Language Experience: Talking, Writing, Reading, by Diane Snowball

About this teaching resource

This professional reading: Language Experience - Talking, Writing, Reading by Diane Snowball will further develop your knowledge about this important tool to grow your readers and writers.

‘Using students’ own language for beginning reading ensures that the semantics and syntax of what is to be read are predictable and familiar to the student. This aids learning because the material is important to the student and so better remembered, and because it allows the student to give more mental space to the task of making the link between print and the sounds of words.’

Reading On Ministry of Education, Victoria, Australia.

From Diane:

Although reading published books and digital texts is essential for students to learn about handling books and hear and read the language of books, the classroom program should also involve the students regularly in reading and writing experiences based on their own language. The following language experience procedures help students’ reading and writing because the teacher is:

• Modelling the reading and writing processes
• Demonstrating many concepts about written language
• Showing the way in which oral language is changed into written language
• Providing many opportunities for rereading familiar and meaningful text
• Encouraging students to participate individually and as a class
• Encouraging and praising attempts
• Building on word knowledge for reading and spelling

Language Experience work can be with individuals, small groups or the whole class.

For more practical information, listen to the podcast 80:  The Language Experience Approach: Top educator Diane Snowball joins literacy expert Sharon Callen to talk about how to increase student engagement with reading and writing.