RPI Day 9

 The focus for Day 9 was around sharing reading, and the importance of involving whānau and family and building a reading community. These don't just happen, and there needs to be a plan to try and make sure it happens. The reason for sharing what is happening in class is simple:

This puts the onus back on us as teachers as tasks we set need to be authentic, they need to have some value to the learner, as they are going to share their ideas/thinking/learning with others. To show that it is valued the learner should receive quality feedback. Feedback should remind, scaffold and model so that the learner knows what has been done well and where to go next.

Hopefully we are building a reading community.

RPI Day 8

 Day 8 looked at 'Create', and it's importance to learning, and showing knowledge.

Through creating, there is the opportunity to engage more with the learner. Especially for those who may be reluctant - as they see there is the chance of something interesting to do. Choice of activities, templates, working independently (but with the opportunity to collaborate), can cater for a range of learners abilities and learning styles. The idea that create activities can be before and during reading as well as after, helps to hold a learners focus. Encouraging learners to reflect on what they have done through a Success Criteria or a rubric that shows the next level of thinking allows the learner to self monitor and set themselves goals to work towards.

There are some challenges with this. There are so many different ways to 'create' that it can be difficult to choose the ones that might be most effective in engaging, challenging and allowing for success. There is also the challenge of providing choices that allow different learning styles and interests to be met. There is another challenge which is almost as important as the 'create' and that is providing the chance to collaborate with others - a friend or a group working together. This skill seems to be slipping back, as children find it more and more difficult to work together. Even taking part in extended discussions, Talk Moves (DMIC Maths), responding to texts and showing and sharing their thinking becomes rarer.

I have some new ideas for creating that I hope to try out over the next few weeks (especially the one-shot-film). It will be interesting to see how they go in engaging and encouraging.  

RPI Day 7

 Thinking Critically = Empowerment.

Everybody has heard the term 'Fake News'.

Being able to think critically is an essential skill in today's world. There is so much information available that being able to analyse it and evaluate it is incredibly important. Teaching children to be able to look past the words and consider the point of view, the biases and the word tricks to see the actual message needs to start early. It is a skill that has to be taught.

With that as a theme for the day, we looked at how we can do that - and have some fun - and make it interesting for the learners - and use every variety of text - at any level.

Using the Rules for Talk, providing a 'Provocation' rather than a question encourages discussion rather than an answer. It provides a chance for further reading as ideas need to be justified. It allows for many points of view. As there is no right/wrong answer, it lets everyone express their ideas.

Where to next? I will be modelling more of this to the reading groups, explaining what I am doing, why and why it is important.

RPI Day 5

Another very full day, lots of information and ideas. It does feel like it is snowballing - getting bigger and bigger and I sometimes worry that as new things come up, other things slip back. 

The interesting idea today for me, was the pairing of Reading and Writing. It obviously makes sense, and as teachers we know that often children that read with confidence and fluency tend to usually write more freely.  

"Writing to Create Meaning:

Supports deeper reading comprehension through writing about reading:

• Summary

• Analysis

• Synthesis

• Evaluation

Supports the crafting of written texts and use of genre conventions encountered in reading:

• narrative

• poetic

• descriptive

• persuasive

• expository 

• argumentative"

By matching the reading with the writing, both should improve. Using the text children have read as a framework to build writing around - a place, a character, a situation. By showing children how an author tries to hook them in, they may find ways to hook readers into their own writing. Children start to look for those features, reading more deeply and thinking more about what they have read. Win/Win.

Another focus today was on the explicit teaching of Inference. I am going to start specifically planning for this: a description of it, model making inferences, provide scaffolds for the children to follow, get them to articulate what they are doing and then have them apply it to a text. The Inference Matrix provided clear progressions and some learning tools that can be used.

Things for me to try and implement after today: 

Look at my timetable 

- add in conferencing and have the sessions clear for children to follow independently.

- check over my independent activities ensuring they are purposeful, that they can be tracked.

Have a go at the Reading/Writing examples 

- writing a beginning that hooks readers in after showing children examples 

- extending that idea to a character. This would involve inferencing as often a character's personality is shown through their actions.

It will be interesting to see how it goes.

RPI Day 4

 A great session based around Guided Reading, that shows there is still a place for this in the reading programme, along with the 'new' Structured Literacy.

Seeing the steps for introducing a text has reminded me that this part of reading is important, but sometimes gets robbed, as time is short and there is a tendency to 'rush' into the reading because that is what they need to be doing. If this is done well then reading the text should be easier, and the activities that children do after will better reflect their knowledge and ideas.   

I found the tools available for observing readers useful, especially the Listening to Reading and the Fluency Rubric. Fluency has always been a major part of children's reading - without it, simply saying a word then another word then another, does nothing for their understanding of the text.

As always, organising and planning the follow-up activities is important. I once had a student who said to me, "I hate reading because we have to do so much writing." It has stuck with me and sometimes in my reading programmes in the past there were no follow-up activities after reading the text and discussing all the parts such as comprehension, inferring, points of view etc. Now we are lucky in that follow-up activities can take a multitude of forms. And being on the RPI we have been shown so many examples from other teachers willing to share what they do. Thanks to all of you.

RPI Day 3

 Todays session looked at texts, and text selection. 

Key points for me were: 1) Choosing the texts, based on how the learners have been grouped. This also had the idea of Mirrors/Windows/Sliding Doors (a concept from Rudine Sims Bishop Link) where the learner can see themselves in what they are reading, but are also introduced to new ideas and things outside their experiences. 

2) Building text sets, based around an anchor text. Within this set, try to include a variety of text types - multi-modal, with plays/poems/audio/video/etc available. Also consider vocabulary, and try to provide a range.

3) Thinking about the wider reading programme and how it is being run at the moment, especially around their personal reading time - how to encourage actual reading, and how to monitor/support and involve family/whānau in this.

These are the 3 main areas I will be focusing in the weeks ahead.

RPI Day 2

It was a very interesting day. 

First I found out, after all these years, how much I did not know about the information that PAT testing can provide. It is able to identify learning areas that can change the way children are grouped, to focus on a skill rather than their ability to read. I know there are other tests that do this, but PAT is quick and easy and provides a snapshot for the beginning of the year, while finding time to do others can be difficult. 

The Teacher Workbook that was shared with us is a fantastic way to have all the reading information for the class in one place. Thanks to whoever designed and put it all together. It was a bit overwhelming when I was taken through it at first, but I can see that it would not take much to maintain once it is set up.

All in all, a very informative day. I have quite a 'to do' list that I will have to go through and prioritise. And then, of course, try to work through.

 RPI

I worked through the reading profile survey with a group of students. My 'take away' from this survey are that the children are positive about reading, they know what they like to read about, they understand it is important, and they want to get better at "reading the words".

The following graph shows how often they borrow books from the local public library. The 70% who do are a credit to the local library which used to visit the school regularly last year and issued many of the children with their own library card.

It was also good to see how many of the children were currently reading a book for enjoyment.

The survey itself was a bit tough for a large group to work through, and so this might be something I have to work on with much smaller groups or even individuals. I am also thinking of doing this survey each term - to reinforce that reading is important, and to show the children (when we discuss the results) that their view of reading is very important also.

 I had my first session today in the Manaiakalani Reading Practice Intensive course with Naomi, Georgie and Anna.

Day 1 was Reading is Core to Learning. The main headings were: What characterises a 'good reader'? teachers as readers, reading across the curriculum, the importance of discussion about text and how to grow 'good readers'. There was a lot of information and I will need to go back over some of the main points in my own time. 

One of my big takeaways from the day was when I saw the prompt "What did I learn that could be used with my learners?" After looking at the reading survey I will try and dig deeper into their view of reading, and try and find out what helps and what holds them back. I am hoping that by gathering student voice it will help me to understand where the children are at and what I can do to help grow their enjoyment of reading.