Our Aim:
To boost our pupils’ comprehension of the key high incidence disciplinary words which appear in subjects – shown as Tier 3 words.
As students progress through an increasingly specialised school curriculum, there is a growing need to ensure that they are trained to access the academic language and conventions of different subjects to deepen understanding and ensure their progress. Each subject has its own unique
language, ways of knowing, doing, and communicating (O’Brien, Moje & Stewart, 2001).
In previous years we have focussed on Tier 2 academic words, but this year, our weekly focus will be on subject specific Tier 3 words and we aim to enable students to think about, talk about, apply and play with these new words in
form time and then to consolidate these and other subject specific academic words in lesson time so they feel empowered and confident with their use of them.
Hayley Gray, Sarah Teggart and the Literacy Team
