Structured Literacy - Teaching writing through a SL lens - Wednesday 9th October

Module 1 : Laying the Foundation

1. Writing should be taught using direct and explicit instruction and involve deliberate practice. I do, we do, you do. Appeal to the learner's brain. Hear, see, and say - model in every session. Let them hear teacher thought processes, lots from their peers. Let them see docs, responses on board. Let them say.
2. Boost teacher knowledge of what to teach using a scope + sequence. text generation (words, sentences, and discourse), transcription (handwriting, keyboarding and spelling), and executive functioning (attention, planning, reviewing and self reg). Cover the writing rope. 
3. Sentences are the building blocks of writing, and grammar is best taught in the context of student writing.
4. Content of the curriculum drives the rigour of the writing activities.
5. Planning and revising important parts of the writing process.
6. The importance of reg feedback, writing goals and assessing student writing.
7. Embed through all subject areas and in the context of the curriculum you are teaching.

Check out Scope and Sequence - Syntax Scope and Sequence 2022 

Module 2 : Transcription skills

Handwriting - cursive is good for kids who struggle to handwrite. 

We want the bottom 2 to be at a level of automaticity. 

Processing Capacity Limit - humans can only hold so much in their brains! Automating the small sub-skills allows you to more quickly develop difficult higher-order skills. Frees up cognitive capacity.

Frequency is more important than quantity.  

How to pick up the tool - "Nib to naval, pinch pick, flick" trick.

Unlined paper is good to start with when formation is the main goal. Bring on the line when size is the focus.

Good handwriting can support spelling patterns. 

Keyboarding could become an independent activity during your reading rotation: https://www.typingclub.com

Module 3 - Text Generation - Building blocks of writing

Syntax - ...the system and arrangements of words, phrases, and clauses that make up a sentence....

Parts of speech

There are 9 -

Noun

Verb

Adjective - superlative (upper/lower quality - highest/lowest), comparative.

Article

Pronoun

Adverb

Preposition - a word/group of words used before a noun to show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an object. Eg. in, at, on, of, to.

Conjunction - subordinating (joins dependent clauses) and co-ordinating (joins independent clauses).

Interjection - gosh!

Sentence Components

There are 4 types of sentences - Statement, question, exclamation, command.

A sentence must have a subject, a verb, begin with a cap letter, end with a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark, and make sense. Subject + predicate. For juniors - a who + a do.

Clauses + Phrases

A clause - a group of words that contain a sub + a pred. Can be independent or dependent. 

A phrase - A group of words without a sub +/or a phrase.   

Independent clause - contain a sub + pred and can stand by them selves.
Dependent clause - contain both, but can not stand by themselves.

Compound sentence - made up of 2 independent clauses FANBOYS (co-ordinating conjunctions)

Semi-colon - you can take out the co-ordinating conjunction and replace it with a semi-colon.  

Complex - Made up of an ind clause and 1 or more dependent clauses - ISAWAWABUB (subordinating conjunctions)

Independent - dependent - no need for a comma

Dep, ind - needs a comma

Ideas for dictated sentences - add in an adjective, change it in to a question etc...

Eg. Pete shut the shop. 

Pull out colourful semantics!! 

Activities

Fragments - incomplete sentences that do not grammatically make sense. 

Model the thought process out loud - teacher - tip for all activities!

Provide opportunities for deliberate practise - tip for all activities!

Plan instruction and differentiate lesson for those who need it - tip for all activities!

"the cat" ... "The cat sat in the bucket"

Offer fragments that are missing 'the who' or 'the do' to turn into sentences. 

Provide a (teacher created) text with fragments that kids have to correct.

Lots of oral examples for juniors

Scrambled Sentences - a collection of words can be unscrambled and sequenced.

Underline/bold the first word so children know where to begin.

Aim for just 1 way the sentence can be unscrambled.

Use moveable words for juniors.

Run-on Sentences - 2 independent clauses run together without punctuation or appropriate conjunctions. Usually very long, 'and then', 'and then'.

Give a run on, and the way you want it corrected, eg use co-ordinating conjunction - and.

Sentence Types - 4 types

Statement (declarative): He ate pizza for lunch.

Question (interrogative): What is the rabbit eating?

Exclamation (exclamatory): The house is on fire!

Command (imperative): Feed the dog please.

Use a picture prompt.

Change from one type to another- eg. statement to a question

Give vocabulary to include in the sentence.

Structured Literacy - Unpacking the top half of Scarborough’s Reading Rope - Week 5 ~ Term 3 2024

Background Knowledge - facts, concepts etc…

Students’ knowledge of words and the world.

Prior knowledge helps make connections to the text.

Explicit teaching of background knowledge - link to prior knowledge, explicitly teach new knowledge that you want everyone to have.

Knowledge organizer - you can add background knowledge you have acquired the day before!

1 text = 4 sessions

‘Stretch text’ - a text that is pitched to the higher end of your class. 

The text needs to do the heavy lifting - critical thinking, content knowledge, vocab, engagement!

Cool facts!

Vocabulary 

Knowledge of a word, not only it’s definition but how it fits in the world. 

Which vocab to teach? Tier 1 = high frequency words, Tier 2 - High freq in text, low in spoken conversation, Tier 3 - Academic vocab. We want to select words from Tier 2 - academic vocabulary used across curriculum areas, language of learning.

Word families - eg. Gleam, gleaming, gleamed.

Opportunity to look at nuances. Eg. gleam = a cat’s eyes.

Word associations - I choose … because …

Language Structure

Turning words into a sentence, how words are put together to make the sentence.

Colourful semantics! Subject + predicate.

Do it orally in junior classes - eg “This workshop is beneficial because…” and “This workshop was beneficial but…”

Syntax activity - is it a fragment or a sentence? Follow up task - finish the fragment!

Activities using practise of conjunctions - eg. because, but, so.

Think about the main idea you want to get across, rather than pulling out a sentence.
Anticipations are necessary!

Verbal Reasoning

How a person works with words to get the real meaning.

Verbal reasoning skills will depend on a student’s background knowledge and vocabulary knowledge. 

Inference, idioms, similes.

Local inference - eg ability to link subject to pronoun  + global inference. “Katy dropped the vase. Se ran for the broom.”

Figurative language  - don’t teach in isolation.

Pause points - purposeful questions and prompts that will activate prior knowledge, build subject knowledge, and encourage deeper understanding. Select points in the text.

Literacy Knowledge

Includes print awareness and knowledge of genres. 

Investigate text features of non-fiction texts.

“This is a non-fiction article. I know this because…”

Morphology

A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a word. Morphemes include bases, suffixes and prefixes. Morphology is the study of morphemes in words.

Fluency

Fluency is comprised of 3 components. ● accuracy ● rate ● expression

Fluency needs to be assessed!

Emphasise oral over silent reading.

Ross Greene ~ Lost at School - Chapter 5 "Bumps in the Road"

 A Quick recap

Plan A - Impose a solution. Tell tale signs, "I've decided that..." Solutions arrived at using this plan are usually uninformed, are based on adult solutions, and are not a partnership. Might be used in emergent situations involving safety. 

There are no skills taught here. No problems are solved durably. It can increase the chance of more challenging behaviours.

Plan C - This involves setting aside the problem temporarily and prioritising what needs to be dealt with. It is ok to let go of some lower expectations so that adult + child are not overwhelmed by the number of issues that need 'fixing.' 

Plan B - The problem is solved collaboratively. The child is helped to understand the concerns the adult has. The child and adult work together as partners towards a mutual solution. 

There are 2 ways to use Plan B - emergency and proactive. We are aiming for Proactive! We're aiming to identify concerns, solve problems, teaching skills, reducing challenging behaviours.

Step 1. Empathy

Step 2. Define the adult concerns

Step 3. Invitation

Interesting points 

• Will the child be held accountable? Let's challenge what this really means. Usually we actually mean, "will they pay the price..." Within Plan B, the child is held accountable by identifying and voicing his own concerns, listening to others' concerns, and working towards realistic solutions.  
• If 'Joey' doesn't have the skills to do the right thing, all the punishment in the world won't teach him the skills he lacks.'
• Challenging kids have not yet developed the skills they need to solve problems, handle their emotions, shift gears, and interact with others. So relevant when I think of some of our cherubs.  

Bumps in the Road  

It won't be easy! 

Why - we revert back to Plan A because we get stuck. It can be hard to clarify a child's concerns. 

Be a reflective listener!  

Many adults have had their own conerns ignored or dismissed as kids - we perpetuate the cycle! 

Don't rush the empathy step - problems 'solved' in moments usually are not solved at all. If empathy is skipped, the child won't engage. 

If adults make proposals , remember they are just that - proposals! If they're imposed, you're doing Plan A! 

Duelling solutions - negotiating/meeting in the middle won't cut it either. 

'Restraints and seclusions wont solve problems, they just tell us we missed something.' This was an interesting statement for me given where we are with some of our top tier cherubs. I would love to hear some thoughts on what to do with 2-3 of these dears. I can absolutely see that  a good relationship (empathy, empathy, empathy) is essential with these kids. 

When a child says they don't care - don't lose it! They long term answer is to care more! It's playing the long game, which I see working with some.  

Structured literacy PLD in School ~ 2023/2024

Remember REVLOC!

V = Vowel Teams

My Bunny

y** (two sounds)

/i/ - my

/e/ - bunny

Sentence level - Why did the bossy lady have candy in her rusty tin?

Activity - get children to draw a picture and label the words they have drawn. More able tamariki can write sentences using as many words as possible. 

Activity - have some words written up. Underneath a statement describing the word tamariki need to find. Eg. This word has a diphong and ends in a plural suffix. 

R = Controlled Vowels (bossy 'r')

A Star in Born 

ar - /ar/ 

or - /or/

Sentence level - It was hard to see in the dark because we had no torch.

Her First Term 

er -  /er/ - her

ir - /er/ - first

ur - /er/ - turn

Hook for kids - 3 people on the board - her (?) , sir (twirling his mo), fur (hairy face)

Orthographic mapping will kick in after 3-4 exposures.

Sentence level - The stern man was first to church.

More Schwa!

The unstressed syllable in a 2+ syllable word. 

Represented with an upside down e

/uh/

Sentence level - After winter the teachers look forward to summer.

Suffix Rules: 3 sounds of ed

Pushed  -  Pulled  -  Lifted

ed = /t/     ed = /d/    ed = /id/

Voiced - can feel it in your throat.

Unvoiced - can not feel it in your throat.

 

Sentence level - I jumped over the thorny hedge and waited for my friend.  

Structured literacy PLD in School ~ 2023/2024

Recap - sequence of session

1. Name of the new learning
2. Background knowledge required
3. Introduce new learning and link to prior knowledge
4. Direct and Explicit teaching
5. Demonstration - pull down words, 
6. Letter level - add in new sound letter
7. Word level - make kids repeat words 3 times. Then T chart. 'Flex it' - when kids say it wrong, try it the other way. Helps take it to orthographic level.
8. Sentence level - use at least 6-10 words.
9. Decodable book

V=Vowel teams

Two or more sounds joined together to make a vowel.

Cheap Thread Breaks
/ē/        /ȇ/        /ā/

most common = /ē/

Phonemes for ea
eat - /ē/ - long vowel e
bread - /ȇ/ - short vowel e
steak - /ā/ - long vowel a

Rescue the Newt

ue = /ū/       ew = /ū/

The Blue Crew

ue = /oo/   ew = /oo/

 

Note - /ū/ makes 2 sounds! 

/ū/ - y - this one involves 2 mouth movements

/ū/ - oo - 1 mouth movement

Phase 1 

• au spelling is at the beginning or middle of a word.
• aw spelling is at the end of words
• claw, jaw, draw, awe, pause, launch, sawmill, author, August, audit.

Claw Sauce

aw/au - /or/ or /aw/

Phase 2

• often use aw spelling before words ending in 'n' or 'l' or 'k'
• sprawl, squawk, fawn, yawn, shawl

Look at the Moon

/oǒ/                /oō/

Out Now

ou - /ow/    ow - /ow/

Phase 1 

• ou in the middle/beginning of a word, ow at the end of a word.

Out Brown Owl

Phase 2

• ow can also be in the middle of a word if the word ends in 'n' or 'l'. 

You can introduce pseudo words when kids understand the spelling patterns. 

Spoil the Boy

oi - /oy/  oi - /oy/

Activity for Orthographic Mapping

Structured literacy PLD in School ~ 2023/2024

Use module 1 from Teacher only days 2023 - in SchoolDrive folder.

Lesson progression

Check out-  The Great NZ Handwriting challenge

Make sure tamariki use a spelling hand(sounding out the phonemes)  and writing hand.

When making sounds ask - is it a Stop sound or Stretchy sound? Stop sounds cut when nose is blocked.

Cut the fluff, keep the stuff! 

Chin your work - when kids hold up whiteboards.

/s/ = sound bar. eg. /k/ is the sound for -ck

When the s is trapped between 2 vowels, it makes a /z/ sound

REVLOC

These are the 6 different syllable types children will learn.

84% of words fit a spelling pattern. Use Etymonline for explanation.

C = Closed syllables

Are the most common.

Closed - is there a consonant to the right of the vowel? YeS? It’s trapped/closed in, so can only make the short sound

O = Open syllables

Open - is there a letter to the right? No? It's free to shout it's own name!

FLOSS (This is a closed rule pattern)

Is it 1 syllable

Is it a short vowel

Does it end in f, l, s, or z

If there's 3 ticks then you double to last sound!

Eg hill

Exceptions to the rule

Function words (if, yes, of, is)

Different language - chef

Slang - gal

Shortened - bus

Dictated sentences

Read, repeat x 2, take away and they write

Zip it when kids are writing - don't create extraneous cognitive load with your voice.

Save the praise for when they're not holding something in their working memory.

If they can't hold it in working memory, then the sentence is too long.

Prompt - go back to the beginning and read what you have written.

Consonant clusters - otherwise called blends

'Move it' matts - sound boards.

-ck Longer spelling of /k/

Use the longer spelling right after a short vowel, eg. dock

Not after a consonant, eg. pink

-tch longer spelling of /ch/

Use longer spelling right after a long vowel.

Eg. ditch, lunch

Consonant Digraphs

ch has 3 sounds - don't need to do this with tamariki!

/ch/ - chin

/sh/ - champagne - French

/k/ - Christmas - greek

th

unvoiced - think

voiced - this

Consonant digraphs 

c or k?

e = Silent e
The e powers up the vowel so that it gets to say it's long name.

Gentle Cindy 

Do the g first, after you've covered it in your scope and sequence.

 

Gentle /g/

ge = gem

gi = giant

gy = gym

Cindy /s/

ce = cell

ci = city

cy = cycle

LSRASV - Longer spelling right after short vowel

-ge /j/

huge

large

hinge

cage

-dge /j/

fudge

badge

ledge

Eg. hedge The job of the /d/ is to keep the vowel short.

Schwa
The Schwa phonics sound (/ə/) is the name of a vowel sound that is found only in unstressed positions in English. It is a sound that is pronounced when the lips, tongue and jaws are relaxed. The most common vowel sound is the sound /uh/, which is what we call schwa. A schwa is a vowel sound in an unstressed syllable, where a vowel does not make its long or short vowel sound. Eg. sister

v = vowel teams
Paint Day - /ā/

ai - in the middle or beginning of a word
ay - only at the end

Goat in the Snow - /ō/

oa - in the middle or beginning of a word

ow - only at the end

See the sea - /ē/

ee - 👀

ea - 🌊

No rule for this /ē/, only way to learn this is orthographic mapping. Lots of exposure. 

Bright Tie - /ī/

igh -  trigraph, this one is more common. 

ie - tie

No rule for this /ī/, only way to learn this is orthographic mapping. Lots of exposure. 

Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga - Ministry of Education ~ He Wānanga

Ministry of Education -L1 and L2 provisions - Te kaupapa mō te wānanga nei.

There are 6 taumata for Māori Immmersion.

Funding no long involves verification visits to check taumata. This was not the right approach.  Things changed in 2022 to a roll return.  We now report on percentage of te reo being taught in the school. 

There can be a conglomerate of levels within one setting. The pūtea comes into the general pool of funds. Tūmuaki and and BOT can ultimately make the decisions on how that pūtea gets distributed!!! Argh!! Very high trust model. Kaiako in akomanga reorua should be apart of the roll return (saying where children sit with their reo).

In 2-3 years time, ERO/Ministry will come up with another plan to work with schools to support them with roll returns/level/ percentage of reo being spoken. Check with Educational Advisor or MIS - Manager of Integrated Services- they will tautoko.

Old Ministry Message - Level 1 and 2 - needed to use Te Marautanga, Level 3-4a, 4b used NZC.  Level 1 and 2 tamariki bring in more pūtea.

What does each level generate in funding? Check!

Cultivating the Literacy Landscape - Bridging research to practice in reading instruction and support

2023 is the first year of our Structured Literacy journey.  It comes after many, many years of not quite feeling like we had a good grasp on what quality teaching of reading really looked like. We dabbled and we played. A little bit of this with a little bit of that. The 'and + and' approach whereby we wanted to do everything. 'Let's not throw the baby away with the bath water' kinda thinking. We believed that quality reading was a whole language approach, sprinkled with a little of that ever-controversial phonics teaching. 

Today's symposium addressed why this approach is far from ideal. It was an absolutely invaluable session to attend. The day comprised of 3 wonderfully articulate wāhine who led us through some thought provoking stuff as follows. 

My takings from these wāhine...

Keynotes speaker 1 - Emily Hanford

• Sold a Story blog
• Reading is a rich man's game. How many families can afford the interventions?
• Phonics skills are a critical starting point for reading.
• Reading for meaning (and the reading cues that came with this approach) was a theory that came far before science. Old school reading strategies are from the 1960s. Scientific studies are more recent - 1990s.  Code is science based! 
• A wondering of mine - Does inability to read contribute to a lagging skill, or that a lagging skill in itself?
• Reading to children in the younger years is not enough - immersing a young child in books is not enough.
• The Ladder of Reading and Writing by Nancy Young - see below.

• The Simple View of Reading by Gough and Tunmer - see below It is the product, not the sum! Anything multiplied by 0 equals 0. So if one side is lacking, it's all wasted.

• Language comprehension can be strengthened with aural processing - reading to tamariki. vocabulary exposure around the akomanga. Lots of exposure means when they're able to decode, they'll already have some meaning behind the kupu.
• Written English is one of the trickiest reo to learn.
• Memorising words is not a good strategy - I'm cringing thinking of all the years we'd recite sight words each day!
• We need to be consciously aware of what needs to go.
• Equity education = begins with good phonics teaching, but does not end there.
•  Skilled readers do not use the cues that poor readers do! Reading recovery teachers the skills poor readers use! Skilled readers process the word faster than the picture. 
• Orthographic Mapping - Links phonemic awareness, 

• Teachers are good at employing the 'and + and' strategy. We want to do this AND that.
• Balanced literacy teaches the strategies of struggling readers. It is slow and taxing. The brain is busy guessing and therefore does not have the ability to focus on comprehension.  

Keynote speaker 2 - Pamela Snow

• Blog
• What is reading? A biological secondary skill. It does not come naturally, it needs to be taught. It draws heavily on oral language.
• To people who say children learn to read in many different ways - rubbish! There is only one form of reading, but many forms of literacy. Because of this we have created confusions - reading, writing, viewing, presenting - too much.
• Our brains are not evolved to read/write automatically - humans have only been reading/writing for 3000-5000 years. Whereas spoken language has been around for 100,000s+ years.
• English language has appropriated kupu from so many other reo.
• Pronunciation is the problem, not spelling.
• Reading =  cognitive and linguistic. Meaning = morphemes.
• Structured literacy is a complete 180 from Balanced Literacy. BL = eclecticism. SL = systematic approaches. 
• Instruction needs to be informed by neuroscience.
• There is no robust evidence that says BL is worthwhile.
• Teachers don't need to begin with motivating children to read. It's not our job to make kids love reading. Skills proceed enjoyment. It's our job to develop proficient readers.
• For the people who think we ONLY want phonics - phonics is necessary but not sufficient.
• Conveyor belt towards reading comprehension = word identification, word meaning, sentence level, text level, background knowledge. 
• Teachers need to be help to a very high level of accountability - pilot analogy - imagine if the pilot on your flight said, "I'm just going to try out something new here..." They don't get to try new things.

• Teacher autonomy is a crock of s#@t!
• Teaching reading is a public health imperative.
• Pseudoscience/fads/fashions tend to get the red carpet in education
• Reading needs to be taught, not caught.
• Reading is like launching a rocket, if you're a few mm out at take off, you'll be miles off out there in space.
• It's time to respectfully bury Balanced Literacy.
• Knowledge is like velcro, it sticks to other knowledge.            

Keynote speaker 3 - Dr Lorraine Hammond 

• Twitter Handle
  
• Kids do not learn to read in different ways, there are different methodologies. 
• Low curriculum variance - a deliberate effort by schools to create a scope and sequence (a highly detailed plan of what will be taught and when) for the subject areas and to work extremely hard to ensure that kids are being taught the same content, to the same expected standards at the same year level.
• Teach simultaneously not sequentially.
• Examples of teaching in the Kimberly - 20minute session, must be done at pace! Don't allow a void to exist. Lots of physical movement, eg, clapping phonemes, standing up to do so. That becomes the break.
• Teach more in less time with a sense of urgency. Rapid fire. Short and sharp.
• Set the norms.
• High fidelity = high quality.
• Kids need to be busy, they need to respond a lot.
• Explicit Direct Instruction - need more information on this!
• Spelling mastery - the goal is to break down any word (possible) into phonemes.
• See slides shared for notes to explain following - Kids repeat back in full sentences, "malevolent means ..."  "Track with me, read with me." Little writing often, long writing seldom. Revisit key vocab at the end of the session/day - we could do this with DMIC vocab. 
• The Valley of Despair - things will go down before they go up!

• Learning is not a spectator sport.

Key points from the Panel of Speakers towards the end of the day

•  Ask the nay-sayers "How open would you be..." "Are you happy with our/your data?"
• Some of the panel discussed only focusing on Structured Literacy pld for a number of years - no other pld was put on the table. A sustained approach. The principal was there every step of the way.
• Use the same language across the school.
• If in doubt, come back to the 'why?' The research! The science!
• We need a scripted approach for staff. Like Heggerty!
• Consistent practice is key. We need literacy coaches - a small team to drive us forward.
• You shouldn't be focusing on vocab if a child can't decode.
• Structured Literacy is a pedagogy - it's the how and what.
• Tier 1 kids - the normal teaching range. Tier 2 kids - need the normal range plus 1-2 more teaching exposures. Tier 3 kids - need tier 1 and 2, plus 3+ more exposures. 
• Don't get too comfortable! 

Seesaw Ambassador Mandatory Refresh 2023

I'm not sure if completing this course allows me anymore benefits than those our kura already have using the paid school version.

However I didn't want to loose status incase we ever revert back to the free version. 

A question I now have that's worth investigating - can I access activities I have created if I leave my current workplace?