Literacy

At Kirton Point Primary School, students learn English during a daily, 120 minute literacy block. Students are taught to read, write, listen, speak and spell using modelled, guided, independent processes.  A daily warm up consisting of blending, segmenting, rhyming, phonograms and sight word recognition enables students to retain skills and information in their long term memory. The Accelerated Literacy pedagogy is used throughout the school to teach literacy within a real life context.  Student literacy learning is assessed formatively using observations, questioning and feedback and summatively using running records, literacy-pro quizzes, PAT R, SA Spelling, Morrison McCall, Brightpath Writing and Waddington Reading. Literacy learning is reliant on students being competent in the Big 6 literacy skills.

The Big 6

At Kirton Point, we focus on developing the Big 6 which are essential skills for reading.  The ‘Big 6’ refers to the following literacy skills:

  • Oral language
  • Phonological (sound) awareness
  • Phonics (sound-letter) and word knowledge
  • Vocabulary
  • Fluency
  • Comprehension

The goal of effective reading is, of course, comprehension which requires engagement with the text at a deep level, and an array of skills that go far beyond simple word recognition. 

Accelerated Literacy Process

Accelerated Literacy (AL) is an integral part of the KPPS literacy program.  All current staff members are trained in the implementation of this pedagogy.  We benefit from external support provided by a qualified literacy consultant.  Twice per term, the consultant visits our school to plan with teachers, observe practice and provide feedback on the use of AL pedagogy.

Accelerated Literacy is a pedagogy which makes explicit to students the ways of speaking, listening, viewing, thinking, reading, writing and spelling that are part of a literate discourse in western culture. Students are introduced to a highly literate text which provides a context within which students can learn literacy skills and understandings. It strongly supports teachers in offering a balanced literacy program, and provides a common language and framework for teachers and students to support a whole school literacy strategy.

The pedagogy is aligned with the aims and content of the Australian English Curriculum and Literacy as a General Capability.

Reading Recovery & Literacy Pro

Students begin their reading journey on the Reading Recovery levelled readers where there is a strong focus on word attack skills and fluency.  Once students reach level 26+ of the reading recovery books, they move to the online Literacy Pro Program. Literacy Pro requires students to choose books from their level in the school library.  Once these books are read, an online multiple choice quiz is completed.  The quizzes require students to demonstrate their understanding using a range of comprehension skills.

Reading

Throughout the reading process, students are explicitly taught skills essential for reading comprehension. 
These skills include: –  
connecting  –  inferring  –  visualizing  –  synthesizing  –  predicting  –  summarizing  –  activating prior knowledge  –  skimming –  questioning  –  scanning

Buddy Reading
A Cross-Age Reading Program operates every morning from 8.50 – 9.10 am.
The focus for learners is oral reading development. Older students read with
younger students in the Junior Primary classes while the remainder of Upper
Primary students engage in guided reading with their class teachers.
Premier’s Reading Challenge

Students are encouraged to participate in the Premier’s Reading Challenge each year.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge motivates South Australian students from Reception to Year 12 to read books.

Students are rewarded for their participation and achievement by receiving Premier’s Reading Challenge certificates and medals

Writing

Students engage in writing daily and are taught explicitly how to write texts that persuade, inform and entertain. These include discussions, responses, expositions, reports, procedures, explanations, recounts, descriptions and narratives. Explicit writing instruction is often linked to the text students are studying through Accelerated Literacy.

Spelling

A Writing Approach to Reading (WRAP) is a program designed for teaching literacy skills in an integrated way. WRAP develops a system of literacy skills by breaking down the complex reading and writing system into small units of understanding. By learning 70 phonograms, students are able to understand how English words are constructed. WRAP includes instruction in listening, speaking, spelling, reading, writing, handwriting and comprehension.
KPPS has adopted the WRAP program mainly for spelling as it builds skills in:
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Vocabulary
Spelling Rules
Grammar and Sentence Construction

Listening & Speaking

Students are taught to effectively use expressive and receptive methods of communication – listening and speaking. Daily practice occurs throughout the curriculum. Children are taught the behaviours and skills of good speakers and listeners through games, presentations, role plays and circle time.

Literacy Support

Students at Kirton Point Primary are heavily supported in literacy and numeracy on a daily basis by trained ssos.  Every class has sso support during the literacy and/or numeracy block.  During intervention sessions, students review concepts that they have been taught through a process similar to reading recovery.  Primary age students who require additional support may be involved in quicksmart literacy three times per week.  They practise literacy skills including word recognition and grammar to automaticity level and develop comprehension skills during the sessions.  Students with disabilities or who require additional support for speech and language may also receive help from external resource personnel such as DECD speech pathologists or occupational therapists.

Useful links:

Literacy at Kirton Point Mind Map

(Download PDF, xxKB)

Literacy Block at Kirton Point

(Download PDF, xxKB)

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