Writing

A new research study has compiled a list of the 500 most frequently used words written by students in Australia in their first three years of schooling. What influences their word choices? Are there any gender differences? And, how has the list changed in a decade?

In this regular blog, Miss Chen will be sharing some of the F-2 resources she’s been using in her classroom, which are all available to download for free via the Little J & Big Cuz website. For today’s activity, the class created their own picture story books about the animals they’d spotted while out on Country.

Early years classroom practitioners need to devote more time to teaching writing, including explicit handwriting instruction, according to research findings from an Australian study.

Introducing evidence-based programs and interventions is one strategy that can be used by schools to target specific improvements in student outcomes. For this principal, having ongoing support mechanisms for staff is a crucial part of the implementation process.

In an effort to better reach students who aren’t engaged in reading, writing and storytelling, staff at this New South Wales school decided to run a literary festival for Year 7 students, inviting a range of different authors, poets, cartoonists, illustrators and performers to run workshops on the day.

In an effort to improve student writing, teachers at this New South Wales school developed a writing continuum for students in Kindergarten to Year 10.

Tasmanian teacher Cath Apanah joins Teacher to discuss how her school has been using data to inform its strategic plan and how they went about upskilling staff to use data effectively.

The National Literacy Trust (UK) annual literacy survey asks eight- to 18-year-olds about writing frequency and their enjoyment of writing. Here are some of the results and comparisons with the Trust's data on reading.

Like reading for pleasure, an enjoyment of writing has been linked to higher student achievement, but new data from the UK show children and young people’s enjoyment of writing is declining.

Andrew Nicholls discusses how staff professional development supported the implementation of a literacy program at his school, as well as the program’s impact on student learning outcomes.