My Impact Story 2018

Evaluation & Sustainability - Term 3 2018

At the beginning of term 4, all my target students will move to Room 4. This has always been interesting for me, it happens every year and sometimes I feel that it's a bit unfair on both the child and myself.

However, these children will move and here is a brief evaluation of their final achievements. I am very proud to say that I am confident that these learners will cope and do well despite the changes.

First time - draw their story - cannot write

Using 'cut-up sentence' to write their story

          

Attempting to write - copying words that they know and recording sounds for the unknown words

 


Independent writing - using skills that they have learned (eg. copying words from the wall / alphabet cards & sounding out unknown words etc.)

 

 

What went well?

Well, for me I think TESSOL activities have helped a lot. But in order for such wonderful strategies to be successful and effective, I believe that teachers have to be really careful in scaffolding these strategies, and be very clear with the purpose of using them for.

At first, like most 5 yr old students my learners didn't know how to write, they were not able to talk properly, they were not always confident to talk/share/contribute to any discussions in class, not aware of what alpahabet letters and sounds were let alone their formations ... etc.

Before I started teaching, I was looking at all these gaps and the children's strengths. Know my Learner - this took a while - got to know the child and their whanau, got them to enjoy school and it's environment, and then introduced the academic part of their learning.

My next action was using the curriculum for backmapping. This was very useful because I got to see where the children should be achieving at the end of the year,  and worked backwards in details to set short term goals for their learning.

My questions were (strong feelings then) ;how am I going to make my learners:1. talk/share/contribute? - for I believe that once they're confident to talk, they're also confident to write.

2. write their talk/idea down?

3. enjoy writing (not to stop whenever they don’t know how to write a word)? - from previous experience - most children were discouraged at this age to write because they don't know how to form letters, high frequency words, and how to write words that they don't know.

4. add on details to their writing - to make their story more interesting, meaningful etc.

TESSOL acitivites used 

• Running dictation
• IOL - Intensive Oral Language
• Talk Moves - repeating, rephrasing, increase wait time
• Multi-level groupings
• Cut-up sentences
• Rub-dictation
• Dictation
• Shared writing - interactive writing - almost everyday
• Record their story on ipad - then listen to it and write it down on their book
• Phonological awareness - clapping of hands to hear the most dominant sound of an unknown words
• Word wall
• Word ring - for kids
• Word card / alphabet card

What did I learn as a teacher / what surprised me?

- importance of knowing your learner - identify both their learning needs and strengths.

- TESSOL strategies are fantastic - teachers need to know what the purpose of using these strategies - scaffold them wisely to achieve hunches.

- backmapping is amazing - helps teachers to increase content knowledge of any subject.

- being specific with learning outcome for each child at this level and age group is very important. 

- helping the child to feel successful (providing and gifting them with language, skills and strategies) is very vital for building confident and enthusiasm for their learning.

- not all strategies are going to be helpful to every learner - as a teacher be prepared to adapt other strategies and search for more 

Picture Sequencing - helps students to write more than one sentences!

After talking to Mary Wooton (Writing Facilitator) on her last visit, I had to change my focus for the next three weeks.

target students' strengths:
- able to write a story without stopping
- strong phonemic awareness - able to record lots of letters for an unknown word

target students' problems:
- story is just one long sentence with lots of 'and'
- not attempting to use full stops & capital letters (though they know/can identify them)

HUNCH
How am I going to support my students to write three or more sentences for their story, and use capital letters and full stops correctly at all times?

Mary Wooton suggested to teach my students to use picture sequencing. Draw pictures for every idea in their story then write a sentence for each picture/idea.

Why Picture Sequencing?

Pictue Sequencing is a skill that we use when we break down an event into simple steps and put these steps in order. My students need this sequencing skill to sort out their ideas about something that happened in the past in a logical manner. They also need this skill to help them write short meaning sentences rather than a one long run sentence for their story.

Teaching and Learning (Pedagogical / Ako)

Step 1 - Children to share their story with a friend / class / group

Step 2 - Count how many events happened in their story

Step 3 - Draw pictures of each event

Step 4 - Arrange pictures in the order of their story as it happened

Step 5 - write a sentence or two for each picture.

Indicators of Progress

Write more than one sentences for their story.

Use capital letters and full stops correctly.


Watch this video - Some people use picture sequencing for many different reasons. It is up to you how you want to use it and why do you want to use it. Enjoy watching this video.

Presentation at the HUI 2018

Check Point #1 - Choral Reading - increase self confidence in reading, and improve understanding and comprehension

What exactly happened in class with my students?
Students were:
- reading one to one word
- their comprehension / understanding of the text they read was very minimal / limited
- most are not able to transfer their knowledge - able to read words as they appear on their own but not able to identify them as they appear in texts.

How did I do Choral Reading in class?
- small group everyday for about 10 minutes before guided reading
- teacher reads the text first - chn points their finger on words while teacher reads
- teacher and chn read together 
- discuss the meaning of the book by referring back to what they read

Critique (Pros & Con)
- avoid giving the child a sentence or passage to read out loud on his own without having a practice before because it might put him off 
- provide another voice reading the same text - helps children to confirm the pronounciation of words and experienced listening to a different voice and a different pace of reading

Final Thought
- Chroal reading gives an opportunity to practice and receive support before reading on their own
- Students improve the ability to read sight-words
- Teacher provides a model as children listne

Next Steps
Do choral reading with other groups, too. 

Evaluation & Sustainability - Term 2 2018

How will you sustain the habits that are promoting success
for your students in Term 2?

Sentence Frame - Continue to use this twice a week. I believe that
maybe twice a week is enough because my students need to
have an opportunity to create their own story using their own words.
This is going to be interesting, but I would like to give them an
opportunity to take risks as well.

Phonemic Awareness - I love this strategy. My students love this, too.
Children's writing show that they love writing because they are able
to write down something for their ideas. Clapping of hands is a very
good tool to use especially for the little ones - its interacting and fun.

Cut-Up Sentence - For all my new entrants, this is how I teach them
how to write a sentence. It teaches them the directionality, the punctuation,
the capital letters, holding an idea in the head for a while before recording,
and other things. I feel like that I don't need to teach those goals individually
because it is covered by cut-up sentence.

Rub Off Dictation - Helps chn to hold information in their head for
a while before recording it down. I do this every day and it will continue
just like that in Term 3.

What did you learn as a teacher / what surprised you? (Term 2)

I knew that TESSOL strategies help but doing/using them in class
really made me see how chn enjoy having fun in their learning. All
of the above strategies have contributed a lot to chn's great
improvement in their writing.

How will you transfer your new learning to other students
/ curriculum areas? (in Term 3)

I use Sentence-Frame in Maths - it helps chn in learning new language
in Maths.
eg. Sione is taller than .....

Clapping to hear dominant sounds in an unknown word helps chn to
be confident in their own writing.

Welcome Back Everyone! - Term 3 !

Welcome back to school - Term 3!

Room 1 had a very positive Term 2 and we are looking forward to continuing our exciting new learning in Term 3.

Focusing Inquiry for Term 3 ...

Acceleration! How am I going to accelerate students' achievement? 
- Analyse and look at the assessment data results from last term
- Select target students
- Research for strategies & teaching practices

After analysing the assessment data, I realised that my new focus will be on Reading. Maths and Writing were good, but Reading was a bit low so it needs acceleration - I need to focus on the learning progress of students who are struggling academically or who have fallen behind in Reading. 

I now have new target students for term 3, and I am looking forward to all the challenges ahead.

Descriptive words - students' writing will be more interesting and full of details...

I believe that with movement, students learn faster and remember things easier than trying to learn without. For example, clapping of hands is a movement that helps students to remember and identify the sounds of unknown words easily.....WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Clapping of hands is now a strategy that students in my class use to record sounds of new words that they cannot spell.

Not everyone know how to do this but most students are doing it and others are copying what others are doing. This will continue to be a focus for all students to use and I will make sure that it will be reminded and used.

However, I want my students to improve the quality of their writing now that they can write without stopping. Most students' sentences are basic and in the next three weeks, I will be focusing on this hunch:

Will emphasizing on descriptive words when reading a story; and encouraging an attitude of playfulness and sense of fun around new topics help students gain mastery over aspects of using descriptive words in their writing?

What are my deliberate actions? How am I going to do this...

Read a book 5 times a day repeatedly - look at each character and discuss some words from the book that describe the particular character

(develop students’ ability to describe something using their own words)

Create a word wall particularly with adjectives along with pictures

5 - 10 mins before writing - learn through play - do hands on activities (eg. winter - we may have to walk around outside - identify descriptive words - use sensory.)

Model writing a shared story - emphasize on using descriptive words (use 'sentence frame' to help students with creation of their story)

Follow this routine; - shared writing - guided writing - independent writing

What I’m looking for that shows I’m making a difference to student progress....

Increase students' word and vocabulary recognition

Students’ writing will be more interesting and full of details

Encourages students to use new vocabulary words

Increase students’ ability to clarify their understanding of new topics

Cut Up Sentences - for all new entrants!

I have been a Reading Recovery teacher for some times and what really amazed me was the using of cut-up-sentence. The sequencing of words to create a meaningful thought along with searching for visual information, I thought was very powerful and a very simple activity to be used in class. 

According to Reading Recovery teachers, cut-up-sentence is also use to teach phrasing and fluency. And I think this is perfect for our ESOL students because it helps them to practice saying foreign language multiple times. 

HUNCH
Will using of cut-up-sentence (with ipads) everyday increase new learners' confidence to create a meaningful story, and help with phrasing and fluency of their reading?

How am I going to do this?
In a small group of 5 during writing I will ask each child to compose a story (one or two sentences) then I will assist the child if needed to complete the story.

I will then write the sentence on a piece of paper while the child watches.

Next, I would cut the sentence up (word by word) while the child watches.

Then I will scramble the words, and the child reassembles the sentence.

Give the child his book to stick his work in and draw pictures. Remind the child to keep reading his work or maybe rewrite his story down (this might help increases his vocabulary knowledge).

These are short video clips of what I have done in class last week. The sentence that they are reassembling is a short shared story that we have created. I thought if I would start off with using their shared story would be a good practice.

The person above is very confident with reassembling his story. (The story was rubbed off from the board)

The child above was also confident in doing so. But as you can hear, they need lots of this in order to improve phrasing and fluency in reading.

Because they are in a group of three, they can easily be helping each other as you can see in this video.

Phonemic Awareness - helps students to write their story without stopping.

After 3 weeks of using 'sentence frame' I found this problem; my students would stop in the middle of their sentence if they do not know how to write an unknown word. They would stop and would never continue.

My hunch therefore for the next three weeks is:

Support students to hear and record sounds using jingles and rhymes for 20 minutes every day, and clap hands during writing to hear and record sounds. Will this help my students to write confidently without stopping?

I need to give my students some strategies to help them to keep on writing even if they don't know how to spell a word.

Students need to have develped phonemic awareness and to understand that there is a relationship between spoken sounds and the letters that represent them. They also need to learn and know all letters with their associate sounds. I hope that this would help them to record letters for the sounds they hear of any unknown words.

What I have plan to do is to use clapping as a strategy for my students to use and practice a lot to help them fluent with their writing. I am also using 'quick60 program' which is a program that also supports the same thing.

Here is a video of how quick60 works and that's what I have been doing. I hope this would help teachers out there who have the same kind of inquiry as I do.

Use this LINK to read more about Phonemic Awareness if you want more. 

Check Point #1: After 3 weeks of using 'sentence frame' to help my students improve their paritcipation in writing.

What exactly happened in class with my students?

During oral discussions with students about a particular topic or whatever, I provided a sentence frame for them to use as a starter. Often students talk but not in a sentence, it would be in one word or couple of words and that's all. Using 'sentence frame' was to help my students to talk more and increase confidence to write more as well.

How did I do it in class?

As I mentioned above, I provided the chn with a sentence frame most of the time during whole class/group discussions. I wrote the sentence frame on a piece of paper and read it to the chn and then we read it together. I gave them an example before I let them start talking.

1. Talk with a pair (Teacher listens to each pair - sometimes add on or prompt for more info)
2. Everyone shares back their story - sometimes I make them share what their partner has said. (using the sentence frame provided of course)
3. Get their book and start writing down their ideas after forming their own sentence.

                                                      

Critique (Pros & Con)

- it was really helpful especially with scaffolding oral language and writing skills.

- anyone in class benefited from using of sentence frame (ESOL or not)

- I think, sentence frame could be used at any time such as in Maths - for learning new mathematical language to explain thinking. (I will be using sentence frame in Maths and other areas, too) - will talk about that later.

- definitely increased students talk, participation, and confidence (independent writers)

- only one con that I think of now - ie. sentence frame could limit the ability of a child to be creative and write what they want to. (One boy in my class can talk without sentence frames but he often wants to copy others in class.)

Final Thought
I think overall, sentence frame really helped my students to be creative and enable them to add more information to their story. I think my students were grateful to have sentence frames as a guide to help them get started with their talk and writing.

Next Step:

support students to hear and record sounds by clapping hands, and using jingles and rhymes for 20 minutes every day. I have noticed that most students stopped writing when come across a word that they don't know. Their confidence to hear and record sounds is very limited.

What's going on in class with my students? - dictation and quick60

Last term, I said that I will continue doing few things in the second term. And I thought I'll update what I am doing at the moment regarding those ideas. 

First one would be the dictation. Here are some photos of what we're doing in class at the moment. 

               
And a link from youtube if you want to really look at how some teachers are doing it. It is good to have seen a variety of ways. Hope this might help you.

Secondly, I said that I will continue using Quick60 program. Right now, there are two groups running in my class. One is a reading group, and the other one is an alphabet group. The alphabet groups are the new students who have started school in the middle of term 1, and the reading group are the ones who have completed the alphabet program.

Last focus was on handwriting. This is an ogoing work because it has to be done everyday and for all letters of the alphabets. I can see progress starting from how chn hold their pencils to how they form letters, and I am very proud of them. 

      

Using of TALK MOVES is also ongoing. I once focus on making sure that children repeats each others' ideas as a way of encouraging them to talk and participate. Term 2, my focus will be on WAITING TIME. I will be asking colleagues to observe and give me feedback on how much time that I give a child to process his/her answer. 

Sentence Frame - helping students to write.

Term 2 - 2018

It is a common scene in many classrooms especially at the junior levels, students sit and stare at a black paper because they were asked to write and don't know how to start or they can't think of the right words to use.

In my class, not only that I have students who are 5 yrs old, but most students' first language is not English. They haven't had enough experiences to be able to speak with confident. Wether students are asked to write a story, answer questions, or practice vocabulary words, many have difficulty figuring out how to start writing.

Therefore, I decide to use sentence frame to help them improve the quality of their talk and hopefully lead on to an improvement in the quality of their writing.

My hunch therefore for the next four weeks is:

Will using sentence frame increases quality talk and writing of my students?

https://youtu.be/f3rXwstobh8

I found this video and I know that there are lots out there about sentence frame, but I like this one becuase it specifically talks about how sentence frame scaffolds the development of the Enlish Language Learner.

Evaluation & Sustainability - Term 1 2018

How will you sustain the habits that are promoting success
for your students?

Continue to use 'dictation' - through Quick60, Maths, Inquiry topics and Reading. I will make sure that dictation happens twice or three times a day.

Quick60 program will continue. We have completed the alphabets part, next part is reading. The structure is similar and I believe my students will be able to adapt and do better.

I will make handwriting a big focus and include that in my writing tumble for term 2. I will take workshops for children who are still unable to form letters correctly with confident. I believe that knowing how to form letters correctly helps in the future to write a sentence quickly and correctly.

What did you learn as a teacher / what surprised you?

The power of 'dictation'. It was hard at the beginning because my students were
not familiar with words, letters and sentences. But I am impressed with the end result of
some of the dictation activities that we did.

Handwriting as 'language by hand' - how important for chn to write fluently. It not only helps
to write fast but their brain will work faster once their writing is fluent. Handwriting contributes
directly to fluency and quality of writing.

Quick60 program - focused was on identifying names & sounds of letters of the alphabets.
It helped most of my children to remember the letter formation as well. I really like this
program because it is structured and organised.

How will you transfer your new learning to other students / curriculum areas?  
- adjust class timetable so I could have two quick60 groups next term
- all my new entrants will be using cut-up sentences rather then copying sentences
written by the teacher.
- continue to use TALK MOVES - for children to hear and practice saying academic (unfamiliar)
language correctly.
- handwriting/writing practice daily