Literacy workshops to help students achieve their potential

Wordsmart Consulting

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Wordsmart Consulting offers a broad range of workshops related to all aspects of literacy. These workshops are suitable for primary and secondary students and can be tailored to suit your specific school needs. If you can’t find what you want, just ask and we’ll develop a new workshop just for you. All workshops can be adapted to suit the time and budget you have available. These workshops are compatible with the Australian Curriculum and Education Queensland’s literacy Professional Development.

A Practical Introduction to Grammar [Includes: The Context-Text model; Rank order and English; Oral-Literate continuum; Development of knowledge about key grammatical concepts; Practical classroom activities for improving student reading and writing] Higher Order Thinking and Literacy [This cross-curriculum workshop includes: Defining higher order thinking; Bloom’s taxonomy; Practical ideas for integrating higher order thinking into reading and writing] Multimodal Grammars in the Australian Curriculum [Includes: Defining multimodality; Context-Text relationships and multimodal grammars; Grammars of Space, Typography, Voice quality and timbre, Sound, Action and gesture, Images; Practice in analyzing multimodal texts; Creating digital texts] NAPLAN: Cross Curriculum Literacy Demands [Includes: Research about literacy across the curriculum; An overview of NAPLAN; Five literacy demands – Language conventions,

Reading, Writing, Exam literacy, Literacy demands of numeracy questions; Practical classroom ideas] Practical Spelling Strategies for Older Students [Includes: A brief history of the English language; Connection between spelling and grammar; Basic spelling concepts; Diagnosing student spelling needs; Practical games and activities] Preparing for the NAPLAN Writing Test (Student Workshop) [This workshop is for students and includes: Aristotle’s forms of persuasion; Sample expositions; Audience, writer’s role and relationships; Developing field; Strategies for generating ideas and planning; Vocabulary choice and persuasive devices; Writing the opening paragraph] Secrets of Compressed Narratives for Demand Writing Tests [Includes: The context of demand writing; Defining and exemplifying the compressed narrative; Qualities and features of the compressed narrative]

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Wordsmart Consulting will also provide on-site coaching, model lessons, literacy walkthroughs, feedback on units and assignment tasks. Many schools use us to analyse student writing to provide more specific feedback on school literacy needs. Contact us for further information on these additional services.

More workshops from Wordsmart Consulting… Seven Secrets of Writing Success [Includes: The context of demand writing tasks; The seven secrets explained and exemplified; Practical ideas for teaching the secrets] Successful Literacy Intervention: Strategies for Underperforming Adolescents [In its original forms, this three day workshop Includes: Qualities of a literacy rich school; Identifying underperformers; Key research findings in adolescent literacy; Moving away from deficit models; Practical ideas for supportive school environments; Practical ideas for reading and writing] Survive and Thrive: An Introduction to Teaching English [Includes: English v literacy; What really counts in demand writing tasks (NAPLAN and QCS); A practical three part framework for teaching reading and writing; Teaching spelling, grammar and punctuation (for NAPLAN and beyond); Teaching reading - before, during and after reading; Teaching writing - before, during and after writing]

Teaching Reading Comprehension: Beyond Code Breaking [Includes: A model of reading; Core literacy pedagogy; Think aloud modeling; Developing vocabulary; Practical strategies, i.e. Active Processing of Text, Making Connections, QAR, Three Level Guide, Future Wheel, Reading Circles, Questioning Ladder; The problem with chapter questions] Teaching Reading 2: More Effective Reading in Content Areas [A more advanced workshop which includes: Revisiting theory; Reading skill versus teaching strategy; Principles and core pedagogy; Analysing comprehension challenges posed by texts; Planning content area reading lessons; Delivering and receiving feedback on mini-lessons]

Teaching the Language of Persuasion: Writing with Authority [Includes: Aristotle’s persuasive techniques; Context-Text issues; Basic expository structure and using Writing Plans; Practical strategies for generating ideas based on stimulus; Tenor variables; Key grammar of exposition – Nominalisation, Theme and Rheme, Mood, Modality, Appraisal; Practical teaching ideas] Writing Assignment Exemplars [Includes: Identifying and defining key school genres; Higher order thinking and literacy pedagogy; Context-Text relationships and the oral-literate continuum; Three column writing models; Practical writing and feedback session] Writing Conferences: Providing Effective Feedback to Students [Includes: The role of conferences within the writing process; What teachers should be looking for; A critical examination of the original conference concept; General principles for conferences; Three types of conferences; After the conference; Case study – working with struggling students] See the following page for workshops specifically related to the QCST Writing Task.

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Queensland Core Skills Test: Writing Task Workshops for Students and Teachers The following workshops are specifically designed to help prepare students for the demands of the Year 12 Writing Task in Queensland. As with all other workshops, these can be tailored to suit your own school needs and budget. Teacher information and student activity booklets to complement these workshops are also available. For schools interested in improving SRI results, Wordsmart Consulting recommends Go Grammar Consulting – contact us for further information. Workshop Title (Others available by negotiation)

Audience* Recommended Minimum Length**

An Introduction to the Writing Task

Students in Years 11 and/or 12

60-70 minutes

The Seven Secrets Students Must Know Before August*** (Base workshop)

Students (especially in Year 11 and 12)

Teachers across curriculum

Student version: 60-70 minutes Teacher version: 90 minutes

The First Ten Minutes: Responding to Stimulus, Generating Writing Ideas and Considering Roles and Relationships

Students (Year 11 and 12) 60-70 minutes

The Last Ten Minutes: Evaluating and Revising Drafts

Students (Year 11 and 12). 60-70 minutes

Beyond Formulaic Essays: Demystifying the Language and Techniques of Excellent Student Writers

Students (Year 11 and 12). The emphasis is on improving the results of mid-range students.

60-70 minutes

Writing Authoritatively: Making Use of Mood, Modality and Appraisal

Students (especially in Year 11 and 12)

Teachers across the curriculum

60-70 minutes

Practical Strategies for Helping Students Improve: Working with Practice Writing Task Samples to Build Teacher Capacity

Teachers across all subject areas (Can be based on an analysis of your specific school’s needs and can be based on particular genres.)

90 minutes

* All workshops can be adapted for teachers. ** Longer or shorter sessions by negotiation. Multiple sessions developing the same topic are also recommended, for example to cater for struggling student writers. ***It is highly recommended that teachers complete the Seven Secrets workshop.

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Fee Schedule

Hourly rate First hour: $330.00 (including GST) Subsequent hours: $165.00 (including GST) Note well: Presentations to in excess of 70 students at once will incur a $66 (incl. GST)

surcharge per hour. Given the interactive nature of student workshops, we strongly recommend groups of approximately 20-25.

Presentations to in excess of 70 teachers at once will incur a surcharge of $11 (incl. GST) per teacher

If teachers from other schools are being invited to participate, they will be required to pay $55 flat rate per head (includes GST) for up to two hours.

To take account of travel time and costs, rates will be higher outside Logan, Brisbane and surrounds. For workshops requiring overnight stays away from Brisbane, the hourly rates may not apply. More specific quotes are available on request.

Daily rate Logan, Brisbane and surrounds: $990.00 per day (including GST) Schools beyond one-hour drive: $1100.00 per day (including GST), plus travel and

accommodation costs where required. Note well: If teachers from other schools are being invited to participate, they will be

required to pay $100 per head per day. This includes $9.10 GST. Interstate engagements will usually be charged at a minimum of a full day. Printing School does own printing: no extra charge Wordsmart organises printing: additional (about 8c per page). More precise

quotes can be provided on request. Attendance certificates for staff This can be done one of two ways. Wordsmart Consulting can provide necessary information and a template in Word

format. The school can organise to print certificates. There is no extra charge for this option.

Wordsmart Consulting creates and prints certificates from staff information provided by school: $1.00 per participant (includes 9c GST)

Creating expert teachers, literate students, brighter futures

Contact Lindsay Williams Director E: lindsay@englishteacherguru.com T: (07) 3841 2812 M: 0431 343 517 35 Elysium St Rochedale South, Queensland 4123

ABN 46 120 587 528