I

i'

,-,:
-_-_::_

c'.-s ,ri tl-trs

_r,rrl1

practice - that is' on what the book is on elfecdve literacy teaching re.:r-hefrloesthatleaclstoimprovecloutcomesforsttrclents.Theintlr.rctrce LL!(rrr!-.-

':rtte:rclreronstrrclents.learninglraslongbeenrecognisecl.Teachfsmattel,ancl
h:1t thev do matters

our to teach reading and writing sharpetr Compedng claims about how best

a\\-arenessofwlratteaclrersdoanclhelptofocllsattentiononclassroompfltc]ti('c. HoweYef,clearevicienceofthemosteffectivefeaturesofinstfuctionalpracticcluts beenclocttmented.Vecanbeconfidentnotonlyaboutthedegreeoftllctcltclrc.r's t() sttl(lclll that teachers c10 that makes a cliffcrctrc:c influence b.ut also about what it is
olrtcomes.

Teachingpfacdcecanbedescribeclastrulyeffectiveonlywl'renithlLs:rl.ltlsitir't' impactonstuclentachievement.Thisbookaimstohelpteachersscrvctllettccclstl[. alllearnersinNewZealand,sclassfoomsbyshowingteachersthecviclctrcct[rlttlittl<s olltcomcs'

processes' and sttident literacy teaching practice, leatning

.:jjt*1:i*ii'i

! i

The evidence has integrity; it is credible and consistent. It is possible to be precise about what makes a difference to students' literacy learning. Certain features of teaching practice have been clearly linked to impfoyed outcomes for students and to redgced disparities in the achievement of diverse gfoups of students. The evidence that makes these links arises from research studies, in New Zealand and intemationally, that meet criteria for validity and reliability. There are many stuclies of exemplary practice from which researchers, theorists, and practitioners haye drawn conclusions about what constitutes best literacy teaching practice. Some of the key documents are identified at the end of this chapter. Wide agreement has been reached across abtoad range of experts and groups with yarytng perspectiyes on literacy teaching and learning. The dimensions of effective practice, on which the chapter strlrcture of this book is based, have been informed

by this evidence.
Teaching practic can make a major difference to student olrtcomes. A synthesis of
research states: Our best euidence ... is tlrat ulrat bappens in classrooms througlt quality teacbing and tbrougtt tbe quality of tbe learning enuironment generated by tbe teacber and tbe students, is tbe kqt uariable in explaining up to 59o/o, or euen more, of the uariance in studsnt scores. Ministry of Education,
2OO3a, page B

This shift in focus towards effective teaching practice builds on and gives a flew emphasis to New Zealand's long-held tradition of child-centred learning.

Althotrgh children take many pathways in their literacy learning, teachers can apply the features of quality teaching practice effectively for all their students. This is a key message of Effectiue Literacy Practice in Years 1 to 4. The ways in which teachers use instructional strategies and activities or put progralnmes together will vary. Howeyer, all teachers can bring a sharper focLls to their practice, provide goaldirected literucy instruction, and become better informed about ways of helping students from a wide range of backgrounds to make progress in their learning. There is an ongoing search, internationally, for ways of delivering education that will result in more equitable outcomes for all students in schools. The work of New Zeal.trtcl cclucators and researchers has made a significant contribution to this activity. 'l'hc rcsults of both international and local studies focus attention on

.rfrr*trors' rsporosibnfty towards all students and on the possibilities for improving

r[
WprufrffiuMiilwfid'm u@ffiru&ilMWrrffiiiulr ryaUu ilMlrr

sudents" learning.

mrffiiinrqfiflMfo

.flrrry',mrolk
ili*MtrdeqMaimrs@Eottt
rffiirurirffifo*'ness cnd ,ffitrdmrk cryoo@ to acbieue A najor Mt it@tt

Wfwibemisto

be

pteWeZ to take res?onsibilitY for tfu outcomes of tbeir

teacbing, not to belieue tlrat factors in tbe bome and tbe clsild are tbe cause for lack of
proSress.

This focus is of particular significance for New Zealand, given the increasing dirersity of students in New Zealand classrooms and associated disparities in literacy achievement. Research has shown that some groups of students have not been well served by the conYentional literacy practices in our schools (even though these practices have placed New Zealand in the top bracket of literacy achievement in intemational surveys).' The patterns have been well documented: Mlori chilclren, pasifika chilclren, children whose home language is not English, and chilclren in [owdecile schools achieve, on aYefage, at a lower level than other childreu. Initial disparities tehd to increase during subsequent years at school. This book cliscrtsscs the features of effective pfactice that help to reduce these disparities.

Ve have acquired a gfeat deal of knowledge about what is needed to reclltcc disparities in achievement. One landmark project in New Zealancl, an intervcutiot-t
based on professional development for teachers, fesulted in improved achicve mcnt by Maori and Pasifika children in a group of low-decile schools in South AucklandThe authors of the study @hillips, McNaughton, and MacDonalcl, 20O0) concft-tclc

Keith,2002, Page12 (summarising Phillips,

McNaughton, and MacDonald, 2000)

that the historical pattern of low progress is neither inevitable nor itnmntablc' The features of effective practice described in this book can be appliecl to the range of student needs, including the needs of boys and gids, the talented or giftecl, stLldents from diverse backgrounds, students learning English as a new language , and students expefiencing difficulties in their literacy learning.

This book discusses literacy teaching and learning in English, with a focus on the first four years of instruction. It is important to Yiew these years of the child's literacy development in the context both of the years before formal instruction and of subsequent years of schooling. A number of,studies have highlighted:

. . . .

the importance of the child's experiences and engagement in literacy actiYities prior to starting school and when they start school; the significance of the transition to school in terms of a child's learning; the importance of meeting the needs of those whose home literacy pfactices differ from those of the school; the fact that childfen take dffierent pathways towards becoming literate.

of the inf<rrmation in this book is releYant beyond the first four years, gfoups. if nd ccftlrinly thc climensitlns of effective practice apply across allyear
Mr-rch

lrl

lt,r,ll,

llli\ r'rirl('tt(r' .Irc listctl at the end ofthis chaptef. " llr.rl Frorirk

As students move through the school, teachers face the challenge of both maintaining their students' moti'rution and progress and reducing the disparities between the achievements of different groups. Teachers of students beyond year 4 will find helpful guidance in this book as they work to meet these challenges.

Many factors impact on indMdual students' achievements, on the patterns of progress in particular classes, and on patterns across the school. Some of these factors are of a personal natllre, dating to students' feelings of being successftil or capable or to their personal interests. There are also many social, economic, and

cultural forces that together contriblrte to other factors (such as transience) that affect students' learning and influence the nature and scope of their opportunities and experiences both in and out of school.
The challenge for teachers is to accept responsibility in the face of such realities and commit themselves to realising the best outcomes for all their students. Many inspiring stories provide evidence of some teachers' success in circumstances that have long been considered - and often subconsciously accepted - as barriers to achievement. Teachers who are well informed and well equipped can be confident about what they can do to meet the challenges and address the issues.

This book is not just about excellence in teaching practice or expertise in the cognitive processes involved in becoming a reader and writer, vital as these are . Studies have demonstrated the interdependence of personal, social, and academic aspects of the student's well-being.' Connecting with students makes for quality classroom interactions and relationships. The teacher's ability to build quality relationships with students and among students is crucial. This ability is based on the teacher's knowledge and awareness of how learners acquire literacy. Effective teachers create enyironments that facilitate learning because they have a culture of shared understandings and shared valnes, such as caring and welcoming cliversity. Iflhen the teacher's own passion shines through the literacy activities of thc classroom, it affects the quality of the students' learning. What counts most is wlvrt tc:lcrhcts clo, moment by moment, in their interactions with their students.
l1(,r:i

rlrlur:r'1, ril tlrr. e'vitlcncc in these studies,

see

Ministry of Education (2OO3a),pages 79-2-

11

Knowtedge of literacy [earning

Knowledge of literacy learning encompasses knowledge about literacy as well as knowledge about literacy acquisition. Literacy is the ability to understand, respond to, and use those forms of written language that are required by society and valued by individuals and communities.
Teachers need an extensiye and continually developing knowledge of:

. .

the theoretical and research base about teaching, learning, and the process of becoming literate; the repertoire of reading and writing strategies, and the knowledge and awareness, that learners need to develop as they acquire literacy;
and their effective use.

. instnrctional strategies

Knowledge of the learner

Knowledge of the learnef encompasses knowing about the p tlaway of progress for each child and about the patterns ofprogress for literacy learners in general at different points in their development.
Teachers need an extensive and continually developing knowledge of:

each child's individual profile of learning and the implications of this for

instruction;

. patterns of progress for leamers as they acquire literacy; . each child's language and literacy practices outside of school
This knowledge:

as

well

as

in school.

. .

is gathered in a planned way from many sources, formal and informal; is analysed and used to inform practice;
as cultural

. inyolyes sensitivities relating to indiyidual leamers, such considerations or rates of progress.

The effective gathering, analysing, and using of knowledge about the learner is informed by the teacher's knowledge of literacy learning as well as by the teacher's expectations.

nstructiona I strategies

Instrtrctional strategies are the tools of effective practice. They are the deliberate acts of teaching that focus leaming in order to meet a pafticular purpose.
'feachers use instmctional strategies when:

. activating prior knowledge (for example, by questioning to link a child's relevatrt cxperieuce with the text to be read or written); . l;ctting x purpose (for example, to write clearly about personal experietrces);
13

. eqrlicitty md
analvsis);

sysfimaticalty teaching word analysis (for example, by prompting to decode and encode unfamiliar words through letter ancl sound the leamer

text (for example, by developing the learner's ewarene&s of inference to enable them to make meaning in reading and writing); . modelling the processes of being an effective reader and writer (for example , by thinking aloud about how word meanings can be constructed in reading or by selecting appropriate words to convey meaning in writing); . providing feedback (for example, by specifically commenting on the quality and appropriatene ss of features of what a learnet has re ad or written, to provicle direction for new learning).
tezrching ways of comprehending

The teacher's use of instructional strategies is informed by their knowleclge of the leamer and of literacy learning. Effective teachers plan the use of instmctional strategies, and they also make strategic, "on the run" decisions in the course of their
teaching.

Effective teachers use the instructional strategies within a range of contexts and approaches to teaching reading and writing:

. reading to children; . guided reading and writing; . shared reading and writing; . independent reading and writing; . other contexts.
These have been developed as ways of using instructional strategies to guide leamers and provide them with opportunities for learning. Effective teachers Lrse a mix of these contexts and approaches to achieve a balanced progfamme for their students.

Engaging learners with texts

Engaging learners with texts means placing the use and creation of texts at the heart of literacy learning. Texts exist and can be created in written, oral, and visual forms.

Effectiye practice in engaging literacy learners with texts invplves:

. using and creating a variety of appropriate texts in reading and writing; . knowing the language features of texts; . both teachers and learners understanding the pllrposes of using and creating
texts;

cnabling learners to integrate their knowledge, awareness, and repertoire of strategies in usir-rg and creating texts;

. rrral<ing links bctlveen reading and writing; . irrcltrding c()ntenll)()r':lrv and evolving ways t*

of using and creating tefis.

Effective practice involves using and creating rich texts. These relate to children's interests, draw on and afflrm their social and cultural identities, use authentic language, and motivate and challenge them as learners.

Expectations
Expectations are the ideas that teachers, children, parents, and communities have about children as learners - about their knowledge and expertise, their progress, and their achievement. Teachers' expectations are shaped by:

. their beliefs and values; . their professional and theoretical knowledge.

Teachers' expectations for learners should be high but appropriate and should also be:

. cleady expressed; . shared with all partners in the child's

by feedback from all partners;

learning and informed

. reflected upon and reviewed.

Teachers' expectations shape all aspects of their practice. Thev impact on learners' pattems of progress as well as on their
achier-ement.

Partnerships
Partnerships are collaborative relationships that contribute to ancl support children's learning. Each learner liyes in a network of significant people, including their teachers, family, peers, and specialist teachers. Effective teachers recognise the need for, and actively promote, partnerships within these networks.

Effective partners complement one another and yalue one another's contributions.
Each partner has a particular role in the relationship.

Partnerships depend on:

. shared expctations; . shared knowledge about the learner; . shared knowledge about literacy learning; . all partners knowing and valuing the learner's background
inclucling home literacy practices.
lll:lcc:tivc ltartncr"ships ate active, planned, and dynamic.

of experience,

15

xpectc,tisns
Knowledge

literaey
le<x,rning

of

lnstructionlr,l strategies

of ths lesrner

Knawledge

ngc*ging lecrrners

witlr *ex*s

Perrtnerships

Knowledge of literacy leaming encompasses knowledge about literacy as well as knowledge about literacy acquisition. The definition of literacy in this book is:

Language and literacy

Effectiue Literaqt Practice in Years I to 4 focuses on teaching stuclents to read and write using the written forms of the English language. However, it is well established, through silldies and theories of language leaming, that olal language underpins written language; the two are closely interrelated. It is vital for chilclren to listen and speak in order to develop a gra;sp of language. Through talking about eYents as they happen and discussing their ideas, children construct knowledge and awareness and acquire the language they need in order to make sense of their experiences. From their eadiest years on into their school years, children benefit from many and varied opportunities to develop ancl practise orallangtage in their homes, communities, and classrooms. Their language is enriched when they interact in many contexts where supportive adults, including famiy, give them plenty of feedback and encouragemnt. Such interactions provicle children with essential experience to build on when engaging with texts and delighting in them. However, instruction in reading and writing should not "wait,, until a child has a stfong oral
language base.

visual language is inherent in reading and writing. In orcler to fincl and create meaning in written language, students need to understand such features of yisual language as the use of symbols and images to conyey meaning.3 For example, when students use compllters to communicate eyen at a basic level, they need to be able to intfpret the combinations of text and images in desktop icons ancl menus.

Contempora ry environ ments

'lleachers need to consider literacy teaching ancl learning in the light of changing social and cultural environments. Increasing numbers of communication forms, along with increasing cultural and linguistic diversity, have given rise to the concept Literacy practices are the wals in which Iiterate peopte understand, respond io, and
use [anguage forms. Some of

of mtrltiliteracies. It's useful to think in terms of a dynamic, shifting set of literacy practices that shape young learnefs, and indeed all people, as social beings. s7e need a broader yiew of literacy now than ever before. The challenge for teachers is to increase stuclents' control over and awareness of the ways in which the many commllnication forms can be used. Teachers can crrcour':tgcf their students to be reflective and discriminating and, at the same time, t<r cnj<-ry tlrc ltroccss of literacy learntng.
Iitrrtll('r irrlilrlll;tliotl :ll)r,ltl visull language arid its featrifes can be founcl on pages 173-222 of
t t14 I
t t

these practices are required

and vatued inside schoot, some

are required and vatued

outside schoot, and some are common to many settings, both in and out of schoo[.

lixltlrtr/

igt t. t,qt,.

19

in terms of three Effective pracdce has a theoretical basis that can be expressed model, and the rlated concepts: a developmental perspective, a socialisation

An fact that children take individual and multipl pathways of development' and confident understanding of these concepts enables teachers to be informed about theA hteracy teaching practice.

A devetopmentaI PersPective
has learned The child who arrives at school is on a pathway of development and of a gfeatdeal already. It is the business of schools to foster the processes learning, this means enabling development in all learners. In the context of literacy written forms of learners to pfogress towards fluency and independence in using for literacy language. They do so through acquiring knowledge and stfategies learning and awareness of how to use them'

The sociatisation modeI

the child The socialisation model of literacy learning is built on the idea that practices in fact constfucts meaning within social settings. Social ancl cultural development is shaped by their interactions shape all learning, and children's literacy with those around them. A pfocess of socialisation begins at birth and continues concept through the school years and into adult life. This model is based on the
of co-construction.a
A cbilcl's uals of constructing artcl tbeir.faTnily's patterns of
gt r ielun ce

are mutuallY t'ttrttposccl, hence tbe term

t't t-ct

engaging in From their eadiest years, children construct understandings through communities activities at home, in community settings, and at school. Families and develop shared ways of pafticipating in these activities, based on shared

tttstruction.
McN:rtrghton, 2OO2, Page 23

leam' understandings. Some activities ate afl:atged specifically to help children afe the means children,s intefactions with other people during these activities young through which literacy learning takes place. The literacy practices that children see usecl and valued by those closest to them become part of their own cultural identitY and exPertise.

practices, Schools, as well as families ancl communities, have well-established literacy pattefll of guidance' and children learn to constfuct meanings within their school's instmctiohal strategies and The ways in which a teacher uses the curriculum, learn approaches, and rich texts with students not only cletermine what the students patterns of general but also shape their individual developmental pathways and their activities in a social situation (the classroom), pfogfess. Students take part in literacy clrawing upon the teacher and the other students to help them construct process is interactive: the tunclerstanclings about texts and the ideas in the texts. The their expertise to shale with others in these activities, and at the same
strrclcnts bring

literacy tirnc they develop new expertise. All sfudents should find classroom ir(' t i v t ies lloth enlol'able and challenging'
i

'

.1,1,,,

(.tF(.rln5tnrcriill 6:Ls been described by Stuart McNaughton, drawing upon his own i*,iri r ili,:dr,,,,gf1r,rr. lrx)i t.).r.) .t{rrl) and rhar of vaisiner (1988) and Rogoff (199O).
, ,,,,,,,.1,, ()l

-,
:r,:i!:::r$'':3r:

lndividuaL and muttipl'e pathways of devetopment

Eachchilclisonatrniclrtepathw-ar-ofder-elopment.Althoughthereiswide certain outcomes at particular agfeement that chilclren cnn ne expected to achieve always variations in children's points in their progress (see pages 7 o-7 4)' there are who sees learning as a and in their routes and rates of progress. A teacher
expeftise

pfocessofco-constnrctionwillrecognisethattherearemultiplewaysinwhich use written forms of langnage' different chilclren constflrct meanings ancl learn to TheworkofMarieClayhasbeenattheforefrontinestablishingtlrerrnderstanding thatitiSnecessaryfortheteachertowofkwithwhatthechildalreadyknowsand is point in a clrilcl's development, there can contfol - what they afe goocl at. At any right and whole for the child at that time. a Sense in which their learning is a totality, literacy activity' The child can be "engagecl as an expert" in any
Close recorcling

chilclren saY reueals

of t'ubat that tbeY dffirentlY along baue trauelecl the patb of language acqttisition, and tbeY are not

lmpLications for teachers

abotrt how children In strmmary, three relatecl concepts trnderlie un(lefstandings acquire literacY:

atl at tbe same Place in tbeir learning: some haue gon'e fu.rtber than otbers. Tbeir indiai dual difference s probablY arose from diJferent kinols of learning oqPortunities in their real-utorld cofltexts' and tbe onlY Place to stnrt

. The pathway to literacy is developmental'

.Socialanclctrlttrralpracticesslrapechildren,sliteracylearning. . chilclren take inclividual ancl multiple pathways to literacy'
grasp. They highlight the ttniqtteness These are essential concepts for teachers to in view of the diverse of the needs of each Stlldent, which is especially impoftant An understanding ofthese concepts natlrre of school populations (see also page 46)' choosing learning activities' is essentiai for teachers planning literacy pfogfammes, and being strategic in their
teaching.

further

langu age de L' e lop

t)t

rlt

is to laork tuitlt t|lsat tl:el' alreadY control Clav, 1998' Page 88

There is therefore no Place

fbr programmes with

prescriptive methods and
materials or for

preclternined, reciPe-stYle titeracy activities that claim to fit the needs of all learners. 't'lrere is no evidence of a single sequence of literacY clevelopment. The evidence shows clearlY that there are many pathways that lead chilclrer.r to the desired goal ol l<';trttitrii lrr re:tcl and write.'

itii)r

sn(llcrirItt,t."rr

l,rt ,.r:LtliPlcSnon.BurnsandGriffin(1998)andClay(1998'2001)

21

Only when students afe motiYated, are interested, and enioy leaming do they make the progress they are capable of in their literacy learning and go on to become lifelong leamers. An effective teachef connects to each student'S intefests, expefiences, and sense of iclentity, shafes a loYe of reading and writing, and generates excitement and a Sefise of pufpose - all this giYes heaft to a teachef'S practice. The teacher's practice should also be informed by knowledge about the role of motiyation in the students' learning. (For eYidence about the importance of motiyation and engagement, refer to the end of this chapter.) Motivation
Teachers have to cfeate the conditions

fof motiYation; it's not iust a mattef of

immersing stLrdents in learning actiyities. V/hen students are motiYated and have developed the positive attitucles that will lead them to become independent readers and writefs, they gain long-term benefits. Studies have shown that students' fecfeational feading and wfiting is a good indicator of their achieYement. Teachers' expectations for students' behaviour and academic performance inflLlence the students' motivation ancl therefofe theif actual achievement (see chapter 6). students afe mofe motiyatecl when their learning actiYify is directed towards a goal that they knbw, when they receiye informatiye and affirming feedback, and when they can see the links between what they did and successful outcomes. Motivation is affected by self-concept and a sense of self-efficacy. A belief in themselves ancl their ability to succeed in classroom tasks has an energising effect on both teachefs and students. This is why motiYation is often a maior issue for teachers working with stuclents who have experienced diffictllties in reading or

writing.
lllliituttely,
r,tur

goal

u)ity't

s!.udcilts r2[ diuerse ltat'kgrutuncls, ancl tuitb all slu(l(ttl.s, ls lr) promote

tttttttcrsbllt of lik:rctcy

...

Students' motiyation and engagment incfease when they have ownership of their literacy learning and ate famihar with the language and the tasks expected of them. This is especially so for those stuclents whose backgrounds differ from that of the dominant school culture. When these learners' cultural values and knowledge are incorporated into their learning actiYities, they are more motivated to learn. Engagement Engagement means participating actively father than being passive in the learning pfocess. Learners engage more readily when they expect to succeed and when they see worthwhile challenge in their learning tasks.

()u'u(t'slrll)
t,rt I tt l, t !4 I / !e

Lrtts

clo

uitb
ct

urc)t,

ltcr

ttir'|g

lr

nl

t't

rt ! I / I ttrlc lr

\tutrtl

tIIi"'tr. r, tt,ttt l.\tttItt,q Iltr Lutltit rtl ttzlttl.. tllt,trtt I'

,\rr, -lil{}j, 1lr6r, i9f3

- the cognitive forms of language. When learners engage intellectually, they 1rr<rccssing of written lrring nretrtal rigour and focus to their leaming task. As they read and write, they rr<.ctl to think c<lnsciouslv about how to use the knowledge and strategies they
Irr literacy leaming, intellectual engagernent felates to thinking :tt't'itt:cltriring.
7?

Emotional engagenlent relates closel1- to motil-ation and interest and is important for both teachers and str-rdents. Lirerac\- learners who are emotionally engaged will have a
positive, sometimes even passionate, attitLlde towards reading and writing and will take ownership of their learning. Learners' emotional engagement is affected by other people's expectations and by their own self-concepts. 'Vtrhen teachers and stuclents are emotionally engaged in the learning, this enhances the quality of the relationships built between teachers and students and among students. A ftrrther concept to consider is cultural engagement Every learner views literacy tasks through a cultnral "lens" because most of the prior knowledge, experiences, and values that a leamer brings to literacy actiyities arise from their cultural background. Culturally based values and knowledge affect each learner's engagement and interest in the learning activiry. Ensuring cultural engagement is particularly impoftant in classrooms where the stlldents come from diverse backgrounds, especially where their cultural backgrounds differ from the teacher's.
.L

t .-

.i

::::.:U:li:::4:+

---ai::r:: Jj;3F.e:+3 _"::'

,:..r-.l "'

_,

rr

9l:

:,:i=e

23

Theprocessofbecomingliterateisintenselycomplex.Theliterarylearnerhasto ptlt of strategies' and awareness of how to develop a knowledge nalt, a repertoire theirknowledgeandstrategiestogether.Studentsacqtrireliteracythroughplanned activitiesthatgivettremrlchexperienceswithtextsandrelatedlanguageactivities. Aknowledgeofhowlearnersacquireliteracyunderpinstheteachingpracticeof
confidence' effective teachers and gives them well-founded

A framework
IntheframeworkfordescribingliteracyacquisitionthatiSoutlinedinthisbook, readingandwritingafeseenashavingthreeaspects:learningthecode,making meaning, and thinking criticallY'

Learning the code

Thismeansdevelopingtheabilitytodecodeandencodewrittenformsoflanguage. ThefocusiSontheconventionsofwrittenlanguageandtheskillsreqtriredtoread andwriteletters,words,ancltext'"Crackingthecode"isanexcitingintellectual challenge for learners'

Making meaning
Thisirwolvesdevelopingandtrsingknowleclge,strategies,andawarenessinorderto

getandconYeymeaningwhenreadingo.*.i.i,,g.Italsoinvolvesunderstandingthe for becoming awafethat texts are intended forms and pufposes of liff.r.nt texts and
an audience.

Thinking criticattY
Becomingliterateinvolvesreadingandwritingbeyondaliteral,factuallevel.It being to text when reading' and analysing meanings, responding critically
involves

criticallyawarewhencomposingtexts.Italsoinvolvesrespondingtotextsata personallevel,reflectingonthem,andfindingrewardinbeingareaderandawriter.

The three asPects

Althoughthesethreeaspectsaredescribedseparatelyabove,theydeveloptogether

duringtheprocessorbecomingliterate.Litefacylearnersneedtobecomeaccurate andefficientintheactualbusinessofreadingandwritingletters,words,andtext. no point unless it is the means to the Learning the code is crucial' But it has meaning and purpose. At the same time' essential end - reading and writing with students should be responding from the beginning oili,tt"ty instruction' compose' For both students and their thoughtftitly to the texts thatthey read and experiences that develop their teachers, engagrngactively in many text-based
literacylearningacrosstrresethreeaspectsshouldprovidedailyenjoymentand
challenge
.6

,,

attrl lrrcclrotlr. ( l'l"J')'t

described by Luke described above are based on the model l,lr.. tlrr,,,, :tspe(.]5 ()l litcr.rcl.acqulsirion

With tecrcher suPPort,

students develop knowledge crnd strcrtegies crnd crlso crn clwq,reness of how to use them crs recrders trnd writers.

25

Ihe dercloPrnent of knowtedge, strategies' and and to think critically' ilsfrcf karnto decode and encode, to make meaning'
lczmersdfvdopknowledge,strategies'andawareness'whichmaybedescribedas fte cue comlpnents of literacy development' I,caroefsneedacontinuallyincreasingbodyofknott'lledgeastheyacquireliteracy. This knovrledge is of two kinds: .backgroundknowledgeandexperience-lifeexperiencesandgeneralknowledge
(seePage2T);

awareness

.knowledgeaboutreadingandwfiting,howtextswork,andhowprintworks.
Theliteracy-relatedknowledgethatyounglearnersneedtodevelopisdisctrssed
on pages 27-37.

for literacy' Readers and writers use various Learners need a fepeftoife of strategies

strategiesincombinationwiththeirknowledgeinofdertodecodeandencode' makemeaning,andthinkcritically.Forexample,theyuseprocessingstfategies(see 4o-4t and l3l-134)' and the page 38),comprehension strategies (see pages (see page 735-141)' strategies that xepart of the writing process
Atoareness is ..' being able to
attend to sonxetbinS, act u?on it, or work Laith it.
Clay, 1998, Page 42

they know and can do and how to Leamers need to develop a'u)areness of what

deliberatelyapplyandcontroltheirknowledgeandstrategies.ThiSconceptof learning outlined on pages 2O-21' Fot awafeness is inherent in the theory of literacy see pages 43-45' further discussion of the development of awareness' Closelyrelatedtotheconceptofawarenessist}ratofmetacognition.ThistermiS and talking about one's own often used to describe the processes of thinking

leaming.Beingabletoartictrlatewhattheyknowandcandohelpsstudentstoset
themselves new goals and meet new challenges'

Studentsdevelopknowledge,stfategies,andawarenessforliteracylearninginan in order to attend to word-level integrated way, not sequentially' For example'

information(areadingstrategy),theydrawontheirknowledgeofhowpfintwofks andtheirawafenessofphonicsandletterforms.AttheSametime,workingout wordsinthesewaysaddstotheifknowledgeofhowwordsareformedandtotheir awareness of effective strategies for solving words'

.I.lrc clevelopment of learners, knowledge, Stfategies, and awareness does aretts <tl' the cumiculum'

flot occuf

rltrritrgliteracysessionsonly.Learningoccurs,andshotrldbeplannedfor,acrossall

Devetoping knowtedge for literacy tearning

,l,1rt.
Iru

r l* g,tr r t t t I r.l k r I o w lc<Ige and literacy-related knowledge'

literacy learning includes lin('lvlcdge that students need to develop for

Background knowtedge
Successftil reaclers and writers do much more than process information. They bring their experience and existing knowledge, accumulated both in and out of school, to their reading and wfiting in order to constflrct meaning and develop

new Lrndefstandings.
As already discussed, children's knowledge is built within social and culft1r.al settings, ancl there are socially determined pattefns of knowledge. However, each learner,s body of knowledge is unique; there are multiple pathv/ays by which learners become literate.

The knowledge and experience that learners bring to their reading of wfiting, including the yocabulary they have developed, give them a st;fting point for connecting with a text of clari{ying the ideas they seek to convey. Intfoducing a topic for shared writing or a text for guided reading by inviting conversation about the pictures and content, for example, helps young leamers to make connections

with what ttrey already know.

Thc diversity among students in our schools pfesents a challenge for teachers - to iclentify and builcl upon the knowledge that all their students bring to the classroom. Teachers should always be aware that what the learner brings to the leaming task is as important as what the teacher teaches.

Literacy-re[ated knowted ge
From their eadiest attempts at reading and writing, children develop their literacyrelated knowledge. As they begin formal instfLlction at school, they need to know how txts work (see below). They need to learn that spoken language is made up of sounds and words, to leam the spoken and wfitten forms of the letters of the alphabet, and to understand that these felate to the sounds of spoken language (see pages 32-37). They also need to know about the visual features ofprint (see
page J4).

Knowledge of how texts work

V/hen children have frequent expefiences of reading and writing, they begin to realise that there is a relationship befween what they heat and the written text they create or read. Through listening to and talking about stofies of through cfeating them, children learn the importance of sounds, of particular wofds, and of the flow and rhlthm of language and story structufe. They learn that words and the ways people say them can erroke an emotional response. They learn that texts can clelight and inform and that it is worthwhile to listen to, to fead, to view, and

to create them.
Chilclren leatn that:

. texts havc meaning and purpose; . texts havr: u particular structure, according to their

purpose;
27

print is a written form of spoken language; the conventions of print are consistent; written text is constant.
expectations and to make This knowledge enables children to clevelop certain

predictionsabotrttlreformandStructufeofthetextthattheyaregoingtoreador write.TheirknowledgeofthepurposesandStfuctLrfesoftextsincreasesaSthey as
ancl thoughtftil perspective progfess, enabling them to develop an analyical

readers and writers.

3
,:

,&_

:-i1

F..ii.;

i.#,t
,
{ir:i

:F*

il

Using sources of information in texts

information in texts' along Leamers need to know how to use the sources of

with

theirpriorknowledgeandexperience,todecodeanclencodewfittenEnglish,make meaning, and think critically. ThethreeinterrelateclSoufcesofinformationinwrittenlanguagethatreadersand writers Lrse ar: . meaniug (semantics) - the meanings of words and of images, such as pictures and cliagrams, in their context;

. stfuctllfe (syntax) - the grammatical stftrctures of phrases and sentences; . visuztl ancl grapho-phonic information, that is, the features of the printed letters' print itself' worcls, ancl punctuation - the visual aspects of the
.l'irc,sr.

to one another' sotrrccs <lf information need to be considerecl in relation

Mcaning, semantic sources of information

{ .lrilr.l|r.rr

ill
28

their experiences lrrrikl trll kttorvlcdge of s-ords and their meanings through in relation to the :!pr|!!('tl l;ttletl;il{t- itt t'rcn'clar life Words acquire meaning

child's experience. Before they start school, children have absorbed the meanings of many words. They have leamed the names of the people, objects, and events in their lives, and they have also learned to interpret subtle differences in meaning, for example, between "Sit up", "Sit down', and "Sit stjll,,.
Most will have a sense of English idiom (if English is their first language) and understand that "Hang on a minute" does not imply holding on to anything.

will

children who experience rich conyersations with adults, siblings, and peers and who hear lots of stories and rhymes meet a great number of worcls in different contexts and build up a store of words they can use fluently. some children's exposure to language may be more limited, and their vocabulary development may be slower. A child usually comes to understand what particular words mean through experience , but teachers can help to expand children's awareness of how words work by discussing the precise meanings of words as they arise in classroom actiyities, by planning text-based experiences (see chapter 5), and by encouraging quality conYersations (see pages 8S-S9). Such experiences enable children to build a growing range of words that they will recognise in their reading and use in their writing.
Using illustrations with text helps learners to build meaning. Children's fifst writing is often captions for pictures; this develops their concepts about how pictures and words work together. The illustrations in a book may catry cmcial information to help a young reader understand unfamiliar content and settings, or they may provide a subtext that offers a different perspective . In many factual texts, the photographs,

illustrations, and diagrams are essential features for readers seeking

understanding of the information.

full

Structure: syntactic sources of information

children learn and develop language patterns from infancy. 'well before ababy can distinguish of articulate a word, its babble imitates the "tune,, of the language it hears. Later, as children leam to talk, their gtammatical structures are mostly corfect. Sometimes when they apply rules to make their meaning clearer, the results don't fit the irregularity of the English language but still demonsrrate learning progress. For example, saying "Daddy rided,,, rather than *Daddy rode ,,, shows an understanding of the standard form of the past tense in English. Knowing the strLrcture or syntax of alanguage helps readers to predict a word or the order of words in a sentence. A child who is using syntactic information knows what type of word is missing in the sentence "The dog -._- over the wall.,, The language of most five-year-olds enables them to use syntax well in predicting ancl checking the accuracy of words they read in their first language. Similady, when children begin to write , they try to record what they might say. They are governed by syntax because the words we hear, speak, read, ancl write are organised into grammatical seqllences. children's understandings of written language structure increase progressively through planned literacy actiyities.

29

-ffsruat and grapho-phonic sources of information features of the print itself' Tilrd smces of information for readers afe the visual wofds' sentences' and the trmf itrmafion if, a text includes letters, letter clustefs' crrrrEdimsofprinqsuchasdirection,spacesbetweenwords,theshapesofletters does not include illustrations' md wrds, and puncnration marks' It *grapho-phonic infomation" encapsulates the idea that the infomation The rcrm graphic (the to write u woro is partly visual or used to decode a printed word or and partly atral or phonic (the learner learner recognises the printecl shape) to The learner draws on prior knowledge recrates the sounds oi l.*.r, and words).

ffiane
nneiilun9.

rem.emberwhichvisualconfigufationgoeswithwhichsound.Refertopage32fot informationaboutphoni"'^dtopages35-STforinformationaboutletter-sound
relationshiPs-

whentheywrite,studentsmustattendtothedetailofeachword.Theyaddtotheir storeofknowledgeabouthowcertainvisualshapesrelatetocertainsotrndsasthey lookcloselyatthefeaturesoflettersandnoticecombinationsoflettersthatoccul

often.

lntegratingtheSourcesofinformationinreadingandwriting
Fluentreadersanclwritersdrawontheirpriorknowledgeanduseallavailable Soufcesofinformationsimultaneouslyandusuallyunconsciously.Beginningreaders andwritersneedtobetaughttodrawonthesesoufcesandtousethemefficiently.

Haytey was reading the senience

..At

untiI l'ast the wol'f woke up,,, She read fl.uently

.thewrittenword..woke'',whichwasunfamiliar.Sherecognisedthaithesentence "watked".

;;r;ir;

with required a verb and that the word began

"w",

so she tried

:Thenextword,,up,,,WaSfamil'iar,andHayteyreatisedthat..wal.kedup,'wou[dnot .makesenseinthiscontext,soshese[f-correctedto..wokeup,'.

of information effortlessly in theif Students leam to use and integrate the sources reading and writing when theY have: . wide range of enjoyable books to hear and rcad;
a

. varied writing exPeriences; . planned, explicit instruction by the teacher;

o fii?rrY

language; opportunities to develop their oral and written

.manyopportunitiestopfactisereadingandwritinganincreasingrangeoftexts
that become progressively more challenging'

30

Phonemic awareness and Phonics

I[ordftobecomefeadersandwriters,childrenneedtodevelopaknowledgeof relationships' of the alphabet and of lettef-sound fre names anc sorrnos?it. t.,a.r, commonly associated school akeadyknowing the sounds Irtenrr children come to learn to read
rl1ffifis
itB

ilflfid

tflijtin@{'tfitd

s@lufids ffiiLliffir

children first letter of?eir name)' As with some letrers (especially the andwrite,theydevelopmuchfullerunderstandingsofhowsoundsrelatetolettefs' to role in teaching children how wordr. Teachers rraye acr.rciJ le$er clusters, "oo and encoding' which is essential for decoding
dras- on phonologlcal knowledge'

lmffiil|Ill
nmtiifultmfrm,

drffi{wrerr}ess

ts a

to have Childrendonothavetobeabletoflameeveryletterofthealphabetbefofethey writing' They do' however' need instruction in reading and
begin format

rttntrnttmm iurtirdlttulmrum

@*rn:l an d

ertnell-a'

developedpto"t-it"**t"t"^dtot"tdtrs=tundthatthereisarelationship them' the letters that represent between spoken sounds and
PhonemicawafenessstaftsVrithdistinguishingbetweenwordlinaStfeamofspeech. sounds' in the ttre pnoftmes' or individual extends to nti"glift io t""' and It then n.*.." "thing" and "think"; "hint" is, ,o r..or?r* the differenc. words, that phonemic awareness children rypically develop "hunt"; "bat" and "p";' "o"t'g oral lang"agt' t:Ot:lilYJitll.oemt' iingles' through manv experiences with is also developed *o'Jgutes' Their phonemic awareness songs,
rhymes, ""c through writing' Phonemic awareness is fundament

iruWryPme@Mim"rn Lilhurnryl,mqe 'um

the sounds of the Eeneral

mfr

to the ffif,lliri$r m affiiend as se{utmds cfr language trffirilr,ct fnum its meaning'

atfi

and eafly success in reading

writing' It

enableschildrentodeveloptheunderstarroirrgorletter-soundrelationshipsthatis able to distinguish sounds encoding. childrerihave to be essential to decoding and them'

with the letters that represent before they can *ut"ttt them

they may have hearing and iclentifying sounds, If children appeatto have difficutty arranged'7 a hearing check shoulcl be impaired hearing,

";;;t

Phonics: the reLationshiP

between sPoken sounds and the letters that rePresent

them; the corresPondence in be tween sound and sYmbol system' an atPhabetic writing

Anunderstandingofphonicsalsounderpinschildren,sliteracylearning.Children which letters repfesent which learn, tfuough deliberate, ro..rr.Jirrr,fLlction, need to through writing' , souncls. They tearn?gfeat deal about lettef-sound relationships letters represent the of which , Beginning wfitefs l""ri*rt, engage*itrrit " problem lay a sound basis of they doing so, , sounds in the worcls they want to use. In .rJ*o sounds' Effective teaching helps i.i berween their knowledge about relationships and also to transfer back to inrs tno*t.oge to theif reading ,o ,rurrr*
students

writingtherrnderstandingstheygainduringreadinganclorallanguageactivities. to print' on pages 3546') (See the section on relatlng sounds

Throughreadingandwritingactivities,teachershelpsrudentstoapplytheirgrowing they develop gain more (rlt'fidt"(]" and skill' understanding of phonics' 'l'

't"dt"ts

be tlreirknowledgeandunderstandingfurther.Theyinvestigatemofecomplexletterone sound in English can for example, by discovering ttrat souncl relationships, "phone"' "chatacte.t" 'iki"ttt"' and "castle"; representecl by different 'ptUlg'' t]rJ11* "#"*"' "c<rttgh", and i:t:,T: 144-t48'> on pases

Tt speuing' ;:ilf,l;;H. t":#;;' o'n"r' 30' and --^r^^

profoundlv d-t'"f N(,tI rlrlr ttrost t'ltiltln'n. srto:rrc

"fai";;;;'

l2-T:1;*'"

-h^aemi' 'w2reness t^""9::l;ffiti#g*t?:?lttLYJttti""eu"e'

in the way thlt

37

l-l[f;l'l"t;t*iiirirea"r'r ilii,;fri'illlir,.lililrl;J:m!-:i[:r,i..- 'ir t st'c<tncr rans(rasc' nretrittnt

fi,i'i'i;',rlJ,;l'Jliil:;l'lll'ril;li;"; 'i;"''L,.r''iri.'

rd:l'

i' .n r.,. ,-r rc ng

Phonemic awareness and Phonics

Ioordftobecomefeadersandwriters,childrenneedtodevelopaknowledgeof relationships' ,a.r, of the alphabet and of lettef-sound tre names ana sorrnos J,t. t commonly associated akeadyttowing the sounds lteny childrco come to school children learn to read first t.aa., oiit.ir name)' As with some letrers (especially the how andwrite'theydevelopmuchfullerunderstandingsofhowsoundsrelatetoletters, to acruciJ role in teaching children
letter clusters, "oO
and encoding' which is essential for decoding draw on phonological knowledge '

Mwfufis

smd[

mnmitn
wfunln

wo'd''

Teachers have

wuulrtnrds

rifrlflllrrrunnrnmlUmedl

amwftsii?ess rs a

to have Childrendonothavetobeabletonameeveryletterofthealphabetbefofethey writing' They do' however' need instruction in reading and
begin format

rrflnMllm

lllrnrdlllluffiiTsrte

m'nrn and

MiMflttm,iluo'

tr gwnem-al
o'f the sounds of

developedptto"t*""*"""t"*dtot"'dtrstundthatthereisarelationship that represent them'

the leters between spoken sounds and

ummpnmmhllnm
LJhnrnr@Pru@q rum

the Eeneral

ltm attend to the dmftlililrfln' as 5@il,umilds ofr language ddumct frorn iis meaning'

Phonemicawafenessstaftswithdistinguishingbetweenwordlinastreamofspeech. sounds' in the the phoie-ts' or individual and extends to being able to hear It then i.*.." "thing" and "think"' "hint" is, ,o ...or?r* ,t. orr.r.n.. words, that phonemic awareness children typicaily develop "hunt"; "bat" and"pu';' Votrng poems' lingles' oral langt'agt' especially with through many experiences with is also developed *;;;;;es' Their ptto""tmic awareness
rhymes, songs,

through writing.

""o

PhonemicawafenessisfundamentaltoearlySuccessinreadingandwfiting.It is relationships that the understanding of letter-sound enables children to develop able to distinguish sounds encoding. childrerihaYe to be essential to decoding and them' with the letters that represent before they can *ut"ttt them Ifchildrenappeattohavedifficuttyhearingandiclentifyingsorrnds,theymaylrave be arranged'7
impaired hearing,
a hearing check shoulcl

";;;t

Phonics: the relLationshiP

between sPoken sounds and the letters that rePresent

them; the corresPondence l:etween sound and sYmbol in an aiPhabetic writing system'

.Anunderstandingofphonicsalsounderpinschildren,sliteracylearning.Childrenwhich fepfesent ro..rr.Jnr,fLrction, which letters need to learn, through deliberate, .soun(ls.Theylearnagteatdealabotttletter-sotrndrelationshipsthroughwriting. the of which letters repfesent , Beginning wfitefs l""li"*r, eng^ge*itrrit " problem lay a sound basis of I sounds in the words they want to use' tn doing so' they Effective teaching helps berween i.ir.rJ*o sounds.
knowledge about relationships

studentstot,u,,,fothistnowteogetotheirreadingandalsototransferbacktotheir writingtherrnderstandingstheygainduringreadingandorallanguageactivities. on pages 3546') on relatlng sounds to print'

(See the section

Throughreadingandwritingactivities,teachershelpsrudentstoapplytheirgrowing and skill' they develop st"d"nts gain more (rlttfidt"(]t understanding of phonics' 'ls
be tlreirknowledgeandunderstandingfurther.Theyinvestigatemofcomplexletterut one sound in English can for example, by discovering tt souncl relationships, "drratlct:f"ikittttt"' and "castle"; "phone"' represented by dinerent

"c<rrrgh", and

;:ilil;;H:. t#;;;'
37

'ptUlg'' "fatr";;;;' "#"*"' Tt t]rJ11* St:,i:: ;2-T::* 144-148'> o" p"" 30' and spe[ing' on pases
-^1^^ ^h^rami' t^""9::l;;:tiflg*t::fr-lt 'wereness in LYitttii"gt'"g'

t"

profoundlv d9"f N,,rI rlr:rr ttrost t'ltiltlrcn. $ho rrr

the w'ay ih1tt

iirst

,l,ii,lfii'illlil.llilll;ImT-::,T:ii'#t],ijf"''.;;;;;:;i;fr." .f it st'trtntl lrrngttrtgc' irit lx l"rt' lt"trrrlri

l,rrrgrr,lFt'

rt'.v.,tot'iiiiiteir'ing

. i' in .,...,'lrrcir
I

'it"'-'srt

"tttlitrnr

Refer also to the Ministry of Education's Ready to Reacl Teaclter Support Material: Sound Sense: Pbonics and phonological Awareness.

Learning about print

All literacy learners need to: develop concepts about print, leam to readand

write letters and words, learn about visual language in texts (including electronic
texts), develop a sight vocabulary, learn

to relate sotmds to print and to relate parts of words to sounds, and apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to their reading and writing. AII students need explicit instruction to ensure that
they develop this essential learning. Those who start school with less experience of print than others in the class may need more intensive instruction.
Developing concepts about print Emergent readers and writers of English texts need to acquire a knowledge of the essential conventions of print (that is, the

conventions of wfitten text). They leam

rhat:

print contains a text is written and read from left to right with a retum sweep to the left for the next line;
there is a one-to-one match between each spoken and written word;
sentences staft with capital letters and end wirh fulIstops;

print on the left-hand page is read

before that on the right-hand page; the print on a book's coyer and title page gives the title and other details, and the cover picture generally suggests what the book is about; illustrations convey meaning and to the text on the page.

ti
it, -l}i

io

i i-

ti

1.,1

date

Learning to read and write letters and words As they learn about letters and words, students need to focus on such asPects as:

. the characteristics of letter formation,

including dots, tails, crossbars, and curves; . differences in letter orientation, such as in "d" and "b"; (or . the various forms of such letters as -o'') and tg" tor "o");
the shape of significant letters, sttch as the first letter of a child's name; upper-case ancl lower-case forms of letters

the shape and length of individual *-orcls'

such as "hippopotamus" and ''book'

t v;rf

_<v

-l*

<l)

b o

Although students may develop much of this knowledge through text-based experierrce s' teachers will need to teach and rein-force manv in aspects by explicit instruction' This may occttr has arisen, but learning need that a mini-lesson (see page 90) to meet an immediate
planned reading and writing activities' should normally occur within a pfogramme of refer to letters iu a variety In the eady stages of reading and writing, children tencl to use the letter names of ways. To provide a consistent identifier, teachers should when referring to letters.
Learning about visual-language features of texts features of texts, they can As students learn to recognise various visual-language

applythisknowleclgetoconstflrctingmeaningintheirreadingandconveying meaning in their writing' Students need to know about: . the effects of the layout of words, pictures, and captions; . tire waY pictures can confirm or conYey information;

. the meaning of signs and symbols, such as road signs and logos; . the significance of the icons on a complrter screen; . the meaning of keyboard symbols, such as arrows'
features' V4ren we read or Electronic forms of text have partictllaf visual-language and on the same write electronic fbrms of text, we draw on ouf prior knowledge semantics, and grapho-phonic and solrfces of information as in printecl text: syntax, text features are specific to visual information. Ho\!'e1-er. Some conventions and symbols, and complex ways electronic pfesentation. especialh menus. icons' visual
navigate ()[,irltegrating graphics and text. students need guidance in how to way through tables of contents, c.l<"ctt.onic text. just as thel. do for finding their for using them in writing' rnck.xcs, ancl other prhi te ature s s-hen reading or

l/t

Developing a sight vocabulary

recognise high-frequency words and personal_interest worcls.

It's essential for young readers and writers to develop a sight vocabulary, that is, a stofe of words that they recognise automaticauy. At first, students will leam to

further sight words. (See the section on page 36 about relating parts of words to
sounds.)

single word and allows them to work with phrases and sentences. V7-hen learners can recognise or write words immediately, they are free to concentrate on meaning as they read or write. HaYing a store of sight words also helps learners to acquire

The development of a sight vocabulary is a key factor in enabling beginning readers to moye on.' A store of sight words frees the reader from having to process eyery

HoweYet, even the most experienced reader will need to use word-levei information - for example, when meeting unfamiliar technical tefms. And, for beginning readers, reading accurately takes priority over reading fluently. Gradually, with guided practice, they will learn to recognise most words in a text automatically. Leamers acquire a vocabulary for reading and writing through:
at times

. reading texts that

'
.

use high-frequency words repeatedly; frequent shared writing sessions where high-frequency words are used repeatedly;

repeated readings of easy and familiat books;

'

writing or dictating their own texts to share with the class and their family, using both familiar and new vocabulary;

' adapting familiar texts in their writing, using similar vocabulary and structures; ' reading and writing notices, rabers, notes on the message board, and signs; ' constructing charts of words with common so'nd or spelling pattefns;
"playing" with words in games, rhymes, and songs.

Relating sounds to print

clrildren's conversations with adults and with one another are a cnticalcomponent of literacy leaming. Bbcause oral language is such a powerful influence in early literacy development, teachers need to create purposeful t0 talk.

By tbe time cbildren enter ...

[scbool, they baue generalfuJ

opporfllnities for children

Emergent readers and writers need to recognise that the stream of sounds they hear in speech is made up of separate words. In written form, there are gaps between the words. Some chirdren wiil begin to notice these separate words and gaps early, cluring storybook reading sessions at home or at school. vhen they see writing modelled at home or at school, and when they write themselves, they consolidate their understanding of words and how they are put togethef.

gained oral language structures: syntax (structttre) and meaning, in particular.

In oral language, tbqt baue begun to expert?nent witlt tbe sounds language makes. Ihis
understanding and knouledge
is an important foundation transferred to learning tbe language of print. Braunger and Lewis, 1999,
pages 16-17

sttltlit's rt'vicwctl bv I'rcssh'v (in Block and Pressley,2002) show a r rlvvre/' !vvr clear link between studnrs,sight vocalrullrry lrrtl tlrcir a,rnrltr:.riinrio..'- ----

35

and sounds by drawing Teacbers cen dsvelop children's awafeness of words, letters, ffeiltion to these featores when reading to them and during shared reading and

wrfting-forexample,byfocusingonwofdsandphrasesthatrhymeofhaYethe
ear$ childhood because they are enjoyable and are often familiaf ffom their
exllsfiences. Useful actiYities include:

motiYated by such actiYities same first letter or sound. Young children are highly

reading rhymes and singing songs; unusual sounds; listening to andpractising stofies that have repetitiYe patterns of playing oral word games. Retating parts of words to sounds 'When competent feadefs meet an unkfiown word, they tend to break it into sound Beginner readefs pattems orlook within it for words of wofd pafts that ate fam:diaf . for them to try to us.rauy focus on the initial letter of a wofd, but it's often useful

SWe

fu cltildren's excitement os fu]t make ". discoueries and

ke? your Programme flexible
ertougfr tu build on tlrese

learning oPportunities. ...

Cbitd.ren are tnore likelY to

make connections beh'ueen pl)onics and their reading and uriting of texts if tbeY are engaged and inuolued in

making discoueries
tbemselues.

for

Children identify pafts of the wofd rathef than concentrating on individual letters' wofds by distinguishing between the first part are often able to work out unknown d-og, s-ocks'e of the word (the onset) and the rest of the word (the fime) as in b-oat, able to fecognise once children gain a fepertoife of known wofds, they are better pronounc' familiar pattefns in worcls afid canus these pattems to help them solve, is able to work out and write new words. For example, a writef who knows "lunch" ..munch,, by using the spelling pattern that represents the rime ..unch,'. This sound out chunking of information is generally much mofe successftil than tfying to (see also the writing. a word letter by lettef of thinking of one letter at a time when
section on spelling, on pages 144-148.) Writing and letter'sound relationships details of children,s eady writing requires them to consider both direction and the texts' letters and words that they may not have noticed when they were "feading" on eYer''thing they know about lettefs and As children begin to write, they draw phonics) to sounds within words (theif phonemic awareness and their knowledge of in spelling is match their written words with spoken wofds. Using approximations
an important feature of this process.

Sound Sense: Pbonics a'nd

Pbonological Auareness, Page 7

Tbe spellings tbat Young

cbilclren Produce are, of course,

oftcn incorrect bY conaentional

stuncla.rds. Using tbeir kflrtuleclge of letter names and
souttcls, cltildren spell tbe words u,s tltey sound to tbenx. And, as shtru,n hjt their spellings, tbe t'l.tlldren qtr'icklY deueloP an

ctppreciation of the ltlttrtcruic sttudure of the

It
t t 1

t ressl r e

linglttlt lil,tgttage'
Strtlrl, ()sbortr, ancl Lehr, l9(X), pryc 95

children's eafly wfiting provides invaluable oppoftunities for learning about felationships betvrreen letters and sounds (phonics). Beginning wfiters are constantly how to engaged with the problem of how to write down spoken language in a repfesent its sounds and how to spell wofds. cleady articulating each sound their word helps children to make connections between the sounds, the letters, and own knowledge of spelling pattems.
they can children are likely to recognise whole words in speech and reading before write them. As they write, the,v use a variety of methods to attempt unknown the sounds the-v worcls. These include employing phonics (using lettefs to represent endings, from words ancl using feafures such as spelling patterns ancl regular hcar)
')

36

audio resources' ltu' inlilrrnation about rimes in Radl'to Read matefials and in the Kiwi Kidsongs t' ll c t l o,\ o t d,tl'rr.sr'- I'lx rrr ri:s u n d Pb: n o lctgi cal Aur areness'
t t t

they already know, to help them spell ttnknown worcls. This gron'ing knon'ledge of spelling (orthographic knowleclge) contributes greatly to children's fluency in

writing.
As they become fluent and experienced readers and writers, children recognise an increasing range of patterns, and they

become aware that different lettels or letter clllsters can represent the same sounds. More sophisticatecl word str"rdy further on involves exploring word families, prefixes, suffixes, and irregulal spellings.

Becoming a strategic reader

'lfhen we read, we constrlrct meaning by malcing connections between the text we reacl and what we already know and can do. Proficient readers at any stage operate in this ri'ar-. They bring to their reading their knowledge of language ancl of the wo4c1 and their kno*Ledge of how to Llse sollrces of information in text, and they make sense of rhe ideas and information in the text accordingly.
C,rmpetent readers develop knowledge, a repertoire of strategies, ancl awareness that cnable them to:

. clecode, that is, read individual words; . constmct meaning effectively; . think critically as readers.
Ilcacling for meaning is paramount in school literacy programmes. In order to be rLlllc to read for meaning, students neecl to become accllrate ancl efficient clecoders.

'l'hrough instmction in worcl identification, teachers ensure that their stllclents bccome proficient in using visual and grapho-phonic sources of information (see page 30) so that when they encollnter an unfamiliar word, they attend to the word itself as a primary solrrce of information. It is impomant to be explicit when tcaching students how to make links between letters (or letter clusters) and their
souncls.

Stll(lents need to become increasingly fast, automatic decoclers of unfamiliar worcls. Itr reacling, efficient decoding is not an encl in itself; it is a means to constrllcting tuc'aning. Rapid, accLuate word recognition frees up the reacler's cognitive resollrces to focus on meaning - not only on surface meanings but also on the deeper illcssagcs of ;r tcxt. 'I'l-re reacler then approaches the reacling task in a lllore tlrotrgl.rtf'trl ttlrcl rttrltlytical wav anci can be encouragecl to make their orl-n pcrsonal r'(^fil)ollsc lO tlrc' tt'xt.
JI

n.t

"

r r, r. {": 11.'in-i, i :..1 F lr ;' 1. .l ' : . I

. : :. ::r..!:)':,!:,4.'!,,r:,:..,':Jlr. : .

=:..

-';..1t,. :':. t1. :iir:,-

:r:.arj:::r.:.:

]\-clearnerSsp,endmoretimereading,theyencountercommonlyLrsedwofdsmofe

oftgn.andtheserr-ordsbecomefamiliattothem.Increasinglyrapidword recognitionhasadirectandcumtrlativeeffectonaleamef'Spfogress.Effective teachefs.therefore,providemany,manyopportunitiesfortheirsildentstoreadand

'rrrite.
rrr@imq 5;-:=': -5 5i-i3': :s a :e
"i,iil|Illililtiiliiillmmm]ffifiq$ illtiliiimfir'

Iuwd

ilr'ri:ts-:- -r

ge3bty in

ng io read' tilrtro imlttrdlls{t :if -E:-n t :l s !ook, ihe term 4r,lmumsuer ruatr rrg s:.=:egles has been g$lilerjilg: i'3 COVef

::rr,.iiErfl sion strategieS a nd :*= :e:rn Processing strategies

ccnsistent[Y used to describe :'re in-the-head waYs bY which
=

readers make use of the sources of information in text'

Veryoften,thereaderdecodesandconstructsmeaningbydrawingononlysomeof select the best source of soufces to the available information. chilclren learn to focuson.Forexample,inthesentence..Theducksaregoingtothefivef',,ceftain wordsallowthereadertopaylessattentiontoothers.Thefactthat..dtrcks,,isplural ,,are,,. The stfuctufe of the English sentence determines the use of "goitLg" dictates . These sorts of factofs make a text and requires a nolrn at the end of the sentence such rules' but their experience predictable. Children may not be able to explain withspokenlanguagemeansthattheycometoknowthemandapplytlremintheir develop their students' , reading and writing. A key role of the teacher is to awarenessofhowtoapplyandcontrolthenrles.(SeeDevelopingawarenessaSa I reader and writer, on Pages 43-45')
l

StrategiesforreaclingincludecomprehensionstfategiesaswellaSpfocesslng

Stfategies(whicharethein-the-headwaysbywhichreadersmakeuseofthesotrrces apply the processing strategies of information described on pages 2S-3D. Readers and thinking critically about what in combination with strategies for comprehending
they read.

at different levels, depending on All reaclers use processing strategies, but they do so of the text, and the purpose factofs strclr as the reader,s proficiency, the difficulty for reading.

Processing strategies

The processing strategies that readers use are: particular information' attend.ing and searcbing - looking purposefully for

knownwords,familiartextfeatlrres,patternsofsyntax'andinformationin
pictures and diagrams; by . predicting- forming expectations or anticipating what will come next drawlng on prior knowledge and experience of language; . cross-cbecking and confirming - checking to ensufe that the reading makes sense

with all the information already processed; .self-correcting-detectingofsuspectingthatanerrorhasbeenmadeand to arriYe at the right meaning' searching for adclitional information in order
ancl fits

Reading can be thought of as a constanth' repeated process of attending and searching. predicting. crosschecking, ancl confirming or self-correcring, These strategies are not discrete stages; they constantiy interact and support one another. They are used in complex combinations, and experienced readers nsually apply them alrtomarically. See pages 727-IJl in chapter 5 for flirther detail about teaching students to Lrse processing strategies in the context of text-based experiences.

The ways in which children learn and apply the processing strategies illustrate the importance of metacognition in literacy learning. Beginning readers need to be taught to recognise when to nse each strategy; they need to be shown how to apply them deliberately and how to integrate them. Chilclren whose control of the strategies is limited may process text in inappropriate ways - for example, by relying on their memory, by trying to souncl out every single word, or by making gllesses without appropriate use of the sources of information in the text or their own prior knowleclge. chapter 5 provides examples of how teachers can encourage students to develop metacognition so that they become increasingly able to choose reading strategies for themselves.

Developing comprehension
Comprehension is both a pathway to reacling ancl its encl prodgct. Whether we are reading aloud, reading silently, writing, or listening to someone talk, we enter into a mental clialogue with the author, audience, or speaker ancl explore their ideas or our oq'n in order to make connections. children begin these explorations when they lirst set out on their literacy journey, and they continlle v/ith ftirther explorations in the instructional settings of classrooms. Comprehension strategies cannot be separatecl from processing strategies; the teacher's instmction should ensllre that their stuclents clevelop both. Comprehension strategies enable stuclents not only to make sense of the text but also to think about what they are reading. Efrective teachers encourage their stlldents to develop strategies that lead to deeper under.standings of text. Comprehension involves
:

Expett readers [tre actil'e readers wbo use text and tlJeir own knowledge to brtild a model of meaning, ancl tben constantlJ) reuise tbctt model as

neu information becomes

auailable.
CIERA, 2002, page
7

'

getting the message at a basic or literal level, for example, following the plot in narratiye or understanding the facts in a non_fiction text;

. making connections;
" understanding the pl-lrpose or intent of a text;

. understanding its form and flinction; . responcling personally; . thinking criticalty about the text.
39

rr.arrrtrsr aomerchtrsion is promoted by: conYersations . hclirB e lrrge oral vocabulary Ghe implications for rich classroom
zre discussed frrrther in chapter 4);

.ffrrencyindecodingandagoodbankofhigh.frequencyorsightwords; . oPPortunities to listen actiYely to the teacher reading aloud;

. extensive reading of. a runge of texts; . engagement in many expefiences of reading and writing; . their ability to relate icleas in texts to their background knowledge'
Vritinghelpstodevelopcompfehension'Thediscussioninvolvedin'say'shared writingbuildssttrdents,listeningvocabularyandhelpsthemtoclarifyt}reirideas. to consider their purpose for .w.riters need to attend to the making of meaning -

writingandhowtheiratrcliencewillcomprehendwhattheyafewriting.Applying thislearninghelpstodevelopawafenessofhowtousecomprehensionstrategies.
-

- thouglrtful,

ctiu

e, P

r ofi ci e nt

teaders are metacognitiue;

tbqt tbink about tbeir ouan tltinking during reading.

Keene and Zimmerman,
1997

'

Page 22

Comprehensionteachingincludesbothimplicitandexplicitinstruction.Inshared reading,forexample,theteacherconveysmanymessagesaboutliteraryimplicitlyas theyleadthereadingandmodelwhatgoodreadersdo.Explicitinstructioninthe contextofsharedreadingoftenfocusesonapafticulaftextfeature,srrchastheuse ofadjectivestoconveyaviewpoint.Theteachercfeatestheinstructionalcontexts; directed (explicit)' or both' the learning may be embedded (implicit)'

Comprehension strategies
Comprehensionstfategies,liketheprocessingStrategiesdescribedonpages33-39, in view' are tools that the reader uses with a purpose
as: Comprehension strategies may be described . making connections between prior knowledge and the text;

. forming and testing hypotheses about texts; . asking questions; . creating mental images, or visualising;

'

inferring;

. identifying the author's purpose and point of view; . identi-fying and surnmarising main ideas; . analysing and synthesising ideas and information; . evaluating ideas and information'

Likethestrategiesforprocessingtext,comprehensionStfategiesafenotdiscrete used together: for example' processes to be used one at a dme' They are They are employed in complex hypothesising involves making connections' the purpose for reading, and the individual combinations, according to the text itself, learner's pathway of development'

Comprehension strategies are rrecessary and useful tools for all students - including Students who are making rapid progress and need to be extended, those who are struggling to master aspects of literacy learning, and those whose home and commllnity literacy practices differ from the conventional practices in schools' Chapter 4 outlines a nLrmber of strategies that teachers can use to help their students to develop these important tools for literacy learning. Chapter 5 describes the comprehension strategies and gives examples of how to engage learners with texts to build their comprehension strategies (see pages I3L-I35).

Becoming a strategic writer

:[?; :.:.i::t].] 'l::i::::ri;l t+

Like reading, writing involves creating meaning through text. The reader integrates Prior knowledge with sources of

,:i_.a:;;l:;i

:Affiingta.

information in the text to decode and to gain meaning. The writer

starts

with meaning and integrates

prior knowledge and an

"

understanding ofhow language works to encode and create a text.

Leamers need to develoP
knor+4edge and a rePertoire

of

strategies for writing across the three aspects of the framework so that they can:

encode (form words accuratelY and efficiently);

. create meaning effectively; . think critically as a writer.

'l'he first of these points can be described as attending to surface features of written fcxt and the second and third as attending to its deeper features. 'l'hc sources of information in text that are used for reading are also used when writilg. Like readers, writers Lrse semantic, syntactic, and visual and grapho-phonic |i()Llrces ancl integrate these v/ith theif own prior knowledge and expefience to crcatc meaningftil text (see pages 30-31).
.lust xti yoLlng readers neecl to become efficient in decoding, so young writers need to lcaru to encode effectively - to match sounds to letters in the actual business of writiqg worcls. Students need explicit iflstrLlction to nsure that they learn to form :rs wcll as rccognise lettefs and words rapidly and accurately. They need to master

41

phonemes within phonolog:ica] processing strategies, such as distinguishing the qrord-: and making accufate links between souncls ancl letters, atlcl to develop a r:Lsual memon'for printed words (see pages 32-37)'

(that is, a bank of Students need to build an ever-increasing wfiting vocabulary fesotuces rr-ords that they can wdte automatically). This frees up the writer's

tofocusonmeanifigandonotheraspectsofwriting,suchasclevelopingan author'sperspectiveandplanningtheimpactontheintendedatrclience.It analyse their work ancl enables writers to experiment with language and to rer-iew it criticallY.
syntax that apply to Students also need to become famlliar with the rules of written Engiish.

Manyofthereaclingcomprehensionstrategiescanberelatedtowriting. Goodwriters,likegoodreaders,synthesiseideasanclinformation.Theybring
visualise' and together previous learning and experiences, make connections, They also go on to cfeate imaginative pieces or clear descriptive acconnts-

analyseandevaluateideasandinformationastheyclarifytheirintentions' choose vocabulary, begin to compose, and revise their work'

The writing Process

The four main stages common to most writing are:

. forming intentions; . composing a text; . revising;

. publishing or Presenting.
are closely It,S important to recognise that these four stages afe not discrete but

interfelated. The writer does not necessarily move through them in a simple by what sequence. The writer's movemefit from one step to the next is influenced has gone before and what is anticipated' For example:

been composing and revision are affectedby how thoroughly information has
gathered and organised;

. composing often throws up a need for more information; . decisions made during composing and revising sometimes
form of the writing.

influence the chosen

and their The aim of writing instrLlction is to build students' accLrfacy, their fluency, tlse to ability to cfeate meaningful text. The instfLrctional strategies teachers can 4. chapter 5 describes the help sttrdents achieve this aim are described in chapter it means to loLlr stages of the writing pfocess in more detail and discusses what many opportunities ctltiage learners in rich $.riting experiences. Young writers need simply to enioy being a writer' to meet nerr- challenges. and t() l)ractise,

1+2

+:ai:at;lirr"t

,i,i:l:;:,1iz$

Devetoping awareness as a reader and writer

literacy learning' The concept of awareness is central to understanding the nature of and skills they have students afe not always awate of how to use the knowledge awareness but acquired in Literacy actiYities' Sometimes they may have developed may not yet be able to put it into words'

Cbilea
awaren6s neu a.spec's
tbeir cornnle76 tirne on tlre Printd

children children enter school with varying degrees ancl kinds of awareness' some some language, arrive with a high level of general awafeness of written forms of of language, and some may have little awareness of have awareness of certain forms thewaysinwhichtheythemselvesandotherpeopleuselanguage.Teachersneed on the to ensufe that their instruction and their planning of activities build awareness that different children bring'
Children develop social undefstandings
as

around tbern Prouide

good, examPles of wbat

are attending to.

Clay, 1998, Page

paft of their critical awareness' They

needtobecomeawareofthewaysinwhichtextsshapevaluesandposition think about what audiences. children can be helped, from the very eady stages, to of language they are reading of wfiting, for example, to consider an author's choice and how it affects the reader'
awareness in In order to be able to read and write fluently, Students need to develop leaming the code' each of the three aspects identified in the framework on page 24: literacy making meaning, and thinking critically. The kinds of awareness that leamers need to develoP include: . print awareness (awareness of the basic conYentions of print);

. phonemic awareness (awareness of the separate sounds within words); . phonological awateness (this mofe genefal term describes awareness of the
whole sound system of language);
o awareness of the forms and structures of different texts;

. awafeness of purpose and perspective in written text; . awafeness of the thinking pfocesses associated with comprehension; . awareness of ways of using strategies for reading or writing, together with
own prior knowledge, to make meaning'

their

of the uses As students develop their knowledge and stfategies, they build awafeness they of written language for many purposes. They become awafe, for example, that simply can use wfiting to expfess emotion, to empathise, to afgue or persuade - or texts can have many purposes and forms and for pleasure. Similarty, they learn that to can give great satisfaction and enjoyment. All this enhances students' ability comprehend and to think critically.
Reginning readers and writers demonstrate theif awafeness of:

sounrJ

patterns whenthey identify phonemic similarities in rhymes or

alliteration;

. phonics when they make explicit the relationships between sounds and letters;
143

. ditutionalivlwhen

they write and read across the page and start again at the

ffinandmargin; . narratiae arganisationwhen they predict what might happen next in a story; . feansres of factual text whenthey attend to or use headings of pictufe captions
to build meaning;

new text' slrch letterforzns and ind.iuid.ual uorh whn they iclentiff details in name; as words that begin with the first letter of their own

Cg)nt7lxwhentheyapplylogicalrulestoformwordswithinsentences(for exampl, by ending a present participle with "-ing");

.
.

such as "then" and cbronological, sequencing of text when they use connectives

"next" in their writing;

that expfess Ianguage used. tO conuey emotions when they identify wofds emotions, such as anger of excitement; about a tbe use of inference when they come to a conclusion of their own character in a text.
and interactions Students develop their awareness tfuough many literacy activities learners' v/ith the teachef ancl their peers. Teachers should consciously build is attending to and interacting with them to awafeness by noticing what the leamer

the child in suppoft their learning. An effective teacher knows how to "catch

".Iio.r,,,

as Marie Clay has

put it.'o Chapter 4 discusses some v/ays of doing this'

stfategies they use Teachers should help their students to identify the knowledge and not always develop such and to deliberately contfol their use of them. students do students to cfossaw.afeness automatically. For example, it's necessary to teach to do check when they arc teadingor writing. students also need help with what back to the student obliges them when they are "stuck". Handing the responsibility to think about what they know and can use and helps them to take increasing for their own learning (see the examples on page 130 in chapter 5).

responsibility

Awareness of ways of participating

... cLtildren [needJ

to become

au)are of tbe fabric of classroom actiuities so tbat

tlJey unzlerstcrnd tbe goah and

rules oftbese actiuities and wlttt,t is raqttircd lo Perform

tbem.
McNaugl.tton, 2O02, Page 29

and A further kind of awafeness is impoftant, especially for children from culfural linguistic backgrounds with literacy practices that diffef from those of the classroom' All learners need to become aware of how they can participate successfully in of guidance classroom tasks and activities.il The teacher's role is to provide the kind in Iiteracy actiyities that enables all students to become a'wate that:

. an activity has a goal or pufpose; . there are rules about how tasks should be performed; . there are prefered ways of participating in activities'
and helps In fulfilling this role, the teacher builds on what is familiar to the student in class the stuclent to become familiar with the established ways of participating with all that goes on in the classroom' activities so that *rey can be comfortable f{'

,,

(l99tl), 1'tlLge 70 this awareness. st,,^at McNirtrtr;hton's wodi has highlighted fte^importance of developing iiiiii'i r.r.v,rni "turlies are bv C'ee (199s) and Cazden (2o01)'
<;lay

literacy pfactices tha:t are students need tb become familiar with the school aware of how their own associated with success. They also need to become in classroom activities' knowledge or ways of doing things can be used

Forstudentstodevelopthiskindofawareness,theifteachersneedtoknowthe studentsandtheirliteracyexpertiseandtobepreciseandconsistentintheiruseof instructional language. The teacher should also: . model and explain, being explicit about what the student needs to do; .offetmanyoppoftunitiesforfocusedconvercationsbetweensfudentandteachet
and among students;

.useconsistentlanguagewhenpromptingandquestioning,bothduringanactivity
and over time.

what for their students to apply and practise Teachers need to provide oppoftunities enioyable that they all have many and varied they have been taught urra io ..rr.rr. some
should be planned to incorpofate experiences with rich texts' Activities explanation of unfamiliar sections'

elementsthatarefamiliartothestudentandtoi,'"l,,d.,wherenecessafy,acareful

Teacher

Mark
Teacher

read me your story' Can you read me your story? You "l to each wordl see the cat.'' his story atoud, pointing

Ireais

Mark
Teacher

That's a verY good story' Cat's outside. Your cat's outside?

Inods)

Mark
Teacher

Mark

. , , ; r
l

Teacher

What does he do whil'e you're at schoot? Having kai. you're at schoot? Havinq kail ls he? Having kai white Inods]

Mark
Teacher

0K.

your cat? Can you tel.l' me a story about

Mark
Teacher

kai' My cat is Ipausesl ." havinq his

Att right, then' lWrites:'*U"'t

to'

can write

"cat"' "My cat ""' Leave a nice big

space

Mark

(indicatingwheretoleavespace.Markwritesthel.etters..ca,'andpauses.)Canyou "cat "'t "'t"? hear the sound: "t"? [Teacher nods' Mark adds the I'etter "t"')

at schoo[ {or severaI days) and his between a Maori chitd [who has been ln this extract from an interaction

teacher,Markisdevel.opingaWarene5sofwhatisexpectedofhiminc[assroomwritingactivities.Markinitiates teacher: further narrative using a famitiar topic' His . prompts and encourages with further questio.ning; famil'iarto Mark; rnrerind thus incorporating what is famil.iar Mark's use of a Maori word ["kai"]' . recognises "nd "tt"pi' in "cat" to cl'arify what encoding invotves'

highl.ights the I'ast sound

produce a second story The abte to add further information and with the teacher's guidance, Mark is

for these devetopments' conversaiion provides the pl'atform

adaptedfromTuroa'Wolfgramm'TanieLu'andMcNaughton'2002'pages54-55

among the New Zealand, like many other countries, is seeing a growing diversity foctts for teachers who studnts in its schools. This is, and will continue to be, a key for students in urban areas with face the challenge of providing effective instruction students' culturally and lingUistically diverse populations and in othef afeas v/hefe teachers take on that achievement levels have been a soufce of concem. It is cnrcial on the concepts of a developmental board a theory of leaming that is based literacy pefspectiYe, the socialisation model, and multiple pathways to successful

development (see Pages 20-21).

'llfffihgfiErrn

culture is used in this h@@k to refer to the lunr&rstandings and forma[ and ilnrformal waYs of doing things that a child's familY and
communitY share. lt does not necessaritY retate to ethnicitY.

backgrounds, and Students come into New Zealand classrooms ffom many different means for their class teachefs need to become aware of what this diversity is pfogfammes and teaching practices. Because every child's literacy leaming gain a to grounded in the culture of their family and community, teachers need families and to know how language is knowledge of the literacy practices of local
used in their students' homes.

wealth of

traditions and have a some children come from a background of rich oral-language expertise, for example, in storytelling, to dfav/ upon' Some have

the practice of experienced family and bedtime story reading; others have developed have learned nufsery rhymes; others transmitting certain kinds of knowledge. Some know and can recite passages of scripture. Many are accustomed to using (and even where this is computefs extensively. some are new learners of English of not so, the children in any classroom are likely to use English in a wide range children afe not expected to ways). some come from family backgrounds where a text' initiate a discussion with an adult, offer an opinion, or comment critically on who may some are not in New zealandby choice, for example, fefugee children,
come with memories of traumatic expefiences'

So euery

cltild arriues at scbool

uitb an indiuidual Profile of

knouleclge and skills. Defining this Profile can include markers
such as alPbabet knowledge or cuxcepts about how books

children from the same cultural, ethnic, of socio-economic group can differ markedly, not only in their achievements but also in the knowledge and experiences students that they bring to school literacy practices. Generalisations about groups of
can disadvantage some students or groups.
(see Such diversity has major implications for teachers' expectations of learners and chapter 6), their use of instructional strategies and texts (seq chapters 4 and 5)' (see chapter 8)' their classroom management and grouping affangements

rpork

the conuentional

ussessme'nt qf school literaqt.

Il coltkl also lrt'cltr'de markers

tfu m .fittn l l1t uil.d communitY
ttses

tl'lllarctt:.Y, sttch as
ltt
t

In a classroom that is a true community of learners, diversity offers tremendous potential for the learning of both the teachef arrd alf the students.

nc

I ! rt I

t I tt

t' l.r

u rcl.t,

Mt:N:tttgltlutt, 2(X)2, Pltgc t9

... tbe

Theteacher,sroleistoprovideliteracyactivitiesthroughwhichtheirstudentscan for for learning the written code of English' knowledge *i"*"gits
develop

opportutfrl
skillful

str@r

makingmeaning,andforthinkingcfitically.Theteachercanalsodeveloptheir sildents'awarenessofhowtousetheirknowledgeandstrategiesinpurposeful' enjoyablereadingandwfiting.Theteachershouldplanforthisleamingtooccufnot onlyduringliteracysessionsbutthroughouttheschoolday:literacyisrelevantacfoss the currictrlum (see also pages 137 andl73)' Teachersneedarepertoireofinstructionalstrategiessothattheycanengagetheir studentsintext-basedactivitiesthatwillenablethemtopfogfessintheifliteracy teachers need to have a detailed' learning. To engage all students effectively' next chapter' of the learner - this is the subject of the
dynamic knowledge

and alwaYs not sin PlY rote

rules or knouledge-

Allington, 199?,

i'
Textsandreportsabouttiteracyacquisitionandtheneedforteacherstohaveaknowledge
about literacy acquisition inctude: Building a Knowledge Base in Reading' Braunger, J. and Lewis, J' t1998)' Literate: The Construction of lnner Control' ;i;y, il- r',r. tt ssr Becomi'ng ii"t: M. (19981. By Different Paths to common 1utcomes'Development' in Children's..Literacy r.,r. M. t2001). Change over Time p]irps;r. "A Map of possibte Practices: Further Notes on the Four Luke, A. and Freebody, Resources ModeL"'

For full reference deiar"ls

orirfihr

resources listed herc. ,rEfen frot

ii.i,

t'

McNaughton,S,t1995].PatternsofEmergentLiteracy:Processesof-Develop,mentandTransition. Case for Balanced Teaching' Presstey, M. [2002c]. n"lini tnstrudioirna',y::!t'The

Snow,c.E.,Burns,S.M.:;;;oritti",P',eds[1998)'
ChiLdren'

PreventingReadingDifficultiesinYoung

Tunmer,W.E.andChapman,J.W.tlggTl.AnlnvestigationofLangua.ge-'relatedandCognitive. Final Report Phase l'

motivational Factors

in

Beginning ReadingAchievement.

students practice for Literacy learning in ctasses with Research and commentary on effective inctude: from diverse cutturaI and tinguistic backgrounds in Multicultural Settings' Au, K. H. 119931. Literacy lnstruction "Mutti.uttuLL Factors and the Effective instruction of Students of Diverse Au, K. H. [20021.
Education' Counts: Changing Power Relations in Bishop, R. and Gl,ynn, r. iissst' Culture "Kaupapa M5ori Messages for the Mainstream"' Bishop, R. and Gtynn, r' iZoooi'

Backgrounds"'

0arting-Hammond,L.[1gg7]. TheRighttoLearn:A'BfuJprintforcreatingschootsThatWork' Popular Culture' and

Contemporary Chitdhood' Dyson, A. H. t19971. Writi:ing Superheioes' Classroom LiteracY' Schools Making a Difference' Review Oftice t20Oil' Mdori Students: Education McNaughton, S. t1g99l.

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