Find these useful tips to help primary teachers engage students remotely in ongoing reading and literacy tasks.

Many educators are considering how to best meet the needs of their students in the physical and virtual classroom. Engaging students in ongoing reading tasks is one important strategy teachers are focusing on. 

There is a great range of online storybook platforms, as well as appropriate reading material for younger students also found online that can be easily accessed by parents for their children (links to resources will soon be available on the upcoming AISNSW Learning from Home Portal). Many teachers will also send home books with students so they can be read alone or with the help of a parent. 

When students are reading to parents and on their own, they can be recording new words they have learned, writing and drawing descriptions or noting information they have learned while reading the text.


It's always better to provide parents with guidance to support their child in reading at home. Reading strategies to support students at home include:

  • reading with expression to model what fluent reading sounds like
  • discussing the book, including the main characters, events, settings and illustrations
  • asking children to retell the story, prompts such as ‘what happened at the beginning, middle and end’ are helpful
  • talking about the information contained in non-fiction books eg, “What did you find out about wombats?”
  • discussing the people, places and events in books and comparing them with the child’s experiences
  • selecting new words from the text and telling children what they mean using ‘student-friendly' language. This is a great way to develop vocabulary.

Maintaining a connection with students during a period the school is closed is vital.

Recording the learning 

These discussions can then be illustrated on story maps or diagrams to record the learning that is happening. Similarly, when students are reading to parents and on their own, they can be recording new words they have learned, writing and drawing descriptions or noting information they have learned while reading the text.

Further home-reading strategies

Other strategies to assist students in learning at home include looking for links to the curriculum in everyday life. For example: 

  • creating a family tree or interviewing a family member would provide a wealth of information for students about the concept of change
  • asking children to record events in a journal and add new words they learn each day 
  • students can also write a letter or a blog to their classmates about their experiences at home. This could be revisited after the students return to the classroom, providing a wealth of material about student’s experiences at home.

Other strategies to assist students in learning at home include looking for links to the curriculum in everyday life.

Teachers can assist the process for parents by creating a daily timetable and checklist for students to work through. This may involve time spent connecting online with the teacher and peers and independent work to follow on from class discussions online.

Keep connecting with students

Maintaining a connection with students during a period the school is closed is vital. Online platforms such as Zoom help teachers keep in touch with the class.  Creating a positive environment by having a ‘joke’ sharing time to inject fun and humour into the day or including a way for the students to care for their peers such as sending encouraging messages or videos are ways to keep engagement higher. Where online connection is limited, consider creating penpals with the class so the students can keep in touch.

While having students in the classroom is the best way to impart teaching and monitor learning, adapting to other environments can stretch the students' skills and bring parents closer to their child's learning.

For more information please contact the AISNSW Student Services Project: Literacy Fiona Elliott.