Year 9 Reading Survey Results

 Yesterday I gave my Year 9 Humanities class (22/29 students were present) a survey about their reading, the results of which were interesting. 

Only 9% of students said they really like reading at school. Unfortunately his didn't surprise me as over the last few years a very low percentage of my junior students said they enjoyed reading at school. The results were equally as dire (9%) for students saying they really like reading at home. Even worse was that no students said they really like reading any digital texts at home.

On the bright side, 55% of students said they are currently reading a book for enjoyment. This seems quite a high percentage given the previously mentioned results so I am assuming most of the students are referring to the silent reading they are doing in class (I'll need to check with them about this).

Only 9% of the students think that reading can make them smarter or more relaxed! I'll make sure I have more discussions with them about this so that they can see the value in reading.

41% of students said that fiction was their main choice for reading in their own time with novels/graphic novels being the favoured type of fiction (31%). I was happy with this result as assumed that students would prefer shorter texts.

Disturbingly, 41% of students said that in the last year, no teachers had suggested further reading for them.

80% of students thought they were good or very good at reading but only 47% of students thought their teacher thought they were good at reading, and only 47% thought their whānau thought they were good at reading. It was interesting to see the results for teachers/whānau were the same. 

Some heartening responses to the question. 'Why is it important to be a good reader' were: 

• To be smart
• Because it can help with your education in life and in your future
• So I can read manuels (sic) and read and read important stuff and get work done
• Reading makes us better thinkers by improving our critical thinking and problem solving
• So when you get a job you can read well
• For my later studies

and the comment that made me laugh, 'So your mum doesn't tell you off because you're still at level 4'.

My main 'takeaways' from the survey were to reinforce with the students what the benefits of reading are and to strongly encourage the students to read at home/in their spare time.

Thurs 14th Feb 2025

Day 1 Reading Practice Intensive

We began the day with introductions and an overview of the course. I'm looking forward to learning new strategies and skills to help with my students' literacy.

Dorothy then took us through the Manaiakalani Kaupapa and Shared Pedagogy in the context of reading. This was very eye-opening and informative. 

Naomi then helped us to create a profile of a good reader:

• Can actively comprehend a diverse range of texts
• Use strategies
• Read to learn-acquire world and word knowledge
• Read to learn in academic disciplines
• Grow in self efficacy
• Enjoy reading
• Participate in community
• Reads widely

I will make an effort to regularly include these approaches in my prep and teaching. 

We then went to our breakout groups and did a Canva on how we track reader profile information. 

I'd like to add some new ways to track reader progress.

We then focussed on 'Reading Widely' with Janet. This included completing a reader profile survey and reading some responses to a year 10 survey. There was then a discussion about thoughts on these. The year 10 survey results were markedly different to the results I get from my classes as most of my students do not like reading. 

After a break Naomi introduced 'Reading Across the Curriculum'. We watched a video from Soana Pamaka (Principal at Tamaki college) about planning for reading across the curriculum which included cross-department planning, targeting students and the importance of literacy in success in all subject areas. Our college currently does include cross-curricular planning. This is still very much a new concept for us and we are learning as we go!

Naomi then looked at reading across the curriculum in more detail. This included:

• Core Curriculum Content Reading:

• Tiered levels of vocabulary
• Reinforcing new learning with a variety of texts and activities

We then commented on a survey:

These are great ideas to increase student engagement in reading. I particularly like the idea of reading challenge activities. 

Next, Kiri introduced 'The Importance of Discussion About Text'. Creating the right environment is crucial in enabling this to be effective:

We then watched a video on establishing ground rules in the classroom. The teacher's strategy was excellent-making a game with rules really helped the students to engage in discussion.

We then had a group discussion about some survey results and then rated ourselves as a group on our discussion skills:

There were some good ideas that would work well in class.

Next, Naomi introduced the topic of 'How to Grow Good Readers'. Here are the pillars of practice:

and a link to these pillars of practice.

We then reflected on our own strengths and goals for the first two pillars:

The next focus was on teaching vocabulary. key points:

• Must be robust-interactive and focusing on vocabulary tiers 2 and 3, being word conscious.
• A focus on comprehension
• A focus on discussion

We then looked at Reading-Writing links and then sharing with audiences.

Obviously all of these pillars are important in teaching reading and should be regularly reflected on.

We then reflected on our own strengths and weaknesses for pillars 3,4 and 5:

After lunch we chose  text to read and then summarized our findings on Canva. We then chose a quote from a professional reading text and reported back to our breakout group, explaining the quote in our own words. I chose the quote, ' Students' self-concepts and the value they place on reading are critical to their success' and talked about how students need to be able to reflect on their reading so that they can see their progress and this in turn helps with their motivation. 

These professional readings will be great to come back to to give me ideas

Naomi then gave us a summary of today's learning. The Kākāpō Week 3 Task Board reminded me of my class sites when I used to teach years 7 and 8. In regards to Hapara Workspace, I use these regularly with all of my years 9-12 classes.

We have covered a lot of ground today. I'm looking forward to implementing some of these ideas into my teaching and will start with the 'homework' activities we have been given. 

Ngā mihi

Sean.