Kia ora koutou and welcome to the August newsletter for English, ESOL and Literacy Online.
Of special interest for primary teachers is the change in aligning School Journals to the NZ Curriculum levels and for secondary teachers, clarification of UE literacy requirements in 2012 along with a range of new resources. We also take this opportunity to farewell Claire Amos from her position as ICTs in English Community facilitator and thank her for the energy and enthusiasm she has brought to this role.
All the best for the remainder of the term.
Nga mihi nui,
Dr Phil Coogan - Project director
Maria Lute – Project manager
Cognition Education for the NZ Ministry of Education.
In this issue
News from:
Literacy Online
English Online
ESOL Online
Literacy Online
Secondary Literacy
Kia ora and welcome from Denise Hitchcock
This month’s discussion focussed on using NZCER data for diagnostic purposes, School Journal Levels , and clarification of the UE Literacy requirements in 2012.
In response to a recommendation made by the NCEA Workload Advisory Group, NZQA is now producing an NCEA online newsletter . By combining information about NCEA from both NZQA and the Ministry of Education, this resource will serve as one authoritative source of information about NCEA.
Secondary Literacy Online
Resources continue to be added to the Secondary Literacy web space. Most recently the following material has been added:
- Literacy in the Technology Classroom- Technology (Powerpoint 687KB) . This Powerpoint from Aaron Wilson outlines some of the literacy demands in technology and uses the Techlink case study about Te Rewa Rewa Bridge to demonstrate effective literacy teaching practices.
- Adolescent Literacy Resources: Linking Research and Practice . This resource provides links between literacy research and classroom practice, including teaching and learning, literacy across the curriculum, and literacy leadership.
Kind regards
Denise Hitchcock
Facilitator: Secondary Literacy Community
Literacy
Kia ora and welcome from Chris Henderson
This month the Set 5 illustrations have been added for the NZC National Standards. This increases the number of reading and writing illustrations teachers can use to support them in planning for teaching and the focus at different year levels.
School Journals
School Journals have also undergone some changes and are now directly aligned with the levels of the New Zealand Curriculum. The reading levels and target audiences for each Journal are also clearer. These improvements will enable teachers to use the series more effectively to help their students meet the reading demands of the curriculum. Click here to download a copy of the flyer The School Journal: What’s new? Please email if you have any queries or comments.
NZRA National Conference material
The workshop material from the national NZRA conference in July can be accessed here .
Education Counts
Check this site out for the latest Ministry of Education reports. Read the review of the Pasifika Education Plan and the National Standards: School Sample Monitoring and Evaluation Project, 2010.
Ngā mihi
Chris Henderson
Facilitator: Primary Literacy Community
English Online
Secondary English
Kia ora and welcome from Mike Fowler.
August has been a busy month in the secondary English community with plenty of ideas for senior texts selections and resources being traded. The myth of the extraordinary teacher has been exposed, where it can’t be demanded that teachers are excellent in conditions that preclude excellence.
Ideas for supporting Christchurch English teachers have been shared as we rapidly approach the business end of the senior academic year. As of September 1, there are 39 school days left for Year 11, 12 and 13 before externals begin on 10 November . It’s been appreciated that the English community is thinking of Christchurch students and teachers, who to date have already lost at least 20 school days as well as lived and studied under the duress of ongoing quake disruptions.
Consultation on the Level 3 standards is open. While the symmetrical pattern from Level 1 and 2 standards largely continues, personal reading is not included in the level 3 draft standards. The information literacy standard also shifts towards a specific language or literature focus. Students are asked to first consider literary or linguistic criticism or commentary then to develop hypotheses to frame their investigations.
New resources released
- NCEA Update launched: communications from NZQA and MOE accessed via a single link.
Loaded onto the Teacher Resource Exchange this month:
- Year 13: Cuckoo’s Nest
- Year 12 : Shawshank Redemption, Children of Men, Donnie Darko
- Year 11 : The Blindside, Boy, Jolt, Overcoming the Odds
- Year 10: Coming Back, Heroes and Villains
- Year 9 : Slide the Corner
Regards
Mike Fowler
Facilitator: Secondary English Community
ICTs in English
Kia ora and welcome from Claire Amos
Over the last month the results of the EduCampAKL unconference were shared in the community, as were a range of websites and tools to support the teaching and assessment of “presenting ” and “listening ” in English.
Upcoming event
- Ulearn11 - 19-21 October - Rotorua Events Centre - Ulearn is a teaching and learning conference that focuses on e-learning in and beyond the classroom. It is suitable for teachers through to school leaders and primary and secondary educators alike.
This month is my last as the ICTs in English community facilitator. Thank you to the community and the team at Cognition and English Online for a fabulous year online! All the best for the remainder of 2011.
Kind regards,
Claire Amos
Facilitator: ICTs in English Community
ESOL Online
Primary ESOL
Kia ora and welcome from Gaylene Price
Since the school holiday break the primary ESOL forum has been active as participants prepare for term 3. Of most interest has been the conversation about integrating a new ‘Foundation Level’ student into school and existing English language learner groups. Teachers contributed to this discussion based on ideas from their own experiences and reflected a great deal of local knowledge which included:
- creating a caring environment and allowing the student time to observe and take in everything
- using board games and other oral language games to introduce some frequently used vocabulary and simple sentence structures
- using speaking frames... ‘I am.., I go ...
- ensuring an ESOL timetable provides for individual time with new students
- creating a visual dictionary/scrapbook from pictures in magazines/digital camera etc
- starting with non-fiction texts with good visuals
- using concrete artefacts, pictures, realia, authentic experiences (and writing captions and labels for these)
A key consideration for new English language learners is that the teaching programme should match the school curriculum and that students should be grouped with other similar-aged students where their cognitive and language skills can be fostered and challenged.
New resources for ESOL
Teachers may be familiar with the resource ‘Supporting English Language Learners in Primary Schools’ (SELLIPS) which is a publication available through Down the Back of the Chair’ . This resource is now being sent to those schools who have not previously ordered it.It is a resource for mainstream and ESOL teachers which gives suggestions for developing students’ academic language in curriculum contexts. It is organised around language purposes/functions including describing, recounting, responding, instructing, explaining, persuading and negotiating. It is produced in booklets for specific year groups -
- Years 1 & 2 (item number 33237)
- Years 3 & 4 (item number 33238)
- Years 5 & 6 (item number 33240)
- Years 7 & 8 (item number 33235)
- SELLIPS can also be downloaded here .
An updated Powerpoint which contains a list of all of the Ministry of Education ESOL resources is now available. It is useful to print off a copy of this resource and place it in your teachers’ resource room. This will help ensure teachers are up-to-date with current resources and therefore making the most of opportunities to support children’s learning.
Conference
- Language Education Diversity Conference 2011 (LED) - Wednesday 23 - Saturday 26 November 2011 sponsored by the Faculty of Education, University of Auckland. LED 2011 is an opportunity to participate in an international forum that brings together the latest academic and policy discussions and promotes critical debate on the often complex interconnections between diversity and language education.
Kind regards,
Gaylene
Facilitator: Primary ESOL Community
Secondary ESOL
Kia ora and welcome from Breda Matthews
This month on the Secondary ESOL mailing list, there has been discussion of:
- resources for students studying economics
- ESOL unit standard 17359
- discussion on the role of refugee co-coordinators
- programming for new students
- vocabulary teaching principles and strategies
- the relationship between ELLP and ESOL unit standards assessments
- the relationship of ESOL unit standards assessments to the NZC and NCEA
University entrance literacy changes and ESOL
This month it has been announced that two EAP standards will be used for university entrance literacy from 2014. These are
- 22750 Write a crafted text using researched material for an academic purpose (ESOL)
- 22751 Read and process information for academic purposes (ESOL)
The standards are set at NQF level 4 and require students to demonstrate sufficient language competence to be able to study successfully at tertiary level. As such they represent a considerable increase in the language proficiency from level 3 ESOL unit standards and are best viewed as part of a two-year course for students.
On Saturday 20th August, Jenni Bedford and Annie Chan spoke at the AKTESOL workshop about the assessment support materials for the new level 3 and 4.
ESOL unit standards
Jenni has kindly shared her presentation from the AKTESOL workshop and this is now available on the TRE. ESOL QualificationsThe final drafts of the New Zealand ESOL qualifications are now available. Much of the feedback sent has been incorporated, including a reduction in the number of credits.
- Overview and proposed timeline.
- Final drafts of the NZ ESOL qualifications levels 1 to 5.
Useful links
- Compass Media has a range of videos on language teaching. In Simple Strategies and Methods for Listening Comprehension , Casey Malarcher discusses a range of listening activities suitable for various levels, from beginning to advanced EFL learners.
- A tool you might be interested in using with your students is Dragster . This programme allows you to create drag and drop activities for your students.
Community news
- Islam Awareness Week will be held from 31st October until 5th November. Read more
- The Counties Manukau Multicultural Council will hold an “Integrating Ethnic Cultures” Eid Festival on Sunday 4 September from 10.00 am at Mangere Centre Park Sports Stadium,101-141 Robertson Road, Mangere, Auckland.
Kind regards,
Breda Matthews
Facilitator: Secondary ESOL Community
If you wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter please click this link . On the right hand side under 'Newsletter' please type in your email address and click 'unsubscribe'.