RPI Day 5: Planning a Reading Programme

 Today has been a really awesome session in the Day 5 RPI, the most interesting part of my day was the Read like Writers and Write like Readers. I absolutely enjoyed this part and will be using this in my class. Great day overall. Looking forward to Day 6.

Here are a few of my takeaways from this session.

Pillars of Practice: Today we are focussing on the second Pillar, but with a more detailed view of Guided Reading. Regular and systematic Guided Reading offers particular benefits for teaching, observing and scaffolding to develop skills and strategies to better understand text. 

Reading through Class Sites  

Making sure you have minimal clicks to get to the students learning they need to do. Having an attractive site so kids get hooked in, and having meaningful group names for your learners. 

The Learning Pit:

Self explanation on the picture but I really love this and I will be sharing this with my kids and ensuring them that they need to be in the Pit at some point however its ok again if they are not yet there, Keep tracking along and we will eventually get there. 

Where am I going?, How am I going?, and Where to next?  

Read like Writers and Write like Readers.

The main thing today I have taken away from today’s session is the Read like Writers and Write like Readers. I totally enjoyed this activity and I honestly can't wait to try this activity with my class, I think they would really like it and be totally engaged Reading a short paragraph about something and then actually writing their own paragraph about it too using the same questions we were asked. Watch this space.  

Writing like Readers and Reading like Writers, is to ensure we can meet the coverage for our learners to be able to think and become great readers and great writers. Deepening their understanding by listening to what the reader is trying to tell us, we will be able to then put it into our own words to become better writers.

See you on the next one. 

RPI Day 4: Guided Reading and Comprehension.

Here we are Day 4: Guided Reading and Comprehension. I enjoy how we always start our day with hello’s and then break into our breakout groups and quickly catch up on how we are going thus far and how we have done with our homework. For me, this just sets us up to be ready to contribute to conversations we have within our group. It also allows us to get much needed feedback about what we are doing and maybe what we can use or change in our plans for the following weeks. Thank you to Naomi and Amie for allowing us to do this. 

Ok, so first off we started with the background to guided reading which was helpful and I know we all know this however it is a great refresher for us. We then went into Introducing the Text and Purpose. As we were following through 

Based on Dame Marie Clay.

Highly valued learning outcomes that need regular and dedicated time each and every day for students to read and learn about.

For me this means, when it is learning time, leave the kids to learn and when it is play time let the kids play.

Introducing Text and Purpose. Today we looked at Introducing the Text and Purpose. Before we start our guided reading conference with our groups, I ask the students to have a look at the picture / cover of the book and look at the title and tell me what they know about what we are going to read about this week. Activating prior knowledge has always been a biggie for me as I like to hear and understand that the text for the week has a connection to the learner. So introducing the text first off is a very important part of reading, knowing and allowing the learners to make connections with the text. 

I will be implementing one of these Observational Note taking techniques to use in my class. This will help me to understand where my learners are at with their reading and how or what I can do to help them and push them to their next level. This is a great tool to use and to refer back to if needed. 

RPI Day 3: Text Selection.

 

Kia Ora and welcome to Day 3 of RPI. I was unable to join my group on the assigned day as I was unwell however I did do a very intense one on one speed catch up day with Naomi. This day had so much information which was amazing. 

Today's focus was on Text Selections. The amount of resources and knowledge coming out of this course is overwhelming and I am forever grateful for this opportunity to complete this RPI course.  I have met with my mentor and have had a look at the data collected from my students pertaining to the reading survey we had to complete.  

We went through the course for the day. The part I really enjoyed the most was talking and listening to my coach about including more reading genres and maybe adding a create activity to go with it. 

So my plan is to have an Anchor Text, a poem, an article and, or maybe a video as my text set for my learners, which should carry over for at least 2 weeks. I hope to start this new and improved style in week 5. 

We then listened to an amazing lady who spoke about Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors. My interpretation of this is, Mirrors, What I relate to, Windows, My world wide knowledge and the Sliding Glass Doors is Do it.

I really enjoyed hearing about this and from this short but knowledgeable video, 

My takeaway is just like the world wide brand Nike. JUST DO IT! 

Bring on Day 4 and let's see what this day has to offer. Till then see you next time.

RPI Day 2 - Know your learners as readers

 RPI Day 2 - Know your learners as readers

 Day 2! Friday 7th June 2024

What an awesome start to day 2, Dorothy came on to our chat and spoke about KPE (Korero Pt England). I will really enjoy letting my learners be creative with this as their follow up activity, they will get the chance to hear themselves reading and even more better they all get to choose their text set each week and what better way to do it than this! Watch this space

Assessments and Testing of your learners, Knowing your learner is an important part of your teaching. You need to know their needs and understand what they need to do to achieve and get to where they need to be. Improving their reading and understanding is a hard pill to bite, however with the tools that we are receiving from all these different kits are so helpful and the main thing I love about these is that they are all rewindable. 

Teacher Workbook was up next and only one word that I can say WOW!!. Alot to take in and learn with this workbook. Getting my head around this workbook and trying to navigate my way through this has really been an eye opening experience. Knowing that all my data, planning and any note taking for individual learners will all be housed here where we are able to look back and track how a learner is tracking along. 

Task Boards

We have been using task boards all this year, my team leader has completed the RPI and has now got our teaching team using these task boards across all core learning subjects. These are a one stop, shop where you have a selection of things to do via you weekly choice board and during the week you have must do’s that have to be completed before moving on. Getting use to change and using task board are way easy and the learners know that they have set task to complete for the week. 

Let’s go Task Boards.    

So after a full on day of intense learning about reading. I have some take aways and will hopefully incorporate them into my teachings in the coming weeks and for the rest of the year. 

Bring on Day 3. RPI Done and Dusted. Over and Out.

RPI: Day 1: Reading is Core

  Manaiakalani Reading Practice Intensive

Wow, what an amazing first day of RPI, Yes a real information overload but really good at the same time, to know that we have a vast range of very knowledgeable people behind this who are always willing to give us these gems of Professional Development.

What makes a Good Reader?

We were asked this question, I made a little list on what I think a Good Reader is. Understanding what they read, Making Connections, Asking Questions and Vocabulary. This image shown is what we were shown after we made our own list of What makes a Good Reader.

After this we went into our breakout group and had a further discussion on this topic. After having these discussions in our groups, I do know that my learners are not enjoying reading and I feel I need to allow my learners to be able to responsible choose their book or text that they are going to read. 

We then had the pleasure of Mrs Burt coming in and sharing the Kaupapa and Pedagogy. This session was an awesome piece of knowledge to know. It was full of a lot of information and I had to pick this image out because I like what it says and it speaks loudly and this is what our kids need.  

Reading Across the Curriculum.

"It is the Core to everything" is my take away from this session. It is totally true that we need reading for everything when it comes to life. We need to be able to read and understand what we are reading to be able to comprehend what is happening and what to do.

We also had a look at Task Boards, we have had the pleasure of our Team Leader already implementing this into our team for all our curriculum areas.

Pillars of Practice.

I enjoyed having discussions about this and I am ready to start using this in my class. We have been told that we will be getting hit with a heap of information around these pillars and I cant wait to get in to it.

Reflection.

Day 1 of RPI has been intense but so rewarding too. I love how by the end of this day I am absolutely smashed with a ton of useful and amazing information that I can start using these gems. Thank you to Naomi and Amie for taking us through today.

Day 1 Done and Dusted....... Over and OUT!!!!!!

NZ Histories TOD

 

Today we have a Teacher Only Day,  today we had a look at the History of New Zealand. We had a look at this website.
Talking and Learning about New Zealand History and our Community. 

We also did a Digital Dig which made us try find our way around the website. 

Check out both Angela and I Digital Dig. 
Have a look around the website to check out the histories of place. 

Kia Ora Everyone. 

This year's teacher inquiry for myself is pertaining to the Attendance within my class. Since we have had so many lockdowns and online learnings, my home class are the most worst offenders for not coming to school.  So my inquiry question is. "How can I increase the attendance of certain students". I have a core target group that contains of 7 students that I am focussing on. I am also wanting to include Key Competencies as well. Managing Self, Making sure you are accountable for your actions. Relating to Others,  Remembering that we have all been through what you are going through. Thinking and Participating, Think about what you need to do and how we can help or make it better,  and Contributing, Being able to express and explain your thinking about anything. 

Keep an eye out for the next Inquiry post.