Manaiakalani Cluster TOD...

We ended the term by coming together as a cluster to learn with and from each other as we explored the topic of effective reading practice. The bullet points below are the notes I made from each of the workshops I attended. 

Ko te Kāhui Ako o Manaiakalani

Keynote speakers: Dr Rae Si'ilata and Kyla Hansell 

Link to presentation

• Transfer language - trans languaging does not represent the spirit of the reo.
• If don’t have the opportunity to connect to your language you lose the connection to it and it becomes devalued
• Bilingualism and biliteracy as well as giving chn the keys to the language of power. Are we improving English or losing the first language - L2 students are emergent bicultural learners - we should be adding English not replacing their heritage language
• Tchrs need to be linguistically and and culturally sustaining and revitalising the languages. Needs to be more than culturally responsive
• Privilege the first language speaker by asking them to read the language - helps all hear and connect to our new but their first words
• L2 integrates the work... input channels listening reading and viewing / output channels - speaking writing presenting - communication modes need to be integrated and connect between learning areas
• Who’s knowledge is valued in what I teach and how I teach
• Need to value the deeply embed cultural and language practices of our learners to strengthen the connections to the learning. (eg: translate the Haka and tell the story)
• Build from oracy to literacy to open up the linguistic space
• L1 builds a rich conceptual system to bridge the gap with L2 - ideas learnt in one language do not differ in another
• Input in L2 is translate to make meaning in L1 then transfer back to L2 for outputLiteracy practises in the home may differ from school... need to embrace the cultural practises of the L1 - our world view informs our literacy practises
• T willing to share the power with the chn in class where L1 is valued - T don’t need to be fluent in another language
• Dialect is not the same as accent
• If language is used to communicate it is a valid language code
• Reading is about making meaning by drawing on PK and own literacy practises - privilege the L1 language and literacy practises as it shows how they unpack a text to ensure meaning focused learning
• Mirror texts help us make connections to text as we see ourselves and our ways of life/life experiences that we can connect to
• Share rich opportunities for learning by tapping into the cultural capital of students and valuing the literacy’s in the funds of knowledge with school literacy’s
• Challenge critical consciousness- what is the schema you draw on to make predictions
• If we don’t know the context our predictions will be not connected to the topic
• Provides texts that are mirrors that reflect back the chns faces of the home
• Don’t be too hasty to cast aside your cultural treasures/literacy practises
• Eg: pronounce names wrong - text could reflect this provocation - chn cld create an app to show tchrs how to pronounce your name - tell us the history behind your name
• What do I need to teach - data - can I use a resource that shows the faces of my learners or their languages/empowers learners - make connections thru critical thinking and cultural values
• Tell story through the waiata and siva and link to literacy practises of reading
• Name Maori and Pasifika writers illustrators
• Open up what literacy is beyond a journal story - stories and symbols are a way of unlocking meaning
• Whakatauki - unpack the meaning
• History of NZ - learn from those who have gone before us
• Sylvia Ashton Warner taught Maori to read by getting them to write their own stories using their words - read about your kaupapa (strengths) as you bring a wealth of pk to the text
• Chn use meaningful lexical chunks to make meaning when lng a language
• Reciprocal power sharing relationships are a 2 way relationship - valuing the knowledge of the home language literacy practises and values

Cultural Capital in the Classroom
Presenters: Zhydah Petersen and Hevaha Tu'akoi

• How we can respond in a cultural way to all the learners we have
• We need to be culturally responsive because the backgrounds and cultural capital is diverse and should value all children
• Know your learners

Strategies:

• Activate pk
• Pronounce names and words correctly - students as experts be prepared to embrace what you don’t know and ask for help
• Make texts or conceptual concepts mirrored - chn need to see themselves in the work and resources
• Value the cultural contributions and capital - chn as experts 
• Build relationships and connect to the surrounding community
• Classroom environment should reflect the cultures of the students 
• Explore the taonga of names - get chn to explain the meaning behind their name and talk about the connections it may have to their history
• Be inclusive

Structured literacy for older struggling students: where it all goes wrong and what to do about it.
Presenter: Betsy Sewell

Skills that underly reading:

• Learning to read is about recognising the patterns
• Older students need to abandon pk and learn from new
• Frog - fr merge/ og merge students need to realise the word frog means your mouth goes to 4 places - understand how words work
• Split words into onset and rime to mix and match fr+og = frog... knowing these basics means many more words can be generated - Use affixes to extend vocab
• Need to stop and chunk the word to connect to spelling patterns - self teaching by problem solving sound chunks allows for stronger connections to be made
• Use context to figure out unknown words that are being derived from a visual connection
• Struggling spellers can’t figure out words they already know
• Try this... How many words can you read in a minute - graph result
• Shift the way chn read using decodable texts 
• www.agilitywithsound.co.nz has free assessment tools. The spelling test and decoding test will be the most revealing

Getting the Talk Going in Reading

This is the workshop that I presented with Chantal Millward. We shared the activities we use across the school to get our students to talking about the texts they have read.