Literacy
Reading @ Porritt
Tony Parker - MT
I got to read a story to a group of Yr 3 and 4 students. The book I read was 'You are special' by Max Lucado. It is a story about the land of the Wemmicks, They are made out of wood and the Carpenter, Eli helps Punchinello discover how special he is. I picked this book because the focus of the school for the past three weeks is 'Amazing me". The students have had a big focus on who they are and what they can contribute to their school using the following values; P.R.I.D.E. (positivity, respect, integrity, determination and excellence). The students have participated in numerous activities to help them connect different values to the actions so they know what the values look like when they are lived out.
Prior Learning experience
The 'prior learning experience' approach involves teachers being able to incorporate new learning and its relevance to their students' previous experience. To promote student learning the teacher will need to know their subject matter well and create different opportunities for students to make a connection that meets their level of previous experience. It is important for the teacher to know students well enough to be able to plan the lesson according to a realistic expectation of what their previous knowledge is.
Mark Critical Writing
POETIC WRITING (PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND CHARACTER): MATRIX OF DEEPER FEATURES
Level liii - Vocabulary - Extends the use of key personal content words and high-frequency words. Begins to use varied and precise adjectives, verbs, and nouns.
I searched online for a story to share with Mason - a junior at Porritt Primary. He is interested in becoming a Police officer.
I have noticed that he displays behaviour which leads me to think that he does not like reading or writing. An example is when he says that he didn't bring his book bag (but it is in his bag) or when it takes him an extra few minutes to get to the reading table and all the other students are sitting and waiting for him.
Possum Magic
Pace - the tempo of the syllables being read maximising on the punctuation.
Pitch - tone and level of the voice (eg. high for feminine and low for masculine)
Getting the pace and pitch right when reading a story can really bring the story to life. In a way you are colouring a picture for the person listening and help them to be involved in the adventure using their imagination.
Mem's voice was very animated and her story was pretty quirky. I would like to use the same enthusiasm when reading to my students. I also learnt that there was a thing as pumpkin scones! I'd be keen to try it
Today I read 'The boy and his bear'. I read to the junior students (Y1/2) before morning tea break. They were very involved. Some children had heard the story before. They were all very good at listening and paid attention all the way through the story. I asked them a few questions and they responded eagerly. Some children put up their hands and asked questions or made statements such as 'I have a teddy bear' or 'did it happen for real?'. I asked the class who thought it was real and who didn't. I said that it was real for the boy in the story so that was very special and lucky for him :) The reason I chose the book was to let the children get to know me. I wanted them to see my style of communicating and storytelling. I chose a book that focused on a child who was not very confident and needed his bear to help him. By the end of the story the boy didn't need his bear because he was confident after his adventures and now he enjoyed his bears' company instead of needing him. This way their friendship grew. I hoped in a subliminal way the students will see that I am like the bear - there to support them through their adventure of learning until they become confident enough to do things independently.
Reading lesson
Giraffe group
Level 6
Oceana, Iziah, Maia, Christian, Daeseeden.
The students had behavioural issues. Only one person brought their reading book from home. I noted that Maia and Oceana were still very chatty but I considered this helpful as they probably process their ideas out loud.
Izaiah was more open and reading out louder than he did yesterday. I see his confidence growing :)
Daeseeden didn't want to share his ideas and didn't even want to hold his book.
Christian sat on the chair while everyone else was on the floor and he was saying things like 'I don't want to do this stupid thing', 'this is a stupid book and I have all this crappy stuff'. I noted the fear in his expression so I addressed it.
I said that I understood that it was probably abit scary when you don't know what the texts and symbols on the page are. I went on and said 'it's ok, I am not here to see what you don't know I am here to share what you do know and help you learn what you want to know. When I was a little girl I also didn't know what the words on the page were either'. I saw them slowly relax - the girls were chatting happily - they had smiles on their faces. The boys were the ones I noticed the most shift with. C and D went from being agitated to calm - especially Christian, Izaiah just looked much happier - shy smiles and eye contact. Christian stopped saying negative things and started to listen. He even joined in with pointing to the words and saying them.
We focused on one page and everyone pointed out the words they knew. Everyone was calling out we all laughed celebrating the words they knew. We counted them up and out of 8 words they knew 6 words collectively so they helped each other read the whole page! I gave them all a high five each and praised them for their perseverance and believing in themselves.