TBCS - Craig - PLD - The 4 Language Arts

The 4 Language Arts

Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writing

Listening.

There is a difference between Hearing and Listening.

Listening is a Focus.

Ways to develop listening skills:

Listen to great music - It is the bridge between vibration and Language

• Take daily time - find a great piece of music and just listen to it.
• Don't be afraid to listen to the same piece of music over and over.
• e.g. Benjamin Britain's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.
• e.g. Peter and the Wolf
• e.g. The Classical kids - Mr. Bach Comes to Call

Read out loud above child's decoding level.

• Decoding is very dependant on hearing.
• You say words to yourself - if you can't hear, you don't know what the word is.
• Language must be in your head first before you can decode when you are young.

Take notes.

• Create opportunities to take notes while listening e.g. Church

Speaking skills

• Speaking is intentional.
• Recite poems or scripture.
• Memorize excerpts from famous speeches e.g. Fredric Douglas (U.S slave) - memorize and commit to heart.
• Write your own speech (speech and debate league)
• limited planning speech (say 2 mins to prepare)
• expository speeches on current events.
• dramatic speeches - it combines all language arts together.
• Tell back what has just happened - it increases powers of observation.

Reading Skills

• It's more a brain function than something that can be taught and learned on demand.
• Scandinavian countries don't push reading till about 9 yr.
• Audiobooks are great - what's the difference? you can read with your eyes or ears.
• A bigger font can help.
• When reading to your children, read above their level - it sets an example to move up.

Writing Skills

• To write, you need an idea from within or without you.
• Own experiences often aren't in words but in pictures and feelings, so can be harder to write from.
• To have an original idea would be very unusual - everything is already out there.
• The idea has to get into words - It's tough!
• You have to hear what you just said to yourself and remember it long enough to get it down on paper - from your spelling database.
• Copy work is valuable - That's how you learn to write.

Where to next...

2019, We are changing the bell times to increase the length of the first period. Within the extra time, I plan to add time to listen to great works of music. I  plan to teach the recorder, get my students to memorize their memory verses, establish a system for my students to practice and test spelling words each week, and memorize some poems over the year. I will also keep up the reading of a class book aimed at a decoding level above my students. 

• Professional Learning

Undertaking PLD and further professional reading.

Attending and contributing to PLD opportunities within and beyond my school.

Sharing PLD knowledge, relevant readings and research with colleagues.

• School Goal (Writing)

TBCS - Reading readiness - Judy-Anne

https://lauragraceweldon.com/2012/08/07/reading-readiness-has-to-do-with-the-body/

Great Resource - If Punctuation had Sounds

Click here

TBCS - Craig - Reading - Reflection

I started the year feeling a little under prepared. I had a good understanding about the Lexia and Reading Plus programmes from last year and had them sorted and operational for the start of the term. The thing I was not sorted with was reading groups. Judy-Anne and I had meant to get together, but it had never happened. Thank the Lord for C.R.T days!
I had a C.R.T Day on Tuesday, and Judy-Anne put her class with mine so we had the morning together to sort out what I was meant to do and how to achieve it.

The groups were established from data gathered at the end of last year. Only one student had no data to work from, so we went from her level on Lexia, which as it turned out was far below her reading level. This  became a blessing because although we will have to do a running record on her, she has realised how far below her level she is working on Lexia and has determined to catch up, which is great.

One problem I ran into was that one of my groups has 6 students in it and we do not have many sets of journals with 6 or more. It became a real problem till I had an epiphany. Sunshine online has a great reading resource of journals at the levels I need and because every student in my class has a device, they can all access the same journal at the same time. The added bonus is the extra activities attached to each journal.

I have also given each student access to sunshine classics to use for homework reading if they do not have a novel they wish to read. I have set up each account with books at their individual levels.

My big teaching books were set up using the rocket reading sheets.

I will report on how things progress.

Judy-Anne and I also discussed Spelling essential lists and the Gloss test.

• 2  Making time to have professional discussions with colleagues.
• 2  Observing and learning from experienced teachers.
• 3  Understanding and using existing models of effective practice (e.g., Te Kotahitanga and Ka Hikitia)
• 4  Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.
• 4  Observing other teachers practices and approaches in the establishment of an inclusive and supportive learning environment.
• 5  Structuring learning tasks so that all ākonga experience a degree of success, but also ensuring that they are required to stretch themselves to fully succeed.
• 6  Observing other teachers’ use of resources and teaching strategies.
• 6  Seeking advice and feedback from colleagues on planning units, useful resources, and strategies to enhance ākonga interest and engagement.