ORACY TOOLKIT
This Oracy Toolkit has been developed to support teachers in their instruction and assessment of the ELA programs' Talk competency; Uses language to communicate and to learn. Our fall 2020 survey on the State of Talk in Québec’s English Schools collected data from over 300 ELA teachers across the province. Some 81% of teachers expressed a need for resources and formative assessment tools to help them better teach and assess talk.
We began with the creation of an Oracy Skills tool and Oracy Continua, but we also listened to feedback from the teachers who validated these tools in our Talk Triads project. Their primary concerns highlighted the necessity to teach talk explicitly and the role classroom environment plays in promoting confidence and establishing a safe place where students feel it is their place to talk. Teachers also expressed a need for teaching ideas for talk at the elementary and secondary levels, as well as strategies for collecting traces of talk.

An overview of the oracy tools, this infographic describes how the tools work together and explains the purpose of each one. The Oracy Skills tool outlines “what to teach” while the continua describe a developmental progression of oracy skills in action.
The Oracy Skills tool outlines all of the oracy skills described in the Québec Education Program (QEP). There are four specific areas or strands, as well as the overarching metacognition strand. You have at a glance, all of the skills we need to teach for the talk competency Using language to communicate and to learn from Grade One through to Secondary V.
This continuum describes a developmental progression of the oracy skills in action. It is not tied to specific grade levels or cycles. Students typically will land on different places on the continuum depending on the complexity of the task and the learning context
This continuum is meant to be used to situate learners in order to plan instruction and provide feedback to students.
Similar to the continuum for teachers but written using “I statements” and with a focus on metacognition, it was designed to help promote reflection and allow students to set goals in their oracy development. It can be used as part of a Talk journal, in student-teacher conferences and/or student-teacher-parent conferences.

This glossary defines terms used in the suite of oracy skills tools and documents, and explains concepts and practices related to oracy/talk.

PLANNING FOR TALK WITH THE ORACY SKILLS TOOL
This interactive tool was designed to help teachers keep oracy skills in mind as they plan instruction.

These teaching ideas can help your students move forward with their oracy development.

USING THE STUDENT CONTINUUM TO REFLECT AND SET GOALS
This interactive tool was designed for students to use as they reflect on their learning and set goals for their oracy development.
THE ORACY TOOLS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE IN FRENCH!
Deliberately teaching for transfer of language learning, by explicitly linking understanding and ongoing learning from one language class to the other, develops cognitive and metacognitive strategies and skills that support students’ language competencies in both languages. Language learning transfer also promotes positive attitudes towards both languages, and expands students’ view of the world.




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