End of an Era: Saying Goodbye to GIS!

Teaching at GIS has been so much more than just a job, it’s been a joy and a privilege to be a teacher at Glen Innes School for the past ten years. I leave knowing that I am the person I am today because of the people I have meet throughout my journey at GIS. A big thank-you has to go to all of those who have supported me and my tamariki over the years! Now it’s time to spend less time driving up and down the southern motorway and more time with my whanau. Bring on a new teaching adventure in 2024!

Nga mihi nui!! 

CoL Teacher Inquiry: Bursts and Bubbles

 Wow! We made it to the end of 2023! 

What a learning journey it has been this year! 

I am very thankful to have a inspirational colleagues by my side. 

Here is a reflection of my own personal learning journey this year and below that is a Google Slides summary of my 2023 Inquiry. 

Reflection of my personal learning:

The biggest impact of my inquiry has been the increase in my knowledge of the science of reading. I’ve learnt so much about the science of reading and I can see that there is still a lot that is unknown in this space - despite the common misconception the science of reading (or structured literacy) is fixed there are still so many questions especially within the space where the research meets classroom practice. I particularly like this articles by Dr. Christine Braid from Massey University titled “Tread Lightly” and as she states;

“The research to practice pathway has some cement already dry and other newer pathways that we need to approach tentatively.”

Alongside, my CoL teacher role I have been completing TESSOL papers at the University of Canterbury and I am interested to see how the research behind the science of reading work alongside that of TESSOL to best support our ELL learners to become successful readers and writers. I touched on this link by looking at the ‘vocabulary strand’ of Scarborough's Reading Rope but I am interested to look into it with more depth in the future.

Google Slide summary of my 2023 teacher inquiry.

 

 Bring on 2024!! 

CoL Teacher Inquiry: Tread Lightly - things we know and questions we still have.

 Things we know and questions we still have... 

Dr. Christine Braid from Massey University shared a series of interesting articles that I have linked here: Literacy @ Massy 

I particularly found this table interesting as in the education space and in the wider community have a view that "the science of reading" is settled... but in reality there are many questions left to be explored.    

I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

CoL Teacher Inquiry: Manaiakalani Film Festival

Our topic study for the term has been focused on "Farming" which was lead up to a trip to Ambury Farm at the end of the term. I filled this inquiry with rich language experiences to support the development of my class's vocabulary as part of my CoL teacher inquiry for 2023. 

We created our Maniakalani Film about our trip to Ambury Farm - one of the children wrote a song about the trip and with the support of our talented music teacher we put it to music and taught it to the rest of the class. Here's the link to our movie!

Before going to Ambury Farm the tamariki had been creating using the products that we get from farming. They made butter from cream, bread from scratch, lemonade, cooked scrambled eggs and will be making french fries using potatoes, weaving with wool and making our own ice-cream! 

I gave the tamariki as much opportunity as possible to be independent and experience making these things for themselves. Here are a few photographs as evidence of what we have been getting up to! I have displayed these photographs and key vocabulary on the wall in the classroom and it has been lovely to see the children looking at the photos and talking with their friends what we made.

Making butter - we made butter by placing cream in a jar (and a few marbles) and shaking it until it turned into butter. The tamariki enjoyed butter their own fairy bread!

We made bread from scratch using yeast, flour, water, sugar and oil. 

We made lemonade (with a few limes thrown too!) using lemons a tamariki in our class brought along to school. 

After much classroom debate and a taking in a vote in the classroom the children decided the best way to cook eggs was to scramble them, so that is what we did! 

CoL Teacher Inquiry: Celebrating our writing success!!

All of the learners in my target group began this year as PRE-writers when assessed by e-asstle. Here are a few examples of their writing at the beginning of the year and a sample of the same child's work now, at the end of term 3. Using the e-asstle writing assessment I can now say that all of these learners are working within the 1B range.

 

The next learning steps for these learners based on this e-asstle assessment are too:

1. Add detail to their ideas
2. Start sentences in different ways
3. Sequence their writing so that it makes sense (in the order than it happened)
4. Use joining words to write some compound sentences, e.g. and, but, because, or.
5. Attempt to use new and interesting words to make your writing more exciting.
6. Plan your ideas before you write and use your plan when you write.

Looking ahead to next term I have identified their gaps and some strategies (some new and some a continuation of what is already in place) to support them to further develop as writers. These include:

• Story Maps 
• Explicit teaching and modelling of the above learning intentions
• Rich language experiences (we will be going to the zoo, taking part in School Kits "Sea Cleaners" and learning about the digital curriculum through hands on experiences)
• Roll and write silly sentences  - an example of this activity is linked here. 
• Daily independent writing practice as part of their literacy rotation. 

CoL Teacher Inquiry: A magical moment for story mapping!

It was a magical moment for one of the tamariki in my class this morning. Linked to the image of the story map below you'll find the audio clip of her using her story map to retell the story "How Maui Fished up the North Island". She's an ELL children who began her schooling last year as a very softly spoken and shy girl. It was magic to see her hand shoot up into the air this morning when I asked who would like to use their story map to retell the story to the class. She got up and confidently shared the story in her own words. There's still lots to work on for her but self belief and the support of her very encouraging classmates is pushing her to give it a go and talk more in class which is causing her language to grow everyday. 

Click on the her story map to listen to her retell the story or read the transcription below! 

"He went to the fire place where you talk for the biggest fish and then and then the brother say you can't come because Maui because you done annoying and then Maui had a plan to go on the boat and then Maui and then the fourth brother found Maui and then got the fish on the hook and then found a bigger fish!"

On reflection, when thinking about my inquiry for 2023 the use of a story map to support oral narrative has shown for this child and for other in the class that is can be a great way to scaffold them by giving them the support they need using pictures they have drawn to orally retell the story. 

To create the story map, I modelled it one the board using the BSLA story elements cards of 'characters, setting, problem, plan and ending' and I then modelled retelling the story in my own words using my story map and trying to use the target vocabulary (that has been explicitly taught). Here is what this looked like (very messy but entirely authentic!); 

Looking ahead, next time I will begin introducing the story map alongside the story at the beginning of the week and continue to use this story map throughout the week rather than using only at the end of the week. I will also record the target vocabulary on the story map and work with the tamariki to draw a picture to help support the meaning of the target vocabulary. This story map can then be displayed in the classroom for the children's to refer to. I think it is really important that the story map is hand drawn and a "work in progress" as they is a great example the to the tamariki. Thinking back to the explicit teaching of the target vocabulary, I will be getting the children to clap the syllables in the words as a way to draw their attention to these words and to the correct pronunciation of these as I have noticed this is something many of my learners have been struggling with. 

Kia kaha! 

CoL Teacher Inquiry: Vocabulary and Oral Narrative!

Wow! What a busy start to the term three! I can't believe it is already week six!! 

In this blog post I will discuss the progress of my inquiry which is guided by the following question: 

Will explicit teaching of vocabulary, phonological awareness and the alphabetic code lift the achievement of my tamariki in literacy?

Throughout this year, it has become increasingly evident that my students have made positive strides in word encoding and decoding through systematic and explicit instruction. However, they faced challenges in grasping meaning, including vocabulary, comprehension, and overall sense-making. As it is stated in my inquiry question, I have also been explicitly teaching vocabulary. I aim to achieve this goal through three methods: story mapping, vocabulary strips, and rich language experiences.

1. Story Mapping

I adopted the story mapping approach after attending a webinar by English educator Pie Corbett, part of the "Sounds-Write Symposium". A "story map" involves a squiggly line on a piece of paper guiding students to illustrate a sequence of pictures aiding their verbal recount of a familiar story. I've integrated "story mapping" into our daily shared picture book (which is an element of the BSLA) where the teacher shares the same picture book with the class each day for a week, explicitly teaching target vocabulary and oral narrative. I have started explicitly teaching story elements such as setting, character, problem, plan, and ending using these shared picture books. As the week progresses, students grow more familiar with the story, and they take on a more active role in narrating it, with less teacher guidance. I had the hunch that using a "story map" would really scaffold the children into producing a more coherent and rich oral retelling of the shared picture book of the week.

Thanks to a generous contribution from "Breakfast Club Kids," my class has been enjoying the "Tales of Aotearoa" series by New Zealand author Donavan Bixley. The series includes three books: 'How Maui Slowed the Sun,' 'How Maui Fished up the North Island of Aotearoa,' and 'Maui and the Secret of Fire.' Each student in my class has received their own set of these books for home enjoyment with their families.

For each of these shared picture books, I've curated target vocabulary, comprising four English words and two Te Reo Māori words, mirroring the approach used in the BSLA.

Here are the target vocabulary for the book, 'Maui and the Secret of Fire'. 

• Curious (p. 5): Curious means wanting to learn or know about something. Maui was curious to know what would happen if he put all the fires out.

• Respect (p. 9):Respect means to be polite or kind to someone or something else. Maui needed to respect the fire, by not letting it go out and knowing how dangerous fire can be.

• Furiously (p. 18): Furiously means that someone is really angry. Mahuika was furious with Maui for not respecting the fire.

• Precious (last page): Precious means it is highly valued or very expensive. For example, Maui’s discovery of the secret of fire was very valuable as they people could now make fire themselves.

• Ahi : Ahi is the Te Reo Maori word for fire.

• Kuia: Kuia is the Te Reo Maori word for grandmother.

To scaffold this process, I've introduced a straightforward story map to guide children towards independent oral story retelling. The simplicity of the story map proves effective: a squiggly line on paper, with the beginning of the story at the top and the conclusion at the bottom. I demonstrated the creation of my story map to the class, and they crafted their own versions.

Below are a few examples of the story maps created by the students, based on the story "Maui and the Secret of Fire." Additionally, I've attached a video showcasing one student's narrative using the story map as a tool for enhancing their oral storytelling skills.

 

2. Vocabulary Strips 

I participated in GEM Literacy's webinar titled "Introduction to Explicit Vocabulary Teaching," where Gemma explained the rationale and methodology behind explicit vocabulary instruction. In May, I incorporated her "vocabulary strips" into our daily small group reading sessions. These strips have helped my students bridge the gap between word decoding and word meaning. I specifically choose words from the reading material for each session, aiming for high interest, and multiple meanings—such as 'pit' which can refer to a 'sandpit' or a 'hole in the ground'.

In practice, I introduce the chosen word for the day along with an accompanying image unrelated to the reading material. Using an "I do, we do, you do" approach, I first model segmenting and blending the word, then guide the students through the process, and finally, they independently practice the word. We then discuss its meaning, with an emphasis on the children expressing it in their own words.  Then the students use the vocabulary strip to practice writing the word, as illustrated in the attached image. Lastly, the children complete a sentence dictation that includes the target vocabulary and other decodable words or heart words that they know (usually this is a sentence taken directly from the decodable book the vocabulary was selected from).  

Following this, I've observed that children are more likely to both recall the word's meaning and retaining it in their memory. Subsequently, they are often able to recognize the word in their reading without needing to sound it out. It's important to note that although this trend has been notable among my tamariki, it isn't always true for all my tamariki all the time. 

3. Rich Language Experiences 

Giving my tamariki the time to create as been a big focus in our classroom this term. Our topic study for the term has been focused on "Farms" which is leading up to a trip to Ambury Farm (next week). 

The tamariki have been creating using the products that we get from farming. We've made butter from cream, bread from scratch, lemonade, cooked scrambled eggs and will be making french fries using potatoes, weaving with wool and making our own ice-cream! 

I've given the tamariki as much opportunity as possible to be independent and experience making these things for themselves. Here are a few photographs as evidence of what we have been getting up to! I have displayed these photographs and key vocabulary on the wall in the classroom and it has been lovely to see the children looking at the photos and talking with their friends what we made.

Making butter - we made butter by placing cream in a jar (and a few marbles) and shaking it until it turned into butter. The tamariki enjoyed butter their own fairy bread!

We made bread from scratch using yeast, flour, water, sugar and oil. 

We made lemonade (with a few limes thrown too!) using lemons a tamariki in our class brought along to school. 

After much classroom debate and a taking in a vote in the classroom the children decided the best way to cook eggs was to scramble them, so that is what we did! 

Lastly, I am left with the challenge of capturing all this amazing learning. I have decided to keep it simple and use the assessment practices that we have in place at our school already like the BSLA assessments (as this covers early literacy and oral narrative) and the Liz Kane Phonological Awareness Assessment.  I have gathered data using BSLA for all learners at baseline (beginning of the year), after 10 weeks of school (and 20 weeks for those identified as needing support) and will gather data again at a the end of year. I have gathered data using Liz Kanes Phonological Awareness Assessment each term as recommended in the instructions for administration. 

I am looking to find a way to gather my tamariki's voice in an authentic and meaningful way. Any ideas would be much appreciated?

Nga mihi nui!!