Fish in a Tree Education

27/06/2023

Reading Recovery and Fountas and Pinnell's LLI are not evidence-based intervention programs, yet they are commonly used in schools.

Sign the petition to support the removal of these programs from Victorian Schools.

Remove Reading Recovery & Leveled Literacy Intervention from Victorian State Schools.

07/06/2023

"When children are struggling with literacy in Year 3 (and often unfortunately beyond), what changes their trajectories is...time with tutors (if they are fortunate to be able to access them), who unlock for them the mysteries of how their writing system works."

In a recent post on the AARE Blog, Edith Cowan University academic Dr Pauline Roberts raises a  number of points about the importance of play in the early years of school and strongly pushes back on the role of formal assessment, such as NAPLAN. In fact, she goes so far as to refer to NAPLAN as an ...

11/04/2023

Small-group literacy intervention is available for students in Grades 1 & 2 on Thursday afternoons.

Early intervention is critical to address gaps in learning and set children up for success with a solid foundation in literacy.

Email [email protected] to learn more.

06/04/2023

Unlock the power of phonics for FREE with Hairy Phonics 1, 2, and 3! www.nessy.com/shop/apps

29/03/2023

Evidence-based instruction benefits ALL learners!

Dr Nathaniel Swain Think Forward Educators reflects on how and why his preferred method of supporting struggling learners in classrooms has shifted from individual learning intervention and differentiated groups to robust whole class instruction at tier 1 that allows struggling learners to realise their academic potential through repeated exposure to more of the same excellent quality instruction as their peers in his article "Whole Class Teaching Lifts All Learners" published in the March 2023 issue of the Dystinct Magazine.
https://dystinct.org/magazine/issue-14-march-2023/

15/03/2023

Kids spend so much time at school. At the very least, they must be provided with instruction that supports them in learning to read and write so that they experience success on a daily basis.

15/03/2023

Research is loud and clear about how students begin to learn to read and spell words......To learn more, check out the research from Dr Linnea Ehri about Orthographic Mapping.
https://understandingreading.home.blog/2021/04/18/dr-linnea-ehris-list-of-instructional-guidelines-for-enhancing-orthographic-mapping-and-word-learning/

08/03/2023

The research has existed for decades. It’s time for the practices in schools to catch up.

Change can be difficult when educators think that they're changing to just another fad..... what many don't realise is that the methodologies backed by the 'Science of Reading' is not a fad, a philosophy or ideology...its backed by extensive research across many fields and proven to be the best way to teach reading....and it's not going away!

Once you take the journey into understanding the Science of Reading and begin change in your school (with an evidence based approach), you'll see the results for yourself! Embrace the change, it's here to stay and your students will be the winners in it all!

Why not come to one of our workshops to learn all about it and the practical evidence based approaches to teaching reading? Check out our dates and locations: https://www.decodablereadersaustralia.com.au/collections/workshops-and-professional-development-sessions

28/02/2023

Such an important quote and concept. Teaching students grapheme-phoneme understanding equips them with so much more than single word memorisation can.
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23/02/2023

Free decodable readers!

Decodable Readers Australia are a series of learn to read books, designed to match a child's developing knowledge of phonics.

09/02/2023

We all know we should be ditching predictable readers in favour of decodable readers, but what are decodable readers?
“Decodable texts are specifically written for beginning readers as they are developing their blending and segmenting skills and their knowledge of the alphabetic code.
The primary purpose of decodable texts is to provide students with the opportunity to practise what has been taught during explicit, systematic phonics instruction.
Decodable texts support students as they practise blending the letter-sounds they have been taught through words, in continuous meaningful text.”
- NSW Department of Education
The awesome Alison Clarke from Spelfabet sums them up perfectly,
“The point of decodable books is to give children an opportunity to read something successfully... and thus gradually build their skills and confidence to the point where they can tackle quality children’s literature, and all sorts of other reading, themselves.
For more information you can check out this Spelfabet page here: 👇👇
https://www.spelfabet.com.au/2018/05/what-is-a-decodable-book/
You should also check out this article in defence of decodable readers by the awesome Professor Pam Snow here: 👇👇
http://pamelasnow.blogspot.com/2018/11/who-sank-reading-boat-sad-tale-of.html
And this page: 👇👇
https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/literacy-and-numeracy/teaching-and-learning-resources/literacy/effective-reading-in-the-early-years-of-school/decodable-texts
With this handy factsheet here: 👇
https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/literacy-and-numeracy/teaching-and-learning-resources/literacy/effective-reading-in-the-early-years-of-school/decodable-texts
And this Decodable Readers Australia page here: 👇
https://www.decodablereadersaustralia.com.au
And lastly, check out this Literacy Learn page for a list of FREE decodable resources: 👇👇
https://literacylearn.com/free-decodable-readers/

08/02/2023

Evidence-based early intervention is critical.

“Yes and Kindergarten/Grade 1 is the priority within that priority.”