Reading and creating stories is a longstanding pedagogical approach to literacy learning in elementary school classrooms because stories offer personal and human experiences to which students can relate and respond. Stories, including digital forms such as short films, offer accounts of what it is to belong to a community and its worldviews and…

This article explains how the speaking and listening practice of yarning circles can be used in the literacy classroom. The article opens with an account of a live enactment of yarning circles with elementary students in a mainstream classroom in Australia. It explains the purpose and origin of yarning circles in Indigenous communities, and…

Most children seem to love computers, and there has been much speculation and research about how educators might harness this interest to facilitate literacy learning. A growing body of research indicates that electronic talking books (ETBs) can help children learn to read and encourage them to read, so we decided to investigate what would happen…

A reprint of chapter 28 from the authors' book, "K-6: Best Years of Their Lives?" published in 1979 by the (Australian) Primary English Teaching Association, which presents evidence that contradicts reports of a decline in Australian reading standards. (DD)

Describes current literacy practices in Australia and the history of influential approaches to literacy instruction. Discusses the unique contexts of professional development and practice that may make Australian approaches to literacy different from whole-language movements in American schools. (SR)

Notes that Australian teachers are not following U.S. teachers in (1) the use of drill and practice computer software and (2) teaching programing and computer literacy. Discuses Australian teachers' use of the computer as a tool for accessing information, for enhancing creative writing, and as a news tool. (NH)