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The Written Sentence: Simple, Compound and Complex

Writing is an essential tool for communication and an important instrument for learning across all content areas within schools....
Writing is an essential tool for communication and an important instrument for learning across all content areas within schools.   Without the ability to formulate well-crafted sentences using effective transcription skills, correct syntactical and punctuation structures, accurate and fluent spelling,...
Writing is an essential tool for communication and an important instrument for learning across all content areas within schools.   Without the ability to formulate well-crafted sentences using effective transcription skills, correct syntactical and punctuation structures, accurate and fluent spelling, and a diverse vocabulary choice to draw on, students are likely to find the more complex task of writing paragraph structures problematic. The sentence, although a foundation structure in all written languages, can provide profound compositional challenges for beginning and struggling writers alike. There are several sentence-level writing skills that can be explicitly taught to support and improve students’ development of sentence-level writing.   This session will focus on one such skill: that of ‘sentence combining’ to move students' writing skills from simple, to compound, to complex sentences. Students benefit from being provided direct, explicit, and systematic instruction in the purposeful practice of manipulating syntax within sentences to improve their syntactical control within their writing. The research literature on sentence combining during the last 40 years has frequently yielded positive results (Cooper, 1973; Crowhurst & Piche, 1979; Hillocks, 1986; Hunt, 1965; Lee & Lee, 2017; Limpo & Alves, 2013; O’Hare, 1973; Saddler & Asaro, 2008; Saddler, Behforooz, & Asaro, 2008; Saddler & Graham, 2005; Saddler, Robinson & Saddler, 2018; Walter, Dockrell & Connelly, 2021; Graham et al, 2023; AERO, 2022; Coyne-Green & Ormandy, 2025). Syntactical maturity affords the writer the ability to compose a variety of complex and compound sentences with proficiency. Presented by Kristin Anthian Dip.T(EC), B.Ed(P), PGDip.Ed.St(ECI), M.Ed(SE.I&EI).
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The ADHD Puzzle: Strategies for Success

In this webinar, Andy will provide a comprehensive overview of ADHD and the often unexplored related behaviours in children,...
In this webinar, Andy will provide a comprehensive overview of ADHD and the often unexplored related behaviours in children, including how it may present differently in girls. He’ll present a broad selection of insights, practical tips and strategies for...
In this webinar, Andy will provide a comprehensive overview of ADHD and the often unexplored related behaviours in children, including how it may present differently in girls. He’ll present a broad selection of insights, practical tips and strategies for teachers and any professionals who regularly work with and support children. Presented by Andrew Hayes.
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AI For Educators: Simplify, Create, and Engage with the Power of AI

This presentation will provide participants with a practical introduction to AI, focusing on both text-based tools and image generation....
This presentation will provide participants with a practical introduction to AI, focusing on both text-based tools and image generation. After a brief overview of what AI is and how it's being used in teaching, we’ll dive into actionable ways...
This presentation will provide participants with a practical introduction to AI, focusing on both text-based tools and image generation. After a brief overview of what AI is and how it's being used in teaching, we’ll dive into actionable ways the audience can utilise AI to in their day-to-day work, followed by creative applications of AI-generated imagery to enhance engagement with visual content. By the end, attendees will leave with a solid understanding of AI tools and practical strategies they can implement immediately to improve efficiency and creativity in their work. Presented by Chantelle Elbadaoui.
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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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Fact Fluency: The What, Why and How

In this session, Dr Angela Rogers shares the importance of developing a strategic and targeted approach to mathematics fact...
In this session, Dr Angela Rogers shares the importance of developing a strategic and targeted approach to mathematics fact fluency with all students. She will start by exploring the research that underpins fluency development. Angela will explore its place...
In this session, Dr Angela Rogers shares the importance of developing a strategic and targeted approach to mathematics fact fluency with all students. She will start by exploring the research that underpins fluency development. Angela will explore its place in the curriculum and the impact a concentrated approach can have on student confidence, motivation and achievement in mathematics. You will walk away from this session with insights and practical ideas that will support you in implementing a research-informed approach towards fluency development with your students.
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Response to Intervention in Maths – Learnings from the Field

This session will cover the journey of establishing an evidence-based Maths Intervention Program within a government primary school context....
This session will cover the journey of establishing an evidence-based Maths Intervention Program within a government primary school context. Useful for school leaders, teachers, intervention teachers and education support staff, Brydon will share her learnings about what works (and...
This session will cover the journey of establishing an evidence-based Maths Intervention Program within a government primary school context. Useful for school leaders, teachers, intervention teachers and education support staff, Brydon will share her learnings about what works (and what doesn't!) in setting up data-driven systems of support, all underpinned by the theoretical frameworks of Response to Intervention (RtI), Cognitive Load Theory, Explicit Direct Instruction and Direct Instruction.
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How Leading Countries Teach Mathematics

Embarking on a Churchill Fellowship in 2023 to investigate best practices in mathematics teaching at a primary school level,...
Embarking on a Churchill Fellowship in 2023 to investigate best practices in mathematics teaching at a primary school level, Liana visited 6 countries in 7 weeks: Singapore, Japan, Finland, Estonia, Canada, USA. The presentation focuses on her experiences and...
Embarking on a Churchill Fellowship in 2023 to investigate best practices in mathematics teaching at a primary school level, Liana visited 6 countries in 7 weeks: Singapore, Japan, Finland, Estonia, Canada, USA. The presentation focuses on her experiences and looks at the commonalities and differences between primary mathematics education in Australia and abroad.
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Word Problems? No Problem!

Setting up and solving word problems is tricky for many students! In this session, we will review effective word-problem...
Setting up and solving word problems is tricky for many students! In this session, we will review effective word-problem strategies. First, we'll highlight common attack strategies which provide students with a process for approaching word problems. Then, we'll provide...
Setting up and solving word problems is tricky for many students! In this session, we will review effective word-problem strategies. First, we'll highlight common attack strategies which provide students with a process for approaching word problems. Then, we'll provide examples of common schemas featured in many word problems. These schemas represent the conceptual foundation of a word problem. When students use an attack strategy combined with schemas, this approach can make word-problem solving more accessible for students.
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Preventing Early Maths Difficulties: Screening that Counts!

Gaps in mathematics achievement are evident early and persist. Following in the footsteps of recent advances in reading science,...
Gaps in mathematics achievement are evident early and persist. Following in the footsteps of recent advances in reading science, efforts are now underway to ensure that early years teachers have the knowledge and tools to identify students who are...
Gaps in mathematics achievement are evident early and persist. Following in the footsteps of recent advances in reading science, efforts are now underway to ensure that early years teachers have the knowledge and tools to identify students who are likely to go on to struggle with mathematics. This session will review the most recent research on the knowledge and skills most predictive of mathematics difficulties, how they are best measured, and the implications for schools and teachers. This webinar has been recorded and the recording is available for two weeks after the event This is a replay of the event from Monday 29th July 2024, 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm AEST (Melbourne Time)
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Automaticity in Numeracy

A common barrier for students who experience learning difficulties in numeracy is lack of automaticity in basic facts. The impact is that they...
A common barrier for students who experience learning difficulties in numeracy is lack of automaticity in basic facts. The impact is that they then ‘use up’ mental resources on calculations and cannot adequately attend to higher order aspects of mathematics or numeracy tasks. This workshop will provide...
A common barrier for students who experience learning difficulties in numeracy is lack of automaticity in basic facts. The impact is that they then ‘use up’ mental resources on calculations and cannot adequately attend to higher order aspects of mathematics or numeracy tasks. This workshop will provide a brief, evidence-informed rationale for developing automaticity in number facts, including consideration of how this differs from rote learning. Then the key focus will be on strategies and approaches for teaching number facts and examples of games and activities to help develop automaticity. The content of this workshop will be relevant to teachers of students of any age who experience learning difficulties in numeracy. Presented by Dr Anne Bellert. 1.5 PD Points
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