LITERACY NEWS
During the first semester of 2022, the College focussed on the PALS reading and writing strategy. Essentially, students were asked to consider the PURPOSE, AUDIENCE, LANGUAGE and STRUCTURE (PALS) of a piece of writing. This school-wide initiative encouraged students to be purposeful in their writing. Below is an example of the template used by students:
Now that this has become the common language used in all Key Learning Areas, we have turned our focus to the process of nominalisation. Nominalisation is the process of forming nouns from verbs or adjectives. This grammatical process is crucial in improving the academic writing of our students. In order to familiarise our students with the process of nominalisation, we have been conducting ‘Literacy Conversations’ in our Learning Groups every Monday. Learning Group mentors have been amazing in facilitating these conversations whereby students are asked to change verbs or adjectives into nouns. Below is an example of shifting verbs into nouns.
Wednesday: Reading
Students have been given the opportunity to read in their Learning Group every Wednesday morning. During this time, students are encouraged to either bring in a novel from home, borrow from the Library or access the Book Exchange. It has been fantastic to see students beginning their day by immersing themselves in literature. All the evidence suggests that strong readers make stronger writers. I want to thank the pastoral team for allowing us to invest in the importance of reading during this time.
Liz Dadd
Literacy Instructional Coach