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22.01.2022 The Unwilling Twin, written and illustrated by Freya Blackwood, is a beautiful and humorous story about the friendship between a girl and her pet pig. Gorgeously illustrated, it cleverly highlights the highs and lows of 'sibling' love. Writing IDEAS: This is a great example of a topic that has been refined and refined to become something that is tight and manageable. It isn't about everything to do with the pig, or everything that happened at the beach- it's about some of the... highs and lows of having a sibling. ORGANISATION- an attention-grabbing lead (how can a pig and a girl be 'identical' twins?) is followed by logical sequencing and a clear resolution. WORD CHOICE and SENTENCE FLUENCY combine to show poetic language in smooth flowing sentences (eg. 'She shovels, shapes and smoothes until it's completely splendid!') It contains a range of simple, compound and complex sentences. CONVENTIONS: Students could be introduced to the role of the ellipsis () 'How does the author want us to read this?' Reading The illustrations in this text really make this story- They must be read carefully in conjunction with the text to get the full story. Students could practise INFERRING using the illustrations. (How do you think George feels about being Jules' twin? What makes you think that?) Students could MAKE CONNECTIONS to their own lives and their relationships with their own siblings. Students could track their WONDERINGS throughout the book and then check which questions were answered in the text and which ones remain unanswered. Students could start learning to SUMMARISE by listing some of the things Jules and George do together in the book. Bookplate downloadable here: https://drive.google.com//1i0HpvOXVNYYmaZcduscPmoeMj/view

19.01.2022 Back by popular demand... I'm running Teacher Writing with Confidence again this coming school holidays (September 29) It was a hit last holidays so I'm offering it for all the people who missed out last time. All the details can be found here: https://www.ozlitteacher.com.au/workshops/

19.01.2022 Happy Indigenous Literacy Day everyone! Don't forget the The Indigenous Literacy Foundation's online events at 12:30 and 2pm (for primary kids). https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com//indigenous-literacy-day.

19.01.2022 Super excited for Monday's online Pure Guided Reading PD (full day version). If you've already registered for this PD you should have received an information pack in your email. Please let me know if you haven't. Still getting registrations so I'll leave it open in the shop until tomorrow morning.

18.01.2022 WOOHOO! This is my 100th book review! I selected this text to celebrate my own return home last weekend (after months in Covid lockdown). Oh, how a trip home replenishes the soul! Coming Home to Country, written and illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft, is a stunning depiction of the feeling of returning to your true 'home.'... Writing IDEAS: Bronwyn Bancroft has taken the idea of 'home' and all that encompasses for her, and provided intricate details to help convey her experience to her reader. This is a great example of an idea that has gone through the 'ideas funnel' to become a tight and manageable focus; she has looked at her world with the eyes of a highly observant writer and really zoomed in on the small details. VIOCE: What tone does this poem have? What makes you think the writer cares about this topic? WORD CHOICE: Look at how the author has communicated the beauty of her country. How has she used adjectives, alliteration, similes and metaphor to help her reader visualise? SENTENCE FLUENCY: How has she broken up the lines in her poem? What impact does this have on how it is read? Students could craft from complex sentences such as "Cradled in the hands of my people, this is where I see" When revising their own writing (poetry or otherwise) they could rearrange a sentence to place the verb at the start of their sentence and see what impact it has. PRESENTATION: The illustrations in this text are bold and beautiful (and just can't miss a mention). Reading INFERRING and VISUALING: The rich descriptions and figurative language in this poem could open rich discussion about meanings. What do you imagine when you read the descriptions eg: 'lines of Country etched like wrinkles in a wise old face.' How does this help you understand the text? MAKING CONNECTIONS: students could make connections to their own feeling about where they feel at 'home'. (What does it look, feel, smell, taste and sound like?) How is this text similar or different to other texts by the same author? QUESTIONING: Why do you think the author wrote this text? What was her purpose? The author doesn't explicitly say if she likes going home to Country. How has she conveyed her thoughts about this in the poem? Bookplate available here: https://drive.google.com//1DSXjfoDO_9-y6Tf--KJZanSou/view

17.01.2022 Littlelight by Kelly Canby is a gorgeous, thought provoking and heart-warming book about understanding, embracing and celebrating diversity. This is a MUST read! Writing IDEAS: The author has considered a social issue she would like to address and has written a tight and manageable piece that conveys a strong message to her audience- we are all better for having diversity in our community. ORGANISATION: a strong lead is followed by logical sequencing and a clever sense of res...olution at the end. VOICE: the tone of the text is thoughtful and unassuming. WORD CHOICE: repetition of key words drives the message home in this book. SENTENCE FLUENCY: Repetition of key sentences is a strength in this text. The author has ‘broken the rules’ to create fluency, with the addition of several sentence fragments (eg. ‘Which turned into doors. Which turned into bridges.’) Reading From the first page of this book readers can make PREDICTIONS about this book using the title, colour differences on the front cover and the end pages. All the way through the book readers can gather clues to try and make INFERENCES and uncover the meaning behind the text. (Who stole the bricks? What were they being protected from? What have you noticed about the changing colours in the illustrations? How could this be connected to the text?) On the last page students can discuss their thoughts on why they think the author wrote the book and what message she may have wanted readers to take away from the book. MAKING CONNECTIONS: what other texts does this remind you of? What in the world does it remind you of? QUESTIONING: this would be a great text to model recording your questions before, during and after reading. So many great discussions can come from this gorgeous book! Download the bookplate from here: https://drive.google.com//12Byobz0KT-RoGC2unBu-aHTyg/view

16.01.2022 "How can I assess my students remotely?" This is a hot question right now so I've put together my top 5 tips for approaching assessment when teaching remotely.. How are you tackling assessment in the remote teaching world? https://www.ozlitteacher.com.au//5-assessment-tips-for-re/

16.01.2022 #ThrowbackThursday Classroom libraries are far too important to be viewed as a 'set and forget' part of your classroom. As an integral part of any effective literacy teaching classroom, they should be an ongoing labour of love. I've answered some of your top questions about classroom libraries in part 2 of this series on classroom libraries. https://www.ozlitteacher.com.au//classroom-libraries-all-/

13.01.2022 Why is Literacy important? If you asked the staff in your school to answer this question, what would they say? Would you have alignment in your responses? 2020 has refocused my attention on the REAL reason literacy instruction is critical in the modern world.... (Spoiler alert: is has NOTHING to do with NAPLAN scores and everything to do with the reason we all became teachers in the first place.) https://www.ozlitteacher.com.au//why-is-literacy-important/

12.01.2022 How to Make a Bird by Meg McKinlay and Matt Ottley is a masterclass on how to craft a stunningly beautiful, thought-provoking book. The text explores the tiny details that go in to creating your own bird, up until the last detail- its release into the world. Writing This text is a perfect example of the fact that there is no one 'correct and only' way to write in a genre. Meg McKinlay's text is part procedural writing, part explanation, part prose and part poetry. She has blu...rred the lines between several different genres to create a magical piece of writing. This could be a great introduction to an open writing cycle or multi genre project. WORD CHOICE and SENTENCE FLUENCY should be highlighted when reading and rereading this text. How has the author created such rhythmic and flowing sentences? How has she ordered her words? What words have helped create the tone of this text? Another element not to be left undiscussed: PRESENTATION. How have the sentences been broken up on the page and across pages? How does this influence the reading of this book? How do the illustrations contribute to or add to the text? IDEAS: students could consider other items they could make and explain. What would be the important elements (beyond the obvious). Reading This book really needs to be read several times to experience the entire beauty of the text and the illustrations (it could even be used for a close reading). INFERRING: What might this book be about? What makes you think that? Why does the author say you can't rush the process? How does that contribute to the reader's understanding of the bird? MAKING CONNECTIONS- how is this similar or different to other procedural texts you have read? How is it similar or different to other poems? QUESTIONING- Students should record their wonderings before, during and after reading. It would also be worth reading interviews with the author about the text (it took her 16 years to have this work published). VISUALISING- there are plenty of examples of figurative language in this text. The bookplate for this review can be found here: https://drive.google.com//1ETZXoNY5Nb2DqsHnF9PAIbpYQ/view

10.01.2022 Two Mates by Melanie Prewett and Maggie Prewett is a true story about the bond between two best friends. This is a book that celebrates diversity and friendship. Writing IDEAS: Students could use this book as a mentor for writing their own memoir. This text is written from the first-person point of view where the main character, Jack, recounts memories and stories of his friendship with his best mate, Raf. He has selected a handful of key events/memories in their friendship a...nd written about these. ORGANISATION: The structure of this text would be a great model for students to create a similar book about a person they enjoy spending time with (could be a friend or family member). They can practise slowing down the pace of their writing to add extra details to some of their events (in the same way the author has done with the four-wheeler memory in this book). SENTENCE FLUENCY- once students have written their first draft, they can look at revising their sentence structure to include compound and complex sentences. Reading This would make a good text for a shared reading to practise fluency and intonation. The illustrations in this text add extra information to the text, the final page is very important and requires readers to INFER in order to gain a deeper understanding of the entire text. Much QUESTIONING and discussion could come from this and from the extra author and illustrator notes at the back of the book. Download the bookplate here: https://drive.google.com//1sIZQy5ftqDYJ7186qTUSyUNYC/view

09.01.2022 To celebrate my 100th mentor text review I'm having a giveaway! You could win your very own Oz Lit Book Bag (and surprise book) valued at $50. These bags are the BEST! They're huge and super heavy duty (I carry 20 picture story books at a time around in mine).... To enter: Like, share and tag 2 friends in the comments below. FYI- If you never win things and just want to buy a bag for yourself or give one as a gift for Christmas- I have a few in my shop now: ozlitteacher.com.au/shop Terms and Conditions: 1. Entry is open to Australian residents only. 2. Promotion commences 22/11/2020 and final entries close on 25/11/2020. 3. Prize is not transferable or exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash. 4. Winner will be notified via this Facebook page on 26/11/2020 This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook.

08.01.2022 The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke and Van T Rudd is a clever book about a group of siblings who have cobbled together a bike with recycled goods. There’s so much to love about this book! Writing IDEAS: The author has selected a very small topic, a favourite item, and written a tight narrative around that. Extra details have been included to give clues about the location of the text (eg. the village where live, big Fiori tree, stretching out desert). The VOICE in this... piece is created through the combination of WORD CHOICE such as ‘our fed-up mum,’ ‘that shicketty shake’ and ‘no-go desert’ and Beneba Clarke’s trademark rhythmic sentence fluency. Being a poet, she really has a knack for lilting storytelling that always sounds best when read out loud. (Compare this book with her other book Fashionista for a study on Sentence Fluency). This book would be a really useful text for studying show don’t tell as it seems like a simple book at first, but it includes lots of layers of extra detail that tell more to the story. Reading There are so many layers to this story. The surface layer gives the details of a bike being made but, when you dig deeper and take in the information from the carefully chosen words and beautiful illustrations, a bigger story is told. There is much INFERRING that could happen in this text. ‘Why did they build a patchwork bike?’ ‘Why did they label their mum a fed-up mum?’ QUESTIONING could happen before, during and after the text and could even be about the illustrations- ‘why did the illustrator use recycled goods to create the images?’ ‘How does this link with the text?’ What is the message in this book? Why do you think the author wrote this book? This is a previous CBCA Honour Book so is likely to be on school shelves already. Download the bookplate here: https://drive.google.com//1U1ZQg88wP9Z_Q9uIqTWyB3yHa/view

07.01.2022 WOWZERS, you have to be SUPER quick around here! The Traits Masterclass Series sold out in just 2 days! Good news if you missed out- I've been coerced into opening a new intake. The 2nd intake will start later this term and run on Thursdays at 4pm.... You can check out all the details here: https://www.ozlitteacher.com.au//writing-traits-mastercla/

06.01.2022 Next Wednesday is Indigenous Literacy Day. The The Indigenous Literacy Foundation are putting on a couple of virtual events (with a primary specific online event at 2pm). How will you be celebrating?

05.01.2022 It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for chooks with attitude. I’ve always loved them. Yesterday I ordered Lian Tanner Author’s latest book, ‘A Clue for Clara.’ Amazingly, Amazon Prime delivered it to me this morning. Wow! This book is fantastic! It’s funny and has a brilliant plot about a chook who becomes a detective. There’s crime, baddies, attitude and lots of positive tension. ... I couldn’t put it down and want to reread it already. I hope we see more of Clara! I think it would be a great class novel for year 3 up. (It would also make a terrific text to study as a group of teachers to learn about effective narrative writing.)

03.01.2022 Guided Reading PD Missed the full day version of this PD yesterday? Heard the feedback and want to attend yourself? Not to worry! Mardi and I are running a a 'weekly dose' version starting next Wednesday night at 7pm (AEST). This version will run for one hour each Wednesday night (for 5 weeks) and we'll cover everything we covered in yesterday's full day version. ... https://www.ozlitteacher.com.au/shop/

03.01.2022 On a Magical Do-Nothing Day by Italian author/illustrator Beatrice Alemagna, tells the story of a young child who learns to find fun in the small things when stuck at home with nothing to do. (Does that problem sound familiar right now!?) Writing IDEAS: This book would be a useful mentor text for teaching students how to write about those days/weekends when they’ve had nothing to do at home (we’ve all had those!) ORGANISATION: This story has an interesting lead, follows a log...ical sequence and has a clear sense of resolution at the end. VOICE: The word choice in this text helps to give insight into the personality of the main character and creates a strong tone for the start of the story (Here we go again.). As the story progresses, the illustrations work with the text to shift the tone and keep the reader engaged. WORD CHOICE: there are some really beautiful sentences in this story! Metaphors are used in an authentic way and help the reader to visualise (eg. ‘Sunbeams fell through a giant sieve and blinded me.’) Reading This would be a good text to look at character change across a story. In this story the main character changes their tone, mood and view of themself, their situation and the world around them. They also learn that fun can come from outside their computer game. This book would be great to compare to The Sloth Who Came to Stay by Margaret Wild and The Quiet Girl by Peter Carnavas in terms of the messages and themes. It would be interesting to compare and contrast the main characters in each. Download the bookplate from here: https://drive.google.com//1wFaMmfTLF_vOx1AaVAzj-HXmP/view