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,