Dani's Reflective Journal 2022

Today I learnt it was ok to have both a comprehension and decoding/fluency focus for reading. Previously I have only had one as I though having two would be a bit much. By having one of each, it is allowing for a more balanced approach. Giving 'friendly definitions' for words rather than straight from the dictionary is something I do already so it was nice to know that this was ok as sometimes I've heard people say not to 'dumb things down' for learners which I don't think this approach does but made me feel a bit uneasy about doing it.  I am excited to introduce the fluency scale to the learners as this will give a good purpose for them recording their independent reading and then listening back to them. I think this will be powerful and motivate students to want to improve how they sound as a reader.  I will also use the KWL with my learners. I have never used it to connect with video or text before so this will be fun. I will be sharing the LtR protocol tool ...

 This term the reading programme has started well. I am continuing to read The Twits to the students and this is integrated into our writing programme. We have been focussing on descriptive language and students have produced a character description of Mrs Twit which they have been very excited about.  The texts that have been selected for the students to read have been topic based - space. Our inquiry question is 'Where else other than Earth can humans survive?' I have had positive feedback from the students about the texts this week. They are excited about the topic and are enjoying learning new facts about planets such as Mars. One text in particular titled 'My 'What if..' Planet (a poem) has inspired students to design their own planet. This has paved the way for a whole class create task in response to the topic and reading materials.  I have just introduced students to recording themselves reading as an independent tasks. I have found this is handy for sending...