Cue Learning

Latest Blog - The Wonder of Teaching Vocabulary
Dr Freddy Hiebert

Dr Freddy Hiebert transforms literacy education through her research-backed approach at Text Project, creating nearly 1,000 free texts. She emphasises combining decodable and levelled texts rather than treating them as competing approaches. Hiebert advocates semantic mapping over flashcards, helping students understand English's Germanic, French, and Greek language systems. She demonstrates using AI tools like Claude for vocabulary work whilst warning against formulaic teaching methods that narrow learning opportunities.
Read the blog here: https://www.teachific.com.au/blog/2025/06/17/211/the-wonder-of-teaching-vocabulary-with-freddy-hiebert

Latest Podcast
Part 2: The wonder of teaching vocabulary with Freddie Hiebert

Continuing her revolutionary approach, Hiebert distinguishes between narrative and informational text vocabulary, explaining how stories use varied words for familiar concepts while informational texts introduce new conceptual knowledge. She demonstrates using AI tools like Claude to create semantic maps, providing specific prompts for teachers.
Hiebert warns against overwhelming students with excessive technical instruction, advocating instead for statistical learning through extensive reading. She emphasises children's natural brilliance as word learners, transforming vocabulary instruction from memorisation into joyful investigation while promising practical resources for implementation.
Listen to the podcast here:

Part 2: The Wonder of Teaching Vocabulary with Freddy Hiebert | The Teacher's Tool Kit For Literacy Continuing her revolutionary approach, Hiebert distinguishes between narrative and informational text vocabulary, explaining how stories use varied words for familiar concepts while informational texts introduce new conceptual knowledge. She demonstrates using AI tools like Claude to create semantic...

Latest Podcast
Part 1: The Wonder of Teaching Vocabulary with Freddy Hiebert

Dr Freddy Hiebert revolutionises vocabulary instruction by rejecting traditional lists and flashcards in favour of understanding English's systematic nature. She reveals that 95% of texts derive from 2,500 morphological families, where grasping one word unlocks related terms.
Using her "bratwurst in a baguette with yogurt" metaphor, she explains English's Germanic, French, and Greek influences. Hiebert champions semantic maps over lists, demonstrating how students build meaningful word connections. She reassures teachers that many word families require no explicit instruction, focusing instead on systematic understanding.
Part 1:

Part 1: The Wonder of Teaching Vocabulary with Freddy Hiebert | The Teacher's Tool Kit For Literacy Dr Freddy Hiebert revolutionises vocabulary instruction by rejecting traditional lists and flashcards in favour of understanding English's systematic nature. She reveals that 95% of texts derive from 2,500 morphological families, where grasping one word unlocks related terms. Using her "bratwurst in...

The Teacher's Toolkit Monthly
Part 6: 🌟 Celebrating Literacy Excellence at Mt Barker South Primary! 🌟

What happens when two passionate Year 5/6 teachers truly collaborate? Magic! ✨
Meet Renee Saldhana and Ra Te Whare from Mt Barker South Primary School - two educators who've cracked the code on integrated literacy teaching. Their students aren't just reading books anymore... they're choosing CHALLENGING ones that stretch their abilities! 📚💪
The secret?
✅ Reading and writing connected seamlessly
✅ Daily monitoring with instant feedback
✅ Cross-class book chats (the kids' favourite!)
✅ Real teacher collaboration - they even scribe for each other!
✅ 20-minute independent reading that's anything but silent

"We don't have a desk in the classroom - we're WITH the students," shares Renee. This active, responsive teaching is transforming how students see themselves as readers and writers.
🎯 Some students DOUBLED their reading pace and accuracy this year whilst maintaining comprehension!
Want to see collaborative teaching in action? Check out our new blog featuring this incredible teaching partnership. Link in comments! 👇

These teachers prove that when educators work together, reflect openly, and put student choice at the heart of learning, incredible growth happens.



https://www.teachific.com.au/blog/2025/06/15/210/part-6-celebrating-growth-in-literacy

https://youtu.be/oLCC4q9icXk?si=0OmIfPdk21YIKxvA

Celebrating Growth in Literacy - Ra and Renee, Year 5/6 teachers, at Mt Barker South PS Year 5/6 teachers Renee Saldhana and Ra Te Whare at Mt Barker South Primary School demonstrate the power of collaborative teaching in their integrated litera...

Latest Podcast
Part 4: Getting Better at Conferring, Years 3-6

Sharon concludes by addressing punctuation challenges with Year 4 students, using the protocol's fluency rubric to provide specific language for strategy development. She reassures teachers that even brief, focused conferences make significant differences in students' reading development. These conferences inform whole-class instruction when common issues emerge across students. The process teaches students to identify problems, apply strategies, and self-regulate their reading. By recording strategy goals on Reading Calendars and Anchor Charts, students develop into strategic readers who know which techniques to apply with increasingly complex texts throughout their critical Years 3-6 development.

Part 4: Getting Better at Conferring, Years 3-6 | The Teacher's Tool Kit For Literacy Sharon concludes by addressing punctuation challenges with Year 4 students, using the protocol's fluency rubric to provide specific language for strategy development. She reassures teachers that even brief, focused conferences make significant differences in students' reading development. These conf...

The Teacher's Toolkit Monthly
Part 5: Celebrating teacher practice

In this uplifting video, early career teacher Tamara Biddle shares her journey from rigid literacy programs to responsive teaching. Her Foundation classroom centres on bookmaking, beginning with class collaborations where everyone contributes a page. Children's early mark-making is celebrated as legitimate writing, while illustrations are valued as storytelling. By focusing on names, shared experiences, and authentic conversations about books, Tamara builds a vibrant literacy community where every child experiences success and develops genuine enthusiasm for reading and writing.

Celebrating Growth in Literacy - Tamara Biddle, Yr F Celebrating Literacy Growth: A Conversation with TamaraIn this inspiring video, literacy consultant Sharon Callen interviews Tamara Biddle, an early career F...

Latest Podcast
Part 3: Getting Better at Conferring, Years 3-6

Sharon addresses diverse reading challenges with older students. A Year 5 girl struggling with chapter book comprehension learns to apply visualisation effectively by keeping her "mind in the book" paragraph by paragraph. She develops a strategy of writing brief summaries at logical breaks. Another Year 5 student, transitioning from graphic novels to regular novels, discovers how text structure and organisation work. This student doesn't pause for punctuation or recognise paragraph functions. The teacher later connects this reading challenge to the student's writing issues, demonstrating how the Listening to Reading Protocol reveals critical connections between reading and writing skills.

Part 3: Getting Better at Conferring, Years 3-6 | The Teacher's Tool Kit For Literacy Sharon addresses diverse reading challenges with older students. A Year 5 girl struggling with chapter book comprehension learns to apply visualisation effectively by keeping her "mind in the book" paragraph by paragraph. She develops a strategy of writing brief summaries at logical breaks. Another....

Latest Podcast
Part 2: Getting Better at Conferring, Years 3-6

In this podcast, Sharon continues describing her conferring approach, emphasising how giving students space to reflect develops their self-regulation. With a second Year 3 student, she identifies his awareness of misreading words without knowing how to fix them. By teaching the strategy "try a different sound," he immediately corrects all errors, making previously difficult text accessible. Sharon notes the importance of recording these strategies on Reading Calendars with dates. She emphasises conferring should occur with appropriately challenging books, helping students develop strategies for accessing increasingly complex texts rather than keeping them in their comfort zone.

Part 2: Getting Better at Conferring, Years 3-6 | The Teacher's Tool Kit For Literacy Sharon continues describing her conferring approach, emphasising how giving students space to reflect develops their self-regulation. With a second Year 3 student, she identifies his awareness of misreading words without knowing how to fix them. By teaching the strategy "try a different sound," he i...

Latest Podcast
Part 1: Getting Better at Conferring, Years 3-6

Sharon Callen shares how effective conferring with students in Years 3-6 transforms reading instruction. She introduces the Listening to Reading Protocol that captures the Active View of Reading, guiding teachers through five-minute conferences. Sharon describes working with a Year 3 boy struggling to remember what he reads. By teaching him to keep both "eyes and mind in the book," the student experiences immediate success and independently develops a Post-It note strategy to track comprehension across chapters, demonstrating how targeted conferring leads to self-regulated reading strategies.

Part 1: Getting Better at Conferring, Years 3-6 | The Teacher's Tool Kit For Literacy Sharon Callen shares how effective conferring with students in Years 3-6 transforms reading instruction. She introduces the Listening to Reading Protocol that captures the Active View of Reading, guiding teachers through five-minute conferences. Sharon describes working with a Year 3 boy struggling....

New Resource
SPELLING ROUTINES F-6

This comprehensive resource provides teachers with a structured approach to spelling instruction that develops students' word knowledge systematically through engaging, meaningful activities. Designed for use across Foundation to Year 6, with this example showcasing the Year 4 content, the resource offers a clear daily routine that builds students' understanding of how words work while enhancing their spelling confidence.

Spelling Routines and Key Activities for Students, Yr 4 This comprehensive resource provides teachers with a structured approach to spelling instruction that develops students' word knowledge systematically through engaging, meaningful activities. Designed for use across Foundation to Year 6, with this example showcasing the Year 4 content, the resource....

The Teacher's Toolkit Monthly
Part 4: Celebrating TEACHER PRACTICE

In this inspiring video, Year 4/5 teacher Robert Kennedy at Mt Barker South Primary School in South Australia shares how he transformed his classroom into a thriving literacy community. Through daily read alouds with rich texts, extended independent reading time, and deliberate connections between reading and writing, his students have become passionate readers and accomplished writers.
His carefully curated classroom library and authentic enthusiasm for books have ignited similar passion in his students—even former reluctant readers. As Robert puts it, "If you're not passionate about literacy, it's not going to come across in your classroom."

Celebrating Growth in Literacy - Robert Kennedy, Yr 4/5 A Teacher's Journey to Transforming Literacy InstructionThis video captures a powerful conversation with Robert Kennedy, a teacher at Mt Barker South Primary...