#9 - Inquiry Implementation

Describe how you will collect information about the implementation of your changed practices/intervention

What changes have I made in my teacher practice so far:

1. Having a balanced reading programme - Using 'The Reading Book' by Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey and after attending an inspiring PD early this term (Term 3), hosted by Sheena and Louise,  I began to follow the recommended programme. So, I do teacher read for 10 minutes (also known as Modelled Reading), then we have Shared Reading for about 15 minutes, then it's time for the guided reading sessions (40 minutes), this is when Daily 5 takes place also, giving the students time for student-led learning and self-choice of the tasks, but also provide me with time to meet with groups. This is how my reading programme currently looks like, and it's on a roll!
2. Explicit Vocabulary Instruction - using resources & strategies that focus on improving vocabulary knowledge. (The Reading Book by Sheena Cameron).
3. Repeated exposures to new words/strategies to help determine word meanings - Some of the activities I'd include in my reading lessons were word diagrams, vocabulary ranking, front-loading of key words and its definition and analysing vocabulary choice. Miss Wilson Says pdf 
4. 2 minute warm-ups - At the beginning of my literacy block, I give my students 2 proverbs for the day. After screening the first proverb, students are encouraged to discuss in their table groups what they think the proverb means and why. It encourages critical thinking, vocabulary awareness and gives learners time to talk to each other.
5. Shared Reading - I gave up on shared reading last year because I felt like I wasn't doing it right. It also gave me more time to work with my groups. So basically, it was an easy way out. Sheena Cameron's PD inspired me to bring it back and do it right. She shared a sample planning template on how she plans for shared reading and how it would look like in the classroom. From that moment, I told myself "I'm going back to shared reading". I can say now, that in the first 3 weeks of doing this, the engagement went from 0-100. Maybe it's because our text types for those weeks were song lyrics and spoken word poetry. I knew it would hook my students in, so I decided to use it. But also, Sheena suggested doing so with the older kids (7&8).