Daily 5 Reading Rotation

The end of Term 1 so time to reflect on my Reading programme and think about any changes that are needed.

What went well: 

• the class love Daily 5 and the structure of the rotation where they know where they are going and what is happening next
• they enjoy the variety of activities - the iPad-Padlet photo & caption, Steps, Listening Post, Handwriting/ Publishing or spelling and guided reading with T
• activities are independent and children are encouraged to problem solve or ask a friend to help 
• my planning is much more in depth and follows the Reading progressions made by the Curriculum taem last year
• I am coming to terms with teaching children reading at the lower colour levels after usually starting at Orange or Turquoise most years previously
• the children are learning that it's okay to revisit a text and to discuss and interpret the story so that a book can last a few days
• I am keeping up with Running Records for children who are 6 for 6 year netts and for those due for National Standards anniversary reports (ie turning 7)

Changes/Next Steps:

• I need to try to fit in at least 4 reading groups or rotations most days as time goes so quickly and distractions happen so that some days I only get through 3 groups
• it took a while to establish routines! how to Listen on the listening post, how to EEKK and silent read/Read to self, setting up Steps, and showing how to use Padlet
• L&A observations/feedback and suggestions from Toni in the last week before the end of term mean that I will trial having the children read a text before they come to a guided reading session - I will need to show them how to record their attempts at "tricky" words
• this will hopefully make more productive use of Teacher time
• I will use the Gerald Duffy skill/strategy checklist that Toni gave us as a basis for my planning
• I will make sure that the children who have not been "producing the goods" on their Padlet page are monitored more closely and are made more accountable - having a buddy peer assess their work
• I will change the Padlet writing activity in a couple of weeks to recording fluency reading using Audioboo - reading a text or poem - then listening to it and giving feedback to themselves or a buddy

Storyboard or Storyjumper

Last year I had the children writing collaboratively using a website called Storyjumper. They wrote little books using characters provided. However the characters they tended to choose had very limited story lines and plots. I found another website where they had a lot more choice - settings, characters, text styles etc. 
Again I offered it during the Daily 5 reading rotation and called it Buddy Writing. It was very popular, however the end product of a 6 - 10 page book was a long time coming for some. There were too many distractions and too much choice - lots of discussion and collaborating. They boys especially spent much of their time choosing characters, talking through ideas and making changes rather than actually writing. 
2014 - offer it as a before school collaborative activity?

The Daily 5 Literacy Programme

Attended Ignition13 - April 22-23 at Albany Senior High - an unconference led by Emerging Leaders NZ.

It was great to meet and be amongst other motivated and passionate teachers who wanted to share their ideas about what is happening in their classrooms.
Hence a light bulb moment!! And reading 3 books in a week
"The Book Whisperer" - see last post
 "The Daily 5" 
"The Daily Cafe"
by Gail and Joan (the 2 sisters)