READING IS CORE TO LEARNING
* We started our RPI journey today by brainstorming what we think are the characteristics of a 'good reader'. Right from the get go this got me really thinking and this is what I came up with...
Open minded
Confident
Makes predictions
Monitors their understanding as they read
Questioning as they read
Sharing opinions and contributing to group discussions
Comprehending what they read
Making connections to their personal experiences
Capable of reading a variety of texts
Making inferences
Good vocabulary knowledge
Using prior knowledge
* We then discussed the image below
* My biggest takeaway or reminder from today was to get motivated again to share/model a passion for reading with my students. Reading has always been something I was confident with throughout my own schooling and something I enjoyed doing in my own time. However, since the demands of teacher life I have realised that I only really pick up a novel now during the holidays when I feel like I have 'the time' and don't have that feeling like I should be doing something else. Unfortunatley we don't have a school library anymore but I am starting to think about how I can create areas in my class that promote an enjoyment for reading and a community of readers.
* Another takeaway for me today was to get back into trying to plan multimodal activities to keep my students engaged and motivated. I have been using a type of contract with my students last year that somewhat were multimodal but it was awesome to see the examples shared with us today, especially the 'Reading Challenge' slide deck. I really liked the movie making and song writing type activities as I can see my students getting excited about those types of challenges. I sometimes get overwhelmed with where to begin and would like to get more time efficient with planning these types of activities. I also need to get smarter at stalking other Manaiakalani sites to get ideas!
* We have had a very messy start to the year here in Northland with not much time in class yet due to public holidays, flooding and storms. We are now starting week 4 so definitely time to introduce reading groups. I am going to start with the reading survey and introducing the 6 ground rules for talking. I am kind of glad that we havn't started our reading groups yet as I can now start off with this new kaupapa from the get go.
Ground Rules for Talk
Shared Reading Pillars of Practice
