Spelling

While exploring some literacy strategies or pedagogy in P.L. today I came across some readings on spelling (Unfortunately I haven't found out how to 'split my screen' so that I can have both the activboard interactive pages running for the students to work though as well as being able to complete my electronic roll on the same computer). Having had two children need reading recovery to learn how to 'crack the code' I found this information from an article on 'English Online' titled 'Spelling in the curriculum' quite interesting:

To raise achievement in spelling

• make it easier for learners
• provide benefits to literacy learning

We should aim to

• enable children to write clearly, confident & accurately (Croft, 1997)
• support students to break the code of print

Further Notes:

• Spelling is best taught through the eye not the ear - it's visual
• immersion methods or just exposing students to literacy is not enough for children to learn sufficient basic words or understandings of spelling strategies.
• systematic teaching and learning brings about improvement in spelling.

Linked closely to spelling - though more the sound side of things than the visual - especially for my beginning writers is phonological awareness. On our daily calendar this morning we took ten minutes to look at the difference between the starting sounds of Thursday and Friday. A mirror helped us to create the 'sound shapes' with our mouths, putting our tongues and teeth into different positions to create different sounds. We are using stories about our school mascots/characters of Ree and Mark to teach the different sounds of letters with associated actions - linking the auditory and kinaesthetic for our students as well as visual images of the stories.

There are a variety of suggestions/readings on Sounds and Words and implicit in this is the idea that letter sounds need to be 'taught' not just 'caught'.

Effective Literacy Practice for Years 1 - 4 supports this also on page 144 where to develop spelling knowledge the teacher needs to support students to enable them to:

• use their phonemic awareness
• use their knowledge of letter-sound relationships
• develop a knowledge of orthographic patterns
• develop a knowledge of the morphological structure of written English

On pages 78 - 79 of the same book teachers are to be deliberate in their teaching:

• Direct instruction - make visible what readers and writers need to know and do
• Goal directed - teaching towards specific outcomes
• Class culture - develop a community of learners who view the business of reading and writing as valuable
• Maintain motivation and enjoyment
• Integrate instructional strategies across the curriculum
• Be flexible and culturally responsive

and lastly, if teachers want to teach, they need to understand it...

Teachers make a difference: knowledgeable, informed teachers make more!

Judy Parr, in address at NZRA, 2005

Google

Explorations about google apps in education...

Literacy Bags

Love this concept. Both as a parent and a teacher. Essentially a child takes home a 'pack' for a week or maybe a fortnight. Packs are put together based on a theme or interest of the child's and include some books at their reading level, books an adult or older sibling could read with them, perhaps a board or card game and some activities that relate to the topic. Reading Rockets have these as part of their 'family literacy' section and is a great way to develop the home and school partnerships.

Here's what they say:

he Family Literacy Bags engage teachers, parents, and kids. This innovative school-to-family project can:

• Strengthen the family-school partnership
• Help parents to become more aware of the class curriculum
• Allow all parents — regardless of culture, circumstance, education level, or English language proficiency — to feel that they are involved directly in their child’s learning
• Provide parents with a structure and model for reading with their kids
• Establish a regular family reading routine
• Make reading fun and interactive, igniting an enthusiasm for literacy
• Build an awareness of the breadth of books available for children
• Show parents how to connect what you read in books to what is happening in the world around
• Stimulate conversations around reading
• Encourage home-to-school communication

Here's a link to some of the packs they Reading Rockets has put together: Adventures in Reading

Some other links:

Ideas for putting together and making literacy bags

Book bags for sale - some great ideas too though if you want to make your own.

Chat about 'take home bags' - ideas from other teachers

Take home literacy bags

Encouraging family involvement - article and further links to other articles about these bags.

If you give a mouse a cookie - resources to make a literacy bag.

I can see these being used as not just literacy but also including some numeracy, science, social studies, E-learning and music for example. The idea of books as a springboard into learning in other 'disciplines' can be utilised with these packs. It's the setting up of enough for the students in a class that would take time - and some spare for if they are forgotten on return date and to ensure there is something to 'entice' each student to want to take a bag to share with their families. Books would need to be purchased as well as the consumable resources like pens, stickers, craft materials etc that go with these. Zip-loc bags would be good for storing the various components and perhaps a local business would consider donating canvas or calico totes to house these? Or maybe they just go home in children's school bags or a book bag could be purchased for each pack?

Using Digital Camera's in Learning

Sarah commented the other day that we have a heap of digital and e-learning tools in our classrooms at R.P.S. and that we need to be using them more in our classes and have the children using them too. An example of how this could happen was that children take photos of finished tasks or learning experiences with their 'name tag' on the photograph before dismantling and starting again or before moving on to another learning station. Flora 1 has been using this concept in our number work and in reading and writing. This has helped with the groups staying more independent and focussed on their task. It is a little product rather than process orientated but a great way to self-check and the students are enjoying using the camera.

Anyway, I have been researching some further ways to ustilise the humble digital camera in learning online in my Professional Learning time:

100 ways to use a digital camera

Using digital cameras in the classroom

The use of digital cameras to enhance the learning experience

10 ways to improve digital photos

High Tech Learning - scroll down for the links to learning - even connects with multiple intelligences and some 'learn more' links.

Education world - 2 dozen ways to use digital cameras in learning

OK, PL time up :-)

Touch Rugby

Our school of just over 50 Year 1 & 2 pupils has 3 touch rugby teams in the local draw for Monday afternoons. Ball skills will be a good move for PE next week!
I'm checking out some links on coaching tips/ideas and drills etc.
Rugby coaching skills
Coaching Toolbox
Rugby coaching blog

ICT in junior classes

Today we had an exploration session where children had a variety of equipment available including digital still camera's, a 'dinoscope' as well as 'bubber', mobilo, blocks etc. About 200 photographs were taken by children around the classroom! One child was fascinated with what the dinoscope could 'see' on the activboard screen. As a result I am checking out some of the other ways to incorporate and add to children's learning experiences in my Year one class!

Using 'voice thread' to record children's ideas: TKI ICT snapshot

Some netsafe considerations on blogging and Web 2.0

Kidpix maths for juniors

Animation with a digital camera - having seen my 6 year old create a digital story on our home camera using lego people & creations, this could be easily incorporated into a junior classroom.

Dramatising Greedy Cat

Filming junior drama - e.g. retell of fantail, fantail

Starbuck Bear - oh the possiblities for our own 'star bear'!

Statistical ICT - Year 1 & 2 classes

Using clicker to enhance literacy learning

Letter Sound reinforcement

digital number stories

Starting school book - Just like my 'buddy teacher' created for the learners in our class

ICT journey of a Junior Teacher

OK, enough for now :-)

Education blogs

United Teaching - great link for different number ideas
Kideos - youtube for kids
Zuitube - approved for kids
WatchKnow - video directory for kids from creators of wikipedia