RPI Text Selection: Day 3, Term 1, 2025

 RPI Text Selection: Day 3, Term 1, 2025

We began the day by going to our breakout groups and sharing how we've found the first three weeks. It was good to know I'm not the only one who feels a bit overwhelmed by incorporating the homework in to our current planning! We then looked at each others' taskboards and Hapara Workspaces. It made me realise that taskboards are a great option to use, even with more senior students. I was also reminded that 'Epic' is an excellent site for reading material.

The next focus was on reading apps and tracking systems. A key point about the tracking is that the students should have access to this, just as they should have access to their e-asTTle and PAT results.

We then looked at digitising text. I already use the 'Tactiq' app for transcribing video to text, which is an excellent resource for planning and lessons. I'll be looking into several of the other options that were mentioned such as Google smart chips as well as different reading apps.

Our next focus was on choosing appropriate texts. A rich variety of texts is crucial! Content and literacy skills should be the focus. The following is the main focus for year 9-13 students in the new curriculum: 'The focus of this strand is on teaching students to decode, make meaning from, and think critically about text'. 

The following is going to be my go to for planning texts activities:

Range of modes

written, oral visual, audio, gestural

Range of combinations
multimodal, conventions, genre

Range of technologies
print, digital, tactile

Multiple entry points
video or visual text can build background knowledge more efficiently

Connections cross-curricular
text sets can be helpful for this

I currently use a range of texts that students can 'see themselves' in and will continue to expand this range.

Next, we looked at the different ways of grouping of students. Most of my current group work is mixed ability and I'm keen to use more levelled grouping. Of course it is important to use a variety of texts, including visual texts and to make sure the learning outcomes are ambitious! I'll show my classes this video: The Flea in the Glass Jar to inspire them to reach for new heights.

Our next topic was selecting texts for groups. In our department we choose our texts at the start of the year, ensuring there are tests that the students can relate to as tamariki of Aotearoa and also texts with a global perspective. 

Our next task was to use Journal Surf to find resources. We did this collaboratively which resulted in a variety of text types and was a good reminder that collaborative research/planning is a great approach. 

This was the infographic I found using the advanced tab on the site. 

Our next topic was text sets. I will use the novel 'Falling into Rarohenga' by Steph Matuku, The song 'In the Neighbourhood' by Sisters Underground and the poem by Janet Frame 'Tūrangawaewae'.  All of these texts relate to a place to stand/a sense of belonging.

We covered different reading strategies. I need to incorporate the 'shared reading', 'guided reading' and 'paired / buddy reading' strategies into my lessons as I currently only use the 'read to', 'independent reading' and 'small group' strategies. 

After the holidays our next focus will be on 'Reading Apprenticeship. I'll be reading this text: Introduction to Reading Apprenticeship over the holidays and will make sure I focus on the following info:

What did I learn that could be used with munity, with either colleagues,

07/03/2025 Reading Practice Intensive Day 2

 07/03/2025

Another full on day with much valuable information.  

The baseline questionnaire was a good chance to reflect on what reading practices I'm currently using effectively and what ones need work.

In our breakout groups we reflected on the homework we'd be given which including an observation of reading groups and a reading survey (link to my reading survey) It was good to hear how everyone went and it seemed we all had a pretty good experience with the students engaging well. The reading survey results were similar in that most students said that they didn't enjoy reading.

Dorothy then presented a slideshow about the Manaiakalani Kaupapa and Pedagogy. It was interesting to see how different schools had applied this kaupapa to their learning environments.  A major 'takeaway' from this presentation was the fact that the social aspect of reading is extremely important. I'll do my best to remember this when planning units and lessons.

Naomi then presented a slideshow about today's focus - the cognitive side of reading. When reading, students should actively make meaning, acquire knowledge, use strategies and think critically. It is vital to keep these four key areas of reading in mind when teaching as it's easy for students to slip into a habit of just glossing over reading material. 

We then did an example question from a CAA reading exam. I have attempted several of these in the past and even though I'm an English teacher I have always struggled with them. I believe the questions are often obscure and I disagree with some of the answers given. I guess the only way around this it to teach students strategies when sitting the CAA's, such as reading the questions first, and deciding which answers are least likely to be correct.

We then looked at different types of formative and summative assessments. Of the approaches we covered, I use PATs, Asstles and student workbooks. I haven't really used the PATs and Asttles for much formative assessment but am keen to do so in the future as I believe sharing these results with the students will help them understand where they are and what their next goals should be.

Naomi then showed us different ways to keep track of student progress and we started our own workbook. This will be very useful for tracking data.

Janet's presentation was a deep dive into using PATs for formative assessment. This helped me immensely in understanding how PATs can be used for this, and included how to add formative PAT  data to my workbook.

Kiri then gave a presentation on Learning Intentions and Success Criteria, which included a couple of activities. For me this was a handy 'refresher'. 

Our next activity was to start a task board. I use Hapara Workspace so will stick with that as I find it more suitable for Year 9's and upwards. 

In conclusion, today included many excellent strategies to aid students in their reading comprehension but the main one I'll be using will be to use tests that I've usually used as summative assessment, as a main component of my formative assessment.