Literacy across the curriculum - NCEA
Reading and writing skills need to be actively and systematically taught across the curriculum. But what might this look like? How might it be done in all/any subject area? How can all subject teachers contribute to essential literacy learning outcomes?
Reading and writing skills need to be actively and systematically taught across the curriculum. But what might this look like? How might it be done in all/any subject area? How can all subject teachers contribute to essential literacy learning outcomes?
The following six literacy strategies can be used across the curriculum to activate and embed reading decoding strategies. These could be used as ‘peppered in’ mini activities within existing units, used as a daily dose of literacy targeting, as a starting/plenary activity or even activated as a main activity to decode texts together.
ACTIVE NOTICING AND COMMENT CODES
Use ‘active noticing’ when reading. Students could use colour to colour-code or add comment codes along the margin to practice being active readers. Comment codes could be ‘I’ for interesting, ‘W’ for wonder or ‘X’ for connecting to a previous concept or idea. The comment codes can be individualised or designed as a class.
Use Immersive Reader plugin - this web-based plugin can be activated by highlighting text in a browser and clicking ‘read to me’. You can hear the text while reading, focus on one line at a time or even activate the features that highlight nouns, verbs and adjectives (word classes) to drill down on word selection and inference. There is even a translation tool to click on words and find a translation in another language to assist learners to access patterns and noticings with language.
Use Visuwords to define new words - type the word into visuwords and discuss the ways that word families appear. Make connections between the words and the definitions. Click around the vocabulary and make new connections with language as other more familiar words or definitions bring clarity to the original word.
ONE PAGER WITH TRIGGERS
Use ‘one pager’ capture pages to capture understanding. Provide text boxes to capture learning as a result of reading. You can guide the student to notice and question by activating specific reactions with subheadings. ‘Something interesting’, ‘Something surprising’. ‘Something I’m not sure about’, ‘Something ambiguous’.
Use question dice to ask questions about the text. You could use digital dice to come up with questions that prompt questions that correspond to each number. Clarify, repeat, rephrase, so what, what next, why not, what if? You can co-design the questions with students to match the text type and create awareness about text types, audience and purpose.
Use rewordify.com to gain clarity and reword complex texts into more simple versions. Compare and contrast the versions. What would happen if it had to be rewritten with a character limit? Provide a twitter challenge to process and rewrite texts in class or online.
These are just a few simple strategies to trial with your ākonga. How else might you target literacy in your kura? Get in touch with us to explore more fun and engaging ways to embed literacy skills into your planning and preparation for literacy in the junior curriculum as well as for NCEA changes.
Ministry of Education Priorities for professional development
How to make learning engaging
We have been working with a number of schools to support assessment for learning, hybrid learning and curriculum redesign (among other things) and a common question is, 'how can we get our learners to engage?'
We have been working with a number of schools to support assessment for learning, hybrid learning and curriculum redesign (among other things) and a common question is, 'how can we get our learners to engage?'
Posting content online is just like giving students a worksheet (SAMR model). We need to transform their learning experience by tailoring the content, being targeted with our delivery and thinking about relevance as well as their real world application.
Our facilitators were collaborating on this very problem and wondered, 'What if there could be a quick reference tool to support teachers for designing engaging learning?' 'What if we could make one?'
And so they did.
This Engaging Learning Checklist is not designed to be overwhelming. It is ok to start small. Kotahi karihi nāna ko te wao tapu nui a Tāne. (The creation of the forests of Tāne comes from one kernel).
Start small, try one of these tips. Set yourself a challenge and work with a group from your team - how could you work together to trial and experiment with some of these techniques?
You could also treat this tool like a bingo board and colour in the squares as you explore each idea. Or you could work collaboratively and use it as a springboard for discussion to see what others have tried and what they have learned in the process.
The essence of designing engaging learning is that it is personalised and fun. And if you are having fun, then the students will have fun too.
What do you think? Which techniques are you already doing? Which one might be your next target?
Momentum Learning Pānui May 2022
Humans are adaptive by nature. We just need to look at our incredible capacity for neuroplasticity and evolution in recent times. Along with these challenges come new professional development opportunities to add to our ketes.
Read more about that and what we’ve been up to in this month’s panui.
Humans are adaptive by nature. We just need to look at our incredible capacity for neuroplasticity and evolution in recent times. Along with these challenges come new professional development opportunities to add to our ketes.
Read more about that and what we’ve been up to in this month’s pānui.
Momentum Learning Pānui February 2022
The Momentum team have had an exciting start to 2022 and are working hard to develop a suite of resources designed to support you and your teams in this ever-changing environment. There’s a new support package on offer from the Ministry of Education that will interest you too - read more about that and what we’ve been up to in this month’s panui.
The Momentum team have had an exciting start to 2022 and are working hard to develop a suite of resources designed to support you and your teams in this ever-changing environment. There’s a new support package on offer from the Ministry of Education that will interest you too - read more about that and what we’ve been up to in this month’s pānui.
Momentum Learning Pānui November 2021
As we close out 2021 we look to 2022 with fresh eyes. Start planning with PLD application dates for 2022 and check out our new programme 'Leading Learning from the Middle'. Also meet our new Facilitators, Donna Barlow-Rolleston and Defyd Williams.
As we close out 2021 we look to 2022 with fresh eyes. Start planning with PLD application dates for 2022 and check out our new programme 'Leading Learning from the Middle'. Also meet our new Facilitators, Donna Barlow-Rolleston and Defyd Williams.