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Welcome to another literacy and learning insight. Today’s blog is about teaching PLD spelling programs in the Junior Primary which are designed to assist with teaching spelling and literacy development principles. The use of PLD spelling resources is discussed in the short video below. How to slow children down to ‘sound-out’ as they spell and write. […]

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Today’s literacy and learning insight is about students in Year 2 and 3 with low literacy skills who are missing some of the basics in early literacy and may have gaps in their Year 1 skill level. My stance when dealing with young children is always “when in doubt always do check things out”. Small […]

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The Junior Primary Spelling Activities resource is intended to provide a definition of synthetic phonics and related skills, an understanding of the importance of synthetic phonics, and practical suggestions for how to teach synthetic phonics within the classroom.

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At what age should children be able to aurally discriminate between “th” and “f”? This is a great question which we are often asked. The aim of this post is to help provide strategies which you can adopt when working with children who struggle with the differences between these sounds.

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PLD’s decodable readers align with PLD’s Structured Synthetic Phonics (SSP) sequence. The type of words, word count, and amount of HFWs gradually become more complex as more phonic concepts are introduced. It is important to include decodable readers as part of your SSP program. This article explains why. Set 1 of the Home and Targeted […]

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We anticipate at PLD that all schools will have reduced attendance at the beginning and possibly throughout Term 2. As each week in the school year is precious, the following general suggestions are outlined below to get the most out of your screening and teaching during this uncertain time.  Jump to: Early Years Refer to […]

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What are Elkonin Boxes: Elkonin boxes or sound boxes are a teaching tool used to represent each sound or phoneme contained in a word (Elkonin, 1963). A series of connected boxes are used to represent each sound (not the letters) in a word. For example, three boxes are placed under the word ‘fish’ to represent […]

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This post relates to a discussion on a whole of school approach to spelling. The original poster is an existing user of PLD resources for stage 1, grade 1 and was required to assist the school with expanding the PLD across the entire school.

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Five From Five, AUSPELD and Learning Difficulties Australia have collaborated to create an evidence-based framework for schools which aims to dramatically reduce the number of children who finish primary school unable to read.  The pledge aims to ‘reduce to near zero the number of children who finish primary school unable to read by providing primary […]

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The WA Department of Education schools focus for 2020 has just been released, have you had a chance to check it out? If not, you can view or download a copy here as a PDF: https://www.education.wa.edu.au/dl/1zxeed For 2020 Western Australian schools are, among others, focusing on: Support learners to make the best start with access […]

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Teachers and parents are bombarded with resources designed to improve the learning outcomes in a classroom or home environment. Unfortunately, being in possession of a great resource doesn’t always translate to great outcomes. While the people teaching our children must be commended for their dedication and hard work, they also need support from their teaching resource providers to ensure maximum benefit from their precious classroom time.

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Let us be calm when reading the 2019 PISA Testing Report and not point the blame solely at teachers. The report reminds us that there is much work to be done at the teacher training level, the curriculum level and also the classroom/school level.  Firstly, the recommendations from the Independent Review of the Teaching of […]

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Do you know how the National Curriculum affects preschool children? In a recent cover page article in the West Australian titled ‘Teaching three Rs urged for pre-school”, a case was made for teaching academic concepts to children before they reach primary school. Understandably, both parents and teachers are concerned about what this means for them and the children in their care.

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It’s clear there’s a broad gap between research findings being published and the application of the same findings in the classroom.

In a recent Weekend West Opinion article,”Read the signs – it’s time for a brave new teaching world”, by Alanna MacTiernan, a bold challenge is proposed to our education system as a whole. Failing a significant number of our students and adhering to outdated and unsupported research frameworks, it’s disturbing reading. I wish I could say I’m surprised but I’m not.

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Parent Education Nights are a key way for educators to share tips on how parents can prepare their children for school and what they will learn. Typically conducted on an annual basis, parent sessions give the school the chance to equip their community with the tools that will reinforce their school-based learning. PLD has developed specific handouts […]