Learning new methods
Teachers develop strategies to boost students’ literacy skills
TEACHERS at Toowoomba Grammar Junior School have been working with literary professors to develop new strategies to teach spelling.
Griffith University professor Beryl Exley, University of Wyoming professor Cynthia Brock and University of South Carolina professor Fenice Boyd visited the school yesterday.
Dr Exley said English was a challenging language for children.
“Children have to understand there are 26 letters in the alphabet, 44 different sounds and they can be written in 120 different ways,” Dr Exley said.
“We want to have broader strategies that really engage the children as thinkers about how words pattern, the meanings of parts in words and the heritage of words.”
The strategies developed by the teachers move away from rote style of learning how to spell.
Dr Boyd said a strategy she employed was to use literature that had relevancy to her students.
“A lot of times when boys seem disengaged, it’s because they don’t see things that are relevant to their day-to-day lives,” Dr Boyd said.
A Progress in International Reading Literacy Study released an assessment in 2017 of literacy skills of Year 4 students in 50 countries where Australia ranked 21st.
Dr Brock said it was crucial for students to learn literacy to empower them in the future.
“Being able to read and think critically is what makes for a good democracy,” she said.