ELS News
Update
The Enrichment and Learning Support Department is excited to have a full complement of special-needs trained, experienced teachers this semester. As part of our approach to assisting low progress readers and mathematicians, we are running individual and small group intervention programs. Two such programs are MacqLit and Quicksmart.
MacqLit
About the program:
MacqLit is a small group reading intervention based on systematic, explicit instruction of phonics. MacqLit fits into the RTI model as a Tier 2 intervention for older, low progress readers. For students that fail to progress with MacqLit or who are unable to work within groups for a variety of reasons, a one-to-one intervention such as RTP/WASEx may be necessary.
MacqLit includes:
- sentence dictation
- scripted phoneme segmenting and blending activities in early lessons
- vowel discrimination activities in early lessons
- reading of sentences, paragraphs or stories each lesson to generalise decoding skills
- scripted comprehension questions at two skill levels for each story
- an introduction to useful suffix rules
- teaching of multi syllabic words from the beginning, and
- use of sound prompt cards across all skill levels.
Additionally, MacqLit offers benefits from working in groups with other students.
Quicksmart
About the program:
The aim of QuickSmart is to enable students to become automatic (quick) in their basic skills in order to move onto more complex problem-solving skills (smart). It is based at the SiMERR National Research Centre, located at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia.
Quicksmart includes:
- recall of basic number facts
- performance of elementary calculations
- acquisition of appropriate mathematics language
- problem-solving explicit teaching, and
- individual worksheets to practice the skills.
Additionally, Quicksmart offers benefits from organisation and routine through having a set time and place.
If you would like any further information on these or any other aspect of ELS, please contact us.