Using play to develop oral literacy

St John’s Primary Riverstone, Early Stage One (Kindergarten) teachers are utilising imaginative play as a way to engage their students in oral literacy.

With talk being the foundation for thought and understanding in reading and writing, students are participating in puppet play and fancy dress to develop their talking, listening and cooperative skills.

“We know that ‘reading and writing floats on a sea of talk’,” teacher Charlene Saliba said. “We have been doing some professional learning to engage our students and develop their skills in this area moving from imagining, to inner speech, to inner speaking, to speech.”

“Students use the puppets to create a story with their group and then share it with an audience,” she said. “They also love using the Chatterpix app on the iPads to take photos and record their voices, pretending they are the characters in the photo.”

Ms Saliba said that is a whole school focus in the development of oral literacy at St John’s where we have created a specific learning intent and success criteria based on curriculum outcomes to ensure students understand and are aware of the skills they are developing through play.

Written By

St John's Primary School Riverstone
www.stjohnsriverstone.catholic.edu.au

05 Sep 2025
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