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Using Animation Clips to Enhance Literacy

A skilled writer conveys a message that can be accurately interpreted by a reader. Unfortunately, when students write about...
A skilled writer conveys a message that can be accurately interpreted by a reader. Unfortunately, when students write about what they did during their holidays or on the weekend, it is difficult to measure the accuracy of the written...
A skilled writer conveys a message that can be accurately interpreted by a reader. Unfortunately, when students write about what they did during their holidays or on the weekend, it is difficult to measure the accuracy of the written attempt as the context may not be known. Similarly, there are many students who, when asked to write, whether in the classroom or clinic, are reluctant to put pen to paper as they struggle to generate ideas. Fortunately, we know that a retell or recount can provide insight into a student’s language skills and when they write it down, it provides additional information about sentence structure, vocabulary and word meaning as well as their ability to sequence ideas into a cohesive text. Using video can be highly engaging, it can be paused and restarted to scaffold the writing task and the reader has a reference point against which they can compare the response to identify areas of strength and weakness. Furthermore, a written recount from an animated video is a task that can be administered with a whole class, providing an effective and efficient way to collect a piece of written text from a whole class during a single lesson. Join Kathryn to explore the classroom and clinic application of using animation clips to support comprehension and writing skills including practical easy to implement strategies to scaffold the success of students requiring additional support.
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Handwriting Assessment and Intervention with Primary School-Aged Children

Despite the increasing use of digital devices, handwriting remains an essential skill. Developing good handwriting habits in the early...
Despite the increasing use of digital devices, handwriting remains an essential skill. Developing good handwriting habits in the early years establishes a foundation for a lifetime of effective written communication. Children who struggle with handwriting may feel frustrated, embarrassed,...
Despite the increasing use of digital devices, handwriting remains an essential skill. Developing good handwriting habits in the early years establishes a foundation for a lifetime of effective written communication. Children who struggle with handwriting may feel frustrated, embarrassed, and ashamed of their work, which can lead to a sense of failure and inadequacy. This can negatively impact a child's self-esteem, confidence, emotional well-being and overall social development. Children may adopt a strategy of resistance and avoidance when confronted with a task that they think will be difficult. That is often because they are aware of their problems and anxious not to expose themselves to failure. Efficient letter formation, spacing, size, alignment as well as adequate speed and establishing a functional pain-free pencil grasp, are all important components of effective handwriting development. Ingrained poor and inefficient habits and motor patterns are more challenging to unlearn the older the child gets. Early identification of difficulties and timely intervention are key to preventing issues from escalating and affecting other aspects of a child's academic progress. This 60 min presentation by Occupational Therapist Mel Micallef, will cover some common difficulties that children encounter when developing handwriting skills, and some intervention strategies that can be implemented in the classroom and at home.*** This session is part of our writing course "Think it, Say it, Write it! The Fundamentals of Written Expression". As we did not have permission from all speakers to include their presentations in the On-Demand library the course is not available as a complete bundle. ***
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Rethinking Whole Class Spelling Instruction

The ability to spell well is extremely important, both for writing and, perhaps less obviously, for reading. Much debate...
The ability to spell well is extremely important, both for writing and, perhaps less obviously, for reading. Much debate has revolved around whether spelling should be formally taught, and how it should be taught. This presentation by Dr Alison...
The ability to spell well is extremely important, both for writing and, perhaps less obviously, for reading. Much debate has revolved around whether spelling should be formally taught, and how it should be taught. This presentation by Dr Alison Madelaine (Senior Research Fellow), will address some of the problems with more traditional list-based spelling instruction and look at a more efficient, evidence-based and language-based method of teaching English spelling to primary school students.*** This session is part of our writing course "Think it, Say it, Write it! The Fundamentals of Written Expression". As we did not have permission from all speakers to include their presentations in the On-Demand library the course is not available as a complete bundle. ***
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Interweaving Text Structure – Teaching Types of Writing

This presentation by Literacy Intervention Specialist, Jacnita Conway, will explore the three types of writing taught at schools: narrative,...
This presentation by Literacy Intervention Specialist, Jacnita Conway, will explore the three types of writing taught at schools: narrative, informational and opinion writing and how these types of writing develop from the early years to secondary.*** This session is...
This presentation by Literacy Intervention Specialist, Jacnita Conway, will explore the three types of writing taught at schools: narrative, informational and opinion writing and how these types of writing develop from the early years to secondary.*** This session is part of our writing course "Think it, Say it, Write it! The Fundamentals of Written Expression". As we did not have permission from all speakers to include their presentations in the On-Demand library the course is not available as a complete bundle. ***
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Introduction to the Writing Rope

Speech Pathologist Laura Glisson, provides an introduction to Joan Sedita's Writing Rope (2019). She will discuss each strand of the...
Speech Pathologist Laura Glisson, provides an introduction to Joan Sedita's Writing Rope (2019). She will discuss each strand of the writing rope which is necessary for skilled writing. This session sets the scene for the more detailed presentations on each strand of...
Speech Pathologist Laura Glisson, provides an introduction to Joan Sedita's Writing Rope (2019). She will discuss each strand of the writing rope which is necessary for skilled writing. This session sets the scene for the more detailed presentations on each strand of the writing rope that is available as part of the wider writing course. 
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Syntax and Sentence Construction: A Narrative Approach

This webinar is presented by Jenny Baker, and will showcase the need to teach syntactic devices within a functional...
This webinar is presented by Jenny Baker, and will showcase the need to teach syntactic devices within a functional context. It will address how to:analyse whole class stories using “Sketch Engine”identify grammatical goals for Tier 1 and 2 lessonsuse...
This webinar is presented by Jenny Baker, and will showcase the need to teach syntactic devices within a functional context. It will address how to:analyse whole class stories using “Sketch Engine”identify grammatical goals for Tier 1 and 2 lessonsuse a whole-class writing programemploy and adapt a model textteach grammatical devicesdifferentiate instruction and expectations*** This session is part of our writing course "Think it, Say it, Write it! The Fundamentals of Written Expression". As we did not have permission from all speakers to include their presentations in the On-Demand library the course is not available as a complete bundle. ***
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Text Analysis & Essay writing with Jenny Baker

This session by Jenny Baker will provide participants with a framework for analysing written and visual texts. It will...
This session by Jenny Baker will provide participants with a framework for analysing written and visual texts. It will also showcase successful essay writing strategies that students can employ to organise their ideas and develop a written argument that...
This session by Jenny Baker will provide participants with a framework for analysing written and visual texts. It will also showcase successful essay writing strategies that students can employ to organise their ideas and develop a written argument that unpacks how quotations support techniques, how techniques develop themes and how themes position readers.By the end of the webinar, participants will be informed about:Text analysisIdentification of themes / values / attitudes / representations etcTechniques used for analysis (plot, language, characterisation, point of view & setting)Structure of the essay (general paragraph structure as well as sentence structure)Vocabulary for writing a successful essayParticipants will have the opportunity to analyse a text and work towards writing an exemplary essay toillustrate the processes of text analysis and essay writing.
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Literary Fiction Writing for Secondary School Students with Jenny Baker

This session will focus on enhancing the development of written language in high school aged students across two expository...
This session will focus on enhancing the development of written language in high school aged students across two expository genres – persuasive and interpretative.Participants will learn about the macrostructure of different text types, so they can teach students the...
This session will focus on enhancing the development of written language in high school aged students across two expository genres – persuasive and interpretative.Participants will learn about the macrostructure of different text types, so they can teach students the formulas for writing these text types.Introduction (LAM)Lead inAnswer the questionProvide a MenuBody Paragraphs (TEXR)Topic sentenceExplanationExampleRound offConclusion (AML)Answer the question,Provide a Menu,Lead outParticipants will also be introduced to the microstructures of each written genre.Within the two expository genres, the focus will be on a variety of language devices used to deliver imagery, power, specificity, emphasis, emotion and persuasion with the inclusion of:repetitionword choicerhetorical questionscall to actionpoint of viewfigurative languagepersonificationalliteration
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