Literacy News

Building Strong Readers and Writers at SKiPPS

Comprehension – Bringing It All Together

Over the past eight weeks, we have explored the essential building blocks that support literacy development: oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, handwriting, fluency and vocabulary.

Each of these components plays an important role, but they all work towards one ultimate goal:

Comprehension - the ability to understand, think about and make meaning from what we read.

Reading is not complete when a child can say the words on the page. Reading is successful when a child understands, thinks about and learns from those words.

What Is Comprehension?

Comprehension is the process of making meaning from written language.

When students comprehend a text, they are able to:

• understand the information and ideas presented,
• make connections to what they already know,
• ask questions and think critically,
• draw conclusions and make inferences,
• explain their thinking.

Strong comprehension allows students to use reading as a tool for learning, exploration and understanding the world around them.

Why This Matters for Learning

A common misconception is that once children can read words, understanding will automatically follow.

However, comprehension depends on much more than being able to decode words.

A child may be able to accurately read a sentence but still struggle to understand it if they do not have the vocabulary, background knowledge or language skills needed to make meaning.

This is why literacy development is built from many connected parts:

Oral language helps children understand and use language.

Phonological awareness helps children hear the sounds within words.

Phonics helps children connect sounds and letters to read and spell words.

Fluency helps children read words automatically so they can focus on meaning.

Vocabulary and knowledge help children understand increasingly complex ideas.

Together, these skills allow children to become thoughtful, independent readers.

At SKiPPS

At SKiPPS, comprehension is developed through rich discussions, carefully selected texts and opportunities for students to think deeply about what they read.

Students engage with a range of texts, including class novels and knowledge-rich texts connected to Literacy, Humanities and other curriculum areas. These texts help students build vocabulary, background knowledge and an understanding of the world.

Teachers explicitly model comprehension processes by thinking aloud, asking questions, making connections and supporting students to explain their reasoning. Students are participating in daily 'Paired Fluency' where they have the opportunity to read, re-read and listen to the same piece of text multiple times, focusing on one specific skill each week so they build their reading fluency up to be able to focus on the meaning of what they are reading.

Students are encouraged not only to find answers in texts, but to think critically, discuss and build on ideas and develop their own understanding.

Literacy Spotlight

Children don't comprehend because they can read the words. They comprehend because they can read the words AND they have the language and knowledge to make meaning.

This is why building knowledge matters.

Every story read, every conversation held and every new concept learned gives children more tools to understand future texts.

Reading is not just a way to learn information - it is how children continue to grow their understanding of themselves and the world.

How You Can Help at Home

Families can support comprehension by:

• Reading aloud to children, even when they are independent readers.
• Talking about books and asking questions such as:
  • "What did you notice?"
  • "Why do you think that happened?"
  • "How does this connect to something you already know?"
• Discussing new ideas and vocabulary.
• Encouraging children to read widely across different topics and text types.
• Sharing your own curiosity and modelling a love of learning.

The strongest readers are not just those who can read words accurately. They are readers who understand, question, connect and think deeply about what they read.

Bringing The Big 6 Together

Successful reading develops when all the components of literacy work together.

Children need:

• the language to understand,
• the skills to decode,
• the fluency to read efficiently,
• the vocabulary and knowledge to make meaning.

At SKiPPS, our goal is to develop confident readers and writers who are equipped not only to succeed at school, but to continue learning throughout their lives.

I hope this series has helped families understand not only what we teach, but why we teach it. If you would like to talk about any of teh areas we have looked at, please come and see me or email me jacqueline.morphy@education.vic.gov.au

Congratulations to the 38 students who volunteered to participate in this year’s Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee!

All students who entered the competition will be acknowledged at an upcoming assembly. We are also delighted to announce that three of our students have progressed to Round 2 of the competition and will complete the next stage with Amy.

Congratulations to Aggie S (4B), Jack S (4B) and Leo S (5M) on this fantastic achievement!

We look forward to hearing about some of the tricky words they have been challenged to spell as they progress through the next round. Well done, Aggie, Jack and Leo!

READINGS ST Kilda

Living in St Kilda, we are so lucky to have Readings Acland Street on our doorstep, a wonderful independent bookshop that has long been a friend and supporter of our school.

The team down at Readings have made the very kind offer that they will donate 10% of all purchases made at the shop to our School Library Fund. All you need to do is identify as a St Kilda Park person when you make a purchase and they will pass these funds on to allow us to buy additional books for our school.

Jac Morphy

Assistant Principal - Curriculum and Instruction