactive eBook code included. This enables students to master concepts and succeed in assessment by taking the roadblocks out of self-study, with features designed to get the most out of learning such as animations, interactivities, concept check questions and videos.
With a prioritised focus on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures featured throughout the text, pre-service teachers will be well-equipped with the knowledge of what kinds of activities they can include in and out of the classroom for an enriching learning experience for their students.
Table of Contents
About the adapting authors viii
Chapter 1 Examining literacy in the twenty-first century 1
1.1 Mind the gap: literacy practices in school and outside of school 5
1.2 Perspectives on what it means to be literate 7
1.3 Models of schooling that affect literacy development 8
Learning as skill building: industrial model 9
Investigating a question: inquiry model 12
Problematising the status quo: critical model 14
1.4 Six guiding principles for teaching reading and writing in the twenty-first century 16
Principle 1: literacy practices are socially and culturally constructed 16
Principle 2: literacy practices are purposeful 17
Principle 3: literacy practices contain ideologies and values 18
Principle 4: literacy practices are learned through inquiry 19
Principle 5: literacy practices invite readers and writers to use their background knowledge and cultural understandings to make sense of texts 20
Principle 6: literacy practices expand to include everyday texts and multimodal texts 22
1.5 The Australian Curriculum 24
1.6 Creating a vision for effective literacy instruction 25
Chapter 2 Talking to learn in and out of the classroom 31
2.1 Spoken language development 33
Learning to talk 33
Pointing, imitating and pretending: the origins of literacy 34
Meaning, language and learning 35
From home to school 36
From everyday knowledge to educational knowledge 36
Learning language, learning through language, learning about language 37
Conditions for language learning 37
2.2 Spoken language use and language variation 38
Language variation in response to cultural and social contexts 40
Variations in spoken language 40
English language variation and language standard 41
Language variation as a resource for learning 47
2.3 Language and literacy in the curriculum: implications for teaching literacy 50
2.4 Learning language 52
Learning through language 55
2.5 Learning about language 56
A language for talking about language: metalanguage 57
Knowledge about sounds and graphic symbols 58
Knowledge about grammar, words and punctuation 61
Meaning 62
Chapter 3 Getting to know students: Developing culturally relevant practices for reading and writing 68
3.1 Examining cultural diversity in classroom settings 70
Recognising differences in literacy learning within the classroom 71
Learning about home and community practices 72
3.2 Teaching from a culturally relevant perspective 75
3.3 Supporting linguistically diverse learners in reading and writing 76
Connecting students’ background knowledge and personal experiences to literacy events 77
Creating opportunities for students to meaningfully and authentically apply oral language skills 78
Encouraging students’ primary language and/or code switching during literacy events 79
Contextualising instruction of language through authentic literature 79
Documenting students’ home and community literacy practices 80
Establishing culturally relevant interaction patterns in literacy events 82
3.4 Using early assessment to know your students 85
3.5 Kid-watching 86
3.6 Attitudes and interest in reading and writing 89
Attitude questionnaires and surveys 89
Interviews 90
Chapter 4 Theories of literacy development 95
4.1 What does theory have to do with curriculum building? 98
Uncovering your beliefs about teaching and instruction 99
4.2 Four classroom portraits and four theories of literacy development 99
Ms Robyn Teal’s classroom: learning to read means focusing on skills 100
Bottom-up theory of literacy development 102
Ms Cheryl Battle’s classroom: learning to read means understanding the meaning of words 104
Mr Thomas Ruby’s classroom: learning to read means learning how to respond to a text 109
Ms Pauline Fuller’s classroom: learning to read means critically examining the text 114
4.3 Reading models for the twenty-first century classroom 119
Chapter 5 Literacy programs and approaches 124
5.1 Approaches to literacy education 126
Basic skills: grammar conventions, decoding and drills 127
Whole language: authentic texts and meaning making 129
Focus on social practice: situated literacies 130
Text-based literacy and multiliteracy approaches 130
The current situation in Australia 131
5.2 Classroom approaches to literacy programs 133
Developing or adapting a program 133
Theme and concept-based units 134
Literature-based units 135
5.3 Resourcing your classroom literacy program 137
5.4 Scaffolding for literacy 139
The gradual release of responsibility model 140
The teaching learning cycle 140
Reading to learn 141
5.5 Reading and writing procedures within a scaffolding cycle 141
Establishing a shared context 141
Scaffolding for reading and viewing 142
Modelling language and strategies for reading 143
Scaffolding for composition 147
5.6 Structure of literacy instruction 152
Commercial literacy programs 153
5.7 Creating a literacy-rich environment 154
Spaces and places in the classroom to support literacy development 154
Chapter 6 Entering into the literacy landscape: Emergent readers and writers 162
6.1 Historical beginnings of emergent literacy 164
Reading readiness 165
Emergent literacy 167
6.2 Oral language learning: what it means for emergent reading and writing practices 170
Conditions for developing oral language skills 171
Conditions to support young English language learners (ELLs) in preschool settings 172
Dimensions of emergent literacy 173
Concepts of texts 175
Concepts of words 177
Concepts of letters and sounds 178
Assessing the dimensions of emergent literacy 180
6.3 Emergent writing 181
Inventing and refining written language forms 182
Emergent spelling 183
Emergent writing and meaning making 187
6.4 Literacy and technology in early literacy settings 188
Concepts of screen 188
Reading on devices 188
6.5 Literacy events and practices: promoting emergent reading and writing 190
Make use of environmental print 190
Writing centres 191
Reading aloud 192
Reading aloud as a cultural practice 193
Sociodramatic play settings 194
Language experience approach stories (LEA) and the digital language experience approach (D-LEA) 195
Chapter 7 Beginning readers and writers 203
7.1 Guiding principles to promote beginning reading and writing 205
7.2 Exploring beginning reading through the four-resource model 210
Code breaking to exemplify how words work 211
Becoming a text participant 221
Understanding how texts are used 225
Text analyst - thinking critically about texts 226
7.3 Literacy blocks for beginning readers 227
Creating a routine for primary level literacy blocks 228
Teacher-led inquiries 229
Reading and responding 230
7.4 Connections to national achievement standards 243
Chapter 8 Intermediate and accomplished readers and writers 250
8.1 Needs and characteristics of students in middle to upper primary 252
8.2 Guiding principles for intermediate and accomplished readers and writers 253
8.3 What do we teach intermediate and accomplished readers and writers? 256
8.4 Key understandings about multimodal and digital texts 259
8.5 How do we teach intermediate and accomplished readers and writers? 261
Selecting texts for intermediate and accomplished readers 262
Reading and writing conferences 263
8.6 The four-resource model for intermediate and accomplished readers and writers 264
Code breaking for intermediate and accomplished readers 265
Text participant practices with intermediate and accomplished readers 272
Text use with intermediate and accomplished readers and writers 282
Developing critical practices with intermediate and accomplished readers 284
Chapter 9 Effective assessment practices for reading and writing 293
9.1 Formative and summative assessments 295
9.2 Tests and assessments in schools 296
National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 296
Purposes for assessments 299
Literacy assessments reveal ideologies about learning and literacy 301
9.3 The cycle of reflection-assessment-instruction 302
9.4 Traditional and authentic assessment practices 304
Who is interested in assessment? High stakes for parents, teachers and schools 304
Authentic assessment practices 305
Types of authentic assessment practices 306
9.5 Gathering information to use in assessing readers’ and writers’ growth in literacy development 316
Portfolio systems 317
9.6 Assessment practices align with code breaking, text meaning, text use and critical practices 318
Code-breaking assessment 319
Text participant assessments 322
Text use assessments 325
Critical practices assessments 325
Chapter 10 Literature in the classroom 329
10.1 What is literature? 331
The picturebook 332
Graphic novels and manga 334
E-literature 336
Film and television 337
10.2 Literature and context 338
Historical, cultural and social contexts 338
10.3 Responding to literature 340
Reader-response theory 341
Take a stance: a reader’s purpose and attitude 342
10.4 Goals for literature discussions 345
Response and interpretive authority 346
Teacher-led discussions 347
Teacher-led, student-centred discussions 347
Student-led discussions 348
10.5 Examining literature for its features and language 350
Key features of literary texts 351
The language of literary texts 352
10.6 Creating literary texts 355
Author craft 356
Poetry 357
Innovation on a text 357
Digital storytelling 358
Chapter 11 ICTs and reading to learn in the content areas 365
11.1 Reading to learn: the literacy demands in content areas 367
Literacy demands in humanities and social sciences 371
Literacy demands in science 372
Literacy demands in mathematics 373
11.2 Technology and literacy 374
11.3 Integrating ICTs and literacy in the content areas 377
ICT capability across the content areas 380
11.4 Using inquiry-based learning 382
Key principles of inquiry-based learning 383
The teacher’s role in inquiry-based learning 384
Selecting an inquiry topic 385
Planning for inquiry in the classroom 386
11.5 Using texts to develop knowledge and literacy in the content areas 389
Reading and writing to learn in the content areas 389
Using resources to develop knowledge and understanding in the content areas 390
11.6 Teaching strategies for reading and writing in the content areas 396
Read informative texts aloud 397
Provide time to read in content areas 398
Scaffolding creating and communicating with ICTs 398
11.7 Developing literate practices in the content areas: the four-resource model 399
Code-breaking practices 399
Text participant practices 402
Chapter 12 Working with struggling readers and writers 411
12.1 Factors that contribute to struggling reading and writing 413
Cognitive processing 414
Motivation and engagement 414
Teachers’ and parents’ beliefs and attitudes 419
12.2 Identifying struggling readers and writers during literacy events 420
12.3 Instructional practices for struggling readers and writers 421
Echo reading 422
Shared reading 423
Neurological impress method (NIM) 423
Interest and background 423
Read-alouds to extend comprehension and pave the way forward for readers’ choices 424
Voluntary free reading time 425
Buddy reading 426
Reading all day across all curriculum areas 427
Scaffolding 428
Comprehension monitoring strategies 429
12.4 Supporting struggling readers through parent education 431
Creating partnerships with parents and carers 433
12.5 Teaching all children to lead literate lives in the twenty-first century 435
Index 443
