Term 2 Check in - MIT 2019

Term 2 Data 

This term we had testing and reports and I was able to use running records to see how my learners were getting on and to see if the things we have been doing in class have been working. With the testing I found that all of my learners managed to pass one reading level and most made progress of 0.5 - 1 year in reading. This was huge for some of my learners who have not made much shift in reading. 

What did I find out?

From completing these running records I found out that there are two main areas that need work in order for my learners to progress. One of the big things was vocabulary what I am finding is that they are able to read these words from sounding out and looking at blends but they are unsure of what these words mean. Another main thing that needs work is inferring as well as applied knowledge. These will be the focus of what we will be working in order to continue to raise reading achievement. 

What is working?

• Screencastify:
• Still really engaged with this activity and listening to themselves reading. 
• Listening to the story again:
• Listening to the story after we have read to look out for those new words and see how they are pronounced. Gives reading mileage as well.
• Reading tumble:
• Having a reading tumble in place so that each of the students knows what they are supposed to be doing and when. 
• Assigned seats:
• Having a set place to sit and complete work is helping with focus and completing work. 

Where to next?

• Focus on vocabulary:
• Spelling lists every week.
• Silent reading every day.
• Vocabulary tasks every week as part of guided reading.
• Spelling practice part of the reading tumble
• Reading activities:
• Screencastify (continue on with this)
• Follow up activities that require the students to create and use the text they have read to answer questions and find information. 
• Recording some of the stories that we have read that aren't available on TKI - maybe have students reading these. 
• Link to inquiry:
• Information fact sheets - needing to look up new vocabulary
• Front load vocabulary and have this accessible on the wall.

MIT where to?

Over the school holidays I am going to be creating a tool for this group of readers as a space where they can find all of the things that they need to work on. I am still not 100% sure what this will look like but will be something that is beneficial for my learners and will help engage my readers and also at the same time help to boost reading achievement. So again watch this space!

Term 2 Inquiry Update - MIT 2019

This term has been one of trial and error and trying to figure out the best way to use digital tools in the classroom with reading. This term is report time so I am currently underway with completing running records. Hopefully this data will show some shift so watch this space as I will update this as soon as I have all of this data.

Text to type:

Text to type has been working with some of my learners with their reading. I found learners were able to find the words they had said incorrectly while they were reading however they weren't really doing much with this after. This is still something that I will continue to use in the classroom throughout the year as an extra activity. I liked the idea of the students going away and reading the text again and being accountable for this reading. I wanted something along these lines that would also be something they could revisit so I decided to try something else.

What is the something else?

I decided to try and use screencastify and record themselves reading the story or article again after they were reading with me and their group. Along with this they needed to listen to themselves reading while following along with the journal that they had read. The results so far have been fantastic. They students are very engaged and loving this activity, they are also loving the ability to listen to themselves back. I have been using this for a few weeks now and have very engaged readers in my classroom. This idea has evolved over the weeks as I reflected how it was presented to my students and this might have been too much. They were having to reflect what their reading was like which was a challenge so what I have changed it to is answering a few questions about how they thought that they read. There are examples of this in the slide deck below. One is a completed screencastify recording and the other is a completed text to type presentation.

Where to next?

I want to continue to try and use these types of activities into the reading session. One thing I am trying to start is that the learners are then able to go and listen to the story read by someone else. On TKI many of the newer school journals level 1 and 2 and junior journals have this feature. This allows the students to pick up on the words that they may have got wrong both during our guided time and their time reading and this helps confirm the new words and make sure they are reading them correctly. This is another activity that they are enjoying. This is meaning that the learners are exposed to the text in three different ways and they are always needed to use the journal to follow along. This is something that I will continue to work for the rest of the term and into next term. Other work ons are to complete my site where the students can have access and these extra activities. I would like to have this ready for my learners to be working on by the end of this term. So watch this space!