Vocabulary Day 6 Reflection - RPI

I have learned that vocabulary really matters and since starting the RPI course I have started paying more attention to vocabulary and today highlighted again its importance. I learned that there is more to vocabulary than finding the dictionary meaning or synonyms for the words. Students should be able to put their new vocabulary into a sentence or be able to find examples of the word used incorrectly in a sentence. Language can express knowledge so knowing when to use formal and informal language in speaking and writing is important.

 

There were many Google Slide documents that I have taken a liking to so I have linked them to a new vocabulary folder that I will begin incorporating into my reading lessons. Others in our break out talked about how they use a 'word of the day' and have challenges throughout the day using these words. I thought these were great ideas and I too want to implement something like this to create a word-rich environment. Using this Word Power chart would be a step up from what we currently do for word work.

Reflecting on the way I currently teach new vocabulary, it is more of a 'rinse and repeat' type approach where I am not referring back to new vocabulary the following day to reinforce these new words. Students get reinforcement of these words with their follow-up activities but I do not think this enough exposure just writing the definition once or finding a synonym for the word. 

I want to have a go at using some vocabulary apps such as WordWall, Vocabulary.com and Quizlet. I am also interested in creating some vocabulary activities like the one below, although I need to look into this. So if you know how to use the drop down chips that would be super helpful. 

I learned about Rebus Puzzles. I have done these a few times but didn't know the name of them. I am not usually very good at these but I had fun finding the phrases for the kids ones. This could be a fun way to engage students.

 

Day 5 Reflection - RPI

Reflection on homework We are currently testing, so listening to my student's reading and prompting some of them to read clearly for the purpose of the other person hearing them would be beneficial. I hope to focus on fluency as mentioned in Day 4 in the coming weeks after testing has been completed. I like to make notes of how their reading sounds in my planning sheet during guided reading and this too has informed my report comments.

Reading site design

At Saint Mary’s our reading learning is available digitally, it’s rewindable and it is easy for whanau and students to access. In Pompallier Hub we all have similar layouts for reading on our site and we use the taskboards for each reading group. Groups, instructions and learning intentions are all visible on our task boards and we often have students using this digital platform when they are away or sick.

Digital reading apps 
I am not currently checking in on students' progress on Epic, and after having a quick look, I found I can see who has opened the texts and how long it took them to read the text. I am thinking a check-in once a week could be beneficial to keep students accountable. Maybe on a Monday as that is the day they should be reading and doing the learn part of their taskboard. A suggestion was that students could screenshot whatever they have completed at the end so the teacher can see what they are doing. Otherwise, we have no idea what they are doing.

I want to incorporate students commenting on blogs as part of my task boards for reading. This could be a button that takes them to the Pompallier Hub student's blog links and would be a great extension for those fast finishers. I used to do this activity frequently, but due to our busy schedule, it has become difficult to make time for it. Therefore, incorporating it into my reading routine seems like a logical solution.

I use a blog log with a colour-coded system to track my student's independent work like follow-up tasks and have used this to inform my report writing and what the students know. I notice that students are more engaged in trying to get yellow, the top colour for a quality blog post and will go back and make changes if they are not quite there yet. 

I want to add in Read Theory and/or LiteracyPlanet to my taskboards for extra reading practice and reading mileage. I can view students' progress and so can they, so they can come to ask for support on their next learning steps.

Timetabling to empower learners 
Below is how I timetable and plan my reading. Students have a very visual rotation slide for each day with Bitmojis and icons that help make it more appealing. There are three guided reading sessions, shared book The Last Wild by Piers Torday follow-up tasks, taskboard and follow-up activity. A wondering I had was around the groups I see. I often do not have enough time to get through my three 15-minute groups, so I wonder if I take two groups a day instead? How would this work? If I took two groups I could have time to roam the class after a group and check in with students' independent work as this is something I do not currently have time for.

Integration of

Science is something that is easy for us to integrate through reading as we use the House of Science boxes. A wondering is if I can integrate art more into my reading and maybe even maths. 

Reading Like Writers (and other high-expectation activities)
We are working on descriptive writing next week so reading a passage like this could be beneficial for some groups to point out effective language features. I enjoyed the scaffold when writing my own paragraph, and it goes to show that a story does not need to be lengthy. This also made me think about the types of texts that I select for my students in reading. The way that they begin, their language, how the passage ends... How does the author hook in the reader and engage them?