Introducing Literacy Circles to encourage deeper and more critical thinking 

This week I am introducing my first Literacy Circle to the top reading group in the class. Students have a reading age of 12+ years.
My rationale for this is that I want to find ways to encourage my students to think more deeply and engage more critically with the texts that they are reading. According to TKI literature circles

"enable students to extend their comprehension and critical analysis skills as they explore, in depth texts by a particular author or on a specific theme".

I will continue to monitor student response to this new initiative and will roll the programme out to lower reading groups once I feel that the roles within the group are well established and that students are experiencing success.
More able students can then help to facilitate other groups through discussion and modelling.










Te Kete Ipurangi (2018). Approaches to teaching reading:literacy circles. Downloaded from http://literacyonline.tki.org.nz/Literacy-Online/Planning-for-my-students-needs/Effective-literacy-practice-years-5-8/Approaches-to-teaching-reading

Reading Plus PLD 13 August 

We were offered PLD with John from Reading Plus which has provided me with a better understanding of how the system operates and more of the features available.
One of the highlights is the range of "learning Coach" tutorials and videos that are available online, they can be shared with students and whānau as well.

My class seem to be very engaged in the programme and in the most part students are experiencing accelerated progress in their reading rate (including words per minute and comprehension).

The majority of my students are experiencing accelerated progress in their reading capabilities, a small number (2x ESOL and 1x RTLB referral for low literacy levels) are finding the programme challenging. The programme will benefit ESOL students as they increase their reading mileage.

Target student progress data so far after 3 weeks using the programme:

Student A - 178 wpm at startup  to 198 wpm on 14 Aug, this is a gain of 20 wpm in 3 weeks.

Student B - 127 wpm at startup to 187 wpm on 14 Aug, this is a gain of 60 wpm in 3 weeks.

Student C - 50 wpm at startup to 96 wpm on 14 Aug. This student has had less time on Reading Plus as he has been working on a research programme.

It will be interesting to compare these gains with other data after I have completed PROBE reading tests later this term. I am hoping that these results will translate into movements in reading age levels.