Setting the Scene

  You have to 'love' a challenge! There is nothing better, as an educator, than to have to think beyond the usual... beyond the norm, to not only engage and invigorate the learner, but more importantly the practitioner!    My challenge... How to better support my students to read between the lines not only for the purpose of 'Inference' but also 'Evaluation' where they are able extrapolate even more information not found in the text? This moves us into the area of Critical Literacy where deeper meanings are uncovered in relation to personal situations and context and may also challenge the assumptions of the author.  Investigation and breaking down of the Probe tests indicated both Inference and Evaluation required further support. This was also indicated in the PAT Reading Comprehension where Local and Global inference were noted as areas requiring further development.  This baseline data will be reviewed at the end of the year using both the Probe and also PAT...

Preliminary Findings:  Week 6 of Term 1 we began our school wide testing. For this Inquiry I will be mainly focussing on Reading. The PAT Reading scores were pleasantly surprising leaving me feeling somewhat encouraged that I was on the right track. However, Probe testing illuminated more areas of concern and need for focus.  Although both PAT and Probe results had shown improvement there is still work to do to continue to push those who are 'Below' up and continue the trajectory of my 'At's and Above's.'  My two 'Well Below' students are my greatest concern. These are the students reading at 8.5-9yrs of age.                             From my testing to date, including anecdotal notes from discussion and questioning, my Preliminary Findings  show all students show strengths in their ability to read with fluency, expression and decoding unfamiliar words with ease. However, areas of concern, l...

Coming into a CoL position in Term 2 leaves you feeling a little behind the 8 ball. Fortuitously, I did have a fascination, a question... so to speak, which I wanted to investigate further. Why is my use of 'Process Drama' not showing a perceived shift in Reading similar to that in Writing when studies have shown increases in 'Literacy' across the board? My question has collided this year with our in-school Professional Growth Cycle and also the Manaiakalani Cluster wide Inquiry into Reading. Although we can see shift both in school and throughout the Cluster the rate is slowing over time, particularly in Yrs 7-10.  Is there something I am omitting during my teaching of process drama or is the data collection not illuminating the full story? Are we assessing Reading Age through the lens of prescribed testing method which doesn't take into consideration transference of inference or comprehension beyond the testing platform... which may not reflect the students presen...

St Patrick's, as a whole school, have been involved in Everyday Theatre and School Drama for the past two years, Te Rito Toi after both lockdowns in 2020 and this year, we are fortunate enough to be a part of a pilot with Mitey through the Sir John Kirwan foundation. We became involved in School Drama in an effort to improve not only student relationships but also raise our literacy achievement following studies through the University of Sydney in conjunction with the Sydney Theatre Company where over a 7week period they noted a significant increase in student literacy.  Te Rito Toi was a natural follow on for us returning to school after both lockdowns. Developed by Peter O’Connor, the site was built in an effort to help teachers work with children when they first return to school following major traumatic or life changing events. Fitting for post lockdown children where building relationships was the key to becoming learning ready.   And Mitey, which is part of the S...

Great transition today from writing an Explanation on the importance of washing hands to the Life Cycle of Pin Worms. Just another example of those unplanned, wonderfully rich teaching moments...those moments that transfix the audience causing discussion and those 'Oh No, YUK' announcements! Loving Intermediates!

What can you do with a bag of straws you find in class? ... Add some play dough and a few polystyrene balls... step back and watch. Instant team work, collaboration, design and creation. We went from a single, individually built spiral, to combining to make giant spirals. Dinosaurs were developed and finally bridge building. Great way to develop language before starting our writing session!                                                        

I always find it interesting accomodating those learners who need a different approach. Sometimes the clarity of the situation doesn't hit us... we need to listen carefully to our learners. Example: I've been trying to find a way to support one of my boys who has found this year challenging. He engaged fully with completing personalised reading activities on his iPad. I suggested he typed his responses as writing was becoming tedious given the limited space and visual difficulties. This was working to a point but transference of words from either his book or a previous activity page onto the screen was still tedious and distracting. At this point I could see mental fatigue setting in. He asked me if it would be ok to write the text onto the whiteboard table, photograph it, crop it down and embed it onto his page. Perfect solution. He was still attending to reading, writing, transference of text BUT doing it in a way that suited his learning style.