Spark-MIT 2016: Literature Circles

I am inquiring into how learners in my Year 6 class can make and sustain accelerated gain in reading. Based on my observations and conversations with learners, all fluent readers enjoy reading but do not always actively choose to engage with longer texts independently. Despite some barriers to these learners accessing a range of relevant and interesting books, there are also personal mindset barriers which impact which books learners choose to read and how learners attempt to sustain reading a longer chapter book.  

According to the Ministry of Education, a literature circle is an approach to teaching reading that encourages fluent readers to think about and discuss books, usually longer texts. In such a “book club” a small group read the same novel independently, coming together at certain times to share their opinions, feelings and thoughts with the rest of the group.

Within the context of this inquiry, one reading group has been introduced to literature circles this term to investigate if this teaching approach can foster independence and deeper connections with a longer text amongst fluent readers. The group has taken on different roles using literature circle resources devised by Sheena Cameron.

So far, the response has been positive: learners have worked together to clarify roles and provided support to others when preparing for their first meeting - at which they enjoyed rich discussions led by the Discussion Director.

The learners are creating and completing their designated tasks digitally, although this can only be described as substitution within the SAMR model at present. However, the visible co-operation, collaboration and purposeful talk are supporting the growth of actively-engaged learners who, it is hoped, will choose to persevere to become resilient independent readers over time.

Spark-MIT 2016: Day 2

A haiku poem to share a moment in time! It has been a reflective day at Spark HQ with the Spark-MIT 2016 cohort sharing the progress and challenges of our inquiries so far.

Firstly we unpacked and discussed Dr Ruben Puendetura's SAMR model to evaluate how we will apply his framework to digital innovation in our classrooms. Critically, do we envisage that our digital innovations will transform learning through redefinition?

Each of us then outlined our problem, the progress made, the challenges faced and some proposed innovations. To summarize my inquiry so far:

Problem
As identified in earlier updates, my focus remains inquiring into engaging with whānau to support learners in achieving and sustaining accelerated gains in reading.

Progress
Baseline reading data has been collected for Year 6 learners for November 2015 and February 2016. As we enter our third week of Term 2, approximately 75% of learners are using Chromebooks in class on a daily basis, whilst the remaining students record their learning on paper.

Challenges
Waiting for more Chromebooks to come on line in the classroom has proved a challenging aspect to this inquiry and has limited opportunities to engage with family/whānau. When beginning this inquiry, I naively envisaged that students would be learning at home with digital devices by the end of Term 1. Very soon, this challenge will have run its course!

Innovation
I'm excited that students are about to invite family/whānau to school to share via a screencast why their learning would benefit from taking the Chromebooks home! They will also begin to create some "how to" videos to help their family/whānau engage with our kawa of care and support learning at home. The voice of our whānau will determine what shape some of this will take and, consequently, how this translates into innovations around reading.