The achievement challenge I have focussed on this year is to Lift the achievement in reading for all students, with a focus on boys and Maori students of both genders.
Throughout the year I have struggled with engaging certain boys in my inquiry group because of other factors in their lives affecting their learning. I quickly identified the boys were able to read but comprehending texts was a challenge for them. There is always the challenge of their attitude towards reading and learning.
Upon reflection, I started to have one to one conversations with the boys to reflect on how they found the reading lessons and materials. One of the responses I received was an eye opener when one of the boys told me "Miss I am getting bored with reading non fiction. Can we read some fiction?". I realised with our Genomics course and our camp pre work and post work, a lot of what we have been reading have been non fiction texts. Our class novel was a fiction text but I feel he wanted to read some non fiction as a group and discuss the materials in depth. The student's response was powerful.
In the holidays I looked up some materials which can be used in class which links to our topic of Genomics. I found the TKI Literacy online site to be very helpful. They provide materials in digital form and also teacher support materials.
Term 4 is always a very busy term with assessments and end of year activities for the school especially in a Year 7&8 class. However, I am determined to finish my this year off with a last great push with my COL inquiry.
