Literacy Professional Learning Resource – Teaching Strategies

Literacy to Learn: Getting students knowledge ready for literacy learning

Literacy to Learn 2A - Transcript

Voiceover: The second aspect of ‘getting knowledge ready’ is for students to get their verbal knowledge ready for reading and learning. This refers to their knowledge of vocabulary, how ideas are organised and how they’re expressed in language. There are various procedures teachers can use. For example, to have students suggest the key words that might be in the text. To suggest synonyms for the key words. And to talk about possible ideas in sentences and also in longer prose. In the first scenario, Petrina asks her students to share what they already know about the topic. Yota has selected some key words from the text her students will read, and asks them to suggest what they know about them. Al has his students suggest key words and terms that may be shown in a picture of a gold field and discuss what each one means.

Teacher: Who can tell me what they already know about ‘women in ancient Egypt?’

Student: Women were married off.

Teacher: What else do we know?

Student: Wives and daughters of pharaohs led a very privileged life

Teacher: Excellent. What else?

Student: There were rich and poor women.

Teacher: What are some key words, or words you associate with this picture?

Student: Hardship

Teacher: Hardship

Student: Tents

Teacher: Tents

Student: Panning

Teacher: So how can we create a definition for panning?

Student: A method of finding gold.

Teacher: What does hardship mean?

Student: Hardship is like the way they lived, exhausting and that. There’s adifference between that and an everyday life.

Teacher: How is it different? Is it more fun?

Student: No. It’s more hard working