Published in Practically Primary Vol 15 No 2, June 2010
Teachers were invited to submit 10 things they do to promote talking and listening in the classroom.  This article includes responses from 8 teachers across Australia.

Published in the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy Vol 33 No 2, June 2010
Introduction:  The National Accelerated Literacy Program (NALP) operates, in the main, in an English as a second language (ESL) or English as a second dialect (ESD) medium across Australia, primarily targeting Indigenous students with low levels of English language literacy. With its distinctive pedagogy, it is backed by a sequence of teaching strategies and routines. Programs using this pedagogy have been implemented with different age groups and across a spectrum of rural, remote and urban schools in the Northern Territory (Gray, 2007; Gray & Cowey, 2001), Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia (Gray, Cowey & Axford, 2003), the ACT (Adoniou & Macken-Horarik, 2007) and Victoria and New South Wales, where it is promoted as the ‘Learning to Read, Reading to Learn’ program (Rose, 2005; Rose & Acevedo, 2006).

A Word on Words explores real English and real English language usage in an engaging, informative and accessible way. Helping readers to understand the puzzles of contemporary English, dictionary editor and linguistics specialist Pam Peters opens the door to a wealth of words and expressions. Her latest book tracks changing elements of grammar and new language phenomena, looking at language in the context of our culture and history. A Word on Words demonstrates the versatility and adaptibility of the English language, celebrating words and the applications - without moralising or politicising language. 

This series of three resources provides a practical framework for responding to the full range of student literacy demands within Science, The Arts, and Society and Environment.

These timely publications will help teachers to respond to the importance of literacy skills. Photocopiable sheets show a step-by-step method for identifying literacy demands across curriculum documents and teaching programs. There are also suggestions for using the resource in training and development activities.

Written for teachers in each of the three learning areas, and those teachers with a cross-curriculum literacy focus, these books are a practical resource which demonstrate that teaching the content of the learning area can be enhanced with the development of literacy skills relevant to that learning area.

Soft white cotton t-shirts for new babies. 'Read to Me' on the front.

A collection of articles selected from the ALEA journal, Practically Primary. The collection spans the first ten years of the journal, from 1995-2004. The articles have been selected to provide a wide variety of strategies and ideas for primary classrooms. The authentic voices of teachers resonate strongly throughout the collection.

This revised edition provides ideas for teachers who are looking for ways to support genuine classroom inquiry. It demonstrates that drama offers a risk-free 'proving ground' in which students can test and contest ideas and perspectives. In focused interactions, students can be challenged to inquire, tell, argue, explain, justify, and more.

Published in Literacy Learning: the Middle Years Vol 18 No 2, June 2010
Introduction: In November 2009, ninety Western Australian educators including central office staff, high school principals and specialist literacy and numeracy teachers attended a Getting it Right (GiR) Secondary Forum to share experiences and celebrate successes associated with the state-funded pilot Getting it Right Secondary (GiR) Strategy. While this was an opportunity for these schools to tell their stories, the story of the GiR secondary strategy had begun four years earlier in 2006, building on the acclaimed GiR primary model that had operated in primary schools in WA since 2002.

Choices for English: Books, films and other texts that work is a useful guide to help teachers select the best possible texts for secondary students to study. Written by a team of authors with extensive experience in selecting and teaching texts in secondary classrooms, this resource contains recommendations for texts that will 'work' for whole-class study. As passionate advocates of allowing student choice as often as possible, the authors have also provided many ideas for building units of work around a range of different texts, including genre studies, thematic studies and topic studies.

Published in the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy Vol 33 No 1, February 2010
Abstract:  The article outlines the aspects of the research design that engage with teachers in schools and discusses some of the challenges and affordances that the relationships (between the teachers, the schools, the research partners and the researchers) experienced in the project, Literacy in the 21st Century: Learning from Computer Games. The article has a particular focus on the teachers’ work as co-researchers, their descriptions of working in the project and some of the issues for teachers and researchers in working in this way. The data used for the analysis includes the teacher writing, interview data and researcher observations. The teachers who participated in the project designed and delivered curriculum using computer games in various ways including making their own games, evaluating games, analyzing game structures, and examining the culture around games and the ways in which games and other technologies are merging. Some of these curriculum units are described elsewhere in this issue (Beavis & O’Mara, 2010). This article’s purpose is to follow the teachers’ professional learning experiences rather than detail these curriculum designs, which the teachers will describe elsewhere. The paper concludes with our personal reflections on the affordances and challenges of working this way for us in our different roles in the research team. 

The online ordering system will automatically calculate postage. NO POSTAGE WILL BE CHARGED. Pdf file will be emailed to you within 24 hours. 

Covers wide range of topics including: punctuation, language in use, vocabulary and spelling, communication through writing, and communication through speaking and listening.
This new edition offers a strong emphasis on technology – sending emails, making Power Point presentations, etc., and critical  literacy practices – explanations of critical literacy terms and modelling of genres and language features.

This work provides teachers with successful strategies for implementing the full potential of ICT in middle and upper school classrooms. Each chapter is divided into three parts: the learning and thinking context; classroom strategies; wider applications and suggested activities.

Chapter topics include: Oral language – avoiding death by Power Point; On Line Discussion – a challenge for thinking skills; and Hypertext – a writing tool for lateral thinking.

The authors reconfigure critical literacy so that it can give proper consideration to the aesthetic, which involves paying attention to such things as individual identity, human emotion, creativity, and the value and productivity of texts. To demonstrate how the conjunction of critical literacy and the aesthetic can transform English classrooms, the au thors draw examples from various genres, media, and countries, including poetry by Donne, Shakespeare, Robert Lowell and Les Murray; To Kill a Mockingbird ; an episode of Friends ; and Huckleberry Finn.

A glossary of terms for students of English and English literature. Secondary students will find it a student friendly resource which explains terms using simple, accessible language with cartoons and examples to show how the terms are used. It covers not only literary terms, but also more general terms used in courses that focus on language, communication and culture.

Published in the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy Vol 33 No 2, June 2010
Abstract:  When most children read narrative texts they actively utilise cognitive resourcesto comprehend by constructing appropriate mental models of story events. However, many children with poor comprehension experience difficulties due toan inability to appropriately direct attention and to effectively use the resources ofworking memory. As a result, their ability to construct integrated mental modelsof story content may be impaired. However, their reading comprehension performancecan be improved when they are taught inferential reading comprehensionstrategies involving both verbal and visual processes to facilitate more elaboratedmental modeling of narrative texts. This article discusses how such strategies can be implemented and consolidated using a metacognitive focus within a flexiblemultiple-strategy framework.

The author demonstrates how to make early literacy a fun and exciting process for children. She explains how to use games and activities involving books and familiar objects, to support young children's developing literacy skills

The Australian Government Summer School for Teachers of English program was announced as part of the 2007-08 Federal Budget Package: Realising Our Potential. More than two hundred English teachers attended Deakin University's Waterfront campus for a smorgasboard of keynote presentations, workshops and social events that is unlikely to be repeated in this country. English for a New MIllennium gives every English teacher an opprtunity to share in the richness of that experience, including contributions from Cathering Beavis, Ray Misson, Elizabeth Webby, Gabriel Matters and Clare Bradford.

Published in Literacy Learning: the Middle Years Vol 18 No 2, June 2010 (Practical Strategies Lift-out)
Abstract: This edition of Practical Strategies is focused on teaching English as an additional language to multicultural students in the middle years. There are four sections:
1. an introduction that discusses ways of teaching English to students with an established repertoire of home/community languages, including Indigenous students
2. an example of a program planned with teachers in a remote coastal Northern Territory school where all students speak an Indigenous language
3. an example of a language-focused program integrated with science, built around an investigation of a range of marine birds in the area
4. a brief summary of requirements for teaching EAL/D students in the middle years.

Supports teachers in acquiring knowledge about texts, communication technologies and how they design and re-design text.  Each chapter includes 'Theory into practice' whereby the content of the literacy curriculum may be investigated, explored and developed.  This book successfully guides the teacher in assisting the 21st century learner through the complexity of multimodal texts, knowledge and interrationships.

LIMITED OFFER (WHILE STOCKS LAST):  SPECIAL AATE & ALEA MEMBER PRICE $35.95 plus postage.  SAVE $9.00
When finalising your order, please mention your are an AATE or ALEA member and state your member number.

The books in the Exploring Genre series provide in-depth analysis and exercises to help students analyse, question, interpret and articulate their understanding of the text.
Each book starts with a detailed definition of the genre, followed by an examination of a wide range of texts. It also includes a wide range of student activities to suite different year levels, with emphasis on what is being said and how it is being said, with questiions and response tasks.

The books in the Exploring Genre series provide in-depth analysis and exercises to help students analyse, question, interpret and articulate their understanding of the text.
Each book starts with a detailed definition of the genre, followed by an examination of a wide range of texts. It also includes a wide range of student activities to suite different year levels, with emphasis on what is being said and how it is being said, with questiions and response tasks.

The speculative nature of science fiction has conjured alternative worlds, races and situations which often juxtapose the ordinary and familiar with the extraordinary and the unfamiliar: space travel, aliens, science and technology remain some of the better known motifs. A range of appropriate texts have been selected that seek to demonstrate the changing face of Science Fiction over time. Detailed analysis of the conventions, themes, techniques and contextual impact has been provided to help teachers develop and deepen student understanding, critical evaluation and personal interpretation. Includes:

• Background information that establishes historical, social and literary context
• Textual information and evaluation that highlights literary and media features
• Suggested strategies and resources for dealing with the texts
• Wide ranging student activities with an emphasis on what key ideas are developed and communicated and how these can be represented.

This exciting collection of short stories is designed for use in Years 7-10. The book is divided into two parts: The Reader and The Text . The first part focuses on the reader's role as an active producer of meaning; the second part examines a number of specific aspects of narrative fiction.
Parts one and two both contain several group stories, an explanation of concepts to be explored, and helpful teaching suggestions, all of which have been tested in the editor's own classroom.

This resource book gives a detailed commentary for each story in volume 1 of the Exploring Short Stories anthology. It includes disscussion of the narrative techniques used by the writer, and practical suggestions for using the stories in the classroom.

For All Time? is a conversation about the continued place of Shakespeare in the classroom. It explores how current critical theories inform our pedagogy.

Among issues addressed by contributors are:
° Shakespeare as a hegemonic force
° Digital Shakespeare
° Shakespeare through performance
° Disrupted and disruptive Shakespeare
°Shakespeare and the new aestheticism
° Postcolonial Shakespeare
° Shakespeare reinvented
° Protecting Shakespeare
° Shakespeare for the new millennium

For All Time?: Critical Issues in Teaching Shakespeare represents a cross-section of effective pedagogies and accumulated expertise in the field by practitioners around the globe

Provides an accessible account of current theories of language and language learning, together with practical ideas for teaching and assessing the genres and grammar of writing across the curriculum. Annotations of a range of students' writing are provided to indicate structural and grammatical features. The text also includes a diagnostic model of assessing writing, many practical ideas for classroom use and a comprehensive account of grammar terms.

Clearly laid out grammar summaries and exercises show how language is used to create coherent and cohesive texts. The book features a wide range of text types written by and for children; explores the relationship between language and context at the level of text, clause, group/phrase and word; introduces the different grammatical categories in a meaningful context; and describes resources for critically engaging with texts.

Children benefit greatly from being read to by the adults in their lives. However, many adults don't feel very confident in their ability to read expressively to children and therefore both they and the child don't enjoy the activity as much as they might. How to Enjoy Reading Aloud to Young Children illustrates techniques, advice and practice on how to read aloud better - with obvious benefits for the child, and greater enjoyment for the adult.

The skills learned and the confidence gained from using How to Enjoy Reading Aloud to Young Children, offer a solid foundation for making sharing books a daily pleasure for adults and children.

These post-card size magnets provide practical ideas for parents who want to help their children with their reading. The cards, which can be attached to the home refrigerator, are suitable for Parent Literacy sessions, would make great inserts for school newsletters, or could be sent to parents with other pre-entry information.
Price is for 40 copies (inc. GST and postage)

These post-card size magnets provide practical ideas for parents who want to help their children with their writing. The cards, which can be attached to the home refrigerator, are suitable for Parent Literacy sessions, would make great inserts for school newsletters, or could be sent to parents with other pre-entry information.
Price is for 40 copies (inc. GST and postage)

These post-card size magnets provide practical ideas for parents who want to help their children with their reading. The cards, which can be attached to the home refrigerator, are suitable for Parent Literacy sessions, would make great inserts for school newsletters, or could be sent to parents with other pre-entry information.
Price is for 40 copies (inc. GST and postage)

This practical resource acts as a classroom handbook as well as a stimulus to teachers' thinking about how, why ans when to employ ICT. The ideas included have been used extensively with students, who appreciated both the form of the challenges presented and the enjoyable choice of texts and prompts which they were invited to manipulate, imitate, extend, reduce, collapse or simply read. A CD accompanies the book, acting as an invaluable, practical source for all the texts used.

In the words of the distinguished Canadian, Emeritus Professor Patrick Dias, "the essays in Imagination, Innovation, Creativity: Re-visioning English in Education will restore and further develop seminal and significant insight's from our profession's corporate memory; articulate and explore exhilarating contemporary advances in our knowledge and practice; and open up exciting possibilities for the future of our English teaching profession. Perhaps, above all, in a world sometimes prone to despair and aimlessness these essays offer hope and direction." The chapters stress the importance of reconnnecting and re-engaging with what teachers love about English and its unique capacity to:

• engage the mind, the spirit and heart
• stimulate imagination, curiosity and creative capacities through meaningful immersion in the stories of humanity, and
• enrich and develop students' cognitive and affective command and understanding of language in all its expansive dimensions, contexts and purposes.

• The essential persuasive language textbook for all students and teachers
• A dynamic exploration of newspaper texts for senior English students
• Covers television news and current affairs, radio taklback and internet issues
• Packed full of activities, sample newspaper texts, annotated student writing
• Full-colour 8-page insert including advertisements, photographs and cartoons

A collection of exercises and activities exploring many different, interesting, and often unusual, aspects of language.
The activities adopt a problem-solving approach, and include looking at how several different text types are used, investigating the history of language, how it has changed and how it can be used for different purposes.

Tony Stead shows how to open the door to the rich world of non-fiction writing that goes beyond 'what I did' narratives and animals reports.  Non-fiction inspires enthusiasm in young children because they can choose subject matter that is of interest to them personally. This book explores a variety of authentic purposes for writing non-fiction, such as describing, explaining, instructing. The teacher will learn how to introduce each purpose using a variety of forms, including letters, reports, poetry, captions and interviews.

This fourth edition continues to provide an accessible and comprehensive explanation of language acquisition and use. The aspects of language explored include: the purpose and uses of language, the linguistic basis of language, language learning, the influence of new technologies on language and learning, and the implications of language knowledge for teaching.

Hilary Janks addresses these questions and many more in Literacy and Power - a landmark text that is both engaging and accessible:

• Is literacy a skill or a social practice?
• In what ways is literacy embodied?
• Do texts have designs on us and what can we do about it?
• How does language construct reality?
• What is 'linguistic capital' and who has it?
• Who gets access to new literacies and who is excluded?
• How is literacy implicated in relations of power and questions of identity within our daily lives?

Intended for use as a supplement to courses in Literature and English. Includes brief activities which help students develop a working knowledge of the concepts. Divided into four sections: To Get You Thinking, Theory, Practice, and a final Summary. As well as introducing new terminology, the text also reviews many traditional terms in the context of contemporary approaches to the study of literature.

Article published in the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy Vol 33 No 1, February 2010
Abstract: Like all cultural forms, video games reflect aspects of the society in which they are produced; they also shape players’ perceptions and promote values both implicitly and explicitly. Discussions of games have often hinged on definitions: for instance, whether they are best understood in relation to ludology (the study of games, their forms and categories) or to narratology (how narratives work). I argue in this paper that games are hybrid products which incorporate narrative and game elements while engaging players in energetic action and (in many cases) interpersonal and social processes. As complex, evolving forms, they invite analytical strategies which take account of the multifarious ways in which they produce meaning and create subject positions for players.

The online ordering system will automatically calculate postage. NO POSTAGE WILL BE CHARGED. Pdf file will be emailed to you within 24 hours. 

 Did you do any media studies in your undergraduate course? Do you feel inadequate at the media end of the English curriculum? Media Teaching can help you restore that lost confidence. Written by practising teachers and media educators, Media Teaching strikes a careful balance between production practices and pedagogical principles. Contributors - including the UK’s Steve Archer, and Australia’s Mark Howie, Len Unsworth and Robyn Quin - explore a number of critical but problematic areas such as assessment of student production, audience and the new media, and the role of computer games in the curriculum.

Article published in Literacy Learning: the Middle Years Vol 18 No 1, February 2010
Intro:  On planning day the goals are clear: prepare, document and organise an outline and the resources required for the upcoming term. The list of tasks can be ominous and time is precious. Ideally, a rich, authentic and integrated inquiry is the end result. But what if the time available to a teacher or a team of teachers is not enough? Thank goodness for literature! The right text can drive an inquiry in directions unthought of on a planning day. Thankfully, I managed to find not one but two such sources of Australian literature. This article recounts how Jeannie Baker’s Window and Belonging presented students with an engaging reference for their inquiry into neighbourhood, and how teaching and learning ideas that stemmed from these two texts were incorporated into the inquiry.

MyRead explores beliefs and issues about underperforming students in the middle years of schooling. Using the framework of the Four Resources Model by Luke and Freebody, MYRead provides strategies written by literacy and English educators from ALEA and AATE.

Provides an approach to teaching Shakespeare's plays in a way that generates a sense of fun and enjoyment that is essential to good theatre. The purpose is to help students understand the plot, the characters and the themes, but also to connect with the play and develop a personal involvement.

In each chapter there is a variet of ideas, techniques and practical exercises and activities. These are intended to place the student in the role of the director who has to work out how to make the play exciting, how to talk to an actor about character and action and how to brief lighting, costume and set designers.

Using a thematic approach, Poetry Reloaded introduces students to the world of poetry in the context of understanding basic poetry forms, devices and techniques. As students encounter and respond to the poems in a variety of ways, they will not only extend their appreciation of poetry, but will also develop essential vocabulary, literacy and languange skills.

Clearly explains the techniques, devices, forms and styles of poetry and illustrates these concepts through a range of poems accessible to secondary school students. In each chapter, students are encouraged to apply their knowledge about poetic forms and devices using a variety of activities - oral and written, individual and group.

Highlights a wide range of literature that can excite, inspire, amuse and delight children from their very first year at school.  The selected literature, which can be read, listened to and viewed, takes the form of alphabet books, picture-books, pop-up books, novels, poetry, informational books, film and DVD.  The selections are followed by practical suggestions that show how they contribute to the growth of literacy competencies.  The author's long experience of reading with children illuminates the literature selections and their importance in children's literacy learning.

Aimed at upper secondary students of English literature, this popular text contains twelve stories with accompanying activities, and applies insights gained from contemporary literary theory in accessible ways. While the concepts are frequently complex, the approaches are activity based and encourage active student involvement.

This book is designed for university students preparing to be teachers. but classroom teachers working in Primary Schools will also find it useful. It is framed by a holistic view of language and literacy learning in sociocultural contexts. It provides a comprehensive coverage of reading in terms of cracking the codes of texts, making meaning from texts, using texts for social purposes, and critically analysing texts. These practices are explained in accessible terms and illustrated with examples from real-life texts and experiences in and out of the classroom.

An anthology of short sories and ways of reading those stories. The authors are concerned with the process and production of meaning through various approaches to the text. They believe that readers should be encouraged to reflect on the nature of the activity in which they are engaged and they want to encourage students to confront the reading the text invites and to explore its construction and its ideology.

The author makes a strong case for preserving integrated, holistic reading programs, debunking the belief in one-size-fits-all instruction and taking us inside classrooms to demonstrate progressive, meaning centered teaching. She offers easy-to-use strategies that build upon the life experiences and language that children bring with them to school. Most important, she expands upon the reading practices of Luke and Freebody's Four Resources Model - code breaker, text participant, text user, and text analyst - and details many techniques for developing these practices through holistic integrated learning.

ALEA posters now available! "Reading. YOU make the difference."

• Printed on strong laminated paper
• Colourful design in green and blue
• Two convenient sizes

Large A2 - $3 each or 5 for $10 (inc. P & H)

A4 for smaller spaces - 5 for $5 (inc. P & H)

A practical and achievable set of guidelines for encouraging primary and secondary students to find relevance in their classroom activities by writing for real purposes, keeping orderly portfolios of their best work in all areas of study, and publishing for real audiences.

Volume 2 is packed with more helpful information and practical, creative ideas

Sharing not Staring steers teachers towards using the interactive whiteboard in ways which purposefully tap into its huge potential to make teaching more interactive, more exciting, creative and enjoyable.

The approaches described fall into the following broad catagories:

• Spotlight and word cover/reveal effects - having the impact of a puzzle which emphasises the question as opposed to a pat answer.
• Text organsiation - enabling sequencing and exploration of syntax.
• PowerPoint - exploiting the creative potential of this often overused or misused tool.
• Word - performing the equivalent of conjuring tricks in the classroom. You can animate text, map it, organsie it, hide it, or scramble it.
• Image, moving image and Flash - discovering the impact and potential of well chosen images or video clips. Flash programs that have specific applications with words can add to the wonder and magic of English.

Building on the success of 80 Great Poems: From Chaucer to Now, this companion volume is a superb introduction to Australian poetry from the nineteenth century to the present. 60 Classic Australian Poems emphasises the contribution made by the notable generation of Australian poets who emerged during and just after World War 2, and includes several contemporary poems likely to become classics in the near future. Each poem is followed by a short essay discussing its merits and suggesting why it might be considered a 'classic'.

Speaking and Listening Skills examines all the major components of effective oral commuication and shows how students can use these elements.

It deals with a range of types of commuication which a junior secondary student might use--from everyday situations to more formal presentation types. (CD included)

Each unit includes:

• information and strategies for teachers
• photocopiable information pages for students
• practice exercises and activities

Practical resources for classroom teachers developed by the South Australian Department of Education and Children's Services.  Buy Spelling or ABC and receive Texts and Real Writing for 1/2 price!  Only while stocks last:

• Spelling:  from beginnings to independence - a resource for classroom teachers across all areas of study.  Can be used to support the spelling development of students from early years to senior secondary
• ABC:  Handwriting in the South Australian Curriculum - this book asserts that it is still important for children to learn to write by hand, thereby learning about the shape and sound of letters which is essential to reading
• Texts:  the heart of the English curriculum - 15 practical broadsheets to support R-10 teachers in selecting and using a broad and balanced range of texts in the English programs.
• Real Writing:  across the curriculum - practical guidelines for encouraging primary and secondary students to find relevance in classroom activities by writing for real purposes.

Article published in Literacy Learning: the Middle Years Vol 18 No 1, February 2010
Postscript:  Since presenting ‘Stories in A Box’ at the Hobart ALEA AATE conference in July 2009, Jo, Felicity and Norma have heard from schools in Tasmania, Victoria, the Northern Territory and the ACT who have taken this concept and made it their own with their students, teachers and schools. Certainly the sharing of practice and great ideas at our national conferences can never be underestimated.

A dynamic exploration of newspaper texts for senior English students. Packed full of activities, sample newspaper texts, and annotated student writing

This text presents teachers with cross-curricular teaching and learning strategies to cater for the wide range of ability and diversity of needs associated with adolescent learners. It is a practical resource which includes literacy strategies incorporated within subject specific content and pro formas to assist teachers in collecting data on individual students.

Article published in the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy Vol 33 No 1, February 2010
Abstract: Few spaces exist in schools that require students to research, play and design digital games. This paper presents two suburban case studies exploring the introduction of digital games into the English curriculum with students who traditionally struggle with literacy. The students’ research, gameplay and design of digital games enhanced literacy teaching and learning because the curriculum resonated more closely with their lifeworlds. The article moves the field of literacy research forward by introducing the term systems-based literacy practices to describe youths’ new literacy practices emerging from their digital gameplay experiences. These practices reflect students’ proficiencies in programming as well as the technical, kinetic, social and linguistic knowledge necessary to play and configure different digital games for maximum gaming pleasure. Digital games are a medium requiring students to interact with machines across various platforms, to understand their interfaces and become familiar with different virtual worlds. The case studies illustrate how two teachers came to rethink digital games and students’ participation in digital game culture as valuable and integral meaning-making activities. The important findings concern the increased degree to which students engaged with the content of the English curriculum, the design of multimodal texts and their conscientious production of traditional school-based literacy practices still necessary for academic success. The paper argues students did this through transformed practice, where they transferred and re-created designs of meaning from, and across, one context to another drawing on their experiences as gamers and their systems-based literacy practices.

The online ordering system will automatically calculate postage. NO POSTAGE WILL BE CHARGED. Pdf file will be emailed to you within 24 hours. 

The speaking of poetry enhances teaching and appreciation of the beauty and musicality of the English language.

Though this manual has been written with Primary School teachers in mind, with examples of poetry for the age groups they teach, the principles can be equally applied by anyone wishing to improve their speech. The book offers a practical focus, and the accompanying CD gives vocal examples to demonstrate techniques.
Edmund Pegge is an accomplished actor on stage and screen. Beginning with NIDA and the Young Elizabethan Players, he has since appeared at the Old Vic in England, and with Dr Who on television. He has presented programmes of poetry on BBC television, and performed at many live events in Britain and Australia.
Teaching Expressive Speech is a distillation of Edmund's forty years' experience as a professional actor, and has grown out of his work with students since 1998.

Teachers use a wide repertoire of strategies in teaching literacy in the early years of schooling. This book provides a rich assortment of literacy strategies to support the learning of students in the first three years at school. Each strategy is presented in a series of easily followed steps, and also suggests a variety of ways in which the strategy can be extended and adapted to meet the diverse needs and interests of students.

Dr Coral Swan has many years’ teaching experience and especially enjoys seeing children blossom during their first years at school. She has worked with teachers and pre-service teachers in schools and university and has presented to colleagues at many workshops and conferences. In 2001 she received an Australian Teachers Prize for Excellence and a National Excellence in Teaching Award. She is still excited about teaching and is currently teaching Year 1 at Freshwater State School in Queensland.
 

Teaching Values helps tease out the implied and the explicit. It leads teachers and their classes through an exploration of the commonality of values, and the varied ways in which we see those values in our daily lives. By using the vast resources of the National Museum of Australia, it challenges the usual images of values education and provides a fresh new set of texts to work with.

Provides a ready reference tool for students, teachers and parents to assist in the production of twenty-one different types of written texts including Description, Biography, Debate, Poetry, etc. Both literary texts and factual texts have been included

Textual analysis is a methodology for researchers who are interested in the ways in which people make sense of the world. This book uses examples from advertising, films, novels, comic books, television and videos in order to make textual analysis seem obvious and commonsense. It provides students with a workable understanding of what textual analysis is, why it matters, and how to do it.

This book contains seven plays based on folk tales from India, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, China, Thailand and Papua New Guinea. Asian folk tales are rich in fantasy, adventure and humour. They are splendid for telling, shared reading and acting. This collection includes: two plays for acting, three plays for shared reading and two radio plays. The photocopiable playscripts are supported by detailed teaching notes which:

• locate the folk tales in their geographical settings
• give background information to enhance understanding of the folk tales and the cultures from which they have evolved
• offer suggestions for classroom activities covering a variety of KLAs
• provide literature and folklore links

A collection of plays based on folk tales from Papua New Guinea, Korea, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Japan and Indonesia which will introduce students to a range of cultures. A practical drama resource that can be used in a classroom lesson , for radio or readers' theatre, as well as for stage production and performance. Suitable for years 6-9.

Article published in Literacy Learning: the Middle Years Vol 18 No 1, February 2010
Abstract: This article describes an example of an integrated unit for a Year 8 class that incorporated explicit teaching and templates to assist students with essay writing. The class was located at St Francis de Sales College in the Adelaide Hills, a co-educational, non-selective, Reception–12 Catholic College which caters for the needs of over 900 students

The online ordering system will automatically calculate postage. NO POSTAGE WILL BE CHARGED. Pdf file will be emailed to you within 24 hours. 

Article published in Literacy Learning: the Middle Years Vol 18 No 1, February 2010
Intro: This edition of Practical Strategies provides ideas for using picture books in middle years classrooms. It provides:
• an outline of why picture books should be used with middle years students;
• ideas for the classroom;
• how Luke and Freebody’s (1999) four resources model can be used to frame discussion and analysis of picture books, and
• an analysis of The hero of Little Street (Rogers, 2009) as an example of how the four resources model can be used to frame students’ discussion and textual analysis.

The online ordering system will automatically calculate postage. NO POSTAGE WILL BE CHARGED. Pdf file will be emailed to you within 24 hours. 

This book is a guide for non-specialists to the complex language and ideas used in the study of film and television texts. It covers a wide range of theoretical and analytical concepts, including camerawork, film codes, montage, target audience, viewing practice, and more.
Important concepts are illustrated using stills and montage sequences from Citizen Kane, The Matrix, The X Files and other classic film and TV texts.

Article published in Literacy Learning: the Middle Years Vol 18 No 1, February 2010
Intro:  Not long ago I was driving to a school and heard a radio interview with Nadeem Aslam about his book The Wasteful Vigil. His book is about Afghanistan and the lives of six people living around the Tora Bora Mountains. He talked about preparing to write the book, of returning to Pakistan from the UK to observe the landscape and details of living and being in Pakistan. At one point he said, ‘no matter what the subject matter is, my instrument by which I deal with that subject matter is the language.… it is a novel so first and foremost it has to delight someone linguistically’. It made me think about what our students learn from us as we teach writing when often our focus is on the structure of the text type or perhaps the subject matter. I wonder how our students talk about their writing and what they would say if interviewed?

The What Teachers Need to know About series aims to refresh and expand basic teaching knowledge and classroom experience. Books in the series provide essential information about a range of subjects necessary for today's teachers to do their jobs effectively.

Spelling bridges the gap between knowledge accumulated from research on spelling acquisition and the practicalities of teaching spelling more effectively in schools. Current trends are examined, alongside community views on spelling standards because this is the context in which change is beginning to occur. Spelling contains practical suggestions on the methods and activities applicable to all students, supplemented by specific advice on assessment, and links to additional resources.

Features

• Slightly abridged version of the play
• Background notes on Shakespeare's life and times
• Lively history sections, e.g. 'Fighting and weapons' and 'Elizabethan parties'
• Images illustrating historical contexts
• Shakespeare's language and techniques explained, e.g. blank verse, puns, metaphors.
• Act and scene summaries
• Stills from film versions of the play
• General activities including idea for presentations and performances
• 'To the Teacher' notes, Glossary and Index

This book enhances students' use of a wide range of vocabulary. It is divided into forty units with each unit focusing on one aspect of vocabulary development. Each unit consists of a list of keywords followed by activities and related vocabulary focusing on meaning, use, derivation and spelling hints.

Since it was first published in 1992 "The Writers Handbook" has become a highly regarded and widely used reference on grammar and usage by senior secondary and tertiary students. The new edition reflects current thinking on usage and style, showing how language works and how it can be used to express meaning clearly and effectively.

It covers all aspects of grammar and usage with clear explanations and examples.

Although it is designed for university students preparing to be teachers, classroom teachers working in primary schools will also find this to be a useful book. The content ranges from the early school years right through to upper primary. Its developmental and contextual considerations relate to children's writing in the preschool as well as school years, and go beyond the classroom to look at children's writing in their homes and communities.
With its inclusion of chapter previews and summaries, focal questions, key concepts, reflective tasks, further reading and tutorial activities in each chapter, the book is an ideal tool for professional development use.

This is an indispensible tool for writers, providing comprehensive and up-to-date information about the English language and current usage. For example: when is an apostrophe needed (or not needed)?; how are dates and times written?; and should full stops be used with abbreviations? The book gives guidance on all aspects of writing, including planning and structuring a peice of writing and choosing the appropriate format, style and tone for different kinds of writing and different audiences. Particularly designed for use by upper-primary and high-schools.