Reflecting Reading

A tricky skill for everyone is to reflect on what they have read. I read a lot for enjoyment and to escape, but I have never honestly reflected on the novels I read. Except to say I wish I could be more like that or they are so lucky, I hope to find a Happy Ever After or HEA. 

So how do we get students to reflect on what they have read and learnt from the particular reading they have been given?

Check out my Class onAir - Where we talk about the changes characters go through during a story and how that affects the novel and the events that change the characters.

Mixing Up Guided Reading

How can we be creative with Guided Reading?
How can we help students synthesise information from more than one text?

Sam Hunt's Poem - School Policy on Stickmen - read the poem and draw what it tells you using orange and brown. In small groups discuss why they may have banned stick figures.

Unpacking the poem -

Who might have banned stick figures and why?

Why the exclamation mark?

And yet ... suggests that Sam Hunt doesn't think much of this policy. What words does he use to show a positive image of the picture?

What about Sam Hunt's description of colour?

Introduce terms: Subversion: Sub - under, version to turn about

Complementary Text - Comic Man

Highlight any parts which you think have similar ideas to School Policy on Stickmen.

How could we show these similarities in a table?

Comic Man  (Dylan Horrocks)                  Similarities                             Stickmen

 Cartoon                                                         proper images, books                            Stick images

                                                                      frowned upon, but do it

                                                                     drawing from a young age

                                                                   every possible school project

                                                             determination, positive, happy place 

Year 7 and 8 Students should be developing their own framework/templates/graphic organisers - ways to present their work. Make sure they have been exposed to them and had them explained the purpose

• Compare and Contrast Chart - Two columns of similarities and differences using bullet points.
• Single List using bullet points
• List the descriptive words, phrases

Comparing Character

This Term's challenge was to investigate a Character in a Novel. Students choose from a range of Novels, and they picked;

Hatchet - is about a boy trying to survive in the Wilderness after the small plane he was in crashed. 

Refugee - is about 3 young people from different countries and time periods, fighting to stay alive and find their way to a safe place to make a new life for themselves and their families.

Counting 7's - is about a young girl with autism who loses her adopted family and her growth to finding stability in a new family.

This Class on Air Lesson shows the discussion I have with students about how Brian from Hatchet grows from a boy who knows nothing about survival in the Canadian Wilderness to surviving. 

Digital Art

 Last Year I came across a digital Siapo and with Tongan Language Week I thought a focus on Art would be a neat way to celebrate the Week. here is my Class on Air Video showing how this can be done.

Check out the student work in the slides! I am very proud of what my students achieved it is also visible on the wall outside our class for all to see.

Finding Angles

 I have enjoyed setting out to find new ways to inspire students in Maths. After seeing tape and student writing on tables, I want to have a go in my class. Using Masking tape I taped a range of angles across the student tables (grateful I teach math first thing in the morning). They were all very intrigued to find out what we would be learning about that week.

Check out my Class on Air Lesson to find out more. 

A quick summary, students investigated complementary angles, how angles around a point add up to 360 and could make their own assessments and justify their thinking.