The Proof is in the Pudding

This term I used the strategies of Alison Davis but reinforced the vocabulary with strategies suggested by Jannie van Hees. In addition, I used the multimodal approach to reading. At the end of the term, I tested them and surprise surprise... Four of my five priority students improved. One student moved from 2A to 3A, another from 3B to 4A, the third from 3A to 4P and the fourth from 2P to 2A. However, one student dropped fro 2P to 2B. I intend to continue using the multimodal approach to reading as this is helping to reinforce and improve reading comprehension.

Enhancing my Teacher Inquiry by Note Taking and Summarizing

This term I concentrated on note-taking and summarizing with my priority students.  I used the following strategies as suggested by Dr Alison Davis:

Highlighting
The students began by reading the section or paragraph of text.  They then highlighted what they thought are the most important ideas within the text.  Next, the students returned to the text and recorded keywords that related to the parts of the text that they have highlighted.  The students used their keywords to develop a statement that summarised the text.  [Davis, 2007].


Finding the key sentence in a paragraph

 In this activity, the students wrote what they believed to be the key sentence along with the reasons for their choice.  Through discussion with others, students shared their reasoning, gave and sought feedback from others, and decided on the effectiveness of their decisions. [Davis, 2007]

Sequence of main ideas or events 
In texts that conveyed information in a sequence, each idea was listed in sequence 1 to 4 as illustrated below and students recorded the main idea in order as they made their way through the text. [Davis, 2007]

My priority students prepared for their speeches. So they had to read /listen/watch make notes, summarize and write in their own words. Three of the five students were able to complete the tasks and delivered their speeches successfully.

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What's holding them back?

Always a teacher's dilemma- how to move a student who does not want to move. The midterm assessment showed that two of my priority students are achieving within the curriculum level while the other three have not yet reached the curriculum level. What is holding them back?  In addition to the strategies that I'm,  focussing on, I will incorporate Dr Jannie van Hees's "Language in Abundance " techniques.

Language in abundance environments ‘drip’ with language availability and attention,

where noticing and relevant use of words allow for deeper,

wider, more specific and precise, context appropriate language expression…

leading to knowing at deeper and broader levels.

Dr. Jannie van Hees

Putting it into Practice

I have been using the readings from Dr Alison Davis publications to help me improve my student's vocabulary.According to Alison Davis, students should develop a wide vocabulary in order to improve
comprehension. Therefore, I start every lesson, whether reading, writing or maths with vocabulary. The words are discussed in the context of the lesson. For example, in fractions, if the numerator is smaller than the denominator then it is a proper fraction. The students are encouraged to use the words "numerator" and "denominator" - they are learning to use the correct words in the appropriate context. At the last PAT reading vocabulary baseline test the following results in respect of my priority reading group were recorded: three students achieved stanines of 6 to 8. One student achieved a stanine of 4 and the other a stanine of 3. The attendance of the two lowest achieving students were 87% and 74% respectively which I concluded was the reason for their poor performance.

Inferences : My teaching Inquiry update.

I re-taught the lesson with a greater emphasis on recording prior knowledge. I did several examples to reinforce the requirements.

An example of the student's task is found below:

Target Group: Inference Equation Why do Ryans eyes get red and itchy when he walks inside the house.

What I See     Evidence	What I Know   Prior Knowledge	What I infer
Write down what you can read in the passage	Use background knowledge and prior experience from your own life.	Put what you see and what you know and make your own conclusion

Three students had a greater understanding how to make inferences while 2 could not.

Reflecting on my Teacher Inquiry

I trialled the strategy: teaching inferences with the group.  The boys watched the following video and then we discussed the inference in the video.

During the introduction of the video, the group made connections and discussed the author’s
purpose for making the video briefly.

The boys were able to write down all they could see. Writing the prior knowledge proved difficult
for one student.  Two students wrote inferences in the prior knowledge. One wrote, “take pet to
the vet when your pet is sick.”  Another was able to talk about his work but is unable to
complete written work independently.

I will have to reteach this...clearly confusion on recording prior knowledge and inference.  
They could answer “ Who ate the bird?” but "How do you know this?" was not easy. The students
also need more practice with recording their inferences.

Research for my Teacher Inquiry

I will be following the strategies and recommendations of prominent New Zealand educationists. My

research included Professional Readings by:

1. Sheena Cameron - Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies

Having attended a workshop by Ms Cameron, I revisited the way she introduced the different reading comprehension strategies.

2. Dr Alison Davis - Building Comprehension Strategies for Primary Years.

I also attended Dr Davis’s workshop on comprehension strategies and follow her on her education website