Term 2 Week 6

There is some progress to report!

1. Student attendance has improved both at school and at our group time. Individual points with a prize after every 100 points might be a factor!

2. We have been reading about natural disasters this term (the topic ‘triggered’ by the earthquakes in Nepal) with all the students interested and engaged.

3. All but the shyest student are contributing questions and answers freely.

Vocabulary comprehension presents the biggest challenge to all the students. They are very dependent on me for help with this. We are building up lists of words as we come across them in our reading and talking about what they mean. I know when a word such as ‘debris’ is understood when a student uses it appropriately!

So my next challenge is to help the students to find ways to help themselves.

Term One Inquiry Presentation

When I reflected on how far we had come in term one, the picture was not as rosy as I had hoped for. But I was encouraged to see that for some students our group was providing a safe place to learn ways of accessing the help they need in order to get information from non-fiction texts.

Here’s an update on how it’s going.

It has been difficult to get the flow going due to timetabling issues with whole school testing, then swimming lessons, a tag competition... and more.

But, yesterday one student apologised for calling out the question that had popped into his head while he was reading. When I told him that in our group he was welcome to call it out, he smiled broadly! 

The engagement is still more behavioural than cognitive. I have moved from class to individual points with a goal of being able to choose a ‘lucky dip’ prize when they achieve 100 points. I give points for any contribution to discussion of text and even to tangential comments if they are developed. The students are beginning to help each other by filling in the gaps and asking their own questions. Most of them are happier to come to their group time than they were at the beginning. 

Getting Started

Last week I started with a group of seven students  from 3 different Year 7 & 8 classes. They are all reading well below chronological age - the students are aged from 10 years 9 months to 11 years 11 months as @ 1st February but reading @ 8 - 8.5 years. These students do literacy with their class and my programme is an added extra. 

So far I have experienced a wide range of engagement, from one student who complains each time about coming, takes a long time to come (even though he only has to walk 10 metres!) and then settle in to what we are doing; to students who are keen to come (maybe to get out of doing other class work) but are quiet and passive.

I am trying to get to know the students individually and as a group. I have worked with some of them in the past, but not all of them.

The plan is for the group to meet for four half hour sessions per week.

Lots of talking is happening!  I want our kawa to be that our learning is collaborative so we need to help and support one another positively. I am ensuring that everyone is being heard and their contribution is respected. I am providing positive feedback for every attempt to answer or ask questions. I have found out about some of their interests so I can look for resources that are interesting and motivating.

When we read, we all read the text aloud (including me) with frequent stops to discuss language and vocabulary. I am doing lots of gifting. At this stage it is all about it being positive and do-able.

My Inquiry

In 2015 I am inquiring into my practice to see what strategies are effective for engaging older primary students who are reading well below their age; and helping them develop skills in finding and using information in a wide range of non-fiction texts.