Whole-Class Teaching Using NZ School Journals and Junior Journals

Introducing Our New Whole-Class School Journal and Junior Journal Teaching Slides
Are you looking for an engaging, structured, and evidence-based way to teach reading? Our new Whole-Class School Journal and Junior Journal Teaching Slides are here! These ready-to-use resources provide everything you need to teach reading effectively using the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy principles. Let’s dive into how whole-class teaching aligns with these approaches and why it’s such a powerful strategy.



Why Whole-Class Reading?
Whole-class reading is a proven method that engages all students with the same text, fostering inclusivity and shared learning experiences. It ensures that every student can participate, regardless of their reading level.
How Whole-Class Teaching Aligns with the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy
- Systematic and Explicit Instruction: Whole-class reading allows for explicit teaching of critical reading skills like decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Teachers can model strategies such as breaking words into syllables or making inferences in real time, providing students with clear, systematic guidance.
- Fluency Development: Fluency is essential for comprehension, and whole-class reading offers opportunities for teachers to model fluent reading while students practice in a supportive, low-pressure environment. Techniques like choral reading and echo reading help build speed, accuracy, and expression.
- Vocabulary and Literacy Skills: Within a whole-class setting, teachers can spotlight new vocabulary and explain words in context. This approach helps students build a deep understanding of word meanings, morphology (prefixes, suffixes, root words), and syntax, all of which enhance reading and writing skills.
- Comprehension Strategies: From summarising to visualising, whole-class teaching is ideal for demonstrating comprehension strategies. Teachers can ask “think-aloud” questions, highlight main ideas, and encourage students to visualise scenes from the text, helping them understand and engage with the material.
- Building Background Knowledge: Skilled reading relies on prior knowledge, and whole-class teaching provides the perfect platform for building this. Teachers can introduce relevant context before reading, ensuring all students can connect with the text.
Benefits of Whole-Class Reading
- Inclusivity and Equity: Every student engages with the same age-appropriate, high-quality text, fostering a sense of community and shared experience.
- Teacher Support: Teachers can actively model reading strategies, clarify challenging vocabulary, and address misunderstandings on the spot.
- Deeper Comprehension: Whole-class discussions encourage thoughtful analysis, allowing students to explore different perspectives and build critical thinking skills.
- Vocabulary Expansion: Students are exposed to a variety of words and phrases within the context of engaging texts, enhancing their vocabulary.
- Accessibility for Struggling Readers: Hearing fluent reading and engaging with texts in a supportive environment helps struggling readers build confidence and skills.
Keen to dive deeper into whole class teaching. Read this blog post by Dr. Nathaniel Swain.
Introducing Our Teaching Slides: Everything You Need in One Resource
Our Whole-Class School Journal and Junior Journal Teaching Slides make planning and teaching a breeze. These resources are designed to take your class on a literacy journey that aligns with the New Zealand English Curriculum. See more here.



- Three Core Reading Sessions: Explore vocabulary and comprehension objectives over three sessions using the provided School Journal or Junior Journal text.
- Two Follow-Up Sessions: Dive deeper with activities like summarising, text structure analysis, and creative tasks to reinforce understanding.
- What’s Included:
- Full teaching slides with clear instructions and engaging visuals.
- Teacher tips for smooth lesson delivery.
- Supplementary worksheets and graphic organisers to support comprehension, vocabulary, and writing.



Why Choose These Slides?
- Aligned to New English Curriculum Objectives: Our resources target key skills like comprehension, vocabulary development, critical thinking, and text structure analysis, ensuring students meet the latest English curriculum standards.
- Engaging Texts: The included School Journal and Junior Journal stories and articles are perfectly levelled and packed with fascinating content that appeals to New Zealand students.
- Flexible Participation Options: Choose the reading method that works best for your class: choral reading, echo reading, silent reading, or pair reading.
- Integrated Technology: The teaching slides are designed for seamless use with projectors or interactive whiteboards, making lessons dynamic and engaging.
- Comprehensive Follow-Up Activities: Extend learning with summarising sheets, graphic organisers, and creative extension tasks, ensuring students consolidate their understanding.
Looking for MOre? Aotearoa History Whole-Class Teaching Slides
We are also developing a new range of Aotearoa History Whole-Class Teaching Slides. These are a fantastic way to explore an engaging, content-rich text over a week while also diving deep into reading comprehension skills, vocabulary, sentence structure, syntax, and more!
Check out some of our current range below!



Whole-Class Reading: Where Evidence Meets Engagement
With our Whole-Class Teaching Slides, you can combine the benefits of the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy principles with the inclusivity and engagement of whole-class reading. These slides are designed to:
- Build foundational literacy skills.
- Encourage active participation and collaboration.
- Deepen comprehension and critical thinking.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your literacy lessons. Empower your students to become confident, skilled readers while fostering a love for reading through shared learning experiences.
Top Teaching Tasks Membership
Have you heard of our Top Teaching Tasks Membership? Instead of spending hours searching for the perfect worksheet, you can get access to thousands of curriculum-aligned resources at your fingertips INSTANTLY.
Our teacher-approved membership gives you:
Unlimited downloads of premium resources
Fresh, exciting content added monthly
Exclusive member-only materials
Freedom to cancel anytime (but trust us, you won’t want to
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So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for a Top Teaching Tasks membership and simplify your lesson planning today.