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25.01.2022 What's in your THRASS treasure chest? We love scouring op-shops and garage sales to find dogs, buses, eggs, birds, frogs, giants, lasers and more. 120 words pictures = 120 'treasures' to collect!

25.01.2022 TERM 4 COURSE DATES NOW PUBLISHED! Last opportunity to book your 2020 THRASS training and receive your complimentary THRASS Resource Kit! - Foundation (Level 1) $495pp... 13/14 October 27/28 October 10/11 November 24/25 November 8/9 December - Foundation to Proficiency (Level 2) $275pp Thursday 1 October Tuesday 20 October Tuesday 17 November Courses will run exclusively online, for more info or to book a place go here: https://www.thrass.com.au/courses/foundation-level-course/)

23.01.2022 FREE THRASS REPRODUCIBLES! Access over 350 reproducible pages in PDF format divided into Reading, Spelling, Handwriting, Assessment and Charts sections. (Plus Parent Notes, MASUTA, THRASS Scope & Sequence, extension activities, research evidence, teaching checklists and more!) These pages include worksheet templates, reproducible charts and pictures, assessment activities, teaching notes and lesson ideas.... N.B. These pages refer to and are intended for use with the THRASS Teacher’s Manual, Raps & Sequences CD and other supporting THRASS materials. CHARTS HANDWRITING READING SPELLING ASSESSMENT Raps & Sequences CD Notes Resource Kit CD Overview Copyright Information Download here: https://www.thrass.com.au/resourc/thrass-teacher-resources/

22.01.2022 TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS! GREAT ZOOM COURSE.. with fantastic feedback from participants! Thank you Michelle for presenting this course from your home in Melbourne this week. Your practical teaching experience using THRASS in numerous classroom settings was invaluable. Phonics is essential and nonnegotiable in literacy teaching. Our subject knowledge of phonological awareness, phonetics, phonemic awareness and phonics will determine our success in the teaching (and remediation) of reading and spelling skills. More Zoom courses coming up soon.

21.01.2022 SO, HOW DO YOU TEACH ‘REAL’ PHONICS? Homophones, homographs, morphemes, etymology. THRASS provides Professional Development in scientifically backed phonics instruction covering the ‘big 9’ of literacy teaching: oral language, phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, handwriting, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, spelling. Join our Zoom courses to further build your knowledge, skills and strategies to supersize your literacy results across the school.... THRASS works equally well for our secondary students. Boutilier and Norris (2003) Using THRASS in Secondary Schools: Evidence for Highly Significant Improvements in literacy skills Concluded that THRASS resulted in significant improvements in literacy skills of secondary pupils. ‘This study showed mean Ratio Gain scores for school students (Year 8 and 9) for spelling and reading comprehension. Year 8 Spelling 1.71.Year 9 Spelling 1.93. Combined Year 8 and 9 Reading Comprehension 1.85. Combined 8 and 9 Reading accuracy 1.22. On average, 40.5% of students achieved ratio gains of 2.0 or more for spelling. Interestingly, although reading skills were not a specific target of the intervention, there were gains in both accuracy and comprehension, with 44 % of students achieving Ratio Gains for reading accuracy of 2.0 or more and 32% achieving gains of 2,0 or more for reading comprehension.

20.01.2022 New THRASS Product! MASUTA High Frequency Word Cards These fantastic MASUTA spelling cards for the 100 high frequency words are now available. A valuable resource for whole class teaching, group work or peer learning, or for home learning. These cards are ideal for use with the THRASS Spelling Books as pictured (T-69 & T-70). ... These cards provide explicit understanding of each phoneme to grapheme correspondence and feature the THRASS 'Phoneme Fist' to identify and count the phonemes in each word. Each word is ‘THRASSed’ out using the THRASS word analogy. On the reverse side of each card the word has been written in a sentence also featuring the THRASS words. Learners can read and write these sentences to practise both high frequency words and the THRASSWORDS. Available for purchase here: https://www.thrass.com.au/product/t-197-masuta-cards/ Produced in conjunction with our friends at LIVA Learning.

20.01.2022 We're working hard at THRASS HQ to provide support materials for home schooling and off-site learning in Term 2. Yesterday our office manager, Kelly Phillips, and THRASS Institute principal, Denyse Ritchie, spent the day filming a series of short videos showing how to use the various THRASS charts and resources. We'll share them here on Facebook in the coming days and weeks, and in the meantime, don't forget there are plenty of FREE downloadable (reproducible) worksheet templates and activities available in the Teacher Resources section of our website .

20.01.2022 THRASS MASUTA CARDS FOR EXPLICIT TEACHING OF HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS These cards have been developed to teach the reading and spelling of the essential high frequency words - those words that are the ‘grammar glue’ of English. These words are the most frequently used words in early reading and writing, yet are often not explicitly taught and as such cause difficulties for fluency in reading. Although these words are the most frequently used words, they are also the most commonly... misspelt by learners. These cards provide explicit understanding of each phoneme to grapheme correspondence and feature the THRASS Phoneme Fist to identify and count the phonemes in each word. Each word is THRASSed out using the THRASS word analogy. On the reverse side of each card the word has been written in a sentence also featuring the THRASS words. Learners read and write these sentences to practise both high frequency words and the THRASSWORDS. Available now $69.95 per set. https://www.thrass.com.au/product/t-197-masuta-cards/

19.01.2022 Fantastic work by the Pormpuraaw kids and their teachers!

18.01.2022 LAST CHANCE TO BOOK! Ticket sales end tomorrow for 18 & 19 August Foundation Level course. (Delivered online via Zoom)... Term 3 Foundation Level course dates are now published, view and book here: https://www.thrass.com.au/courses/foundation-level-course/ TERM 3 August 18 & 19 September 2 & 3 September 15 & 16 September 29 & 30 Get THRASS trained and supersize your literacy results!

17.01.2022 HAVE YOU TAKEN A 'THRASS SCHOOL WALK'? (This great activity was shared by a prep teacher in Victoria a couple of years ago.) "Dear THRASS...Our class had a fantastic day taking our THRASS charts with us on a walk around the school to see how many things on our chart we could find. It was so much fun! ... We also combined our walk with two of the story writing prompts that were shown to us on our THRASS course. We used 'see' and 'hear'. There was so much discussion and it was great to see the children taking notice of objects and how to describe them. First we looked at our school name and the children were delighted to be able to match the word 'school'. We THRASSed out our school name and looked at the two digraphs in 'Meadow'. We then continued on our hunt. The next THRASS chart item we found was a tap, our 'what we can see' was a silver tap and our 'what we can hear' was a drip. We then came back to the classroom to discuss what we had found and their recall was just amazing. This is the 'THRASS School Walk' board we created."

14.01.2022 Zoom, Zoom, Zoom! Term 3 Foundation Level course dates are now published, view and book here: https://www.thrass.com.au/courses/foundation-level-course/ TERM 3... July 28 & 29 August 18 & 19 September 2 & 3 September 15 & 16 September 29 & 30 Get THRASS trained and supersize your literacy results!

14.01.2022 Congratulations to all those who have completed Foundation Level training and Level 2 Foundation to Proficiency training in our Zoom sessions. We were initially a little anxious about this mode of delivery, as THRASS is a very interactive, hands-on approach to literacy teaching. We are excited that we have had such a positive response and feedback from participants! THRASS covers not only the ‘big five’ of reading - phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary and comprehension - ...but extends further to cover essential curriculum requirements for classroom literacy teaching, including oral language, understanding the Alphabetic Principle, handwriting, reading, spelling (orthography, etymology, morphemes) and grammar. As the government moves to mandate phonics teaching in ITE and schools, now is the time to up skill yourself and your staff to understand how to teach real phonics, in context using a synthetic and systematic approach. Our next Zoom course is Tuesday 16 & Wednesday 17 June, more info here: https://www.thrass.com.au/courses/

13.01.2022 THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING HANDWRITING THRASS, the acronym, stands for Teaching Handwriting, Reading and Spelling Skills. Handwriting is first in the THRASS acronym as it is the key to building the network needed to develop reading and spelling skills. Understanding letters and the function they play in written English is vital to understanding phonics. ... Teaching the letters names, the correct starting point and letter formation is important. Knowing the letter names and what they look like allows teachers to explain all phonics patterns. Unfortunately, there is a lot of foundational phonics teaching which starts with teaching letters as ‘a sound’ or having ‘a sound’. This confuses the understanding of letters and their function, which is to represent the 44 spoken speech sounds in written form, either singularly, in pairs or groups of three or four. THRASS has always been ground breaking in its teaching methods and messages to teachers. Teaching handwriting is an essential key to literacy success. This paper clearly shows the importance of handwriting in supporting the brain network used for reading. Visit this link to read about how brain research shows why handwriting should be taught in the computer age. https://www.ldaustralia.org//Brain%20research%20shows%20wh

12.01.2022 VIDEO https://youtu.be/22yPNeEFqCk NESA 2020 VIRTUAL SERIES PRESENTATION BY DENYSE RITCHIE... WHAT DO I HEAR, WHAT DO I SEE? WHY SPEECH-TO-PRINT IS THE GOLD STAR APPROACH TO TEACHING ENGLISH PHONICS THRASS Professional Development builds teacher capacity by providing the knowledge, skills and resources needed for the explicit teaching of oral language, phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, handwriting, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Research evidence is clear. Phonemic awareness and systematic phonics teaching are essential elements in the teaching of reading and writing. THRASS is based on this research and is itself an evidence-researched practice. (see the THRASS website)

10.01.2022 'WHOLE LANGUAGE OR PHONICS' - WHEN WILL THIS FALLACY END? A word from Denyse Ritchie, Principal of the THRASS Institute and Honorary Chair of Literacy at Murdoch University. "Having just finished a fantastic 10 week semester of working with students at Murdoch University, on teaching phonics as the foundation to literacy teaching, I returned home to find a yet another scathing blog on the evils of Whole Language. Whilst there are many who are still trying to create a dichotom...y between Whole Language and phonics teaching, this fallacy was debunked in 2005. To regain my sanity I again revisited the Australian Report and Recommendations from our National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy, December 2005 and there it was: 'The attention of the Inquiry Committee was drawn to a dichotomy between phonics and whole-language approaches to the teaching of reading. This dichotomy is false. Teachers must be able to draw on techniques most suited to the learning needs and abilities of the child. It was clear, however, that systematic phonics instruction is critical if children are to be taught to read well, whether or not they experience reading difficulties.' Yes, teaching phonics is essential and non-negotiable but not to the exclusion of Whole Language strategies. This paragraph and, in particular the words 'a moment of awe', says it all. 'Members of the Committee found it a moment of awe to observe an effective teacher, with a full range of skills to teach reading, working with a whole class and having each child productively develop their literacy skills. Such teaching is highly skilled and professional. Teachers require a range of teaching strategies upon which they can draw, that meet the developmental and learning needs of individual children. The provision of such a repertoire of teaching skills is a challenge for teacher education institutions, and to practicing teachers as they assume the responsibility for the literacy learning of a whole class.' Balance is so important in all areas of teaching!"

10.01.2022 " My name is Daisy and I am looking after the 'lamb' box, where the key grapheme mb (a digraph) makes the consonant phoneme /m/ in 'lamb'. " (Daisy goes to school with the kids at St Peter's College in South Australia. Thanks to their teacher Jo for sharing these gorgeous photos.)

08.01.2022 Congratulations to all those who've completed THRASS accredited certificate training in Term 2! Due to the ongoing uncertainty caused by COVID-19, we have made the decision to continue to deliver THRASS training online only in Term 3. Feedback from our online courses has been fabulous and we've had a great time Zooming with educators from around the country. Term 3 Foundation Level course dates are now published, view and book here: https://www.thrass.com.au/courses/foundatio...n-level-course/ TERM 3 July 28 & 29 August 18 & 19 September 2 & 3 September 15 & 16 September 29 & 30

08.01.2022 THRASS Online Course Delivery Due to continuing COVID-19 restrictions, our usual mode of course delivery isn’t possible. Instead, we are offering ‘virtual’ THRASS courses delivered using the Zoom online meeting platform. Participants will continue to receive their physical course materials and interact in real time with a THRASS trainer and other attendees.... For more information, or to book a course please visit Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/the-thrass-institute-190982 NB Places are limited, please book early to allow plenty of time for your course materials to arrive.

07.01.2022 THRASS is Zooming into 2021 and Term 1 course dates are now live! Feedback from our online courses has been overwhelmingly positive with many participants remarking they '...forgot they weren't in the same room as the trainer!' More info and enrolment details here: https://www.thrass.com.au/courses/... Foundation Level Tuesday 24 & Wednesday 25 November 2020 Tuesday 8 & Wednesday 9 December 2020 Wednesday 13 & Thursday 14 January 2021 Tuesday 19 & Wednesday 20 January 2021 Wednesday 10 & Tuesday 11 February 2021 Tuesday 23 & Wednesday 24 February 2021 Tuesday 9 & Wednesday 10 March 2021 Wednesday 24 & Thursday 25 March 2021 Tuesday 13 & Wednesday 14 April 2021 Foundation to Proficiency (Level 2) Tuesday 17 November 2020 Tuesday 12 January 2021 Tuesday 9 February 2021 Thursday 25 February 2021 Thursday 11 March 2021 Tuesday 23 March 2021 Thursday 15 April 2021

07.01.2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7UZP3irJ3I WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO TEACH PHONICS! THRASS provides Professional Development in scientifically backed phonics instruction covering the ‘big 9’ of literacy teaching: oral language, phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, handwriting, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, spelling.... Join our Zoom courses to further build your knowledge, skills and strategies to supersize your literacy results across the school.

07.01.2022 TEACHING ESL OR ESOL? Get THRASS trained and supersize your results! ZOOM your way to developing skills and strategies to add to your teaching toolbox. The THRASSCHART and supporting resources based on the ‘International Phonetic Alphabet’ are the ultimate ESL teaching tools. THRASS is already successfully used in many schools and centres, across many countries, working with pre-schoolers to adults to successfully teach spoken and written English. ... For Term 3, Foundation Level courses book here: https://www.thrass.com.au/courses/foundation-level-course/ September: 15 & 16 September: 29 & 30 See more

07.01.2022 IF A PICTURE TELLS A THOUSAND WORDS THEN A VIDEO TELLS A MILLION! Check out our video collection to see THRASS demonstration lessons and testimonials featuring confident, empowered teachers from all around Australia as well as some very cute and clever kids! https://www.facebook.com/thethrassinstitute/videos

06.01.2022 IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE It is illegal to print any copies of the Yellow Picture Chart (The THRASSCHART) from the registered copy. During this unprecedented time, the THRASS Institute is aware of the need for schools to provide online lessons and materials for home use in order to continue to meet curriculum needs for their learners. ... To support this and to help schools with the continued use of THRASS for teaching literacy skills, we are making an electronic option of the Yellow THRASS Picture Chart (The THRASSCHART) available for use by schools during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. This option will require that schools apply to the THRASS Institute for special copyright permission to use this electronic ‘teaching copy’ for this specific period only. This copy will be registered and watermarked with an exclusive licence limited to specific dates to avoid illegal copyright activity. There are specific copyrights related to THRASS and more specifically to the Yellow Picture Chart (The THRASSCHART). These are monitored and reported by the Copyright Agency Ltd. The Yellow Picture Chart (The THRASSCHART) must not be copied in any way or held in any electronic storage without specific written permission. THRASS has provided many resources which can be photocopied or used on electronic whiteboards for use with your class/classes (see the THRASS Website for free down loadable resources). The (yellow) laminated THRASS Charts are available to purchase for learners to have at home and we have organised express delivery to schools needing more to provide one per child for home use. https://www.thrass.com.au/shop/ The iThrass app is available from the App Store for $19.99 - it contains 3 charts, The THRASSCHART, the GRAPHEME Chart and the I.P.A. Chart- This is an excellent resource for home use as it provides spoken audio for each of the 44 phonemes and provides an exhaustive list of GCAs for each phoneme. One purchase for home use can be downloaded on up to six linked devices. There is also a volume purchasing discount provided to schools who apply through iTunes.

04.01.2022 USING THE THRASS CHART TO DEVELOP PHONEMIC AWARENESS Phonemic awareness is an undisputed and powerful predictor for early success in reading and writing. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate the individual spoken sounds of a language (phonemes). English has 44 speech sounds (phonemes).... Phonics is the process of writing down individual spoken sounds using letters and letter combinations to produce written words. This requires alphabetic knowledge. The iThrass app for iPad is the perfect tool to teach the 44 phonemes of spoken English. The app teaches the correct articulation for each phoneme, how the phonemes can be manipulated to produce spoken words and introduces phonics using a multi-sensory approach. iThrass also provides and introduces the alphabet and letter names. Using the app, learners are able to practise naming and identifying letters and learn how letters are used to represent the phonic patterns for spoken sounds (phonemes) in spelling and writing. For those wanting to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet, this chart is also now included in the app. Available for iPad only via the App Store.

04.01.2022 FREE ONLINE EVENT! WHAT DO I HEAR, WHAT DO I SEE? WHY SPEECH-TO-PRINT IS THE GOLD STAR APPROACH TO TEACHING ENGLISH PHONICS When: Thursday 23 July 2020 3.45 to 4.45pm (AEST)... REGISTER NOW - https://iecgroup.eventsair.com/virtual-mini-summ//Register Dear Fellow Educators, I am Denyse Ritchie, Honorary Chair of Literacy and Fellow, Murdoch University and Principal of The THRASS Institute. I would like to invite you to join our discussion around the importance of building phonemic awareness in early learning as the foundation to teaching phonics and orthographic mapping. Whilst many schools do teach phonics they do so using a grapho-phonic approach rather than a phono-graphic approach. A grapho-phonic approach works from print to sound and is the cause confusion for many learners at the foundational stage. In this FREE virtual event, we will discuss the difference in these approaches and the tools available to you to confidently and competently teach phonemic awareness and phonics to your learners. Questions will be welcomed from participants. Please share this message with your colleagues and register now. https://iecgroup.eventsair.com/virtual-mini-summ//Register Looking forward to meeting with you. Best regards, Denyse Ritchie The THRASS Institute www.thrass.com.au

04.01.2022 Home schooling is underway for our family of THRASS Kids! The objective of this first activity is getting to know the THRASS Chart. In this activity, the kids are required to match and find objects from the THRASS chart (THRASSCHART) in their own house (or garden or wherever!) Kylie has just done row 1 and some of row 2 and can’t believe how many things she has matched. She has written down the words (under the guidance of her big brother Adam) and here she is reading back wh...at she found. They used the MASUTA Spelling book to record the spelling of new words including 'magpie', 'lounge', 'ornament', 'director' and 'guinea pig'. This activity is also great for oral language and vocabulary development with younger learners who find it so exciting to see the THRASSCHART come alive!

01.01.2022 A great insight into 'word study' at Seymour College in SA, it's fabulous to see everyone looking so engaged!