This presentation was prepared for the August 2015 West Australian Conference

1. Welcome to
GENAZZANO FCJ COLLEGE
The Genazzano Reading
Program: Engagement
and Visible Thinking

2. • Years Five to Ten
• Embedded in English Curriculum
• Genre Based
• Choice & Diversity
• Goals and Reflection
• Student Interaction
• Visible Thinking Approaches
• Assessment Tasks

3. One crucial factor that education systems can work on is the
degree to which students are active and well motivated
readers. This report shows that the degree to which students
are engaged in reading is a crucial factor associated with
reading proficiency.
OECD (2000) Reading for Change: Performance and
Engagement Across Countries. Results form PISA 2000
(Executive summary): OECD - PISA (Program for
International Student Assessment). p. 3.
Engagement

5. • Access
• Relevant Collections
• Time and space for reading
• Meaningful encounters with rich texts
• Support in understanding how texts work
• Opportunities to explore and share those understandings
• Knowledgeable, helpful staff
• A supportive, welcoming environment
Facilitating Engagement
Providing

6. Choice

7. Creating classroom communities, providing challenging tasks, and
allowing students to make choices characterise effective practices
that connect to students’ interests and motivations. Connecting to
students’ interests and values ultimately can produce motivated,
engaged readers.
Guthrie, John T. & Donna E Alvermann (1999) (editors) Engaged Reading:
Process, Practices and Policy Implications. New York Teachers College
Press, p. 69.
Choice

8. Children learn about literature from what the adults
around them do about it.
Zahnleiter, 1985, p. 187.
Reading Communities

14. CSI: Colour, Symbol (or sound), Image
Generate Sort Connect Elaborate
A picture is worth a 100o words
What makes you say that? See Think Wonder
Zoom in our out Headlines
Sentence Phrase Word Graphic Novels
Step Inside Titles
Do you judge a book by its cover? The Tell Me Approach
Making Thinking Visible

24. • Seven clubs across year 5 to 12
• Share reading interests
• Read a common book and discuss
• Enter competitions
• Create lists, guides and reviews
• Play book related games
• Litfest and Book Week Activities
• IASL International Book Mark Exchange
• Literary Afternoon Teas

25. “It’s really good how each session there
was a focus on a different genre of books.
Eg mystery, family, future etc. It allowed
me to broaden my reading and try new
texts.
Also using video clips for some topics was
a good way of explaining and delivering
information.”

26. “A wonderful opportunity to discover and
learn about new books.
I really loved hearing people suggestions,
and this is how I mainly found new books
to read.”