At Marsden State School, we are committed to the effective teaching of reading. In lower school our teachers are trained and supported in the delivery of an intensive and rigorous reading instruction process. Teachers focus heavily on the explicit teaching of phonological and phonemic awareness. Through a program, called SSP (Speech Sound Pics), students develop fluency in identifying and applying their knowledge of the sounds in words and how these can be represented by letters and combinations of letters (what we call 'sound pics'). Since introducing this program in 2015, we have seen significant and ongoing improvement in our students' reading.
As students move through into the middle and upper years, teachers build and extend students reading capability by focusing on comprehension and text analysis. Through the close reading strategy, students examine not only what a text says, but also how it is constructed and what it means on a deeper level. Teachers use text-dependent questions to focus students on a texts overall message, key details, vocabulary, text structure, purpose and inferences. After a number of readings, students are encouraged to form opinions, develop arguments and consider alternative perspectives as well as make intertextual connections.
Additional Reading Support (tier 3)
We believe that every student can learn. At Marsden State School we offer additional support in reading to those students who demonstrate a need for some additional instruction and practise. Our Tier 3 intervention consists of up to 4 x 30min sessions per week of additional reading instruction. Each term students are prioritised for the program based on their reading results. Satisfactory attendance is a pre-requisite for students to qualify for the supplementary assistance.