Reading Inquiry: Term 3 Update

What was the focus? 

This term I have been focused on reading for my inquiry. I have been looking at a specific target group which is my learners reading between the ages of 6.5 and 7.5 years. These students are reading from level 17-20 which is the purple and turquoise on the colour wheel. Over the term I have been reading with each of these learners and recording the areas that the need to work on and what extra assistance they need to make shift in this part of their learning. 

Reading Prompts 

As a school we have been using the Gwenneth Phillips in our reading sessions. These prompts allow the learner to be able to think about what they have read wrong and a chance to fix this on their own rather than just looking to the teacher for the answer. I have noticed that during the course of the term my learners are becoming more comfortable with the prompts that we are using. I can see that some of my learners are thinking of these as they are reading and constantly thinking about whether it looks right and sounds right in the context of the text and sentences. 

Word Work 

I have also been using the sight words for each of the colour wheel groups and giving these learners the opportunity t practice and learn the high frequency words. The presentation that I have created for each of these learners is able to be edited after each time we have read together to add in the high frequency words or words that we have come across in reading that they may have struggled with. I have added a screenshot below of what the task consists of.  

I continue to update the slides after each time I meet with a learner and try and give them 2-3 new and challenging words to work on. I have started to do this with some of our other learners who are reading at green, blue and yellow levels and they seem to enjoy being able to complete some of these tasks. 

Where to next? 

Continue to work with using these prompts in my reading lessons and giving the learners the confidence to know these prompts well. This gives them the ability to think about what they have read and and make sure that it looks right, sounds right and makes sense. I will also continue to build on the sight word slides for my learners and continue to try this with my lower readers. I will also make sure to record some of my sessions so that I can refer back to my own practice on what went well and what I could do better to help my learners make sense of what they are reading. 

Reading Target Group Update

 Before we entered into lockdown level 3 in Auckland I had been reading with my target group every day. To start with I began by just listening to each of my learners from this target group read to see what were they key areas that each of these learners needed help with. I started to add details from each of the sessions that I read with them to kind these key areas and again look to see if there were trends with my learners reading at the same level or if it was something that all my learners need to work on. Below is some of my notes gathered during reading sessions. 

A	03/08 - Puppy at the Door B and p sounds need to work  Sounding out names of people in the story needs work When reading a bit faster will add in extra words  Needs to look at word endings and read in correctly.  Is able to comprehend what she has read and answer questions about it.  27/07 - Dad, the Bird Caller  Needs to work on sounding out new words. Is able to reread when she comes across a word that doesn’t seem to fit into the sentence. Needs to work on rereading in new vocabulary that she comes across.
B	03/08 - Puppy at the Door Read as scraping word is scratching  Sounding out names of people in the story needs work Discovered instead of disappeared  Is able to comprehend what he has read and need to work on making summaries shorter and just the right amount of detail.  27/07 - Dad, the Bird Caller  Needs to work on sounding out new words, will just come to a word and pause. Needs to work on reading in new vocabulary for meaning. Will add in words when unsure of the words in the story.
C	03/08 - Puppy at the Door Sounding out names of people in the story needs work Needs to focus on looking at word endings and making sure that she is reading them in correctly. Will look at word endings.  Needs to work on comprehension of what she has read.  27/07 - Dad, the Bird Caller  Vienna adds in extra words as she is reading if she is unsure of the words. Needs to reread sentences for accuracy and clarity. (He made the in the (his) bedroom). Needs to work on reading in new vocabulary.
D	03/08 - Bend, Stretch and Leap  Tries to sound out words that she is unsure of. Need to check word endings to make sure that she is reading in the correct ending. If unsure of a word will look for pictures as clues to help with new words.  Victory instead of visitor - knows the meaning of the word victor but couldn’t figure out that it was visitor.
E	27/07 - Why People Should Visit Uluru  “When the sun is rising (When the sun rises)” He reads what he thinks makes more sense to him rather than what makes sense in the text. When unsure of how to read a word adds in extra words. Needs to work on reading in new vocabulary.
F	03/08 - Bend, Stretch and Leap  Word endings  Reading for meaning, work on stopping and correcting if the sentence doesn’t make sense. Good at making predictions on what will happen next and finding literal meaning of the story.  27/07 - Why People Should Visit Uluru  Needs to work on reading new vocabulary into sentences.  Also needs to work on making sure what she has read makes sense in the sentence and also what is going on.
G	27/07 - Why People Should Visit Uluru  Needs to work on sounding out new words will just pause when he gets to a  word that he is unsure of.  Needs to work on reading vocabulary into sentences for meaning.

After looking at what each of my learners needed to work on I was able to see that some of my learners had similar needs with their reading and others needed a different focus. As a staff at Pt England this year we are going to be looking at the Gwenneth Phillips prompts so that we are all on the same page with teaching reading and also our learners no matter what age and stage they are will know the prompts throughout the school. I will be working on using these in my group teaching sessions specifically with my target reading group. I hope after a few sessions my learners will be able to understand and notice these prompts and think about them as they are reading. 

I will continue to document reading sessions with these learners to see if I can notice improvements and changes in reading areas they need to work on. I will also try and record a reading session to see my own teaching practice and what I need to work on to make sure I am using the prompts correctly and effectively.