Manaiakalani T.O.D.

 

Manaiakalani Cluster Teacher Only Day

To end our term we met as a cluster at Glen Taylor School to develop our knowledge on Effective Reading Practice. We each attended three sessions, after hearing from the keynote speakers:Dr Rae Si'ilata and Kyla Hansell. 

Dr Si'ilata was my main lecturer for my TESSOL paper and it was good to be reminded of the simple things that we take for granted, and how different that may look for our students.

Below I have listed some of the main points that I was once again reminded of and the major impact these can have on our students and their learning.

• Teacher willing to share the power with the students in class, Making sure to value a students first language. This doesn't mean that the teacher must be fluent in this language. 
• As a reader if we don't know or understand the context our predictions will  not connect to the topic. (Dr Si'ilata provided a great example where we were asked to fill in the gaps of a text, without prior context. We all read the text as though it was about cleaning our teeth, but when the context was revealed it had been about a chicken farmer and how to stop his hens from getting infections).
• As teachers we need to provide texts that are mirrors to our students. This could be a text set in their homeland, a craft or art, faces of characters that reflect back the students faces of home.
• Don't teach words in isolation, it is much more meaningful in chunks when learning a new language.
• Use and access the Dual language books, these are also available as audio.
• Use the resources we have available, Our Students.

Session One: Reading Follow up and response tasks - Matt Goodwin link

• The follow up activities should build on purpose and students should be practising the strategies learnt during this time.

• Students only receive 20% of the reading time with the teacher make it good.

• Provide tasks that require them to read for a purpose, Skin in the Game.

eg. Debates, Movies, maps, Songs, Plays, Animations

• Don't spend to much of your reading time on what is expected in the follow-up activity. This could perhaps be covered in your writing sessions.

Session Two: Creating a Rich Oral Language Programme - Jo Gormly link

Jo shared at the beginning of her presentation how her school had been running Personal development sessions over two years with Dr Jannie Van Hees, who has developed many educational resources and programmes around the use of language and culture. 

Deep Dive

To allow their students experiences to grow the school now has a deep dive topic every two weeks. This is a short breakdown of what those two weeks would look like.

Topic - Water

What do you think of when you hear the word water?

eg. bath, pool, tap, river, raining ...

This allows for prior knowledge language to be shared. Next a discussion on what water looks like, feels like. Where lots of different ideas can be shared and explored.

A video was then shared with the students Ranginui the sky father

A Tongan book - Walking in the Rain a dual language book (audio available)

Gifting of vocab when looking at the water cycle - This is provided with visual pictorials drawn by the teacher. At this time the teacher is also using lots of oral language eg. the sun makes the water get warmer and warmer and then it begind to evaporate ...

Write and say phrases - (lexical chunking)

Hands on experiences - going outside in the rain, splashing in puddles, dancing, Experiments displaying the water cycle etc.

Provide talking frames - provides the correct vocab to experience and practise.

Say  and Do - what ever the teacher has to do, they explain in detail use correct language (no dumbing down).

eg. I taking my bucket to the tap, I'm holding my bucket under the tap, now I'm turning the tap on. I don't want to over fill my bucket so I'm  going to turn the tap on slowly ...

Session Three: T Shaped Literacy for Juniors - Rebecca Jesson link

This is wide reading for high order thinking - 5+ a day.

Shared, Guided, Buddy, Independent - Practice. endurance, resilience.

• Independent reading  - doesn't matter if it is not perfect
• Explicit vocab
• Talking/Wide reading - strategies to learn the words themselves, to gain word knowledge.
• Reading involves - talking, reading, writing (To connect)
• layer the learning over a week with 5+ texts
• Before reading - get prior knowledge out (discuss the book)
• Read the book - oral language 
• Different meanings - across language
• Make meaning of the text - everyone can we have been making meaning since the day we were born.
• Provide provocation - Theme, transferable ideas:

Eg. Main character, side kicks

      Main character's role, side kicks role

      Relationship, who changes the most, who learns the most etc.

      asking student do we want to change our minds, while reading, after discussion, at the end of the book.

• Link books - How to get help, Keep Trying, (Choose various texts covering this theme)