Literacy Connections

21/09/2026

13 weeks, 13 elements of Explicit Instruction | Week 10: Monitoring 👀

We’re up to Week 10 — Monitoring.

Effective teaching doesn’t stop once we’ve explained or practised something. We need to keep checking what’s happening as students are learning.

👀 Look carefully. Listen carefully.
🚶 Walk around. Look around. Talk around.

By closely monitoring student performance, we can see who’s understanding, who might need more support, and where we may need to adjust our teaching.

In this week’s video, we look at how active monitoring helps us respond to what’s happening in the moment, rather than waiting until the end of a lesson to find out who has understood.
Small observations can give us valuable information about what to do next.

17/09/2026

Reading gaps: Why do they happen? 📚

When a child is finding reading difficult, there is usually a reason behind it, and simply asking them to read more may not address the skill they’re missing.

Some learners may have gaps in phonemic awareness, hearing and working with the individual sounds in words. Others may not yet have secure letter sound knowledge or decoding skills, making unfamiliar words difficult to work out.

We can also see children who have become used to guessing words from the picture, the first letter or the context rather than reading all the way through the word. That can appear to work with simple texts, but becomes much harder to rely on as vocabulary and texts become more complex.

Other gaps can show up in fluency, vocabulary or comprehension. Reading is made up of many skills working together, so difficulty in one area can affect the whole reading experience.

The good news is that when we identify where the gap is, we can teach that skill explicitly and systematically and give learners the practice they need to strengthen it.

That’s why assessment and targeted teaching matter. It’s not simply about “Is this child behind?” it’s about asking “What does this learner know, what are they missing, and what do we teach next?”

15/09/2026

13 Weeks, 13 Elements of Explicit Instruction | Week 9: Frequent Responding 🙋‍♀️

We’re up to Week 9 — Frequent Responding.

When students are actively responding throughout a lesson, we’re not just keeping them engaged, we’re getting regular opportunities to see what they understand and where they might need more support.

In this week’s video, we look at active participation procedures and ways to build frequent responses into your teaching.

🧑‍🏫 We’ve also included a FREE Mini Whiteboard Routine resource to help you put this into practice in your classroom:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/4/folders/1fjx29FWSQDDfIuFnW0U7bHMaQuYQJfEg

Simple routines like this give every student the opportunity to respond, not just the ones with their hands up.

10/09/2026

13 weeks, 13 elements of Explicit Instruction | Week 8: You Do ✏️
We’re ready for the “You Do” – but before students move into independent practice, there’s one important step: check for understanding.

This is our chance to see whether the learning has transferred and whether students are ready to apply it independently.

In this week’s video, we share a simple way to check in during the You Do using a T-chart.

📥 We’ve also included a free T-chart resource for you to download and use in your teaching: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/4/folders/1fjx29FWSQDDfIuFnW0U7bHMaQuYQJfEg

A quick check can give you valuable information about who’s ready to move on, and who might need a little more support first.

09/09/2026

For a long time, young readers were often encouraged to look at the picture, think about what might make sense, or use context when they came to a word they didn’t know.

But we now know the importance of giving children a more reliable strategy: teaching them how to decode the word.📖

Through explicit teaching of letter sound relationships and spelling patterns, we give learners the tools to work through unfamiliar words instead of guessing them.

Context still matters, it helps us understand what we read, but when it comes to figuring out what the word actually says, the letters on the page are where we start.

Small shifts in the way we teach can make a big difference in helping children become confident, independent readers. 💙🧡

03/09/2026

13 Weeks, 13 Elements of Explicit Instruction | Week 7: We do 👩‍🏫

Welcome to Week 7.

This week we move into We do, where students begin practising the new learning with us.

The key here is guided practice. At first, support is highly structured, but as students become more confident, that support is gradually faded.

As we explain in this week’s video:
🔹 First, I’m going to tell you.
🔹 Then, I’m going to ask you.
🔹 Then, I may need to remind you.

The goal isn't to remove support too quickly. It's to scaffold the learning, gradually stepping back as students become more confident and ready to take greater ownership.

📥 Want some help putting this into practice?
We’ve created a FREE resource to help you scaffold your lessons. Click the link to access it: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/4/folders/1fjx29FWSQDDfIuFnW0U7bHMaQuYQJfEg

Want to see more of Explicit Instruction in action? We have an online course available, or talk to us about booking a Teacher Only Day for the beginning of 2027.

03/09/2026

📣 Oamaru teachers + literacy leads

We’re running a one‑day Structured Literacy workshop focused on English spelling patterns and practical, classroom‑ready teaching strategies.

🗓 29 October
⏰ 9.00am–2.30pm
📍 Pembroke School
💰 $240 + GST (includes a free resource kit)

You’ll learn the logic behind English spelling, how to teach it explicitly, and take away activities you can use straight away.

To register, email [email protected].
Spaces are limited.

02/09/2026

Becc will be in Nelson next week facilitating 2 days for Year 9-10 English. You can still register below. This is great PLD for planning and assessment in Phase 4 of English. You can attend one or both days.

https://moeevents.swoogo.com/pld-workshops/EnglishY9-10?fbclid=IwdGRleAUEgARwZG9mAWZkaWQWUNp4w8zlA74jnjS48wU2Lj1NOS2kRWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7MrUBGnoFNmMHfZxV82E5fuodW3k7tfznizn4Tpnh5z9j4B3rMHdt6cBgpiQ_aem_FHmpfmsFvMMJk3mLPvaWnA

Professional Learning & Development (PLD) to support the implementation of the refreshed English Area for Years 9-10 of the NZ Curriculum.

01/09/2026

📚 Targeted Specialist Training – Cohort 7 | Term 4

Registrations are now open for our next Targeted MoE‑funded PLD cohort!

This training is full of practical literacy strategies you can use the very next day in your classroom. It’s hands‑on, useful, and designed to make supporting your learners easier and more effective.

If you’re looking to build your confidence, strengthen your literacy practice, and come away with strategies you can actually put into action, we’d love to have you join us.

✨ Cohort 7 – Term 4
📍 Christchurch + Online options (if numbers allow)
📅 Dates: 12, 14, 20 & 22 October 2026 (2027 dates TBC)

You won’t want to miss this one. Jump in and get signed up!

👉 Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18TZEGNIHjHkheEH8fbJ2c1fJobl2qu5QBKXfcWQmMt8/edit

25/08/2026

13 Weeks, 13 Elements of Explicit Instruction | Week 6: I do 👩‍🏫
Welcome to Week 6.
Before we ask students to have a go, we need to show them exactly what to do.

The I Do phase is where the teacher explicitly models the new learning, breaking it down into clear, manageable steps.

In this week’s video, watch as we model how to read and write the long /ā/ sound, using paint day to demonstrate when we use the spelling patterns ai and ay.

When modelling new learning:

🔹 Provide step-by-step demonstrations
🔹 Model at least three times
🔹 Use if/then language to make thinking visible
🔹 Include examples and non-examples

Clear modelling gives students something concrete to follow before they move towards practising the skill themselves.

Want to see more of Explicit Instruction in action? We have an online course available, or talk to us about booking a Teacher Only Day for the beginning of 2027.