Early career teacher induction: Literacy and the middle years Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years Workshop 1 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years 2 WorkshopTitle Workshop 2Literacy teaching and the Four Resources framework Workshop 3Literacy teaching and NSW syllabuses Workshop 4 Literacy and Quality Teaching

Outcomes: Workshop 1 understanding of the State Literacy Plan and the Literacy K-12 Policy and application in schools understanding of physical, social and intellectual development of students in the middle years, as well as exceptions to general patterns. 3 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Professional teaching standards NSW Institute of teachers Apply knowledge of the typical stages of students’ physical, social and intellectual development as well as an awareness of exceptions to general patterns Participate constructively in formal and informal professional conversations with colleagues Demonstrate knowledge of the application of relevant policy documents in schools. 4 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Middle years Years 5 – 9; 10—15 years old: young adolescents adjusting to profound changes: –physical, social, emotional, intellectual –body and brain seeking acceptance from peers, and into adult world developing own social and personal value s 5 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Work in small groups. You have a few minutes to come up with a definition and record it on the page provided. Please nominate a spokesperson to share this definition with the whole group in a few minutes. What is literacy? 6 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Literacy - NSW definition Literacy is the ability to understand and evaluate meaning through reading and writing, listening and speaking, viewing and representing. NSW Literacy K–12 Policy 7 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

State Literacy Plan Equitable literacy achievement for all students The plan emphasises teaching literacy in an explicit, systematic, balanced and integrated way. target setting to improve student outcomes. updating and producing new literacy support materials for regions and schools. 8 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

State Literacy Plan Equitable literacy achievement for all students Student achievement indicators Data demonstrates improvement in Year 3 literacy achievement Data demonstrates growth in literacy achievement between Years 3 and 5 Data demonstrates growth in literacy achievement between Years 7 and 8. 9 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

10 Literacy teaching Literacy teaching in NSW schools will incorporate explicit and systematic instruction in the skills, knowledge and understandings for students to be literate. Literacy will be taught in a balanced and integrated way Teachers K-12 will develop and continually refine a broad and responsive set of effective literacy teaching practices to meet the diverse learning needs of students. Literacy K–12 Policy Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

11 Literacy K–12 Policy Literacy teaching cont’d Teachers K-12, across all key learning areas are responsible for the teaching and learning of literacy skills, knowledge and understandings Teachers K-12 will allocate sufficient time to explicitly plan, program and teach literacy to ensure students’ achievement of syllabus standards. Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Middle years and student literacy development Organisation and curriculum in transition Primary schoolHigh school One main generalist teacherSeveral specialist teachers Consistent class groupVarying class group One home roomDifferent rooms Mainly integrated curriculum Defined specialised areas of the curriculum ‘Big fish in a small pond’ at the top of the student population hierarchy ‘Little fish in a big pond’ at the bottom of the student population hierarchy 12 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Middle years and student literacy development Organisation and curriculum in transition Primary schoolHigh school Talking and listening often included as part of learning sequences Fewer opportunities for students to talk as part of learning Students often work with one text for a number of lessons Students may spend only one lesson on a text, and need to quickly switch to work with different texts and teachers from one lesson to another. Students spend time drafting and rewriting Students often required to produce writing in one lesson 13 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

NSW curriculum Early Stage 1- Stage 3 (Kindergarten to Year 6), Stages 4-5 (Years 7-10) Stage 6 (years 11-12) Each key learning area is planned with a continuum of learning from Early Stage 1 to Stage Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

How does the K–6 English syllabus define literacy? Literacy is the ability to read and use written information and to write appropriately in a range of contexts. It is used to develop knowledge and understanding, to achieve personal growth and to function effectively in our society. Literacy involves the integration of speaking, listening and critical thinking with reading and writing. (p. 5) 15 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Maths 7–10 syllabus … Mathematics language is concise and precise. Students are taught mathematical vocabulary and the conventions for writing mathematics … … The growth of technology and information, including visual information, demands that students be critically, visually and technologically literate and can compose, acquire, process and evaluate text in a wide variety of contexts … (p. 10) 16 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

History Years 7–10 Literacy History is ideally suited to develop students’ literacy skills including the comprehension of texts, use of specific historical language, analysis and use of sources and historical texts, research and communication. In Stage 4 Mandatory and Elective, skills to be learnt and developed include: using historical language, terms and concepts organising, recording and presenting material in different formats evaluating sources and historical perspectives constructing a variety of texts for different purposes, including use of ICT-based texts. (p.19) Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years 17

Literacy K–12 Policy Literacy teaching Teachers K-12, across all key learning areas are responsible for the teaching and learning of literacy skills, knowledge and understandings Teachers K-12 will allocate sufficient time to explicitly plan, program and teach literacy to ensure students’ achievement of syllabus standards. 18 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Continuums of learning K–10 Select a key learning area continuum to look at in detail. Discuss with colleagues: –How does the continuum of learning build on student prior learning? –How does the learning become more sophisticated as students progress to Stage 4? 19 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Understanding the adolescent brain “Those who engage with middle school students would do well to develop their understanding of the adolescent brain, for it is during this developmental transition that the brain does some amazing things, all of which have an impact on how these students engage and/or disengage with their learning environments.” Pendergast, D., Bahr, N. (eds) Teaching middle years: rethinking curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, page 66, Allen and Unwin, 2005, Sydney 20 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Just because they're physically mature, they may not appreciate the consequences or weigh information the same way as adults do. So, [although] somebody looks physically mature, their brain may in fact not be mature. Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, PhDBrain Imaging Laboratory, McClean Hospital Harvard University Medical School 21 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

A three dimensional “map” showing portions of gray matter “pruned” from the brain between adolescence and adulthood. The purple sections in the two boxes indicate sections that will be discarded from the frontal lobe. The box on the far right indicates the prefrontal cortex, a subsection of the frontal lobe that controls judgment. Image adapted from Nature Neuroscience. 22 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years Prefrontal cortex section of the brain, showing large areas pruned during adolescence.

NEURONS Neuron (nerve cell) Axons (transmissio n lines) 23 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years

Video on website re teenage behaviour and the adolescent brain: c02/sci/life/reg/teenbrain/index.html 24 Workshop 1 Early career teacher induction: Literacy middle years