Kia ora koutou and welcome to the July newsletter for English, ESOL and Literacy Online.
We trust you are enjoying the term break and will have a moment to read some of the highlights from our community facilitators this month.
Of special interest to ESOL teachers is the new Focus on English series.
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
Sustaining Literacy Initiatives
During this month some interesting discussion developed on the secondary literacy mailing list around the sustainability of literacy initiatives. To review the conversation, follow this link.
The Teacher Professional Learning and Development BES (p. 220) adds to our understanding by identifying the qualities associated with sustainability – including equipping teachers with strong theoretical knowledge and the skills to inquire into the impact of their teaching on student learning.
Secondary Literacy Online
Resources continue to be added to the Secondary Literacy web space. Most recently the following material has been added:
- Within each learning area ( Literacy in the Learning Areas) there are links to Maori learners and literacy and Pasifika learners and literacy
- In Literacy in Social Sciences two examples from practice have been added – a Year 10 social science example and a Year 11 history example. These ‘snapshots’ provide examples of effective literacy practice in context.
UE Literacy requirements
This Secqual document outlines the requirements for University Entrance literacy and numeracy in 2012. The literacy requirements are to be met through specific standards in English or Te reo Māori.
Selected draft English Level 2 achievement standards will be added to the list of standards for UE literacy in 2012. The reading requirement can be met via a mix of externals and internals, however there is only one internal English standard where students can meet the writing requirement, as the other standards that count for writing are externally assessed. So for 2012, the literacy requirements remain in the areas of te reo Māori or English whilst the wider review of University Entrance continues, and the requirement for 4 credits in reading and 4 credits in writing from Level 2 or above, remains.
Kind regards
Denise Hitchcock
Facilitator: Secondary Literacy Community
Kia ora koutou e te whānau
National Standards Illustrations
The additional illustrations in the National Standards illustrations on Literacy Online now have more examples of reading and writing samples to help with decision making around what students display when they are meeting a standard.
Running Records
It may be worth taking a fresh look at what these were designed for and think about who needs to have them, their purpose and how they should be administered. Marie Clay’s book the Observation Survey will ensure that you are getting the best from this diagnostic tool. Below are aspects that are sometimes forgotten when running records are undertaken. Do you:
- Check the way the child reads – how is their phrasing and fluency?
- Ensure that ‘seen’ text is used for younger readers as they establish their reading processing strategies?
- Identify all of the sources of information used when reading - meaning, structure/syntax, visual?
- Analyse a self correction as an error first and then as a self correction?
- Use a blank form for the recording of the reading?
- Record the conventions as shown on Pages 58 – 60 of Clay’s book?
- Remember that teaching is not appropriate when using a running record – ‘to be a recorder of behaviour not a stimulus to behaviour’. (Clay, M. Becoming Literate pg 212).
- Use the 2002 norms for the assessment?
- Know that if running records are used for older students ‘there should be a special reason for taking them.’? (Clay, M. Observation Survey Pg 72)
Oral Language
A new member of the literacy community asked about the ‘Tell Me ‘aspect of the 1990’s School Entry Assessment Kit. This can still be obtained from Down the back of the chair (item number 97133). A research study published in 2001 comments on the effectiveness of items in this test, including ‘Tell Me’.
National Library
The National library website and advisers support teachers in schools to strengthen reading. These can be found under four headings – developing your library, creating readers, culture, identity and heritage and 21st century literacy and inquiry.
If you have ideas that are not included on Literacy Online please let us know. We endeavour to make the site as useful to you as it can be.
Ng mihi
Chris Henderson
Facilitator: Primary Literacy Community
English Online
Kia ora and welcome from Mike Fowler.
This month on the secondary English mailing list, some community members have been looking towards plans for 2012 including how to structure Level 2 English writing programmes . Discussions about texts continue to be a staple of our conversation diet, even using Facebook to study MacBeth.
Amendments to UE Literacy for 2011 and 2012
For 2012, the requirement for 4 credits in reading and 4 credits in writing from Level 2 or above applies for the new level 2 English standards. As schools think about course planning for 2012 with these amendments in mind, it’s important to look at the bigger picture. It’s not just about what students achieve in their Level 2 English courses. From next year students might gain UE literacy at some stage over their Level 2 and 3 programmes. A shift in thinking may be required from UE literacy being a core goal in Level 2 English, to literacy being an integral aspect of a student’s Level 3 programme and derived from standards from several curriculum areas.
Unfamiliar unfamiliar texts?
There’s been concern expressed that the unfamiliar texts exemplar published on the NZQA website may differ in some aspects to that required in response to the external students will sit in November. Views have varied from those worried that Level 1 students new to NCEA may be unsettled by an unexpected format in the exam, to others who hope that they have prepared their students to be sufficiently confident and adaptable to deal with this. For more on this discussion, visit this conversation thread .
New resources just released … and in the pipeline
- NZATE Level 1 Personal Reading exemplars - twenty four exemplars in total, with six exemplars for each level (N/A, A, M and E).
- Keep an eye out for the NZATE DVD of NCEA Level 1 oral presentation exemplars which will be released early in term 3. There are 28 exemplars showing a wide variety of speaking activities filmed in a diverse range of schools
Regards
Mike Fowler
Facilitator: Secondary English Community
ESOL Online
Primary ESOL
Kia ora and welcome from Gaylene Price
This month we have had interesting discussion in the primary ESOL Online community about useful sites for accessing ESOL support material and ideas. These include:
- ESL News New Zealand, which contains simplified and well-paced versions of current news items which can be read and listened to online.
- Language Lizard - a USA based site that sells bilingual books and audio material. There are also some units of work and other resources on this site.
- Mama Lisa’s World - international music and culture. This site includes lyrics in many languages and English so is a good source of home languages materials. In some cases there are video clips and music to help learn the song.
- The National Library Service supports NZ schools directly with materials and books, but also provides a range of online services. Engaging students in ‘the will to read’ is a particular focus of the 'Bookchat' section. To learn more about the book chats available and to get your students reading or contributing to the blog go to 'create readers blog' Also try Te Papa’s teacher resources section.
New resource for ESOL
There is a new resource available on ESOL Online. It is called the Focus on English series, a popular print resource that has now been digitised for online use. Specific topics include: Animals, Plants, Shapes, Measurement, Weather and Conservation. The series supports the curriculum and provides highly scaffolded English language support for new learners of English in Years 7-10. High-frequency vocabulary, technical terms and basic language features are taught in contexts that support learning in science, mathematics and social studies at curriculum levels 3–4.
Resources from the Teachers’ Council
New Zealand teachers are required to meet criteria for quality teaching as described by The New Zealand Teachers’ Council. These have been updated and now mandated from 2011. The criteria describe what beginning teachers need to work towards to gain their full teacher registration. Within these criteria is a strong focus on meeting the needs of diverse students and will therefore be of particular interest to ESOL specialists and teachers. For example criterion 9 states ‘respond effectively to the diverse language and cultural experiences, and the varied strengths, interests and needs of individuals and groups of ākonga/learners.’ This requires teachers to show evidence of selecting teaching approaches and resources that are inclusive and effective for diverse students. The Teachers’ Council also provides a range of resources and self assessment tools as guidance for teachers wishing to gather evidence to meet the criteria.
Conference alert
- Language Education Diversity Conference - Wednesday 23 - Saturday 26 November 2011, sponsored by the Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, Owen G. Glenn Building 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.
- CLESOL 2012 Conference – (see Secondary ESOL) The theme for the 2012 conference is Emerging opportunities in new learning spaces: He akoranga hou, he huarahi hou. Call for papers open - October 2011
Kind regards,
Gaylene
Facilitator: Primary ESOL Community
Secondary ESOL
Kia ora and welcome from Breda Matthews
This month the secondary ESOL community has seen discussion of:
- foundation courses
- the arrival online of the ‘Ministry of Education’s resource ‘Focus on English’
- and ESOL unit standards resources and requirements
You can access these archived posts here.
Online resources for ESOL
The Department of Education and Early Childhood development (Victoria, Australia) has downloadable resources suitable for foundation students.
Read and listen to Refugee Stories. Your students can view, listen to and add comments to the VoiceThread ‘How long does it take to call a place home?’ Your students can also create and add their own personal stories.
Also of interest is Writing Fun a website that scaffolds writing ten text types. Each text type is modelled at six different levels.
NCEA literacy changes and ESOL These changes will require ESOL teachers to take an active approach to planning appropriate pathways for ELLs and monitoring their students’ progress toward achieving literacy for NCEA Level 1 and university entrance.
The NZQA page ‘ What the level 1 literacy standards mean for English language learners’ outlines two possible new pathways for ELLs to achieve NCEA Level 1 literacy. You may also wish to view the following lists of standards for achieving NCEA Level 1 literary:
The university entrance literacy requirements for 2012 will have implications for ESOL teachers in terms of course design, length of programme and managing assessment. The reading requirement can be met using a mix of externals and internals. However, there is only one internal English standard where students can meet the writing requirement, 2.4 Produce a selection of crafted and controlled writing. The other standards that count for writing are externally assessed (2.1, 2.2, 2.3). There is no further news on the use of the EAP standards for university entrance literacy requirements.
Conferences
4th Biennial International Conference on Task-Based Language Teaching
When: 18th to 20th November, 2011
Where: University of Auckland
Contact details: Language, Education and Diversity Conference (see Primary ESOL)
CLESOL 2012 Conference
When: 4th to 7th October 2012
Where: Palmerston North
Contact details: clesol@paardekooper.co.nz
Kind regards,
Breda Mathews
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'.