ecl310studentejw

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PROMPT 8 (RESPONSE) 2018

After searching through the #picturebooks hashtag, it was interesting to note just how man picture books I recognised. However, it what was more surprising how many I had never seen before! I also noticed a lot of stories that I had grown up reading as a child, but forgot about (e.g. Clifford the Big Red Dog). 

It was also really surprising to see so many peoples’ drawings of picture book characters and settings, and it made me think of how I can get my students to draw their own versions of characters from picture books from descriptions alone. 

There were also some funny little observations that people had shared. For example, one post something along the lines of ‘ducks are always yellow in picture books but I have never actually seen in real life’. 

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PROMPT 7 (RESPONSE) 2018

This resource was a particularly interesting and informative and it is definitely a resource that I would consider bringing into the classroom if I was teaching either grade 5 or grade 6.

In particular, this resource can be used by both teachers and students to help guide story writing as it gives clarification and strategies for how to develop characters, plots, genres/setting, choice of vocabulary and use of emotion to engage readers.

This mind map is representation of my reflections on the resource and the notes I took that I would share with fellow teachers.

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PROMPT 4 (RESPONSE) 2018)

Before, during and after watching the video I constructed a RAN chart in regards to phonics and the importance and methods of teaching this strategy to students. 

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PROMPT 5 (RESPONSE) 2018)

Because the focus is on multimodality, I have decided to collate each question onto a powerpoint, however, each question as a different type of activity. This allows students to explore the front cover of the text in different ways, allowing for ideas and themes to be drawn out and it equips students with investigation skills. 

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PROMPT 3 RESPONSE (2018)

During placement, every morning, my foundation/grade one students participate in share reading for the first 15 minutes of the day after circle time. It is essentially where students are paired up and they are required to read their reader to their peer; which they have taken home the previous night to read to their parents. The students read a variety of things, as each student is to take and read books from scaled book boxes, to which each child has a specific coloured dot that that corresponds to the level of their reading ability.

Personally, I really like the way that this activity is carried out, as the students are able to further practice their reading allowed skills and strategies with their peers. During the activity, the teacher(s) roam around the room and listen to the students read to their peer. This is beneficial for the teacher as he/she is able to identify the level of their students and whether their coloured dot book is a good fit for the student. He/she is able to move students and ask them to go and find a different coloured book that they feel will suit the student better. It is also a time for the teacher to make sure that each student is collecting and reading books from the appropriate coloured dots; in foundational they sometimes just grab any book they see as they do not fully understand the levelled books yet.

Within each coloured dot level, there are a variety of books with varying subjects including some of the following:

-       Books about animals, insects etc.

-       Books about space

-       Procedural texts (e.g. baking a cake)

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PROMPT 3 (2018) RESPONSE

Here is my handwriting belief on the frequency of teaching handwriting

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PROMPT 3 2018

This week we would like you to reflect on the current state of handwriting in schools today. It might be asked of you in a in a job interview; ‘will you teach handwriting in your classroom?’ Or, ‘how often will you practice handwriting with your students?’

Have you heard teachers on placement discussing handwriting, are you aware of parent opinions, do you have you strong thoughts of your own? We would to read your thoughts, actually we would like to read your handwritten thoughts. That’s right, please submit this reflection, in your own handwriting.

#handwriting #ecl310deakin

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Here are my handwritten on how often I will practice handwriting. 

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PROMPT 2 RESPONSE (2018) 

This is a series of posters I created recently for a literacy lesson. The posters hang down one under the other to create a ‘writing flow’ (this is how I described it). We were looking specifically into writing, and the process in which we should approach a piece of writing. 

I’ve seen this type of poster around in a few classrooms, but always felt that they were either to complicated (with heaps of writing), or I just didn’t like the look of. So I made my own. I made it something that I would hang up in my own classroom; something that was clear, clean and concise. 

I kept the the posters simple and brief to minimise student confusion. It provides a clear ‘flow’ that students should follow when they are writing anything. A story, poem, procedural text, comparative text etc. 

To develop these poster further in the classroom... and if the students required it... I would add little mini posters next to them (kind of like when we make notes in a textbook with sticky notes), with a more in depth description; including things like where to find information and editing strategies. 

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PROMPT 1 (2018)

Like many other people, being read to be the teacher was a common practice. At the end of the school day, a few times a week, my teacher would read a chapter or so from The Chronicles of Narnia books. Personally, the Narnia series brought a sense of adventure into my day that extended beyond my own adventures in the playground. These books allowed me to push the boundaries in other areas of my school and allowed me to explore deeper into the wonder and creatively that C.S. Lewis exudes. 

Reading these books also helped me develop e high level understanding of language structure and extending vocabulary choice in a written text. 

Nowadays, I’m not really much of a reader... simply because I don’t have the time, and I struggle to sit still for an extended period of time. However, I still have the passion for students to read daily and I know that reading in all its facets is crucial in the development of everyone.