In our Year 5 and 6 team we initially set up literacy programme with a reading focus
and grouped children between our four educators in a streamed style. I took the
lower readers ranging in reading ages from below 9 years and up to 9.5-10 years. These students are all below expectation: 52% below, 44% well below and 4% just below. On paper this looked to be challenging but manageable however when
these students were physically in a room together it quickly became obvious
that there were many issues. The majority of the group make up some of the more challenging behaviours from our team.Simply being present in the correct space was a
problem for most as was being able to locate the correct equipment, listening and general behaviour.
When students were questioned about material they enjoyed reading and attitudes towards reading I discovered that approximately 90% of the group didn’t like reading and thought they were no good at it! This became my first focus to attempt to change…we wrote a simply verse in students books which we often referred to: Reading is great, reading is fun, reading is for everyone….and ….Read, Read, Read. The more you read, the more you know the more you know the more you grow so…Read, Read, Read. I also referred students to the information in the school newsletter relating to benefits of reading more and we discussed the gains in life if we are able to read and interpret what we have read well. What I was trying to focus on was the why? Why is it important for us to be able to read? This was my attempt to change attitudes. Discussions among the group were open and honest. I then attempted to draw attention to what we read as many students within the group said they didn’t like books. Although reading is significantly related to books I asked the group to brainstorm other material we could read especially in our own time… song lyrics, recipes, instructions for making something…this seemed to provoke some interest and more students were willing to offer ideas. I believe if each student finds the right material they too can fall in love with books. Another early discussion related to time…the classic excuse of I don’t have time to read was given. I dug deeper with this and in some cases found that it wasn’t that children didn’t have time it was that they didn’t want to make the time….this took a bit of admission in some instances!
When students were questioned about material they enjoyed reading and attitudes towards reading I discovered that approximately 90% of the group didn’t like reading and thought they were no good at it! This became my first focus to attempt to change…we wrote a simply verse in students books which we often referred to: Reading is great, reading is fun, reading is for everyone….and ….Read, Read, Read. The more you read, the more you know the more you know the more you grow so…Read, Read, Read. I also referred students to the information in the school newsletter relating to benefits of reading more and we discussed the gains in life if we are able to read and interpret what we have read well. What I was trying to focus on was the why? Why is it important for us to be able to read? This was my attempt to change attitudes. Discussions among the group were open and honest. I then attempted to draw attention to what we read as many students within the group said they didn’t like books. Although reading is significantly related to books I asked the group to brainstorm other material we could read especially in our own time… song lyrics, recipes, instructions for making something…this seemed to provoke some interest and more students were willing to offer ideas. I believe if each student finds the right material they too can fall in love with books. Another early discussion related to time…the classic excuse of I don’t have time to read was given. I dug deeper with this and in some cases found that it wasn’t that children didn’t have time it was that they didn’t want to make the time….this took a bit of admission in some instances!
Follow up activities were completed poorly and with lack of effort, poor time management
was also obvious. There were only a small group of children who modeled
good use of time. This in itself was an issue. …Fast forward to the later part
of the term and the quality had improved slightly, although it still had a long
way to go . This slight improvement required tedious effort and energy from one educator. Although some progress was evident I wasn't happy that it was enough for the amount of energy and time given and it was still apparent that many of these children didn't work well within the same space/room...it was obvious that there must be a better way to manage these students and give them more 1-1 attention which they craved.
The same students we had for reading were the students we
also worked with for writing and similar problems with attitude, ability, and time management remained present.
During the final week of the term we revamped our literacy
programme so the needs of the children were better met and shared between educators. The readers I worked with required daily contact and direction.This was managed through a workshop timetable. Each student was given a template and were required to slot in a plan to attend a reading workshop (at a set time with their given educator) and a writing workshop (with their own choice of time/educator). Students were given choice as to when they would like to slot into other options: spelling, handwriting, word study, silent reading or specific literacy focus tasks educators had selected. This provided students with ownership and choice which many craved and enjoyed. It gave educators the opportunity to give focused attention to students who required extra assistance and it provided an overall positive vibe. However when reading reflective journals it was apparent that for some this was confusing and they weren't yet equipped with the skills to work in this way. These students will become our priority as we continue to develop this focus in term 2.
I really like the way you continually reflect on and modify the programmes you are delivering. You are giving the students opportunities to learn about self management - some will take longer than others - they need to be able to see that there is something in it for them - that there is something to gain from becoming more self managing - its not an easy road!
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