 Welcome to the usability trial for the National Literacy Learning Progression. We will now explore the literacy progression. As we work through the structure and format of the learning progression, there are a number of terms that you will hear. If you need to revisit these terms, you will find them explained in some detail on pages 3-5 of the PDF version of the progression. Let's start with the structure. The literacy progression is organised under the three familiar elements of speaking and listening, reading and writing. These three literacy elements are important in all learning areas of the curriculum. When you are considering a task or activity that students will be undertaking in your classroom, you might begin by considering what the main emphasis of that activity is. Will the students be using some research evidence to create an explanatory text? The literacy focus here would be on writing. Will the students be engaged in a structured small group discussion? The literacy emphasis here would be on speaking and listening. Will the students be reading two texts on the same issue or topic and making comparisons between the information in the two texts? The literacy emphasis here would be on reading, although the students may be writing notes as they read. Under each of the elements, there are a number of threads. The threads are components or aspects of literacy knowledge and skills. The choice of these threads and their titles has been the subject of much discussion with both practitioners and experts. The number and names of threads might be something that you would like to comment on when you provide us with your feedback. Under the speaking and listening element, there are three threads. Speaking, listening and interaction. Under the reading element are the key decoding threads of phonological awareness, phonic knowledge and word recognition and fluency. These threads are usually considered as constrained skills because most students are able to complete all of the levels of these skills by the end of the early years of primary school. Also in the reading strand is the holistic thread called understanding texts where students' skills in reading, understanding, interpreting, analyzing and evaluating a range of print and multimodal texts are described. Increasingly sophisticated understanding of texts is influenced by the complexity of the texts being read. Text complexity advice is provided at Appendix 6 in the PDF version of the progression. It describes the features of increasingly sophisticated texts, such as the topic or subject of the text, the vocabulary or the types of language features. It is intended that understanding text thread be read in conjunction with this advice. The writing element needs the most explanation. Here the holistic thread creating texts incorporates the features of a piece of student writing. There are a number of indicators within each level to reflect the fact that a text has many components which can be identified and assessed individually, but need to be considered holistically if the writing as a whole piece of text is to be judged. Then there are the four supplementary threads in the writing element. Spelling, punctuation, vocabulary and grammar. Of course student skills in these component threads would be developing simultaneously and in conjunction with their skill in producing texts. This reflects the intent of Australian Curriculum English, which emphasizes this relationship. Students are concurrently developing knowledge and skills in areas such as spelling and vocabulary and applying this knowledge when they write texts for a range of purposes. If you are focusing on writing during the trial, you can locate students on the creating text thread by making an overall judgment based on a student's text. Then you might also wish to focus on an aspect of writing such as punctuation or vocabulary, especially if this has been a focus in your teaching or it is an area where your students may be facing difficulties. What do you need to do first? Firstly, familiarize yourself with the progression. You may like to print the PDF version. It is important that you take some time to become familiar with the structure, form and indicators of the progression. A good starting point would be to look at the beginning and end points of the thread to get an understanding of the range. For example, the speaking thread begins with making simple requests and expressing feelings and short phrases and finishes with confidently and critically evaluating ideas. When you have scanned the whole thread, you may wish to pay close attention to the levels where you think your students are most likely to be located. Once you are familiar with the progression, the next thing you need to do is select six students from your class or group. If possible, these students should represent the range of students in your class. So, two high-performing students, two mid-range students and two students who may be experiencing some difficulties in literacy. Next, think about what you are planning to teach during March. Think about the most relevant literacy threads for the planned learning and tasks or activities that might provide you with the evidence to assist you to locate the literacy development of these students. You can work with up to three threads for the trial. For example, if you are focusing on the writing element, you may look at the creating text thread along with spelling and punctuation. The task or activities you use can draw on content from any learning area. It may be a writing task or a group discussion or a comprehension task. The choice of task is up to you as long as it provides significant evidence of the literacy development of your students. During March, across a range of learning activities, identify evidence to locate the six students on the relevant threads of the progression. It is suggested that you make notes of your observations and judgments on a printed out copy of the threads that you are focusing on. You will be asked towards the end of March to enter your comments about using the literacy progression into the online survey. Using the progressions in this detailed way will assist you to provide high quality feedback. Your feedback will help us to improve the progression so that it is usable for all schools across Australia in 2018. Thank you for your participation in the trial. Please contact us if you have any questions or you need any further information. All the best.