KEILOR VIEWS PRIMARY SCHOOL JAN 2010 FACILITATED BY SALLY SLATTERY Beginning the school year – planning for effective literacy instruction

Overview of the day Assessment schedule – review/agreement Revisit /review reading block, gradual release of responsibility and reading instructional practices (develop common understandings) Planning for 1 st 20 days Beginning to develop a scope and sequence for comprehension strategies across the year Read/Think aloud as a critical practice Practical comprehension strategies Reflection

Assessment – ‘at the heart of teaching’ Assessment should be ongoing Assessment should serve to validate and inform our instruction Assessment is the beginning of the teaching and learning process – not the end! Assessment should examine teacher practice as well as the student’s product: the student’s performance may be caused by more than lack of ability Assessment information should be shared with the student

Think, pair, share What assessment do you conduct in reading? How do you use this information? Do we collect consistent and similar information? How is this information shared across your grade team?

Some useful reading assessments Informal/ongoing running records (only if properly scored and analysed!) Benchmark or formal assessments at identified times throughout the year (Rigby/Teachers College Reading On demand assessment Item analysis of Naplan Conference notes/student reading goals Reading notebooks/journals Student self assessment/attitudes and understanding of reading

The new assessment schedule What will it entail? Handout Why the change? Share and discuss in grade teams Questions and clarifications

Reading tracking sheet Keilor Views Primary School - Reading Benchmarking Tracking Sheet - EXAMPLE.xlsx Keilor Views Primary School - Reading Benchmarking Tracking Sheet - EXAMPLE.xlsx

Break out groups to discuss benchmark reading assessment P-2 – With Sally (Running Records and Rigby administration moderation discussion and common agreements) 3-6 – With Matt, Katie and Rita (Teachers college reading assessment – how to administer and use it)

The important thing about reading is comprehension. Reading is the construction of meaning. Without understanding, there is no reading. Everything about reading is directed towards making meaning…” (Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell: Guiding Readers and Writers)

Research shows… Active, thoughtful, proficient readers… Activate relevant, prior knowledge before, during and after reading and make predictions Create visual and other sensory images Draw inferences to form conclusions, make judgments and interpretations Ask questions of themselves, the authors, and the text they read Determine the most important ideas Synthesize and summarize what they read

Comprehension strategies Prediction and prior knowledge Questioning Text structures and features VisualisingSummarisingThink Aloud

An Example of the gradual release model Text features of non-fiction informational text Read aloud using and article on the whiteboard – talk about what I notice about the features such as headings, sub headings, captions, map etc and talk to students about how I will use these features to help me read and think my way through the text

Paired discussion How does this fit with your current practice? Which components do you already implement to a high level of competence on a daily basis? Which ones do you need to work on/have further support in? Questions to be clarified? 10 minutes for discussion

Reading Instructional Practices – 10 minutes for discussion Discuss in grade level teams your definition/understanding of the following instructional practices.... Read aloud/think aloud Shared reading Guided reading Book clubs Independent reading

Read Aloud – Whole Class Listening comprehension develops long before readers can independently decode text Use to introduce and model strategies aimed at deepening comprehension Opportunity to model your ‘thinking aloud’ and to invite students to make predictions, ask questions, share ideas, talk about the text etc Opportunity to motivate a love of reading by introducing the best quality children’s literature, new authors, and unfamiliar genres Should be daily – in the block or at another time during the day

Shared Reading – whole class and small group Enlarged text – big book or poem or on interactive whiteboard Read aloud and encourage students to read with you Can be revisited over a number of days for different purposes Provides opportunities for students to – see demonstrations of how a proficient reader makes meaning, talks about texts, encourages students to be an active participant in a community of learners

Guided reading Support readers to practice using the strategies introduced during Read Aloud and Shared Reading Small group that have a common learning need Groupings are flexible and change Text has an appropriate degree of challenge Text is short 5-10 minutes of independent reading Students know the purpose of the session – specific focus Teacher supports and observes students as they explore the text Students articulate the process or strategy and can talk about how it helps with reading

Book Clubs 3-6 Students read the same text in groups of 4-6 Can be ability grouped initially – moving towards students selecting groups based on text interests Students meet at a designated time to discuss their thinking and comprehension around the text Useful to have students use the reciprocal teaching routine to help guide their thinking and discussion – all students should think about all 4 of the strategies Teacher gradually releases responsibility – goal is for students to have a conversation

Independent reading During IR “children learn to be readers” (Marie Clay) Time each day to practice skills and strategies taught during whole and small group class instruction Students read a combination of ‘just right’ texts and choose from other materials in the classroom library based on interest Time builds throughout the year 3-40mins Teacher meets with students to monitor and confer

Conferring provides opportunities to… Observe students applying comprehension strategies Provide feedback about strategies and understanding Engage in quality talk about texts to deepen comprehension Help solve difficulties and clarify meaning Set individual reading goals Monitor students’ selection of texts

Instructional practices in action As you view the video consider... What instructional reading practice is it? What do you notice about the teacher talk/student talk? What will you need to put in place for this to occur? How is this similar of different to your practice?

Video video for workshops\Read aloud prediction june 11.AVI video for workshops\Read aloud prediction june 11.AVI video for workshops\May VID00013shared reading.AVI video for workshops\May VID00013shared reading.AVI video for workshops\reading activities(15).MP4 video for workshops\Apr guided reading.AVI video for workshops\Apr guided reading.AVI video for workshops\book choice oct 09.MP4 video for workshops\Recip tchg 2 4TS.AVI video for workshops\ indep think aloud.MP4 video for workshops\ indep think aloud.MP4

Turn and Talk as a routine Deepens thinking and comprehension No one right way of interpreting or thinking Allows all students to contribute their thinking Learning from each other So called ‘struggling readers’ have thinking heard Helps students to revise their thinking Develops a sense of community Supports students to become more engaged and motivated

Considerations in establishing ‘turn and talk’ Needs to be explicitly modelled and practiced – what does it look like/sound like Be explicit in the expectations Initially assign partners – change after a period of time Signal to finish the conversation Partners may share the thoughts of the partner (older students) Sit students in a circle next to their partners Have students evaluate their participation in the routine

Building conversations After ‘turn and talk’ encourage students to use ‘conversation prompts’ – develop a conversation rather than teacher question/student answer scenario Initially you may need to do a lot of ‘naming the behaviour’ eg. So your thinking is slightly different to... Modify the ‘conversation prompts’ according to grade level – build and add to them as you hear students using them

Planning for the first 20 days of reading instruction Using the handouts provided and the discussion that we have had, begin to plan your first 20 days of instruction Initially work in groups of 2 to highlight the important concepts to be covered – then work as a grade team to collate your thinking (3 different sources) Focus will vary by grade level Rules, routines and management should be a main part of this explicit instruction and practice Goal at the end of 20 days will be to – have your libraries established, students familiar with the range and how to use, students selecting JR books and that students are engaged in sustained periods of Independent Reading

So now what do I teach?? Introduce and explain comprehension overview and checklists – digest! Questions? Clarifications? Considerations for and ways to plan for comprehension units/foci Planning in grade level teams – begin to identify particular foci from 1-2 comprehension strategies and begin to develop a plan for the rest of Term 1 Map a sequence for the rest of the year ensuring that you have covered aspects of all of the comprehension strategies

Planning in grade level teams Suggest planning on prediction/prior knowledge and connections for P-2 and text structures and features and connections for 3-6 (for rest of term 1) 45 – 60 minutes Sharing about progress and what needs to be continued

Read aloud/think aloud Sally to model read aloud/think aloud What did you notice? What are the critical aspects of read aloud/think aloud? Work with a partner on your grade team – choose a text and plan a read aloud/think aloud to present to another partnership in your team Discuss what focus you chose and why? What explicit thinking did you do? How did this help you to understand? What did you model for your audience? (30 minutes to prepare and share)

Considerations for Read Aloud/Think Aloud Choose the text to fit your comprehension focus Must be pre-planned Be prepared – mark your stopping points/turn and talk points with post-its Don’t overdo the ‘think aloud’ points Be explicit about the focus for the lesson – today I am going to show you how I.... Be clear and state the student role – I want you to take notice of how I... I want you to think about... You will turn and talk about... Review the focus at the end of the session – today we... In your independent reading I want you to...

Practical comprehension activities Mixed grade level teams – 3-4 people per group Read the task card – have a go at the activity Discuss and consider how this strategy could be varied for different grade levels How would this activity support students comprehension? Swap and have a go at a different activity Sharing – what was the activity? How could this be used in your classroom?

Reflection Think, record on post its, pair, share things that I will KEEP doing 1-2 things I will START doing 1-2 things that I will STOP doing Some things that I would like further support with are.... THANKYOU - please place your post its on the charts