Notes from literacy conference, Rotorua, NZ 2011

1. Why is Literacy so Important?

3. Literacy Explosion Reading Conference 2011

4. Why did I want to go to a literacy conference during the holidays?!?! Because what I was doing was okay, but... I wanted to be inspired again to teach literacy, and equipped with the necessary ‘tools’ to inspire the boys to want to become better readers and writers.

5. So what did I learn?

6. Reviewing Our Reading Programmes - What do we need to do Differently To Shift Our Under-Achieving Students? Louise Dempsey How do we adapt our reading programmes to meet the needs of our low achieving students? In this workshop Louise unpacked the features of a successful reading programme and highlighted the areas we need to review and improve in our programmes. In particular she revisited shared and guided reading, and identified effective ways to model and support children to be more effective and reflective readers.

7. Key Points: Oral language is key to a good reading programme. OL encourages and promotes meta-cognitive processes that are essential for comprehension. Think – Pair – Share. Gives time for reflection, comprehension, new ideas. Make sure students explain using sentences. Model and have question and answer prompts if needed. Teacher structured pairings of low and mid, and mid and high. Pair tutoring; high and low abilities. Group discussions of any topic or tangent. Think – Predict - Speak with purpose (more than just noticing objects in pictures). Learning Intentions are explicit: “By the end of this lesson I want you to do this...” Reading Model Prior knowledge – Scan/Predict – Comprehension – Deep Comprehension (inference...). Vocabulary is HUGE! Introduce vocabulary first – decode – predict - meaning . Read – rub outs – sentence zoom in – reciprocal – see through – Question chart – Questioning bookmark... Non-fiction texts. Students must learn to comprehend non-fiction texts before Year 7. Non-fiction texts markedly increase during secondary schooling. Balanced reading programme: reading to – guided – independent

8. Quick60 Prevention/Intervention Programme Sandra Iversen PhD, Masters Degree in Education with First Class Honours. Quick60 grew out of the research of Iversen and Tunmer (1993)- Phonological Processing Skills and the Reading RecoveryProgramme, Journal of Educational Psychology Volume 85.As well as research by Iversen, Tunmer and Chapman (2005 )- The Effects of Varying Group Size on the ReadingRecovery Approach to Preventive Early Intervention,Journal of Learning Disabilities Volume 38:5.These research studies incorporated explicit teaching of phonicsinto a Reading Recovery™ model of instruction and then adaptedthat model for small groups rather than one-on-one instruction. This workshop worked through the programme, the trial and the results.

9. The Quick60 instructional model relies on systematic and explicit teaching from the person delivering the programme. Skills are systematically introduced and reinforced. Emphasis is placed on multiple opportunities for students to learn important literacy skills. Once these skills have been taught and practiced, the students are constantly reminded of what they know, so they start to take responsibility for remembering and applying their new learning. In this way, the skills become internalised. The instructional model is designed to work with groups of up to five students. It covers alphabet learning, phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, grammar and punctuation, writing, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. All aspects of literacy that our students need explicit and constant teaching in.

10. Quick60 is designed specifically for use with the following groups: • Students who come to school with very little literacy knowledge. • Students who move schools and have missed important milestones in literacy learning. • Students who need small group intervention to accelerate their learning and catch them up with age peers. • Students who need one-on-one intervention to accelerate their learning and catch them up with age peers. • Students for whom English is not the first language. • Students who speak English but have inadequate oral language skills. • Students with behavioural problems who may be or need to be, in special education classrooms. All of the above issues apply to some degree to the students at Flatbush.

12. Not All In The Mind - Helping Behaviour and Learning Problems in our Classrooms Julienne Law The International Reading Association has published a brochure for parents entitled "Good Nutrition Leads to Better Learning" This workshop explained how teachers can give practical help to children with behaviour and learning problems, enabling them to concentrate in the classroom and make educational progress without disrupting the learning of others.Julienne has had 35 years teaching in New Zealand and 10 years teaching at International British and American Schools. She has presented at NESA Conferences in Istanbul and Bangkok and also in Damman and Jubail, Saudi Arabia for the International Schools Group.

14. We all know diet plays a big part in the academic and behavioural performances of kids. The question is how do we change bad habits and attitudes in the home?

16. Promotes discussion, dialogue and debate.

18. From Preschool to the Workplace- Most Make It, Many Don't Annette Stock Developing literacy skills begins way before school and will follow students into the workplace. Little research has been done in NZ to track children who have speech language and literacy difficulties from early childhood into the "workplace"(including behind bars). As a speech language and literacy specialist Annette has had the unique privilege of working across this vast sector and has accumulated some interesting findings. Unconstrained by Government limitations, Annette has been able to expand her work in this field. This workshop explored how and what Annette has done in the field and how she has linked into a wider international literacy audience.

20. Males must have movement, music & competition to learn.

21. What many leave Intermediate with will mostly be what they take into the workforce. SCARY!Main Problems In The Workplace Listening Pragmatic (communication) Memory (auditory/visual) Following instructions Reading Writing

23. Annette Has Discovered That Games Are a Great Way to Teach Literacy and Social Skills (something every good parent knows) Communication Interacting New vocabulary Negotiating rules Taking turns Correcting each other Problem solving Emotional consequences Handling loss Being a gracious winner Helping a friend handle losing Self esteem Confidence Cooperation Focused Motor coordination Gross Fine

24. Retell Hand http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/staff/bhertig/fivefingersummary.html http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/resources/languagearts/instruction/?p=22358

25. Following InstructionsInstruction x 1 Sequential instructions x 2Sequential and non-sequential (not related) For example: “Tavita, take the sports gear to the shed, then go ask Miss Ramsbottom if she has any blue paint.”

26. Keynote Speakers

27. Dr Avis Glaze - Dr Glaze has served as Director of Education, Commissioner on Ontario's Royal Commission on Learning, Ontario's first Chief Student Achievement Officer and founding CEO of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat. Dr Glaze recently served as Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Education. Currently she is President of Edu-quest International Inc. and advisor to the New Zealand Minister of Education.

28. Paul Nation - Paul is professor of Applied Linguistics in the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He has taught in Indonesia, Thailand, U.S.A., Finland and Japan. His specialist interests are language teaching methodology, and vocabulary learning. A four book series Reading for Speed and Fluency appeared from Compass Publishing in 2007 as well as a six book series called 4000 Essential English Words in 2009. His latest books on vocabulary include Learning Vocabulary in Another Language (2001) published by Cambridge University Press, Focus on Vocabulary (2007) from NCELTR/Macquarie,andTeaching Vocabulary: Strategies and Techniques published by Cengage Learning (2008). Three books, Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking (with Jonathan Newton),Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing, and Language Curriculum Design (with John Macalister) have recently appeared from Routledge. His latest book Researching and Analysing Vocabulary (with Stuart Webb), August 2010 from HeinleCengage Learning.

29. Murray Gadd - Murray is an independent literacy consultant who works nationally and internationally on literacy issues, particularly reading and writing. For the Ministry of Education, he led the team that developed the national English exemplars, he wrote 'Effective Literacy Practice in Years 5 to 8' and he worked closely on the English sections of the NZ Curriculum. He is a member of the Ministry's national Literacy Reference Group. For Learning Media, he has acted as team leader of various Literacy Leadership, Literacy Professional Development Project and National Standards Implementation projects. He currently works with school leaders and teachers across New Zealand schools and classrooms on a range of literacy projects designed to raise student achievement levels. He is also completing a PhD for the University of Auckland on 'What makes a difference: effective teaching of writing in year 5-8 classrooms'. Murray lives on Waiheke Island in Auckland.

30. Jill Eggleton – Jill has taught in many schools of varying social and cultural backgrounds throughout New Zealand. For the past 15 years she has been an educational consultant, training teachers internationally in literacy and classroom management. Her passion is to provide resources for teachers and children that will motivate them and excite and enrich their lives. This has led Jill to write for children and she is a published author of several poetry books and over 700 children's books, which are sold internationally.

31. Poetry, Poetry and More PoetryWhy?Children learn to appreciate sound and imagery, and explore language.

32. Research shows that children who learn to recite 8 rhymes at 4 years of age, become the best readers later on. Okay. So how do we achieve this?

33. Exposure: saturate your classroom and be passionate about poetry yourself.Weekly focus poem.Chants and raps. Divide to take alternate lines-add clicks, claps... work on syllables, rhythm etc...Create Imagery With the Sounds of Words: alliteration, nice words, ugly words...Poems must reach the eye, ear and heart.Word Order and Choice“What is the tone/life of the poem?” “happy, sad...?”Use the senses.Stretch-ignore rules and use free verse. Children are born with rhythm. Use emotion, repetitive words and rich vocabulary.All learning stems from imagination and creativity.Teacher: “Johnny, what are you drawing?”. Johnny: “God”. Teacher: “No one knows what God looks like.” Johnny: “ They will soon.”

34. Make it RealChildren must have a real purpose – to share with an audience.First write from experiences (their own or nature...)Write to objects of nature – ask a tree a question...Remind them that there is no great writing, only great rewriting.Feedback-immediate-deeper features-encouraging.“Don’t tell me, show me”‘Good teachers explain complexity. Great teachers reveal simplicity.’

35. Sing it. Don’t state it.Write short poems in the voice of birds.Clap reading using BIG books.Fantasy is a way for kids to understand the real world.Use classics full of rich language.Without Oral Language all other language will suffer.

37. and remember....