gail dyer

Our students read, they are taught to read using the Four Resources. They are read to, they discuss books, the storyline, the characters, the structures, the language used. They are scaffolded through modelled, guided and independent stages of learning.

They write extremely well!!!  We provide them with scaffolding, experiences and the opportunity to play with words and structure. By Year 5 they have been achieving above State Average results in their writing.

They read to access information in print and on computers. They can read fast but they don’t read like we do. They rely very heavily on the visuals, the images are where they gain most meaning.

Our students are from cultural backgrounds where the normal way of conveying stories is by oral means.

Recently I was sitting in a workshop and the professor said. (People from) “oral cultures don’t see the point in logic / literacy games. They do not get it as they take language at a literal level and do not make inferences from the written word.” Example First Nation people in southern Canada only know bears to be black or brown. They have never seen white bears, therefore white bears do not exist.

Always we lament our students inability to draw inferences in this passage or that . . . how do we work on this one if it is hardwired in?