VELS Level 3

• Victorian Essential Learning Standards - Stages of learning: Laying the foundations – Includes information on the key characteristics of students as they progress through the particular stages of learning.
• Victorian Essential Learning Standards - English domain – Includes introduction to the English domain, learning focus statements and standards at Level 3.
• Zone of Proximal Development and scaffolding – Describes in detail the theories of scaffolding from Vygotsky, Bruner, Rogoff and Sharpe.
• Teacher scaffolding in the classroom – Identifies two types of scaffolding: ‘designed in’ and ‘point of need’, their benefits and how to use them effectively.
• Speaking and listening  – Provides information about skills relating to speaking and listening, characteristics of listening and information about contextualised and decontextualised talk.
• Reading complex texts – Provides an in depth discussion of how readers comprehend complex texts and describes the various theories relating to reading complex texts. It also includes a professional learning activity (Chall, luke and Freebody, Munro, Rose)
• Selecting increased variety of text types – Deals with the process of selecting appropriate texts for Level 3, the characteristics of the texts and the factors which influence text selection. It also includes a professional learning activity (Chall, Munro, Luke and Freebody)
• Comprehension of complex texts – Explores factors to be considered when comprehending complex texts, such as reader attitudes, vocabulary and world knowledge, text type, fluency and time engaged in reading. It also includes a professional learning activity (Trehearne, Doctorow, Munro)
• Fourth grade slump in Reading – Raises awareness of the trend of the decline of students literacy achievement in Grade Four and explores through research some causes (Chall, Grosson de Leon, Hirsch, Kamil)
• Writing complex texts – Examines the complex process of writing with consideration of audience and purpose and includes a professional learning activity (Munro)
• Multi-modal texts and literate language – Explains what multi-modal texts are and their importance in developing literate language. It includes a professional learning activity (Callow, Christie)
• Literacy demands within the Victorian Essential Learning Standards – Highlights the literacy demands within the following domains:
  • Health and Physical Education
  • Interpersonal Development
  • Personal Development
  • Civics and Citizenship
  • The Arts
  • Humanities
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Design, Creativity and Technology
  • Information and Communications Technology ICT
  • Thinking Processes