Speak Out April 2020 DIGITAL VERSION. pdf

Who is PLD? Founded by Speech Pathologist and Educator Diana Rigg, PLD provides primary school educators with an innovative, evidence-based approach to literacy. As an Australian publisher and professional development provider, PLD advocates that children’s literacy and learning outcomes are maximized when the core areas of Literacy, Oral Language, and Movement and Motor skills are simultaneously targeted. This approach was developed when PLD operated as a clinic, and the benefits of bringing together the disciplines of speech pathology, occupational therapy and education became obvious. About PLD

Literacy

Movement & Motor

Oral Language

PLD’s Approach: the three key areas in literacy development

Literacy ‘Word Attack’, spelling and decoding skills are derived from areas such as phonemic awareness and phonic knowledge. While these areas are important and are central to PLD’s evidence-based Structured Synthetic Phonics (SSP) program, the hallmark of literacy proficiency is comprehension and written expression ability. These areas are influenced by oral language and motor skills.

Oral Language Oral language refers to the act of speaking and listening. The main components for the oral language skill set include: word knowledge (vocabulary); sentence structure (grammar); language understanding (semantic and comprehension ability); and structured thinking (or the ability to elaborate, organise and sequence thoughts). While poor oral language skills do not prevent children from reading, the long-term impact is concerning. By middle primary school, when both the curriculum and reading material increase in difficulty, a significant number of students will struggle to keep up with the demands of the curriculum if they have poorly developed language skills.

Movement and Motor The way students organise their body and use their muscles to respond to what they hear is a big part of literacy. Often a physical response is required. A classic example is the ability to follow instructions and compose a written response. A range of physical skill development supports the functioning within a classroom and includes skills such as pencil grip, cutting skills, letter formation and handwriting. Why the need to focus on all three areas? Literacy involves more than just recognising words on a page. To be truly literate students need to be able to speak well, interpret what they’re hearing, and transfer all of this information into written language. It’s this unique three skill focus that sets PLD’s resources apart.

Learn more about PLD’s unique approach to literacy and learning at https://pld-literacy.org/about/

Professional Development Options The implementation of programs within the classroom is most effective when schools also invest in staff training. PLD offers a range of professional development options to allow educators around Australia access to evidence-based professional learning in Literacy, Oral Language and Movement and Motor . School Based Professional Development Workshops

https://pld-literacy.org/consultancy-enquiry/ Online Courses - Cost effective, time efficient https://pld-literacy.org/online-literacy-training-courses/ Seminars Available throughout Australia https://pld-literacy.org/seminars/

PLD Organisation Pty. Ltd

www.pld-literacy.org

PLD's Whole School Literacy Strategy 3