These articles detail classroom practice on the teaching of writing skills in context.
The Reading Recovery Levels developed in New Zealand by Dr Marie Clay were developed for a specific pedagogy to help young children who were regarded as being ‘at risk’. Decodable Phonics is a very different pedagogy from this.
Extended Book Resource (2021)
High-frequency words are commonly seen words that a student will come across often, for example ‘at’, ‘see’ and ‘was’. Some reading programs often require the student to memorise these words and recognise them on sight.
However, many of these words can be decoded. This reduces the number of things to recall when reading a text.
Rodney Martin, Managing Director of SA publishing company Era Publications has received the national George Robertson Award from the Australian Publishers' Association for distinguished service to Australian publishing.
Martin has been Era’s publisher throughout its 44 years and continues to work in this capacity with his publications sold into 44 countries and in 20 languages other than English.
From the early days, Martin chased export sales because, as he says, “It was too dangerous for me to remain a small fish in a small pool, and that remains true for Australia as a whole. But I also wanted Australia to play a more prominent role worldwide in children’s literature and education.”
A short, practical article by Rodney Martin, first published in an official teachers’ magazine in Chengdu, China 2014
Storyboarding is a planning technique that was used by early filmmakers for animated movies. The concept is useful for teaching early learners how to plan their writing – fiction and nonfiction. This article demonstrates how the technique can work in the kindergarten and primary classroom.
ALEA National Conference, Melbourne and SAETA conference, Adelaide 2011.
Vocabulary is the raw material of communication, and the English language today has the world’s largest word lode to be mined. This practical article demonstrates how etymology and wordplay can help children to increase their vocabulary and become word-lovers.
A paper (2,390 words plus images) presented by Rodney Martin at the 2006 ALEA National Conference in Darwin, Australia.
This paper addresses the difficulty many teachers face in implementing writing curricula that require a functional application of language conventions. It gives teachers practical insights and greater confidence in their understanding and teaching of writing.
A paper (3,000 words plus images) by Rodney Martin presented to the ALEA national conference in Melbourne, 2003.
This paper offers practical insights into teaching students how to use references to solve writing problems as part of the writing process.
An academic review and reflection by Helen Toon, Lucinda Vapp and Marcus van Denham (3,000 words) based on the article below (Writing and Grammar), 2004.
Toon, Vapp and van Denham critically examine proposals made by Martin and describe how it alters their understanding of process writing and its potential.
A brief article including 4 charts over 11 pages by Rodney Martin.
What are regular and irregular high-frequency words? Why are they important to beginning readers? Which high-frequency words are introduced in the WINGS series and at what levels?
An article (3 pages) by Jennifer Andrews, Reading Recovery Tutor, and Rodney Martin, author and editor.
What process was used to determine the guided reading levels of all the books in the WINGS series? Who did the levelling? How can you be sure of their validity?