Curriculum: Learning, Teaching and Assessment > Literacy and Numeracy > Year 2 Diagnostic Net > Year 2 Diagnostic Net Training > Session 9: Literacy intervention >

Session 9 - Structure of the session

Introduction
Part A: Intervention guidelines
Part B: Writing intervention strategies
Part C: Planning for writing intervention
Part D: Reading intervention strategies
Part E: Planning for reading intervention
Part F: Professional reflection and action

Introduction

Share the overall purpose of the session (OHT 9.1 (new window) 10k ).

Identify outcomes of the session (OHT 9.1 (new window) 10k ).

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Part A: Intervention guidelines

Purpose

The purpose of Part A is to help participants understand the meaning of intervention in the whole-of-school context, to explore assessment and analysis practices, and to make links with English unit planning.

Procedure

Ensure that participants have a copy of Intervention Guidelines: Literacy to refer to during this part of the session.

Share the definition of 'intervention' used in the context of the Year 2 Diagnostic Net (OHT 9.2 (new window) 10k ).

Ask participants to refer to the diagram on page 2 of Intervention Guidelines: Literacy which locates intervention within the school context. (The facilitator could make and display an OHT of the diagram to assist discussion.)

Discuss major features of the diagram with participants and emphasise the Year 2 Net section within the whole-school context.

Introduce the directed reading activities on Handout 9.1 (new window) 12k and the cloze activity on Handout 9.2 (new window) 22k . These activities focus on intervention in reading and writing. They are based on Intervention Guidelines: Literacy and are designed to familiarise participants with the document.

Ask participants to complete the activities. They could:

do one or two activities each, individually or in groups, and then share and discuss ideas with the whole group;
work through the activities over more than one session.

Note:
It would be helpful if all participants read Activity 3 on pages 48-49 of Intervention Guidelines: Literacy before completing Part C of this session.

Ensure that participants understand what is required in the directed reading activities. They need to:

read the section of the book indicated in column 1;
complete the task in column 2;
discuss the content to clarify and share information, and make notes for later action (column 3).

Key messages

The Year 2 Diagnostic Net intervention program is part of the whole-school intervention program.
Intervention Guidelines: Literacy provides strategies to help teachers plan and implement intervention programs.

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Part B: Writing intervention strategies

Purpose

The purpose of Part B is to ensure that participants are familiar with the recommended writing strategies, understand when they can be used, and are aware of relevant issues.

Procedure

Ensure that participants have a copy of Intervention Strategies: Reading and Writing to refer to during this part of the session.

Ask participants to turn to page 2 of the book. Point out the importance of the information in the two ovals - that is:

the real-life and life-like contexts for learning and using language;
the nature of the language used in interactions between teachers and learners.

Read through the list of writing strategies and strategies for both reading and writing development. (These are all explained in detail in later sections of the book.)

Select one of the following approaches to help participants develop a common understanding of intervention strategies. Alternatively, the facilitator and participants could choose their own ways of considering strategies or use a combination of approaches.

Ask each participant to read about one or two strategies and then to explain these to another participant or pair.
Lead a brief discussion about the strategies, drawing attention to the cautionary notes (included in boxes throughout the book) about issues such as teacher language and references.
Demonstrate chosen strategies, including transformations, invented spelling and developing metalinguistic awareness, and then provide independent reading time for participants to browse through the other strategies.
Suggest that participants consider the strategies at year-level or Years 1-3 meetings over a period of time. For example, each week one strategy could be modelled or discussed in detail and then followed up in the classroom. The following session would allow for discussion of classroom practices - for example:
- How often are the strategies used?
- With which students are they used?
- What are the benefits/difficulties?
- What effective variations are used?

Emphasise that all the strategies are key teaching strategies and are not necessarily limited to the early years and intervention purposes. Ensure that the key points are mentioned.

Demonstrate how to use the Writing Developmental Continuum to locate activities linked to a particular phase and organiser.

Suggest that participants find out about the processes and strategies used by Support-a-Writer tutors. They could discuss these at year-level or Years 1-3 meetings or refer to the Support-a-Writer kit.

Provide participants with the following references:

Metalinguistic Concepts and Early Literacy: A Holistic Approach for Children with Learning Difficulties
Making the Links: Leading to Early Literacy Success
Early Years Literacy In-service Program (EYLIP)
Writing: Resource Book

Key messages

Intervention Strategies: Reading and Writing outlines a range of intervention practices for developing students ' writing skills. It is important that teachers have a common understanding of the practices recommended in this document.
Intervention strategies should be incorporated into the teaching-learning cycle so that students progress through the major writing stages - from the highly supported stage to independent writing.

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Part C: Planning for writing intervention

Purpose

The purpose of Part C is to allow participants to plan writing intervention for one or two students and to share these plans with colleagues. This links knowledge of the strategies to classroom practice and provides an opportunity for professional sharing and feedback.

Procedure

Ensure that participants have a copy of Intervention Strategies: Reading and Writing to refer to during this part of the session.

Refer participants to the table on pages 60-61 of the book.

Demonstrate how to read the table to identify which writing strategies will help students to develop knowledge, skills and processes. Give an example of a student who has not achieved the B1 indicator and identify the strategies that the teacher could use to help this student.

Discuss when these strategies could be used - for example, with the whole class, with a small group when other students are working independently, or individually with the teacher or other support person. (Writing Developmental Continuum contains class profile sheets which may help teachers with grouping.)

Discuss where teachers could record intervention planning - for example, in their English unit plan, on a class support schedule or on an individual intervention plan.

Display a copy of a class support schedule and an individual intervention plan using OHTs 9.3 (new window) 10k and 9.4 (new window) 10k .

Discuss when and how these may be used. Point out that the class support schedule may only need to be reviewed each term.

Allow time for participants to use their student folios to formulate intervention programs for one or two students.

Ask participants to share their ideas for intervention programs.

Suggest that participants review the plans at a later stage (after implementation) and discuss student outcomes, effectiveness of the strategies and assessmen practices with their colleagues.

Key messages

Intervention Strategies: Reading and Writing (pages 60 �63) outlines strategies that support students' skill development according to indicators in the Writing Developmental Continuum.
It is important to use a variety of groupings (for example, pairs, small groups, whole class) when implementing intervention programs.

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Part D: Reading intervention strategies

Purpose

The purpose of Part D is to ensure that participants are familiar with the recommended reading intervention strategies, understand when they can be used, and are aware of relevant issues.

Procedure

Ensure that participants have a copy of Intervention Strategies: Reading and Writing to refer to during this part of the session.

Ask participants to turn to page 2 of the book. Remind participants of the importance of the information in the two ovals - that is:

the real-life and life-like contexts for learning and using language;
the nature of the language used in interactions between teachers and learners.

Read through the list of reading strategies and strategies for both reading and writing development. (These are all explained in detail in later sections of the book.)

Select one of the following approaches to help participants develop a common understanding of intervention strategies. Alternatively, the facilitator and participants could choose their own ways of considering strategies or use a combination of approaches.

Ask each participant to read about one or two strategies and then to explain these to another participant or pair.
Lead a brief discussion about the strategies, drawing attention to the cautionary notes (included in boxes throughout the book) about issues such as teacher language and references.
Demonstrate chosen strategies, including use of the tape-recorder, word sorts, word matching and the language of learning and teaching, and then provide independent reading time for participants to browse through the other strategies.
Suggest that participants consider the strategies at year-level or Years 1 �3 meetings over a period of time. This would allow for discussion of classroom practices - for example:
- How often are the strategies used?
- With which students are they used?
- What are the benefits/difficulties?
- What effective variations are used?

Emphasise that the strategies are key teaching strategies and are not necessarily limited to the early years and intervention purposes. Ensure that the key points are mentioned.

Demonstrate how to use the Reading Developmental Continuum to locate activities linked to a particular phase and organiser.

Provide participants with the following references:

Metalinguistic Concepts and Early Literacy: A Holistic Approach for Children with Learning Difficulties
Making the Links: Leading to Early Literacy Success.
Early Years Literacy In-service Program (EYLIP)

Suggest that participants find out about the processes and strategies used by Support-a-Reader tutors. They could discuss these at year-level or Years 1-3
meetings or refer to the Support-a-Reader kit.

Key messages

Intervention Strategies: Reading and Writing outlines a range of intervention practices for developing students' reading skills. It is important that teachers have a common understanding of the practices recommended in this document.
Intervention strategies should be incorporated into the teaching-learning cycle so that students progress through the major reading stages - from the highly supported stage to independent reading.

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Part E: Planning for reading intervention

Purpose

The purpose of Part E is to allow participants to plan reading intervention for one or two students and to share these plans with their colleagues. This links knowledge of the strategies to classroom practice and provides an opportunity for professional sharing and feedback.

Procedure

Ensure that participants have a copy of Intervention Strategies: Reading and Writing to refer to during this part of the session.

Refer participants to the table on pages 12-15.

Demonstrate how to read the table to identify which reading strategies will help students to develop knowledge, skills and processes. Give an example of a student who has not achieved the C4 indicator and identify the strategies that the teacher could use to help this student.

Discuss when these strategies could be used - for example, with the whole class, with a small group when other students are working independently, or individually with the teacher or other support person. (Reading Developmental Continuum contains class profiles which may help teachers to group students.)

Discuss where teachers could record intervention planning - for example, in their English unit plan, on a class support schedule or on an individual intervention plan.

Display a copy of a class support schedule and an individual intervention plan using OHTs 9.3 (new window) 10k and 9.4 (new window) 10k .

Discuss how and when these may be used. Point out that the class support schedule may only need to be reviewed each term.

Allow participants time to use their student folios to formulate intervention programs for one or two students.

Ask participants to share their ideas for intervention programs.

Suggest that participants review their plans and activities at a later stage (after implementation) and discuss student outcomes, effectiveness of the strategies and assessment practices with their colleagues.

Key messages

Intervention Strategies: Reading and Writing (pages 12-15) outlines strategies that support students' skill development according to indicators in the Reading Developmental Continuum.
It is important to use a variety of groupings (for example, pairs, small groups, whole class) when implementing intervention programs.

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Part F: Professional reflection and action

Purpose

The purpose of Part F is to encourage a commitment to learning and professional reflection.

Procedure

Select one of the following options for participants.

Notes:

Options A and B are offered in the final part of most sessions of this training and professional development program. Participants should complete Option A at some stage of the program. If they have done this activity in a previous session, choose one of the other options. Option B can be repeated as often as desired.
OHTs and handouts for Options A and B are included in Sessions 1 and 2 materials.

Option A

Display the diagram of the teaching-learning cycle on OHT 2.5 (new window) 11k .

Give participants copies of the diagram (Handout 2.3 (new window) 11k ).

Encourage discussion about the diagram and the statement below it.

Ask participants to form pairs and to indicate on Handout 2.3 (new window) 11k where they see the continua fitting into the teaching-learning cycle.

Ask participants to share their ideas with the group.

Option B

Ask participants to complete one of the Reflective Journal sheets in Handout 1.4 (new window) 21k . Participants may like to compile their notes and observations in journal form. A cover sheet is provided for this purpose.

Option C

Select questions from the list below (or add alternatives) and ask participants to answer in view of the new information presented during this session.

Do you need to know more about analysing student reading? (If so, read Intervention Guidelines: Literacy, pages 9-16.)
Do you use reading analysis regularly as a reading assessment practice? (If not, set aside some time in your program to collect this information and use your findings in classroom activities.)
Do you use a range of assessment practices for reading and writing? (If not, identify any objectives neglected and determine how you might assess these. Often, learning activities provide opportunities for assessment. Refer to Intervention Guidelines: Literacy, pages16 �22, for some possible activities.)
What are some classroom practices which do not cater for the needs of various groups and individuals? What can be done about this at the classroom and/or school level?
Do you know what beliefs about literacy learning are included in your school 's English program? If not, read the relevant section of the program.

Option D

Ask participants to undertake a between-session activity that incorporates or reflects the purpose of this session - for example:

Reflect on inclusive practices and try a new strategy. You may need to discuss this with colleagues or support personnel and do some professional reading beforehand.
Tape-record yourself during a lesson and make a transcript. Analyse the transcript in terms of your lesson intentions and the messages students may have received. Also analyse the text for inclusivity. Determine what changes you need to make to classroom interactions to improve the quality of the messages. You may find Talking Our Way into Literacy a useful resource.

Key messages

Some of the most powerful professional learning takes place when teachers identify interests or concerns and strategically plan to investigate and improve their teaching practices.
Teacher learning may take many forms, including:
- action research;
- teacher research;
- professional journals;
- peer coaching;
- professional networks.

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Facilitator's reflection

Which participants require further support?
What form will this take?

Comments:

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