Reading- Timetables

 Today we talked about timetables and had a look at some different ones. This is always interesting as to what other schools do and what gets prioritised. The new curriculum is requiring as to fit a bit more in our timetables, which does make things interesting. I feel limited as to what I can change with the timetable. We are covering a bit, however, I would still like to work on fitting in the library as that has fallen off.  The task board helps the children I teach to know what to do within the reading time slot. So I feel this is going okay. Our website is easy to use and is only three clicks to my reading task. 

Ideas I would like to work on are- including a percentage part in the mahi tracker

                                                     - adding in a collaborative task 

                                                     - using Readworks effectively

                                                     - anticipation guide ( have used something similar but might try this one)

Below are some things I need to remember when designing my independent activities. 

The skill builder on inferencing today was good. I have some resources for this so was great to see a few more. I will definitely look and see if we have the book Key into Inference. I did not realise that Readworks has some activities with this so will see what I can find that will fit in with what we are reading. 

Independent Activities-Homework activity

Recently, I have had more of an emphasis on vocabulary in independent activities. These are okay and actually for some have been a challenge to do. I have had to teach dictionary skills, which is a new one for them, and this is in the new English curriculum.  The children though are beginning to understand that it is not okay to just read over words they don't know. I look forward to finding out about new vocabulary activities that will be engaging but also teach them about the word. I wanted to include Readworks app as part of their independent work, however am having technique issues. I like how this has questions and a little work on vocabulary. 

 

Small Group Instruction

 Today we talked about small group instruction otherwise known as guided reading. We talked about the why and how to introduce a book. This was a review for me particular around background knowledge and prior knowledge. The model below on an approach you can take was good and a nice reminder of what needs to be included. 

I will say that the observation part I will try and work a bit harder on doing more of. One of the forms that can be used for this seems like I could implement it easily enough. I just need to try and remember to do this along with everything else going on. 

I would like to use the rubric with the children on fluency as this seems straight forward and would be a good reflection for them. The children filming themselves is very challenging in the hub and I will try the other app that someone suggested that might be helpful. As I can see the children benefiting from this activity. 

Day Three

Choosing Appropriate Text

• Want rich varied texts
• Look at different perspectives
• Think about the book is at the Independent/ Instructional/Frustrating  level
• Look at the different genres
• Think about the vocabulary- Tier 1,2 and 3
• Consider the different cultures you have in the group but also what you don't have - Watch  
  
  

Rudine Sims Bishop, Professor Emerita, Ohio State University

Groupings

There are different ways to do this and there are pro and cons for the different ways. Sometimes you don't have much of a choice on how this is done but when you can I think you should try the different ways. Always consider the children though. 

Summarising

This was useful as I find this can be hard for many children to do. I am grateful for some new resources in this area. I do plan to look more into Timothy Shanahan for more information on how to teach this. It was a good reminder to break it up slowly in your approach to this reading strategy. The summarising matrix will also be very handy to look at as this has been set up with the new curriculum phases. I also think the reminder to articulate as I am teaching this strategy, is helpful. I don't do this enough. This section is a good one to pass on to my colleagues who might want to improve their skills in teaching summarising. 

Text set selection

This is the start of me collecting for the text selection for possible work around monsters and mythical creatures. It would be good to read a novel around the same topic so will have to see if can do this. I generally find some topics easier than some to find reading material on. I will continue to work on ensuring the children get a range of types of books. 

Day Two-RPI

 

This diagram states clearly how it can be helpful to gain a better understanding as to what your children's needs are. Finding time to dive deep into the data once you have done the testing is beneficial. 

Getting this information from the survey and from just observing and allowing time to talk about reading and their thoughts on it etc can also be very helpful.  

I have delved into the PAT results a little but have not really dived deeply into specific children. I think because we change children around every term this has been challenging at times to stay onto what the group you are taking needs are.  I did like how it took you to some ARB resources to help with specific things in the testing. I will definitely go back and use this and check my colleagues are aware of this. Inferencing has long been an area of weakness in these tests and I have tried practising this. I did like the strategy of just using only a short paragraph or sentence and inferencing from that would be a good activity to do.  Also getting them to practise multi choice questions approach as they will come across this for the rest of their schooling as an approach in testing. 

Reading Survey

 After reading through the reading survey there were a couple of interesting things. Looking at the first section many of the children liked reading which was good to see. However, there were still some children who rated liking for reading low which is something I would like to look more into. Most children who liked reading at school also like to read for enjoyment. There were children who did like it at school but not at home and visa versa. I guess this would need further investigation to have a better understanding of why this is. 

It was great to see so many reading for enjoyment. I think once they find the right book many of them do actually enjoy reading 

The type of books the children like is no surprise chapter, funny books and graphic novels. I have definitely seen an increase in graphic novels being read and I wish they had some of these when I was younger. I was into comics and I think that this would of been a good stepping stone for me to get into chapters. 

Overall the survey has a mixture of results and a few things would be interesting to discuss with them but I think it probably reflects the age of the children and not really many surprises.

Reading Programme Intensive

 Day One

The above is what we are aiming to achieve with the children. There is a reciprocal relationship between reading and oral language.  To get extended discussions you need to have the right environment. This needs to have four aspects

1. Classroom Culture

2. A Framework of Support

3. Opportunities

4. Quality Reasoning

Setting the ground rules does allow this to happen in a safe and supportive environment. I like the video of the guy going through this with his children as this made it nice and clear what we are trying to achieve. He did stop the group which was beneficial as this was a perfect teaching time. I plan to do some work on this particular task at the start of the year while I set up my group norms. Although I do like the reflection I may make some small changes.

I have done the survey with the children before, although have never looked at with the children. So that will be an interesting task to do. 

I will be using the 'Good Fit' activity or one like it as this is something I have talked about for years with the children ( ever since I came across Daily Five reading ) but have never done it digitally. I am thinking about the Modelling Book online that I came across in the planning. Not sure am quite ready for that as tend to do it more in an actual book but will see. So a few things to think about and try.

Distance Learning

Well, this has been an unexpected adventure but overall I have enjoyed the challenge.  Following the Learn, Create, Share approach has made things easier. My experience on the DFI course helped heaps and I have been able to use some of the skills I learned from that course. After reading some articles and information on various sites about what is important during distance learning. As I have always said that relationships are important and making connections with the children you are teaching is important so the challenge was of course how to ensure this happens during distance learning. The main way we are doing this is through Google Meets and this seems to be helping with the relationships. The children I think are enjoying it as they are coming back each week. This way of forming a relationship has helped to ensure we make connections with the children and support the children to complete their work.  I realise that not everyone can make the meetings as there are other things going on but I found I got quite a lot of children coming to the meets.

As a teacher I found that I am gaining some more computer skills but also the skill of refining more of my lessons and adjusting lots of resources to suit the situation.  It has been great to see teachers and companies were helping each other out by providing resources and assisting with lessons.

What I find interesting is that some children have really taken to this type of learning and seem to be showing a certain amount of self-management and independence. The children I am teaching have had to learn quickly some computer skills and are taking on this challenge well. Other children are  doing well with the support of their parents or siblings. There are some children who enjoy the social side of distance learning and enjoy coming to Google Meets and less about the work. However, overall I think the experience for the children is a rewarding one where they are learning many things and should be commended on their effort and skills that they are learning.