RPI - Day 3 Text Selection

 Dorothy's Spiel:

Harnessing tools to enhance the power of text selection. Digital texts can eliminate the problems of not enough texts and allow for ubiquitous reading. It's not about one being better than the other. It's about equitable access. 

Apps don't teach kids to read, they're an add-on and can be effectively used for independent time. Teachers are skilled practitioners... that is how learners learn to read.

As a teacher in the modern age, we don't have the time to be doing everything. We need the kids to be doing the heavy lifting on how kids keep track of what they're doing.

For example, Using Stepsweb, have a Google form...take a screenshot of what they have achieved

Can use a simple Google Doc and use Voice Typing. 

Training kids to do their own Running Record as a template for reading mileage. They can use the "word count" as well.

Getting formative assessment! Learning to record themselves. They can see and hear their own progress.

Have groups using the same text and comment on the same doc.

Set up a Google form for learners to recommend Texts. Have it on the site with the form on one side and the sheet on the other.

A toolkit that Gifts you the prompt that allows the whole diverse class to access the same text.

Use a table with the varying levels on the same doc, so the same text is rewritten for different levels. Original at the top (to make it aspirational) and other levels below.

Choosing Appropriate Tools

When choosing appropriate texts we're thinking about the whole reader.

How do we tap into what they enjoy reading? What can we change in terms of barriers etc?

How can we build synergy and marry our curriculum coverage as well as our text coverage.

When choosing texts... Windows and mirrors (and 'sliding glass doors'). 

As well as thinking about the whole learner, we need to be paying attention to the different kinds of texts we want our learners to have exposure to. 

Texts they can identify themselves within... as well as Texts that not only open them up to the world around them, but also the world of their peers.

Aware that we are extending options and choice text to learners.

Stretching out learners' vocab.

The whole point is variety!

By using the Teacher Workbook, it's a really effective way to track what text types are being covered (whole class and groups). It's easy to see what is being missed etc.

***Look at text selection sheet.

Grouping Learners

When might we do each?

Low level decoding skills, but higher thinking themes.The balance of the load can go to the thinking rather than the decoding.

**insert flexible grouping video.

It's about being intentional about the choices being made.

**The challenges that are brought by team teaching/collaborative teaching spaces and differing philosophies or understandings of "best practice".

Selecting Texts for Groups

Find the anchor text, then balance it out with the texts that surround that.

Take a step back and think about the efficiencies. We can find anchor texts that fit, ahead of time. Cross Curriculur topics and events that are in the calendar etc. 

Journal Surf

Using Journal Surf, type in the high-level topic term, for example "Rugby".

Can also be looking to TKI too.

Grouping according to interest or Learning Intention. LI's can sometimes be loosely grouped roo.

Consider ways to leverage up.

Tier 1 words are words that we use in everyday usage, in conversation on the playground and at home.

Tier 2 - where we ant to be hitting. These are the types of words we might not necessarily be using, but could be included. It's going to come out of text more than everyday conversations. WHat are the words that are going to enrich their vocabulary.

You know your learners so you know what they may or may not know. We need to hone in on leveraging them up.

Planning and finding texts for your group.

How might we release some of that control as a teacher selects the texts?

Are we covering different types of texts?

When our learners get to NCEA, they are expected to read across a range of multimodal text types.

We need to ensure our learners can interpret visual and verbal meanings of texts.

Are our learners represented? Are their peers represented? How do we use a set of books to show the windows and mirrors at the same time?

Here is a text set based on "Rugby". It has a range of levels covered and helps kids to dig deeper into a topic.

If we do this well, we can integrate better.

Creating a Text Set

Introducing the Skillbuilder Toolbox, which gives us a Matrix to explicitly teach Summarising.

Check out The Grammar Project!

It has resources, Scope & Sequence etc.

Selecting Texts for the wider reading programme

** This is something that we don't do! How can we start doing this?

If children don't have the stamina, there are shorter chapter stories on Epic and graphic novels can build stamina also.

So... what next?

• I am going to plan ahead for next term's Unit on Tukutuku panels. I will use the cross-curriculum Inquiry template, along with the Tukutuku unit from Digital Kete. I'll add in other resources, Text sets and math units, along with aligning it to our localised context.
• Getting the learners to do the legwork with some accountability. Use a Google form for learners to submit a screenshot of what they have achieved, for example in StepsWeb. Have it visible on the site, with the form on one side to submit, and the spreadsheet on the other. Timesaver for the teacher to see it's done.
• I'm adding a "Media" file to Hapara for our learners to save things to.
• I'm looking forward to using the LTP in the workbook to plan topics and anchor texts for later in the year. (Thinking smarter, not harder.) Matariki, King's Birthday, Anzac etc./
• Need to have a discussion with my co-teacher, about Group Combinations. I'm going to insert my lower group within my other groups and leverage them up.
• Create a hefty National Library book order for KR.

Explore...

• Accountable Talk - Mats with question starters. Learners can tick them off once used. "I notice..." "I agree..." "I disagree because..." Based around a picture.
• School Talk - A set of progressions sitting inside a system to choose the next learning steps etc.
• Resource cupboard
• Go back and look at the Manaikalani Multitext database. It's been quite a few years since I looked at it. This could be more utilised by myself and our other teachers.
• The Grammar Project. I look forward to checking this out.

RPI Day 2 - Know your Learners as Readers

Connecting with each other 

Completing the questionaire for beginning the RPI threw a couple of provocations my way. The first, and most obvious, was this question:

PILLAR OF PRACTICE: DESIGN RICH CREATE EXPERIENCES

At least fortnightly, I give learners 'Response to text' tasks that balance higher-order thinking prompts with Create opportunities.

This directly relates to one of our Uru Mānuka Strategic Plan Goals, which we want to see improve in all our schools. It's certainly something that I noticed, in my Reading Observations at our kura, that needed to improve, rather than "busy work" post-reading group. 

We checked in with our group:

• What do you feel most proud of?
• What was most challenging?
• What helped you achieve your goals?
• What do you still need support with?

Connecting with Manaiakalani 

Emphasising that it is bringing an approach that supports the wider goals of the
TMP. has a relentless focus on improving achievement through best teaching practices.

This has come from a group of teachers who have been very generous in offering their learning, practice etc. 

It all began when there was less technology.

The scope was narrowed to focus on Literacy. For some, it was a combined literacy approach. For others, reading and writing 

The hook is an ideal representation... For young people who aren't engaging... a hook is needed to reel them in. In each school, Literacy Cycles were different. They were designed to consider "What does my practice look like?" How will I entice my young people into reading through create tasks. 

We delved into what this looked like back in the 2000s. Podcasting, back in 2005, before the rest of us had even heard of them.

The transfer of extrinsic to intrinsic motivation.

The importance of Learners' blogs! For half of the early learners, the hook was the Share component... knowing that someone out there was interested in looking at their learning. This is why we need to ensure we comment on our learners' blog posts. Positive, thoughtful, and helpful.

Chalk ‘n Talk

Assessment 101

Knowing our Learners as readers + Assessment Capable Learners

Planning for ambitious outcomes.

The work of John Hattie etc. 

0.5 is the equivalent of a warm body in a classroom. We need to be aiming for the things that give us 'bang for buck'. The things in the table above!

We're not relying on one measure... By pulling it all together we get a really clear picture of her they're at and where we need to head.

I love this analogy:

When utilising assessments, we need to have a working knowledge of the content as it comes out, including PLD on new changes as they roll out. This is probably an area for improvement. It's also a key role that I will play across the schools in our Kahui, as I summarise releases and push them out to the key people in each school.

What matters most is not so much the form of the assessment, but how the information is used to improve teaching and learning. Data can be used both formatively and summatively. Formative assessment use can be thought of as making decisions about “where to next”: what actions will be taken to move from where we are to where we want to be. Summative assessment looks at the data after the actions and asks how successful we were at making the changes we planned for. How much of a difference did we make? Did we achieve the gains we should have?

Deep Dive

Keeping Track of Learning

The Teacher Workbook. A one-stop-shop for storing tall reading planning assessment tracking and using information.

I love this format! I'm excited to start using this

Tracking our reader profiles

I really like being able to use the sort and filter capabilities when looking at the reader profile survey. It makes it really clear who can be targeted for potentially changing attitudes towards reading. 

Reading Challenges sit on the taskboard. To get value, we need to make sure that we check in on them. After 3 weeks, the challenges end for new ones to begin. How will they will be rewarded? How will I ensure longevity? 

In the old PAT's (sadly this is what we did)... they only looked at the top 3 types of Question-Answer Relationships. The new Panui version focuses on all 5.

So great to learn how to dive deep into the data from PATs to see how I can utilise it to design learning that clearly meets the needs of the learners after drilling down on the data.

Resources

RfE = Reading for enjoyment

"Key In" books - 

ARB's - Comprehension links (Why don't we use these?) Use the "item bank"

Developing Assessment Capable Learners using Learning Intentions and Success Criteria.

Thinking about how we are going to ensure a balance between the two of these.

Not everything needs an in-depth success criterion.

Around the time that we broke out to complete these blog posts, I was able to see the reading groupings made by my team teacher. Perfect timing, as it means that I can complete the workbook with these included. 

I'm very excited to begin using the workbook, with the progressions informing planning. It feels like I really can begin to pull it all together now and launch into some actual effective teaching and learning. 

I will plan a workshop for my colleagues, who have used PATs this year, to share with them how they can effectively drill down on that data to inform planning.

So... What next?

• create opportunities for learners to record themselves reading to self-evaluate for fluency, intonation and prosody.
• "Accountable Talk" - Look into that for oral language.
• Rich Create tasks - This is how we "hook" and engage our learners.
• Build in time for commenting on blogs, as a teacher as well as for the learners. Create a culture of not "lurking". Reading blog posts can be as influential on reading as the reading itself.
• Podcasting
• Set up a reading centre, where kids can come and read, but it has to be silent. (Read with the kids)
• Enhancing my students' RfE (Reading for Enjoyment) could help nudge achievement data.
• I can use the PAT data to design learning!!! Hallelujah!!!
• We need to make sure that we use the newer version at the end of the year.

Create tasks: 

• - Scratch, Tinker, Gamefroot - Create a game based on a story they've read.
• - Bookmarks; Create an alternative cover for the book you are reading.
• - Make a fake ID card for a character in the book.
• -BookTok Community - Share books they like to read etc.
• - Share on blogs, but perhaps push out posts via Facebook?
• - How can I utilise ebooks? 

Overall reflection

A big shift in pedagogical practice is underway, after today's learning. I feel like the roadblocks are coming down and the path is a bit clearer to be able to progress.

Constructing my blog post, complete with screenshots, as we went through the day was a lot more productive this week. A far cry from last week. I was adding to the "So what next..." list as I went, so it has become quite a large list by the day's end. Potentially a bit too much to chew through, but a great record of actionable things. The amount of things I intend to use with my learners is immense!