Our Structured Literacy Journey
At Robertson Road School we are proud to be a pioneering school, not only in our Māngere Community (Auckland South), but also in New Zealand, who has implemented a Structured Literacy approach to teaching reading and spelling from Years 0-8. Our Literacy Coach, Liz Kane, from Liz Kane Literacy has been supporting and guiding our journey since April 2019.
But why did things needs to change?
Through our data analysis, student voice and formative assessments it became clear that many of our learners were struggling to read and spell words they did not know or had not memorised. Too many learners throughout the school did not have the letter-sound knowledge of English or have the strategies to read and spell unknown words, which resulted in an over reliance on guessing strategies and looking at the picture(s) to gain meaning. This meant many learners throughout our school were unable to make progress, which in turn, led to low self-esteem, disengagement in learning or a reliance on avoidance strategies during learning time. We knew there was something missing for our learners and something wasn’t working! We NEEDED CHANGE.
Why Structured Literacy?
Structured Literacy enables all learners to read (decode) and spell (encode) words in an explicit, cumulative and systematic way. This is an evidence-based approach based on The Science of Reading research which has clearly proven that all learners learn to read in the same way so we need to teach every learner using a Structured Literacy approach! As humans we are wired to learn to speak but our brain is not naturally wired to read so we need to build those neural pathways for all of our learners.
Watch this excellent video by the French neuroscientist Prof. Stanislas Dehaene whose research has focused on how the brain learns to read.
What are the components of an explicit Structured Literacy lesson?
- Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
- Letter-Sound Knowledge
- Handwriting
- Heart Words
- Reading
- Spelling
- Dictation (writing)
What is a scope and sequence?
At Robertson Road School we follow the Little Learners Love Literacy scope and sequence. Every child at Robertson Road School learns how the written alphabetic code of English works, leaving no gaps in knowledge, whilst moving from simple sounds to more complex. Each stage is sequentially taught so that our learners can learn, apply and practise their developing skills in words and then in a connected decodable text. The Scope is what we plan to teach and the Sequence is the order we will do this. This ensures SUCCESS FOR ALL and NOTHING IS LEFT TO CHANCE.
Gemma Maddocks
Literacy Leader
gemmam@robertson.school.nz
Comments
Post a Comment