Reading Signs

May 2017

Literacy at Tamaki College

The Protein Issue

Data Response

One of the earliest reading skills gained by humans was the ability to read  the paths created by herds of animals. Tracking individual animals by reading paw prints before hunting them must have been a higher level reading skill, one that developed much later as we moved up the evolutionary ladder. Initially humans simply followed a herd of grazing animals and waited discreetly for the predators to have their fill.

Following a herd of animals that are out of sight is a reading task and to complete this task  effectively the human mind must have been capable of pre-reading, during reading and post reading activities. Before reading the path, early humans needed to predict that up ahead the gap in the ground could have been created by a herd of animals.  During the  reading of the path, there was a need to focus  full attention on the path, to visualize a herd of animals and to integrate this new information by making a connection to previous experiences of  finding the animal paths. After reading the path, a band of hominids keen to find a freshly killed carcass to scavenge would need to summarise the major ideas found on the path. They needed to recall supporting details which told them the direction the herd may have travelled and even to infer that a freshly killed sheep or goat  was the most likely item on the menu for the evening meal.

These reading skills are innate,  but when it comes to reading a written text, specialist training is required. For students at Tamaki College, especially those who gain a PAT reading stanine score of 4 or less, these skills need strengthening. The reading skills are there but the reason their comprehension of  a text  is poor is that these skills are not employed consistently. There are gaps in their skill repertoire and they lack confidence and direction. If we want to improve reading comprehension skills we must ensure students are given real reading tasks every day. It is important that students are given tasks which enhance their ability to comprehend  but it is equally important that students are made aware that these are reading strategies that can be practised and strengthened.

Digital Intensive 19th May

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

Today's session extended my understanding of how to engage learners

through the use of sight, sound and motion. This will be something to look

for when assessing student literacy needs and to apply when developing literacy resources. This will be challenging as multimedia replaces pen and paper strategies using SAMR model.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?Time to reflect and share with colleagues.

Hangouts offer the opportunity to interact with colleagues without the need

to organise yet another JAM. This means a community of learning  can be

developed with others, especially those interested in literacy development

without having to leave the office. The medium here is the message as digital solutions for

literacy problems are created in a digital environment.

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  

Using rubrics in the classroom to encourage student creativity is something worth

investigating.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

Google Keep apps on my phone will aid my ability to record student progress in the classroom, offering
the chance to capture whiteboard  instructions, student tasks and student work. This can be done
without the need to take notes or to copy assignments.

First Hangout attempt.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Ac-ch5az7TPMcbTrVbTnAHGZStA&ll=51.937256037972986%2C-8.430129002343733&z=10

Time to reflect and share with colleagues

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of Manaiakalani kaupapa and pedagogy?

I’ve learned how augmentation can work using Google Forms.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow as a professional?

My understanding and interest in  Google Sheets has been piqued and I’m

keen to develop my use of conditional formatting in order to develop my

use of student data  -especially asTTle and PAT data

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?  

Forms will be an excellent way to survey staff in order to assess the need

for literacy support.

• What did I learn that could improve my confidence, capability or workflow in my personal life?

Google sheets could be a wonderful way to organize features of my

personal life, for example, exercise regime and diet.

Manaiakalani Digital Team's Turangawaewae

Student Achievement     Data Gathering       Term I  2017

New ESOL Student assessments

Whole Junior School assessments

          PAT   Math

          PAT   Reading Comprehension

          AsTTle  Writing

The PAT tests were initially set for each cohort and conducted in the school auditorium. This spilt over into the library, mainly for students without devices.  Again it may have been better to do one or two class at a time in the library thus ensuring students are seated apart.

AsTTle Writing was done in the library two classes at a time. It would be better to test one class at a time and with Goggle access blocked.

Catch-ups 

Class by class review I and II

This was a long process of class by class review. The missed students need to be identified as soon as the initial test is completed so catch-ups can be done straight away. This was hampered by students sharing their work with only their English teacher.

Moderation
Moderation needs more time and it must be done as a group exercise. This was attempted but the pastoral needs of students interrupted this process.  The moderation may also need to be done off campus to ensure all English teachers are present. A single departmental meeting is not sufficient time for this process. 

For the moderation process to be completed accurately English teachers submit a sample of marked work. These scripts are moderated at a Manaiakalani district meeting and are returned to teachers. English teachers meet and complete a blind marking of moderated scripts. Teachers also analyse the scripts returned from the Manaiakalni moderation meeting. 

Teachers then need to spend an extended period together marking their class scripts. Ideally this should be done as a group exercise so teachers can, when necessary, share, question and grade each script in a collaborative manner. This process enables cross checking, it also help teachers develop a better understanding of the marking rubric. Ultimately this enhances the way teachers use the data in their planning i.e. addressing the learning needs of their students.

Parent Teacher Interviews
In preparation for parents teacher interviews teacher PD involved:

·        PAT report format for parents and a discussion of stanines

·        Scale Scores converted to Curriculum Levels and reading age: Maths and Reading Comprehension

·        Asttle:  Curriculum Level Reports

-Data Uploads and manual entries were made to KAMAR

-Colour printed reports of PAT Maths,  PAT Reading Comprehension and AsTTle  

 Writing were made available for parents.

Teacher Feedback 

Teachers reported how they were able to show parents an accurate picture of their son or daughter's literacy and numeracy levels. This equated with the Curriculum Levels and was based on the PAT maths and reading reports. Teachers were also able to identify a student's writing strengths and gaps in their explanation writing skills. This they were shown from the student's  asTTle writing report.

Term 2 Focus

Goal 3

Ideally department meetings should regularly include data analysis, reflections and report on data.

Data analysis	Reflection	Action

Areas to consider

Time on Text:  -reading text, producing text

Texts used to develop subject literacy

            -student awareness of text structure

            -student awareness of reciprocal reading strategies

Levels of scaffolding

Student text discussion opportunities

Literacy strategies taught

Student awareness of literacy strategies used in a text

Lexical density and vocabulary: student vocabulary strategies

-explicit teaching of vocabulary

Genre base language features taught i.e Fuctional Grammar

Genre or text type awareness

-audience, structural feature, linguistic features, critical literacy