Today all the Manaiakalani schools met in the Tamaki College hall to hear and learn about the achievement data collected by Woolf Fisher in 2018. It is always a great opportunity to gather as a cluster and to reinforce our kaupapa as Manaiakalani.
Before attending this meeting, I had already identified reading as my inquiry focus for 2019.
Achievement challenge 3 - Lift the achievement in Reading for all students, with a particular focus on boys and Māori students (both genders) years 1-13.
As I teach year 7&8, I am really determined to accelerate the reading levels of my students as well as encourage a love of literature.
Listening to the presentation by the Woolf Fisher team, I learnt the gap for Reading is getting wider against the national norm. Aaron stated 'We really need to give Reading a nudge'.
We were then asked to reflect on why there is an achievement challenge in Reading for Manaiakalani schools. Yanni van Hees expressed there is a huge vocabulary gap in our students compared to other students in the world. She emphasised the importance of students having knowledge and understanding of vocabulary through vocabulary activities, consistent reading of texts and identifying cluster of words as well as understanding root words.
Aaron also emphasised the importance of having appropriate text selection by saying 'We can't teach reading if students are not struggling with the texts'.
Walking away from the meeting, I was more determined to carry out my inquiry. I have identified I need to spend more time with Jannie to seek her expertise for my inquiry.
Kia ora Amy, the cluster data and feedback has definitely resonated with many teachers. I am wondering what you have noticed during classroom interactions with your students or specifically what their attitudes towards reading are and how this may be impacting achievement ie How engaged are they with learning? Can they describe what they are learning and why it is important?
ReplyDeletengā mihi,
Fiona