Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writi... more Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writing and spelling. The present study uses a ‘differentiated models of giftedness and talent’ framework to examine the learning characteristics of these students. The students, 65 gifted primary school students in Melbourne, had a disability in literacy performance in at least one of reading prose accuracy, prose reading comprehension, or isolated word reading accuracy. Their phonemic awareness (segmentation and blending), and general ability using the WISCIII were assessed. As well, to provide an opportunity for the display of their gifted knowledge, tasks examining their ability to infer from what they had read for texts read accurately were used. Scores on the cognitive factors of the WISC-III identified three categories or ‘profiles’ of gifted knowledge: students gifted verbally, nonverbally and in both areas. The three profiles were associated with particular patterns in literacy knowl...
The relegation of spatial knowledge to a subordinate position has particular implications for exa... more The relegation of spatial knowledge to a subordinate position has particular implications for examining mathematics underachievement. First, most of use have observed in our teaching that some mathematics underachievers (that is, those who have difficulty comprehending numerical ideas) can comprehend elementary spatial concepts but because they lack fluency in number they cannot make sense of the relationships to be developed. Second, you have probably observed that other more able mathematics students (that is, those who do not have difficulty comprehending numerical ideas) have difficulty comprehending spatial concepts and are secure learning spatial knowledge only when the ideas are expressed in numerical terms.
This paper describes a literacy intervention innovation in a primary school that was implemented ... more This paper describes a literacy intervention innovation in a primary school that was implemented on a whole school basis. The school had experienced comparatively low levels of literacy success for several years. Improvement required all staff to evaluate and, where necessary, modify literacy pedagogy. Whole school change that takes account of variation in staff knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and levels of commitment is frequently problematic.
Oral language and literacy competence are major influences on children's developmental pathwa... more Oral language and literacy competence are major influences on children's developmental pathways and life success. Children who do not develop the necessary language and literacy skills in the early years of school then go on to face long-term difficulties. Improving teacher effectiveness may be a critical step in lifting oral language and literacy outcomes. The Classroom Promotion of Oral Language trial aims to determine whether a specifically designed teacher professional learning programme focusing on promoting oral language can lead to improved teacher knowledge and practice, and advance outcomes in oral language and literacy for early years school children, compared with usual practice. This is a two-arm cluster multisite randomised controlled trial conducted within Catholic and Government primary schools across Victoria, Australia. The intervention comprises 4 days of face-to-face professional learning for teachers and ongoing implementation support via a specific worker. T...
A key capacity in twenty-first century markets is being able to convert information to knowledge.... more A key capacity in twenty-first century markets is being able to convert information to knowledge. This information is frequently a written form in e-text contexts. Individuals able to read, comprehend, and execute the information more effectively can use more efficiently the resources available in the marketplace. The study examined the influence of teaching individuals to read and comprehend hypertext. Its findings contribute to advancement of knowledge in this area and indicate ways in which individuals can improve their capacity to convert e-text to knowledge.
Abstract During the last decade, the importance of the relationship between phonological processi... more Abstract During the last decade, the importance of the relationship between phonological processing skills to reading performance has been highlighted. The aim of this study was to examine differences between above average and below average readers (determined by a reading comprehension test) on phonological processing skills at grade one and at grade three. There were 35 grade one, and 34 grade three students from two primary schools. Data from phonemic awareness and phonological awareness tests were subjected to t‐tests. The below average readers in both grade one and three had fewer phonological processing skills than the above average readers. The importance of students’ cognitive functioning to reading comprehension appeared more important at the grade one level than at the grade three level. The study indicated that below average readers, particularly at grade one, would benefit from explicit teaching in both phonemic and phonological awareness skills.
Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writi... more Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writing and spelling. The present study uses a ‘differentiated models of giftedness and talent’ framework to examine the learning characteristics of these students. The students, 65 gifted primary school students in Melbourne, had a disability in literacy performance in at least one of reading prose accuracy, prose reading comprehension, or isolated word reading accuracy. Their phonemic awareness (segmentation and blending), and general ability using the WISC-III were assessed. As well, to provide an opportunity for the display of their gifted knowledge, tasks examining their ability to infer from what they had read for texts read accurately were used. Scores on the cognitive factors of the WISC-III identified three categories or ‘profiles’ of gifted knowledge: students gifted verbally, nonverbally and in both areas. The three profiles were associated with particular patterns in literacy know...
Fluent readers process text at a number of levels; at the word, the sentence, the conceptual and ... more Fluent readers process text at a number of levels; at the word, the sentence, the conceptual and the topic levels (Munro & Munro, 1991, 1994). The outputs from each process are retained for varying durations in short-term working memory. Depending in part on their purposes for reading at any time, readers perceive the outputs of some levels to be more useful than those at other levels. As they read, they move between the various levels in ways that would be difficult to map in a general sense They may, for example, begin by processing a few words in a text to gain an initial impression of its likely topic, making use of their existing knowledge. They may then return to modify this initial topic level impression after working at the word and sentence levels. Sentence level processing can facilitate word level processing by assisting readers to anticipate words within a sentence, thus contributing to word level processes within the sentence.
Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writi... more Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writing and spelling. The present study uses a ‘differentiated models of giftedness and talent’ framework to examine the learning characteristics of these students. The students, 65 gifted primary school students in Melbourne, had a disability in literacy performance in at least one of reading prose accuracy, prose reading comprehension, or isolated word reading accuracy. Their phonemic awareness (segmentation and blending), and general ability using the WISCIII were assessed. As well, to provide an opportunity for the display of their gifted knowledge, tasks examining their ability to infer from what they had read for texts read accurately were used. Scores on the cognitive factors of the WISC-III identified three categories or ‘profiles’ of gifted knowledge: students gifted verbally, nonverbally and in both areas. The three profiles were associated with particular patterns in literacy knowl...
The relegation of spatial knowledge to a subordinate position has particular implications for exa... more The relegation of spatial knowledge to a subordinate position has particular implications for examining mathematics underachievement. First, most of use have observed in our teaching that some mathematics underachievers (that is, those who have difficulty comprehending numerical ideas) can comprehend elementary spatial concepts but because they lack fluency in number they cannot make sense of the relationships to be developed. Second, you have probably observed that other more able mathematics students (that is, those who do not have difficulty comprehending numerical ideas) have difficulty comprehending spatial concepts and are secure learning spatial knowledge only when the ideas are expressed in numerical terms.
This paper describes a literacy intervention innovation in a primary school that was implemented ... more This paper describes a literacy intervention innovation in a primary school that was implemented on a whole school basis. The school had experienced comparatively low levels of literacy success for several years. Improvement required all staff to evaluate and, where necessary, modify literacy pedagogy. Whole school change that takes account of variation in staff knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and levels of commitment is frequently problematic.
Oral language and literacy competence are major influences on children's developmental pathwa... more Oral language and literacy competence are major influences on children's developmental pathways and life success. Children who do not develop the necessary language and literacy skills in the early years of school then go on to face long-term difficulties. Improving teacher effectiveness may be a critical step in lifting oral language and literacy outcomes. The Classroom Promotion of Oral Language trial aims to determine whether a specifically designed teacher professional learning programme focusing on promoting oral language can lead to improved teacher knowledge and practice, and advance outcomes in oral language and literacy for early years school children, compared with usual practice. This is a two-arm cluster multisite randomised controlled trial conducted within Catholic and Government primary schools across Victoria, Australia. The intervention comprises 4 days of face-to-face professional learning for teachers and ongoing implementation support via a specific worker. T...
A key capacity in twenty-first century markets is being able to convert information to knowledge.... more A key capacity in twenty-first century markets is being able to convert information to knowledge. This information is frequently a written form in e-text contexts. Individuals able to read, comprehend, and execute the information more effectively can use more efficiently the resources available in the marketplace. The study examined the influence of teaching individuals to read and comprehend hypertext. Its findings contribute to advancement of knowledge in this area and indicate ways in which individuals can improve their capacity to convert e-text to knowledge.
Abstract During the last decade, the importance of the relationship between phonological processi... more Abstract During the last decade, the importance of the relationship between phonological processing skills to reading performance has been highlighted. The aim of this study was to examine differences between above average and below average readers (determined by a reading comprehension test) on phonological processing skills at grade one and at grade three. There were 35 grade one, and 34 grade three students from two primary schools. Data from phonemic awareness and phonological awareness tests were subjected to t‐tests. The below average readers in both grade one and three had fewer phonological processing skills than the above average readers. The importance of students’ cognitive functioning to reading comprehension appeared more important at the grade one level than at the grade three level. The study indicated that below average readers, particularly at grade one, would benefit from explicit teaching in both phonemic and phonological awareness skills.
Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writi... more Some gifted students have specific literacy learning disabilities in areas such as reading, writing and spelling. The present study uses a ‘differentiated models of giftedness and talent’ framework to examine the learning characteristics of these students. The students, 65 gifted primary school students in Melbourne, had a disability in literacy performance in at least one of reading prose accuracy, prose reading comprehension, or isolated word reading accuracy. Their phonemic awareness (segmentation and blending), and general ability using the WISC-III were assessed. As well, to provide an opportunity for the display of their gifted knowledge, tasks examining their ability to infer from what they had read for texts read accurately were used. Scores on the cognitive factors of the WISC-III identified three categories or ‘profiles’ of gifted knowledge: students gifted verbally, nonverbally and in both areas. The three profiles were associated with particular patterns in literacy know...
Fluent readers process text at a number of levels; at the word, the sentence, the conceptual and ... more Fluent readers process text at a number of levels; at the word, the sentence, the conceptual and the topic levels (Munro & Munro, 1991, 1994). The outputs from each process are retained for varying durations in short-term working memory. Depending in part on their purposes for reading at any time, readers perceive the outputs of some levels to be more useful than those at other levels. As they read, they move between the various levels in ways that would be difficult to map in a general sense They may, for example, begin by processing a few words in a text to gain an initial impression of its likely topic, making use of their existing knowledge. They may then return to modify this initial topic level impression after working at the word and sentence levels. Sentence level processing can facilitate word level processing by assisting readers to anticipate words within a sentence, thus contributing to word level processes within the sentence.
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