Words have Power - By Jannie the Tuatara

Quantities of Quality Text

Having Jannie PD sessions can sometimes be daunting because she challenges us as teachers to think critically about our practice, about our actions, words, and at times shuts down some of the things we actually think are really really good for our students. BUT what she does in return is she prompts us to critically analyse what we say and do, why, and talks about being explicit about what we say in class with our learners.

Jannie's first task was getting us to talk about capabilities: Knowledge, vocabulary, language structure, thinking and meaning making capabilities. How is this looking in our classes? This led onto the types of texts we have in class, going back to quantities of quality text. That 'text' being not just written text but also oral spoken text. From this conversation came talk about "talk accompanied books" and what kind of mileage this gets in our classrooms. Not just reading the text with your group but also talking and having discussions along the way. This way the 'uptake' from the learner would be higher.

One part I really enjoyed of Jannie's presentation was her "SAY MORE. TELL MORE DEATIL" part.

Rather than saying "that's interesting" but instead "because you added more detail, I now know what you mean".  

Jannie also spoke a lot about "optimising learning conditions" for both teachers and the learner. To consciously provide language ready for the uptake. At the same time leaners need to focus and notice.

Preliminary findings

As we come to the end of Term 1, I've started collecting some baseline data and evidence of the nature or extent of the student challenge. My previous post shared the tools and approaches I'd planned to use so here are my preliminary findings.

1. HFW Test - This test was conducted 1-1 and consisted of 77 words from Magenta reading level to Orange (Level 15). Students simply read each word going across the page. I tried to note down just like running records their attempts and self-corrections during the test. Here is what the test looks like.

Here are the test results of all 8 students.

A few of the students felt very frustrated as they recognised some of the words as words they've read before but on its own, they couldn't pinpoint what the actual word was. The showed me that they knew the patterns or sentence structures used in the texts they read that they were not paying attention to the actual letters forming the word, but rather "oh 'where' is normally the start of the sentence when they are looking for something". They only look as far as the first letter, then start guessing all the words they know that start with that letter.

2. Student Voice Survey - I conducted this as a group as they needed a lot of help to understand the questions as well as someone to record their answers. This also helped as they were giving each other ideas which they wouldn't be able to get on their own. Here are their responses.

I could tell by their excitement and rush to tell me more, that they felt quite important being asked what they thought of their reading lessons. I need to remember to do this more often so they can see the value of their learning and teachers actually wanting their input into how they learn in reading and writing time.

3. Weekly Reflections and Observations - This was normally jotted down onto whatever piece of paper I had lying around then put into my diary for a later date. So far I have a diary full of reflections based on just this group alone. Here is a summary of my reflections in term 1.

Tools, Measures and Approaches

Describe the tools/measures/approaches you plan to use to get a more detailed and accurate profile of students’ learning in relation to that challenge. Justify why you chose these approaches and tools. 

Kahui Ako Achievement Challenge 5: Improve the achievement of students with special needs in the learning areas of English/ key competency using symbols, languages and texts.

My inquiry problem/ challenge: Students who are 'stuck' in their learning 2-3 years behind where they should be at for Year 7 and 8 getting ready for College.

One of the reasons why I chose this challenge, was because this particular group of students had not made much - if any - shift in their reading age for the last 2 years. A look back at their records is shared in my blog post about 'Why I've selected this challenge'

To measure how much 'new knowledge' students are learning or picking up, I plan to use the following tools and approaches:

- HFW Test (High Frequency Word Test): This test has sight words up to reading level 15 or Orange. This is a great indicator for students who recognise words they are reading daily. Very quick test to administer.

- Student Voice Survey: This would be very informative for my teaching so I'd know whether students like/enjoy the task they are given. Are instructions easy to follow? Do they feel like they get enough 'teacher time' in class. This could reinforce or change the way I teach for sure!

- Running Records: The 'ideal' aim is to improve their reading ages to enable students to cope with the academic workload required of them in College. Because PAT test don't give us behavioural/ learning difficulties related to reading, a running record every 4 or so weeks would be more informative for both students and myself.

- Weekly Reflections/observations: Completing this straight after reading sessions would be useful in moving forward with this target group of learners. - Seek help/advice/ideas from CoL across schools teachers: I have already had a meeting with Clarelle Caruthers who has helped me with iPads and how to set up my site so it's easier for this group of learners to access and navigate. I've also made an appointment with Donna Ryan for the holidays to set up a plan of attack how I can better assess and cater for this group of target students.