There is a massive amount of content within this post, however I'm somewhat reluctant to apologise for it.
Since having a brain injury, I find I need to have as much information collected as I go (hence the high level of screenshots) so that I can talk to them in the moment. I find that if I try to come back to them later, I've lost most of the train of thought. This has also brought about an appreciation that this is a hurdle for many of our learners too.
I'm using the term 'hurdle' rather than 'challenge' as I like to think that, by calling it a hurdle, it serves as a reminder that one can be taught effective strategies for leaping a hurdle... whereas we often tend to avoid a something we know will be challenging.
Manaiakalani Kaupapa and Shared Pedagogy
We rely on a robust vocabulary for all aspects of life.
All of our learners "come in" with low oral language acquisition. It is what it is... rather than approaching this with deficit thinking and making it an excuse, we need to think, "So what can we do about it?" We have all the tools, via our Pedagogical Content Knowledge, but how can we put it all together in order to deliver it in a package that best serves our clientele (our fabulous learners). We need to have aspirational outcomes in mind. If we link to "Leading to the North West, we need to ensure we drag the pedagogy along with the strong relationships we have spent time developing and sustaining.
It's vital to remember that those spoken words are in ANY language. Too often we place an emphasis on English acquisition and assimilation into the smooth running of the classroom. How can we better utilise first languages to add other words (English and Te Reo Māori) to their bank?
How can we best utilise digital affordances to have high aspirations for our learners? We are currently underutilising digital affordances. We are operating at a "Substitution" level rather than utilising them to redefine the learning experince.
Some commercial products are:
We need to make sure that there is a system of feedback for what learning is taking place... screenshots and reflections from learners.
We use Steps Web in our learning space. How often are learners taking screenshots of their learning, rather than just the achievement of a level, and reflecting on the actual learning that has taken place?
I really like the idea of the above activity (of dragging and dropping the word next to the meaning. I wonder if this could be leveraged up by adding a voice recording of the word? For our ESOL learners, they could also add their first language words to solidify the correlation for them.
Growing vocabulary within Google Docs.
We tend to move on to other tools, but forget how powerful some of those basic tools can be! I haven't even used smartchips! I can see a great use of them. It even builds some assessment capability as many of the tests require selecting from a drop-down. Some of our learners have been known to just click on the top option, without scrolling to see the others.
Grab the text off the printed document (Can use Google Keep for this)
Works better to insert text into a table.
Get the students to use their own words from the text.
Use "Smart chiups" (Tools - Smart chip)
Inside a cell:
Vocabulary is very highly correlated with comprehension.
We focus on the semantics (the meaning of the words) but often skip over the phonology (how you say it) I do we do you do. Get learners to record themselves saying the word.
Meanings shift in context, so learners need to be able to understand and comprehend it in various encounters.
Each of the morphemes has meaning.
Geographical vocabulary is also important but often taught as an aside, rather than as a deliberate act of teaching.
Background Knowledge
Vocabulary is very highly correlated with comprehension.
Personally, I've seen this within my own children. I vividly remember one of my eldest son's teachers questioning his Specific Learning Difficulty diagnosis because "he has such an amazing vocabulary". She couldn't understand how this could happen when he couldn't access the same vocabulary in print. What she didn't realise was how finely attuned his other literacy skills had become to compensate.
We read novels at home which were at his interest level, yet far beyond his ability to decode. Series like Percy Jackson, followed by the Heroes of Olympus. Emily Rhodda's Rowan of Rin, then Deltora Quest. The Young Samurai series. The list went on. It was used at bedtime, instead of melatonin. Some nights one chapter... some nights 5. It all came to fruition one night when reading the 5th book in a series. He suddenly announced (sitting bolt upright, after lying in bed and appearing to doze) "That can't be! In book one it said...!" He was right. The author had mistakenly contradicted the storyline without realising it. A proud Mum moment for sure!
I'm giving myself a 3/5.
I need that Word Wall up and running!!!
Link to Universal Design for Learning and Multimodal Ways.
UDL is a term that was in vogue about 10 years ago, but I have noticed many secondary teachers beginning to hone in on this. Perhaps the primary sector have always had it in the back of their minds with having such varying learning abilities and challenges in their space.
Receptive - Can read them, but don't undrstand.
7 encounters to embed understanding of the word!
I really enjoyed the clear roles of Initiator and Builder for extended discussion.
I look forward to utilising this in my groups, once Rules for Talk are embedded.
Time and a place for formal/informal vocab
We really need to get our learners on board with wanting to know what words mean!
David Corson (1984) proposed the concept of a lexical bar. (The difference between common words spoken at home, and more complex technical words in an educational setting.)
This would be really good for in the classroom!
Word Consciousness (Knowing what words mean)
Time and a place for formal/informal vocab
Gamify by giving points for tier 2 and 3 words that learners add... This could also link to 'Play' fish tickets (creativity).
Rebus activities! (I loved these!) I wonder if I could harness before school time to utilise these.
I visualise a DLO on the screen, with a Rebus, a Riddle and a Math DLO.
There's strong research linking before-school 'thinking' activities having a positive effect on learners getting into a "Ready to learn' mindset.
Explicit robust Learning Opportunities
The Tiers, broken down:
Tier 1 - every day
Tier 2 - high-frequency words that transcend different contexts.
Tier 3 - low frequency, subject-specific etc.
***"Survival words" - Words our learners need to actually understand the text.***David Corson (1984) proposed the concept of a lexical bar. (The difference between common words spoken at home, and more complex technical words in an educational setting.)
This bar is essentially a threshold between common words in English that are usually learned through oral communication during childhood and the academic written language in English learning educational settings. This bar, Corson observed, is easily crossed by some students, but for others, it is a daunting task. For almost all students, crossing the lexical bar requires instruction that explores the lexical nature of academic written language, which includes vocabulary instruction.
Dictionaries...Students can often misrepresent the definition, therefore build a misunderstanding of the meaning of the word.
How do we make words visible?
Our learners need to see and say them to build word consciousness.
This was a great activity to implement, as well as have learners collaborating.
I would love to start working with a mahi tracker... but I feel like I'm not quite there yet! I'm filing it as a later bite of the elephant!
Strategies for building learners’ skills and practice with ‘cracking’ unfamiliar words.
Noticing the decoding barriers.
By being able to discern between open and closed sentences, learners are more able to decode words.
The Orton-Gillingham approach offers the kite as an organising reminder for teacher instruction (Teacher Training Manual p. 186).
Free practice sheet from Teachers Pay Teachers.Heading into Level 3:
The Six Syllable Types is a free Teacher-Pay-Teacher resource based on teaching the initial six types of syllables (e.g. Orton-Gillingham)
Madame Copp Free Resource
Teaching Questioning
Morphology
Why is it so important to teach in the context of English as an academic discipline, and across the curriculum?
It's really relevant when we move into Tier 3 vocabulary.
The "I have, who has" prefix game I have has proven fantastic for building an understanding of prefixes. I could find a suffix alternative.
Today I Learned...
I've always battled to remember the c v s for practice/practise... this explains it so well!!!
The building blocks that bring it all together!
Talk glues it all together and is one of our three cluster foci.
Receptive - The ability to be able to read hear and understand.
Productive is what we are able to understand and produce in our writing.
So what:
- Groupings - I wonder if I could have a targeted group of ESOL learners who have activities specifically designed to utilise both languages to attain word acquisition?
- It would be great to have a team discussion to consider a Long Term Plan for switching from Syntax to Morphology. How can we split the hub into two classes to get a wider spread of learning?
- The "I have, who has" prefix game I have has proven fantastic for building an understanding of prefixes. I could find a suffix alternative.
- Harness before school time with a bank of DLO's containing a Rebus, A riddle, and a Math puzzle.
- I want to record the low learners doing their Record of Reading.
- ESOL support - audiobooks, in-text supports, prediction & prior knowledge activities.
- Visuals to print off and put up to support learning when with the teacher for instruction and discussion.
Today has been fundamental in pulling together the School Professional Development we have been doing around Structured Literacy writing and integrating it with the Manaiakalani kaupapa. I have always felt a little like a fish out of water with the Structured Literacy Implementation... Initially, because I missed some sessions due to my reduced work during my Cancer treatment... Then, because it was aimed at learning to read, rather than Reading to Learn. I've struggled with discrepancies in readings and research that are in conflict with our own school's implementation and practice.
Now I feel like I can see the bigger picture. The challenge is to be able to have a constructive team meeting and compromise to get some of it over the line.
Still chewing my way through the elephant...
