Structured Literacy A First Look

I spent my last day of school at a full day of professional development. I could have spent my last day hanging out waiting for the 3 o'clock bell to ring like most of the students and teachers I know. So a full day of having to have my brain turned on seemed a great idea at the start of the term.  

Not many will disagree with me when I say that it has felt like a long year.  If I ever hear the word 'unprecedented' again it will be too soon.  Yet it is the word that most aptly described what was 2020. Covid came and stayed, plans for Canada in May were then put on hold and I found myself applying for a new job.  And that is why I found myself sitting on a chair designed for the bum of an 8 year old learning why children (around the world) were struggling to learn to read.

The day began with the why...statistics and graphs that were unrefutably indicating we are making a hash up of how NZ teachers are trying to get kids to read.  In my head there was lots of finger pointing...mostly at why I let my year 5s and 6s slip through the system thinking they would eventually get there if they just matured enough to pick it up on their own. 

That notion is ludicrous to me now.  Now that, in this new learning support coordinator's position, I have had the time to be exposed to important research about how children learn to read.  Every teacher needs the time to see what is happening right in front of them.  The best analogy I can think of is you can't see the forest for the trees. But for many of my colleagues they haven't had the benefit of having time to look at what is happening.  The end of a very long and unprecedented year was swallowing them up! 


The best first piece of research I was introduced to was The Science of Reading: Evidence for a new Era of Reading Instruction  by Laura Stewart.

From there I found myself at Kaharoa School hearing how the research of cognitive scientists has been building over the past 20 years.  They are basically saying that students require explicit instruction around: phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. 





And so begins my journey to help other teachers discover how they can best use their time and talent to teach their students how to read.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Benefits of Cup Stacking on Student Reading Outcomes

Image
I have always used chess and cup stacking in my yearly teaching programme - from nearly the beginning of my time teaching in NZ.  Learners of all ages are keen to get in and learn these “games”. The benefits of teaching chess to young learners is well known. But the benefits of cup stacking perhaps not so much. Cup stacking has many benefits for learning in the classroom.   Researchers have found that it targets specific areas of the body and the brain to increase intelligence, problem solving skills and critical thinking.  It is a fun yet and intense game. “What many teachers and educators may not know is the impact cup stacking can have  on a child’s visual processing skills and reading ability. Because the child is moving their hands so quickly, their eyes must also track the cups and the movement of their hands as they participate in the activity. The eyes naturally cross the midline to accomplish this task. These skills are very importan...
Read more

The e AsTTle Mystery

Image
I had a look at my e AsTTle marking in a bit of depth because I don’t have enough to do already.  But I had a question. Why were my spelling scores low for my class? I think I found out. But I have no idea what to do with what I’ve found.   I analysed the data to help scaffold my learners to set goals based on their learning in writing.  What I found surprised me. For instance the rubric for Ideas.  There is a score for level 2, Level 4 and Level 5...but no rubric for level 3.  Why not? If I my students are at R3 it is equivalent to 2P, and R4 = 4B and and R5 = 5B.  ( I looked at each of the scores provided in the e AsTTle printout for my class. The rubric for Structure is similar.  R3=3B, R4 = 4P and R5= 5P. It is hard not to score my class above or below...especially a Year 6 student.  The Organisation rubric is fair. Each curriculum level is evident and it is 2P, 3P, 4P and 5P. Vocabulary again there is no level 3 available. ...
Read more

(Term 1 2017) Camp: Engaging with our Community

Image
This year our senior classes took our classes to have an authentic two night camp on a local marae.   Students were part of the p ō whiri and welcome onto the marae.  The only other context many of our students had was on the school welcoming groups to special assemblies.   These would often involve the kapa haka group taking the lead with the remainder of the school left to follow along. To support the children (and me too) to make the most of this fantastic opportunity, in class we learned the vocabulary, completed puzzles to help students remember the order of events.  The team leading the camp were very supportive of schools coming with a low base of marae based learning. There were teamwork activities involving paddling a waka down rapids in Kawerau, making poi, using a taiaha.  There were games played and links to local history through the carvings in the whare. My class loved playing Ki-o-rahi.  It was new and fun...and I promised w...
Read more