Battling Boredom 99 Strategies To Spark Student Engagement By Bryan Harris

After reading through some of the experiences and ideas shared in this book I could relate some of these to my own classroom. At the beginning It talked about a student who did fit normal formal learning and thought 'school was boring', I can relate this to some of the students in my team at school. I have some students-boys who 'don't like reading' so I was interested to read about more ways to engage students.

Something I was already trying but am now more explicitly doing is using more video clips to reinforce the teaching of reading strategies. I have been using video clips (youtube clips) to reinforce or introduce my teaching. Students have found this engaging and enjoying learning from other experts/resources. From what I could observe students were engaged and followed what they were learning sometimes we would watch it twice so that the first time they could watch it and the second make more connections with what was being said. After asking the students what they thought they of this they said "The clips really help me to know what I am learning", "I enjoy watching videos", "I can look at it again it I am unsure", and "it makes the workshops more fun". My biggest challenge has been finding relevant and engaging video for students.

Another way I have been using video clips is through our science experiments. This has been a great way to introduce what we are going to do and to prompt discussion. While we are watching these sometimes I stop the video to discuss different ideas with the kids and also to see what questions they have. This has been a great way to get kids using new vocabulary from the video to then make predictions and to encourage them to be more curious. Students are then able to have a better understanding of the science concept too.

Here are some pictures from some of our experiments learning about density:

 

So far I have enjoyed reading some of these strategies and trying them in the classroom.

Reading so far this year in Marama

Marama-

Target students:

-Sharp reading with 1x boys year 8 group and 1x girls year 7/8 group. The sharp reading programme is designed to support the struggling older readers with decoding strategies. We meet once a day 4 times a week.

-Next term I will start this with the other year 7 target groups. At the moment they are meeting

with a teacher/learning support twice a week for reading comprehension.

Other reading happening in Marama:

-Book Bash-in groups based on their choice of the book they would like to read, mixed ability (within reason).  Boys and Girls groups.

-Reading hot spot workshops to focus on different strategies/reading skills relevant to all learning. Eg, Book Bash, Individual Endeavour reading, vocab for reading and writing, reading and understanding questions to support maths etc.

-Individual Endeavours to encourage reading to learn.

-Building curiosities through reading using wonderopolis, current events etc.

-Read theory to support reading for understanding. Complete 1-2 quizzes each week  

-My shelfie-milestone to encourage a range of reading

Professional reading - I spy a great reader By Jackie French

I spy a reader a great reader (How to unlock the literacy secret and get your child hooked on books)
By Jackie French

After doing some reading in the term one holidays, I found some interesting points about literacy secrets and getting your child hooked on books.

-Active child can concentrate for extended amounts of time when it is something they are interesting in. Easily distracted students are those who can't concentrate for long or be settled for long.
-Some children need to learn to concentrate! Turn off the tv, stop the distractions, set good examples, teach children how to be organised.
-Memory games, these are to help students with their memory and this will transfer into other learning areas.
-Slower, they might be slower but give them the time and they will get there! Time needs to be given to these students right from the start.
-bright but bored students, finish their work way before its due and then daydream
-children who need language development tend to find it harder to speak in full sentences, play silently or make sounds and noise rather than speaking.
-Find the right book....that's the first step!
-Children who have missed out, for some reason a long the way of their education some students have missed out on vital learning/teaching maybe because they were struggling with and nothing was done about it.
-visual/hearing problems, could be linked to behavioural problems around reading
-listening and understanding, students being read to and making a story in their mind?
-eating problems, lack of sleep-a little at a time teaching if you know you have these students in your class
-teachers lose most of their readers from age 6 onwards!
-read half the stories with kids and they read the rest, get them hooked
-use magazines, non fiction so they are learning real things about real things/people
-use books and movies to encourage visualising the story
-family reading/group reading to discuss the book and encourage each other


From reading this it has made me think really carefully about what the individuals needs of each student in Marama are. I have also looked at their goals and how these cater to what the students need next. It also made me identify these different types of readers in the Marama Team at school and think about the learning tasks they are doing.  A lot of what I have read in this book was about finding the right book for students!! This year as part of Book Bash students chose the book they wanted to read (within reason) and were put into groups by their choice. I was really surprised how this impacted on students mind sets towards reading, some students were really happy just because they got the book they wanted, some were happy and I could tell they felt comfortable because of the people in their group and some students have had the chance to learn from other people and make new friends. Another strategy I have tried is using some of our Book Bash meeting time to start next weeks reading, whether it is me reading or one of the students this way they are hooked into what is coming next.

Sharp Reading Workshop with Hilton Ayrey - 'The struggling older reader'

After attending the Sharp reading workshop it was great to talk with other teachers and people in the education sector about common problems identified with the 'struggling older reader'.

Some of the issues we identified were:

• Students mind set towards reading- 'I suck at reading', 'I hate reading' etc
• Personal vocabulary knowledge-personal word bank 
• Inferring skills, spending so much time decoding that they can't focus on the comprehension
• Finding suitable texts they enjoy
• Assessments to identify issues students might have

I have found from worker worth older students one of the biggest I face with students who are struggling with reading is their personal word bank. Their ability to recognise words and if not have quick decoding strategies. Some of these students have also not heard or been exposed to new vocabulary.

The Sharp Reading Course focuses by Hilton Ayrey and Chuck Marriot focuses on the struggling older reading. It aims to give students a decoding strategy that works for 60% of words and focuses on syllables. They identified that by a certain age if students haven't gained a sound phonological awareness then it is time to move on and give them something else which I found really interesting. 

Next term (term 2) I am going to start using this course. I have identified the students and am looking at groups. I am really excited to see some progress for these students and hopefully help to encourage an enjoyment for reading for these students.