Summary Key Changes

In this blog post, I’m going to summarise some of the key changes I’ve made in my teaching practice and explore other factors that have influenced student learning from my inquiry so far this year. It’s been a journey of reflection, observation, and tweaking to find what works best to engage and support my students. I’ll be sharing some of the shifts I’ve noticed, what’s had the biggest impact, and where I’m heading next.

Ground rules for talk

By implementing this with my students this year I have found that the majority of my students have gained the confidence to share their thoughts and ideas during guided reading sessions as well as when completing follow up tasks with their peers after guided reading. This has not just had an impact during reading but has had a flow on effect to other subject areas. I will continue to use this in my classroom for the rest of the year and will build on this again next year in my reading program. 

Picture prompts

I have found this to be a really great starting place to get students thinking critically about a text. By having a single image and then asking inference questions the students have started to think beyond the text and using clues from what they can see to infer deeper meaning. Also having would you rather questions at the beginning of whole class reading or guided reading sessions has allowed the students the opportunity to share their own opinions which has then had a follow on effect with reading. 

Response to text tasks

These have been working really well. It has been really clear to see the link between what we have been learning in guided reading and then focused on after reading either independently or as a whole group. By having the create element to this task the students have had the opportunity to explain key pars of the text in a different way that is meaningful to them.

Reading Tumble

Yes I have brought back the reading tumble and I wish I had done this sooner. It gives students clear direction of what they are needing to be doing during literacy time. This has also given the students the opportunity to read the text before coming to guided reading sessions where they have the opportunity to ask questions and it also means that we can delve deeper into the text during these sessions.

Reading Challenge and Library Time

By having the reading challenge alongside our reading program this year has allowed students to explore different types of texts and well as choosing what they want to read. I have also loved having the students visit the school library more often this year which has given the students more reading milage as well as finding reading exciting and interesting again. 

It’s been an exciting journey to see how these changes and approaches have shaped student learning this year. The ground rules for talk have boosted student confidence across different subjects, and I’m keen to build on this even more next year. Picture prompts have encouraged deeper thinking and made students more confident in sharing their inferences, while response-to-text tasks have let them show their understanding in meaningful ways.

Bringing back the reading tumble was a game-changer. It’s given students clearer direction and helped make guided reading sessions much more focused and productive. The reading challenge and increased library visits have also helped reignite a love for reading, giving students more freedom to explore and discover texts that interest them.

I’m proud of the progress made so far and am looking forward to continuing this journey, building on what’s working and staying open to new ways of supporting our students to grow as readers and thinkers.