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The General Capabilities: Where Next?
From their inception in 2008’s Melbourne Declaration to the first inclusion in the 2010 ACARA F-10 Curriculum the General Capabilities have sat alongside traditional subject areas such as English, Mathematics, Humanities and Science. The 2019 Mparntwe Declaration has now superseded the Melbourne Declaration and underpins the recent review of the Australian Curriculum. There are seven General […]
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The worst sentence I ever wrote
The importance of teachers-as-writers cannot be understated, particularly in the English classroom. If you want students to be successful, you must be willing and able to model. The problem is, it can be incredibly daunting to stand in front of a class of students and just start writing. The good news: your students will benefit […]
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Review: Reading Reconsidered by Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs, Erica Woolway
Each month I will be reviewing a different text designed to help English teachers and faculty leaders to develop a robust and engaging curriculum. I’ll be discussing them primarily from the point of view of a teacher or leader in an Australian context, and exploring the balance between theory and practice. Disclosure: If you order […]
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You’re doing coursework wrong: Why SACs are not exams
This post refers to the current 2016-2022 Study Design for Unit 3 and 4 VCE English. SACs are not examinations. Sounds obvious, but in my experience, School Assessed Coursework in English (and most other curriculum areas) is treated as a pared back version of the end-of-year examination. In fact, it’s so rare to find any […]
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The 6 Reading Strategies
In 2017 we joined a Community of Practice with the Victorian Association for the Teaching of English (VATE). The project, with the backing of the tertiary sector and the Department of Education, set out to investigate reading and to provide teachers with a method for teaching reading in the English classroom. Our approach to English […]
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Role Models: Improving Writing
Alongside close reading, modelling writing is an important part of our English curriculum. The two support each other perfectly, and weaving back and forth between close reading exercises and modelled writing is an effective way to teach students a broad range of skills necessary for English and across the curriculum. Our writing model is based […]
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The Value of Close Reading
Close reading should be about the student, not the teacher. When guiding becomes telling, it’s time to hand over the reins.
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An English curriculum that matters
An English curriculum that matters doesn’t have to neglect the classics. You can have both relevance and rigour, creating a curriculum that everyone enjoys.
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Leon Furze 