Stop Press: New EAL curriculum – implementation update
The Minister has formally approved 2020 to be a transition year for implementation of the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL. This means that during 2020 schools can choose to adopt the new EAL curriculum (in part or entirely) or continue to use the EAL Companion to AusVELS as their curriculum document. The Department will provide interim assessment and reporting advice to support teachers choosing to adopt the new EAL curriculum in 2020. This advice will be available from the English as an Additional Language (EAL) web page from mid-January.
A School Update later this term will formally notify Victorian government schools that 2020 will be a transition year to allow time to prepare for the new EAL curriculum and that in 2021 they will be expected to use the new EAL curriculum to support the English language learning of their EAL students.
Throughout 2020 the Department will support schools to plan and implement the new EAL curriculum by progressively rolling out EAL planning advice, assessment and reporting advice and updated as well as new resources. As these become available we will be using English as an Additional Language (EAL) as a central location to publish updates, advice and information on the release of resources.
New to the TEAL website!
Drum roll please … Rad resource
Every week of the school term in Victoria, the TEAL website will feature a Rad resource. It might be an interesting academic article, a website or a game that you can use in the classroom.
As we are getting to the end of the term, this week’s rad resource is a fun word game you can play with EAL (or non-EAL) students of all ages. It is called ‘Just a minute’ or ‘Taboo’ in some circles.
Resources: Paper, scissors, star stickers
Step 1: Choose a list of key vocabulary items from a current topic or class text and put them into groups of four in a Word document (or handwritten on a piece of paper). Make sure that each group of four has a combination of easy and difficult words. Cut up the groups of words.
Step 2: Write the name of the game on the board. Hand one piece of paper (with a set of 4 words) to each student. Tell the students that they are not allowed to show anyone the paper.
Step 3: Tell the students that they will have to get up in front of the class and explain what the word is without actually saying the word. They will have one minute to get through the 4 words while their team mates guess. Do a demonstration of a word that they already know. Make sure that students have a chance to ask you what their words mean, if they are not sure, or look them up.
Step 4: Go around the class and give each student a number from 1 – 4. Once you have numbered the 4th student, start at number 1 for the next student until everyone in the class has a number.
Step 5: Write the names of the students on the board in their groups (i.e. put all of the number 1s together, all of the 2s together etc.)
Step 6: Ask the first student at the front (who was assigned number 1) to come up and start. Remind them that they cannot say the actual word.
Step 7: Award their group a point for every word they guess correctly. Move on the next student (number 2) after one minute.
Step 8: Have fun! As a reward, the winning team could all get a star sticker on the front of their books. We’re never too old to get a reward!
Free online moderation:
Thank you to the teachers who submitted writing and speaking samples to us for use in our online moderation sessions in Terms 1 and 2, and to the many teachers who attended them.
Recordings of sessions we have conducted to date have been posted in the Benchmarking Forum.
Thanks to Alan Williams for sharing the document to your right with us. It highlights the equivalence between ACARA EAL/D Progressions and the EAL stages used in Victoria (and throughout the TEAL web 
site.)
Click on the image on the left for more details, or read the related post in our public discussion forum.
Exciting announcement: The Reading and Vocabulary assessment for EAL students (RVEAL) assessment tool is now available to teachers in Victorian schools!
Please visit the Common Reading and Vocabulary Assessment Tools page for more information.
TEAL Webinar: Over 80 people met online on 30 October last year to hear our very own Anna-Lise (Wallis) speaking about TEAL. Anna-Lise spoke about the history of the tools and highlighted the importance of assessing our EAL students’ progress in a way that furthers their learning. She also gave a guided tour of the TEAL web site, and answered quite a few questions!
This webinar was recorded. The recording and PowerPoint slides that Anna-Lise used are now both available on the VicTESOL web site.
Professional development news: Would you like to learn more about the Tools to Enhance Assessment Literacy?
- Venture to the TEAL Professional Learning modules for some self-directed learning.
- Watch this space, as news of professional learning opportunities will be posted here.
- For other EAL-related professional learning events, visit the Department of Education and Training’s EAL and Multicultural Education Professional Learning Calendar
Join the 200 registered users of this web site:
Now is t
he perfect time to sign up. As a member you can post in the TEAL forums, and will be able to read (and post in) our private Benchmarking forum.
Click on the logo to your left, to register. It’s quick and it’s free.
CONTACT US: For further information on TEAL and guidance for the web project, please contact one of our team members.
| Web site contacts | UNSW |
|
Anna-Lise Wallis wallis.anna-lise.a [at] edumail.vic.gov.au Alternatively, use |
Prof Chris Davison, TEAL Project Leader c.davison [at] unsw.edu.au
|
| The TEAL Steering Committee | The TEAL Project Team |
|
Department of Education and Training: Chris Finch Anna-Lise Wallis Catholic Education Melbourne: Judy Connell Hanya Senjov Margaret Vingerhoots Independent Schools Victoria: Andrew Hay UNSW: Prof Chris Davison Janet Saker Alan Williams Janelle Ho (Educational Assessment Australia) |
Dennis Alonzo Robert Colla Sarah Culican Gerry Davies Pam Luizzi Giuliana Mecoli Helen Pearson Janet Saker Alan Williams Student researchers (UNSW) Susanne Stanyer Sara Mashayekh De Phung Oluwaseun Ijiwade |
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| Primary and Secondary Schools | Teachers |
| Blackburn ELS | Robyn Antrim, Chris Everett, Ruth Giffard, Alex Perry |
| Collingwood English Language School | Marissa Varrasso, Juliette Greening, Maria Irinous, Jenny Markos |
| Creekside College K-9 | Madalin Coghlan, Lisa Bargiamidis |
| Doveton College | Michelle Landgraf |
| Laverton P-12 College | Sandra Di Mieri, Margaret Svigos |
| Noble Park English Language School | Patricia Franke, Georgina Georgalli, Derva Josic, Erin Kaitler, Inna Gvozdenko, Kay Rothstadt, Anna Trudzic |
| Oakleigh Grammar | Duncan Goddard |
| St Anthony’s Coptic Orthodox College | Merete Entwistle |
| Wesley College | Andrea Belmonte |
| Western English Language School | Michelle Bond, Kevin Pozniak |
| Primary Schools | Teachers |
| Albany Rise Primary School | Diane Campasino |
| Athol Road Primary School | Rebecca Learmonth |
| Bell Park North Primary School | Lynda Newell |
| Bellview Park Primary School | Janelle James |
| Christ the King Primary School, Braybrook | Brigida Paino, Maria Watt, Lucy Dinoto, Tameka Pentreath |
| Dana St. Primary School | Joan McKaskill |
| Flemington Primary School | Christina Laught |
| Mont Albert Primary School | Rosemary Fitzpatrick |
| Mother of God Primary School, Ardeer | Michelle Buckley |
| Oatlands Primary School, Narre Warren | Nicki Whitehead |
| Preston North East Primary School | Michelle Andrews |
| Resurrection Catholic Primary School, Kings Park | Vesna Curmi, John Hein |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, St. Albans | Sarah Ceddia, Chantal Mifsud, Sandra Tanner, Belinda Joannou |
| St. Andrews Primary School, Clayton South | Sharon McCarter |
| St. Dominics, Broadmeadows | Gay Nicholls |
| St. Mary MacKillop Primary School, Keilor Downs | Fiona Parnell |
| St. Mary’s Primary School, Colac | Jodie Hassett, Susie Scott |
| St. Patrick’s Primary School, Pakenham | Iris De Visser |
| Sunshine Harvester Primary School | Christine Durbridge, Siobhan O’Brian |
| Windsor Primary School, Windsor | Lily Papamihail |
| Secondary Schools | Teachers |
| Brunswick English Language Centre | Erica Dunn, Anne-Marie Lynzaat, Susan Pardy, Roberta Zekic |
| Brunswick Secondary College | Mitchell Brannon, Megan Conley, Steven Kolber, Anne Siciliano, Nony Smitzis |
| Catholic Regional College, St. Albans | Grace Cini, Hanja Senjov, Rebekah Loring |
| Catholic Regional College, Melton | Rebekah Loring |
| Geelong English Language Centre | Bronwyn Smith, Carry Varley, Lynda Newell, Paul O’Connell |
| Geelong North Secondary College | Monica Thomson |
| Hoppers Crossing Secondary College | Anne Bury |
| Hume Central ELC | Elizabeth Tedge |
| Koonung Secondary College | Sharyn Paspa |
| Mackillop College Werribee | Rebecca Paic |
| McGuire College, Shepparton | Jagdish Mahinder Singh |
| Melba College (formerly Croydon-Maroondah College) | Lynne Dwyer |
| Nazareth College, Noble ParkNorth | Brendan Hermon |
| Preston Girls Secondary College | Renata Tirabassi, Ekaterina Xanthopolous |
| St. Monica’s College, Epping | Medeleine Haddad |
| Thomastown Secondary College | April Edwards |
| Traralgon Secondary College | Maral Coleman |
| Wellington Secondary College | Maria Papasotiriou |
| Westall ELC | Anastasia Kotisou |
Special thanks to Mairead Hanna at VicTESOL for her assistance and support for TEAL.
Thanks also to Margaret Nutbean, Jane Banks, Eliza Costigan, Trish Fattor, Sharon Pledge, Pierina Perri from Catholic Education Melbourne, and Dominic Byrne, Judy Massey, Giuliana Mecoli, Jennie Patterson, and Madeleine Parker from the Department of Education and Training
