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
Tēnā koe Stacey
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your reflections of Day 1 of the Reading Practice Intensive: Reading is Core to Learning. It was such a pleasure to get started and to join together in a common goal - to learn more about reading practice with the overall aim of improved outcomes for learners and support for teachers. I really like that “what makes a good reader” got you thinking and that your list leads with “confidence” and an “open mind”. It is these emotive and self-efficacy dispositions that can certainly exert huge impacts on the development of the skills and strategies that follow in your list. I agree that in the incredible busyness of teacher life, our own reading for enjoyment can drop off and I was thrilled that you are thinking of ways to reclaim some time for this for yourself. Like you I have really fond memories of personal reading throughout my school life and I have had to protect time for it in my current work schedule. It also gives me time to enjoy reading what students are reading so I can be responsive and recommend titles. I’m currently enjoying Amorangi and Millie (Huia Publishers) (which is a NZ Book Awards finalist) and David Hill’s Coastwatchers (which I think will have some good passages I could use as part of a text set for ANZAC). If you interested in either I could send them on to you when I’ve finished reading. Maybe you could add them to your plans for a class / team library?
I am totally aligned with you on how designing multimodal activities, and where to start in planning an ongoing range of motivating tasks, can be overwhelming. We will be supporting our participants throughout the RPI with task boards and “pick up and go” approaches to meet this need, so you will definitely get further practice and resource support in this area. Let me know how you feel we are doing with providing these for you as the RPI progresses.
All the best with kicking off your reading groups with the discussion protocols! I look forward to hearing how things go (and the interesting findings that will come out of your class reading survey).
It’s great to have you on the RPI and I really look forward to our ongoing breakout discussions as a group!
Nga mihi
Naomi R.
Literacy Facilitator - Manaiakalani Reading Practice Intensive