Teachers

Teachers Take Responsibility

Information to support teachers in implementing a range of approaches that will help students to develop the knowledge, strategies, and awareness required to become fully literate.

Planning with the Australian Curriculum English

Developing detailed year level and classroom English planning using the Australian Curriculum is considered a Good First Teaching practice in that it is a comprehensive and continuous process that ensures high expectations for each student at our school.

The Australian Curriculum uses a Context Text Model of language, which basically approaches language as a complete meaning-making system, the parts of which function in relational ways. The context-text model provides the means to interrelate the 3 strands of the Australian Curriculum: English – Language, Literature and Literacy.

Our planning process for Good First Teaching in English should align with BCE’s Model of Pedagogy. The Model of Pedagogy brings together the principles and practices of learning and teaching that lead to success for our learners. This clip articulates a process for using the approved English Curriculum to establish clear and visible learning intentions, success criteria and learning goals in English for all students.

Focus

First and foremost, the English line of sight  [OLD] [BCE] document should be used in conjunction with the approved curriculum in order to access the elaborations, links to the general capabilities and cross curriculum priorities. When we say “the approved curriculum”, we refer to the information provided in the 3 components of the YL page: the YLD, CD and AS.

Establish

Teachers use the identified aspects of the curriculum (achievement standard and content descriptions) to establish success criteria that identify the depth of understanding, application of knowledge and sophistication of skills that students require to be successful.

Activate

The explicit teaching of literacy involves teaching the language needed to read, write, speak, listen, view and create in meaningful ways in all contexts and curriculum areas. Teachers are to use a gradual release of responsibility approach to activate learning that is visible and leads to successful progress and achievement for each learner. The gradual release of responsibility occurs over a day, a week, a term and a year and is specifically planned to build each student’s capacity to apply their learning independently.

Teachers also activate by eliciting evidence of learning from students, allowing them to identify evidence of their own progress towards the learning intention referring to the success criteria.                

Respond

Teachers provide feedback that is directly linked to learning intentions and success criteria and support student goal setting by framing goals that are directly linked to the identified learning intentions and success criteria.

Teachers interpret evidence using annotations related to the learning intention and success criteria.

Evaluate

Teachers reflect on evidence of learning and continue to plan for and scaffold further learning.

Learning Progressions

Teachers can make use of Learning Progressions and put them in the hands of students to support their use of the language of learning intentions and to make learning more visible. The learning progressions in English have been developed directly from the achievement standard for each year level of the English curriculum.

More information on how to successfully plan quality teaching and learning using the English Curriculum can be found here.

 

Early and Ongoing Response through data collection and monitoring student progress which informs ongoing teacher planning

Early and ongoing response through data collection and monitoring is considered an essential Good First Teaching practice in that data is used to:

  1. identify each learner’s strengths and areas of ongoing development;
  2. make collaborative decisions about how to move each learner forward; and
  3. identify staff professional learning requirements.

It is expected that evidence of learning will be collected through a systematic, evidence-based and coordinated process. Literacy learning and teaching in Years Prep-6 is guided by the use of mandated Monitoring Tools:

P-2 Schedule

3-6 Schedule

Concepts About Print (Prep Only)
Sound And Letter Knowledge (Prep Only)
PM Benchmarking

PAT-R
Writing Analysis 
Writing Criteria Sheets

Please Note

PM Benchmarking

  • It is expected that PM Benchmark data will be collected at least 4 times/year (3 times/year for those not ready in Term 1)
  • Data should still be collected for students in Year 3-6 who have not progressed beyond benchmarking

Writing Analysis

  • Samples of writing should be collected and assessed against the criteria at least four time per year from Prep – Year 6.

Formative Assessment Strategies and Tools

In addition to monitoring tools, it is expected that formative assessment is an explicitly planned regular part of literacy learning and teaching. Formative assessment should be assessment that actually shapes learning. Assessment becomes formative when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet learning needs. Five key strategies of formative assessment can be aligned with the processes of finding out where learners are in their learning, finding out where they are going, and finding out how to get there with the roles of teacher, learner and peer.

Evidence of student learning should be collected for all students in an ongoing fashion and be readily accessible to support conversations about student learning, for example, during a Review and Response Meeting and regular meetings with the Primary Learning Leader and Principal.

Evidence of learning should reflect the knowledge, understanding and skills described in the relevant achievement standards and reflected in success criteria developed by the teacher.

  • Knowledge describes the information and facts specific to a learning area.
  • Understanding relates to the concepts underpinning and connecting knowledge in a learning area and is related to a student’s ability to appropriately select and apply knowledge to solve problems in a particular learning area.
  • Skills describe the way of working specific to the learning area, and are therefore focused on specific techniques, strategies or processes in a learning area.

Evidence of Learning

The collection of evidence of and for student learning is considered an essential Good First Teaching practice for the teaching of all learning areas in that it is a process through which teachers identify, gather and interpret information about student achievement and learning in order to improve, enhance and plan for further learning.

It is expected that evidence of student learning be collected for all students in an ongoing fashion and be readily accessible to support conversations about student learning, for example, during a Review and Response Meeting and regular meetings with the Primary Learning Leader.            

Evidence of learning should reflect the knowledge, understanding and skills described in the relevant achievement standards and reflected in success criteria developed by the teacher.

  • Knowledge describes the information and facts specific to a learning area.
  • Understanding relates to the concepts underpinning and connecting knowledge in a learning area and is related to a student’s ability to appropriately select and apply knowledge to solve problems in a particular learning area.
  • Skills describe the way of working specific to the learning area, and are therefore focused on specific techniques, strategies or processes in a learning area.                

Collection of Evidence for Learning includes gathering information about the learners, analysing and interpreting that information and using that information to inform and shape the learning and teaching process.

Collection of Evidence of Learning assists teachers to use student learning to assess student achievement against goals and standards.  It is expected that teachers use a range of techniques and tools to gather the evidence required to make judgements about students' progress and achievement, which in turn, informs ongoing teaching. These techniques should focus on students' demonstrations of learning, be comprehensive, valid and reliable and take account of individual learners.

  • Teacher observation: observing students and monitoring their progress as they work.
  • Student/Teacher consultation: interacting with students either formally or informally.
  • Focused analysis: teachers examining in detail student responses to tasks or activities.
  • Peer and self assessment: students assessing their own work and the work of their peers against identified criteria.                                                        

A range of assessment tools should be used to allow teachers to cater for all learners and learning situations, to measure the impact of their teaching and plan for further learning and teaching.

 Time Allocation in the Teaching of English

Prep – Year 2

It is considered essential that students in Prep to Year 2 have access to high quality good first teaching in English for a minimum of 1.5 hours per day. This includes the explicit teaching of of language, literature and literacy within the context of the Australian Curriculum: English.

Year 3 – Year 6

It is considered essential that students in Year 3 to  Year 6 have access to high quality good first teaching in English for a minimum of 1 hour per day. This includes the explicit teaching of of language, literature and literacy within the context of the Australian Curriculum: English.

The time allocated to the teaching of English is timetabled on classroom timetables and responds to the planning, teaching and assessment required to develop each student's knowledge, understanding and skills to comprehend and compose text.

Professional Learning and Goal Setting

The development of Teacher Professional Learning and Goal Setting Plans is considered to be an essential Good First Teaching practice in that it supports the growth and development of teachers. They are supported to be reflective, self directed learners who continuously strive to improve their teaching practice so they can enhance the learning achievement and progress of all our students.

It is expected that all teachers will develop clearly articulated agreed upon goals which are informed by

  • Reflection on teaching practice
  • Evidence and feedback
  • Our school strategic and annual plan

It is important to develop goals within the context of a Professional Learning Plan. Writing a goal statement is only the first step in achieving a goal. There are many subsequent steps such as;

  • listing the strategies used to achieve goals,
  • identifying professional learning to support goal achievement,
  • recording desired outcomes (what will it look like when you achieve your goals)
  • establishing monitoring techniques and setting review dates.

Goal Writing Stems

Information to Support Goal Setting [pdf]

Reflection Before Goal Setting for Teachers [Word]

Reflection Before Goal Setting for School Officers [Word] 

Individual Professional Learning Plan for Teachers [Word]

Individual Professional Learning Plan for School Officers [Word]

Student Goal Setting and Learning Targets

Students engaging in self assessment strategies including goal setting and establishing learning targets is considered an essential Good First Teaching practice in that it helps students take responsibility for their own learning is regarded as vital to success at school.

Teachers at Our Lady of Dolours share with students the success criteria for all learning experiences and ensure that students understand the success criteria. In providing students with feedback to help them improve, teachers support students in setting active and measurable goals and learning targets to achieve that improvement.

Process of setting Learning Goals and Targets

Student self-assessment begins with setting learning targets, proceeds through the production of work that aims to achieve those targets, to the assessment of the work to see if it does in fact meet the targets and then, finally, to the setting of new targets or revising ones that were not achieved.

Diagrammatically, the process looks like this:

Ideally, students increasingly assume responsibility for the setting of their learning targets and also for the monitoring or tracking of those targets. In practice, of course, students' ability to do this will vary, and teacher assistance will be more important to some students than others.

The language of the curriculum should always be used to support the construction of learning targets but simplified where possible. Students need to be able to articulate what their learning target is and what they need to do in order to achieve it. Using ‘I Can’ language is appropriate for the establishment of a learning target. An example could be as follows:

‘I can connect ideas in texts using compound sentences with two or more clauses usually linked by a conjunction’

Students who engage with goal and target setting experience increased motivation, self-esteem and improvement in their learning because they know how they learn rather than just what they learn. Teachers who engage student goal and target setting see the responsibility for learning shifting from them to the students, see an increase in student motivation and are able to use the feedback from their students about how they learn to shape future teaching and learning.

Daily Sustained Focus and Explicit Instruction and Assessment

The explicit teaching of literacy involves teaching the language needed to read, write, speak, listen, view and create in meaningful ways in all contexts and curriculum areas.

Oral Language is the foundation of all teaching and learning. It is the means through which we communicate feelings, thoughts and experience and is an integral part of thinking.

Students need to engage in daily purposeful talk, which is:

  • Planned from the Australian Curriculum
  • Connected to reading and writing
  • Covering a variety of different types of text
  • Modelled and made explicit
  • Spontaneous
  • Reflective

Purposeful talk includes:

  • Conversations
  • Story telling and anecdotes
  • Partner and small group work
  • Oral reports and explanations
  • Giving and receiving instructions and procedures
  • Asking questions and interviewing
  • Arguing and debating (formal and informal)

Teaching Reading

  • Occurs daily
  • Is explicitly planned from the Australian Curriculum: English
  • Is connected to oral language and writing
  • Occurs in the contexts of a wide range of literature and across learning areas
  • Involves the teaching of reading processes and comprehension strategies

Teaching Writing

  • Occurs daily
  • Is explicitly planned from the Australian Curriculum: English
  • Is connected to oral language and reading
  • Occurs in the contexts of a wide range of literature and across learning areas
  • Includes teaching students to choose language that suits their purpose and audience, edit for meaning and effect and use a range of software

Gradual Release of Responsibility

K-Web provides more information on each of these strategies here.

Familiarising 

  • Occurs when introducing a concept or a new text (daily or weekly)
  • Is explicitly planned to activate prior knowledge
  • Is explicitly planned to build background knowledge
  • Is whole class focused and involves active student participation
  • Is a sustained session of 10-30 minutes

Modelling 

  • Demonstrates and verbalises a process or strategy with ‘think aloud’ statements
  • Is explicitly planned based on curriculum demands and student needs
  • Is whole class and small group
  • Is a brief session of 5-10 minutes
  • Occurs multiple times with the same focus (daily or 2-3 times weekly)
  • Is teacher-led (students actively listen and observe)

Sharing 

  • Teacher leads and students participate to build meaning and practise strategies
  • Includes the Detailed Reading strategy
  • Is explicitly planned based on curriculum demands and student needs
  • Is whole class and small group
  • Is a brief session of 10-20 minutes
  • Occurs multiple times (daily)

Guiding 

  • Teacher provides explicit instruction and feedback to support students to use processes and strategies in new contexts
  • Occurs with small groups of students with similar identified needs
  • Is explicitly planned
  • Includes, but is not limited to, the process of Guided Reading
  • Is a brief session of 10-20 minutes
  • Is mostly silent
  • Occurs multiple times with flexible groupings (2-3 times weekly)

Working Independently 

  • Students independently apply learnt understandings, processes and strategies
  • Teacher observes or offers support
  • Offers opportunities for students to choose the text and/or task
  • Is mostly silent and can be followed with an opportunity to share
  • Is a sustained session of 20-30 minutes
  • Occurs daily
  • May be followed by reflection/sharing

Gradual Release of Responsibility Strategies

This document expands the following for each strategy.

  • Purpose
  • Characteristics
  • Teacher Role
  • Student Role

Download here.

 

Gradual Release of Responsibility

K-Web provides more information on each of these strategies here.

Familiarising 

  • Occurs when introducing a concept or a new text (daily or weekly)
  • Is explicitly planned to activate prior knowledge
  • Is explicitly planned to build background knowledge
  • Focuses on purpose, audience and language features of the text
  • Is connected to writing through reading (see Familiarising in Strategies for Teaching Reading)
  • Is whole class focused and involves active student participation

Modelling 

  • Is explicitly planned based on curriculum demands and student needs
  • Each session has a clear, singular focus
  • Is whole class and small group
  • Is a brief session of 5-10 minutes
  • Occurs multiple times with the same focus (daily or 2-3 times weekly)
  • Is teacher-led (students actively listen and observe) with ‘think aloud’ statements
  • Writing occurs in front of the students
  • The text is clearly seen by all students and displayed for future reference

Sharing/Joint Construction 

  • Is explicitly planned with a clear focus and organisation in mind
  • Is a brief and lively session of 10 to 20 minutes
  • Teacher scribes with students contributing ideas and language
  • The students can clearly see and read the text as it is written
  • Occurs multiple times with the same focus (2-3 times weekly)
  • Jointly constructed text is displayed for future reference

Guiding 

  • Teacher provides explicit instruction and feedback to support students to use processes and strategies in new contexts
  • Occurs with small groups of students with similar identified needs
  • Is a brief session of 10-20 minutes
  • Occurs multiple times with flexible groupings (2-3 times weekly)
  • Is explicitly planned and linked to prior teaching and learning
  • Includes focused talk
  • Moves towards independence – most writing is done as individuals

Working Independently 

  • Students independently apply key elements of writing previously encountered in modelled, shared and guided writing
  • Teacher observes or offers individual conferencing or support at point of need
  • Models are clearly visible to all students
  • Offers opportunities for students to choose the text-type depending on purpose and audience
  • Is mostly silent and can be followed with an opportunity to share
  • Is a sustained session of 20-30 minutes
  • Occurs daily
  • Opportunities are provided for sharing, publishing and reflection

This document expands the following for each strategy.

  • Purpose
  • Characteristics
  • Teacher Role
  • Student Role

Download here.

Writing Criteria Sheets

Download Writing Criteria Sheets with Comment Space from the OLD School Portal