Literacy News

Prep (Foundation)

This year we are excited to continue to teach the 44 phonemes using a systematic approach called ‘Little Learners Love Literacy. The students are introduced to characters like Milo Monkey, Sally Snake and Felix Frog. It was great to visit the Prep rooms this week and hear all about words that start with the ‘f’ sound. The students will continue to learn the single sound different letters make throughout Term One. In Term Two they will start to learn Heart Words (high frequency words) and also bring home books to read.  

Grade One and Two

In Grade One and Two the students have continued to consolidate their knowledge of the sounds letters and letter combinations make also using Little Learners Love Literacy.  This week they have been learning the sounds different blends make at the beginning and end of words. They have enjoyed playing games and reading decodable books that reinforce the learning of these sounds. This week the Grade Ones and Twos started to bring home levelled readers. It is important to remember that learning to read is different for everyone and all children develop at different rates. We want to maintain the importance of reading for enjoyment and fun!

Grades Three to Six

This year Grade Three to Six students will be learning different spelling rules. Some of the teachers attended a spelling professional learning program last year that has enabled us to create an extension spelling scope and sequence that covers the different spelling rules students at this level need to know. This week the Grade Three and Fours have been learning that ‘ey’ and ‘y‘ at the end of words makes the long e sound. Grade Fives and Sixes have been learning about how to add prefixes and suffixes to root words. Each class in the middle and senior school sets aside 10 minutes daily for students to read a ‘good fit book’ to themselves.  Children do not take readers home but are still expected to read aloud each night. Encourage your children to read ‘good fit books.’ that are of interest to them, these can be fiction or nonfiction. We are very much looking forward to getting our temporary OLA library up and running in the coming weeks! 

Handy Tips for Reading with your Child

• Try and read aloud every day with your child
• Establish a routine that works for your family
• Find a quiet place in the house and turn off all technology and distractions
• Look at the front cover and flick through the book, have a chat about the illustrations and tell the child any words you think they may not know before starting. This will help set them up for an enjoyable experience.
• Make a prediction, what do they think the book will be about?
• Encourage children to read aloud; If your child is reluctant, you can read a page each.
• If they come to a word they are not sure of, encourage them to sound it out before telling them what it is. 
• When they have finished reading, talk about what happened in the story. 

Christine Thredgold

Intervention & Literacy Leader