Nicola

Apr

2015

Trial 1 Results

In Term 1, 2015, St Brigid’s Primary School trialled the use of Mastery Learning Folders as a homework tool to supplement the sight word program in the classroom. Students were pre-tested on sight words up to the level at which they could no longer recognize the words in the next two sets. The total score of correct words was recorded. These scores varied between 1 and 153 and gave an indication of each child’s current level of achievement. The incorrect sight words for each child formed the initial learning content in the folder and pre-testing continued as required throughout the trial. The content that reached the “Test” pocket was formally assessed fortnightly and the correct sight words stored in the “Mastered!” pocket. The quantity of new flashcards added to the folder was adjusted according to individual results. The trial ran for six weeks and the sight words in the Mastered! pocket were retested in the week after the conclusion of the trial.

Learning Content Differentiation

Student learning was differentiated in three ways. Firstly, the degree of difficulty increased with each set of sight words; students received only the words they had not yet mastered, reflecting their current level of ability. Secondly, the learning load (number of flashcards) varied according to the level of ability and teacher judgement. Some students received five sight words, others received up to ten words in their folder and this was reviewed at each teacher test session. Thirdly, the cyclical nature of the mastery learning folder process meant that the time provided to learn the content was differentiated. Content that was learnt quickly moved through the folder and into the “Mastered!” pocket faster than the content that the student found more difficult. These flashcards returned to the first active pocket (the “Hive”) and could cycle back as many times as was needed for consolidation to occur.

RESULTS

Correlation between Initial Score and Words Learned

86% of students (19/22) learned between 20 – 25 words regardless of their initial test score. This suggests that the learning content was well matched to student ability and the use of the Mastery Learning Folder resulted in most children achieving success at their own level. Two of the three students that were exceptions (red squares) learnt more than 25 words despite having low initial scores. The final exception was the student with the lowest initial score (green square) who took more time and therefore learned less sight words, a result consistent with his level of ability.

Sight Words Mastered after the Trial

As words were tested correctly they were transferred to the Mastered! pocket to await the post trial test. The time delay between the initial test and the post test varied between one and six weeks depending on when the word was first tested. The lowest result was 80%, with half of the students having an instant recall result of 100%.

Statistical analysis conducted by Dr Rob Solomon B Sc. (Hons) PhD

Apr

2015

First Store!

The first Mastery Learning Folders hit the shelves at the Teacher Superstore !

Mar

2015

Sight Word Learning Ideas

Sight words are classified as words that don’t conform to regular phonetic spelling and so they often present a challenge to beginning readers. They are remembered through repeated exposure and Year 1 teacher, Celeice McDonnell, has some great ideas for parents to assist their children to learn their words …

Memory Game: Make a second set of words, turn them over and take it in turns to try to turn over a match – the winner is the player with the most pairs.
Snap: Make a second set of words, shuffle and take it in turns to place words down on the deck – SNAP when the cards match.
Alphabetical Order: place the words in alphabetical order.
Letter Jumble: Jumble the letters and rearrange to make the sight word.
Make a Crossword
Create a Word Sleuth
Write or say each word in a sentence.
Board Game: Use the words, counters and a dice to make a board game – read the words as they are landed on – first to the end is the winner.
Missing Letters: Guess the word with missing letters.
Short Story: make-up or write a story using as many sight words as possible.

Any other ideas ?

Mar

2015

Subjects trimmed in primary school curriculum shake-up

The primary school curriculum will be trimmed down – with four subjects combined into one – and teachers will place more emphasis on phonics when teaching children how to read under a redesign of the national curriculum approved by all state governments.

Source: Subjects trimmed in primary school curriculum shake-up

Mar

2015

Teaching Children to Read

Teaching Children to Read from Nicola

Quote – US National Reading Panel

“In 1997, Congress asked the NICHD, through its Child Development and Behavior Branch, to work with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) in establishing a National Reading Panel that would evaluate existing research and evidence to find the best ways of teaching children to read.

The 14-member Panel included members from different backgrounds, including school administrators, working teachers, and scientists involved in reading research.

On April 13, 2000, the National Reading Panel concluded its work and submitted its final reports. The Panel has not been reconvened since that time and does not continue to work on this issue.

Topic Areas

Specifically, Congress asked the Panel to:

Review all the research available (more than 100,000 reading studies) on how children learn to read.
Determine the most effective evidence-based methods for teaching children to read.
Describe which methods of reading instruction are ready for use in the classroom and recommend ways of getting this information into schools.
Suggest a plan for additional research in reading development and instruction.

In addition, the National Reading Panel held public hearings where people could give their opinions on what topics the panel should study.

The Panel considered roughly 100,000 reading studies published since 1966, and another 10,000 published before that time. From this pool, the Panel selected several hundred studies for its review and analysis.

The National Reading Panel’s analysis made it clear that the best approach to reading instruction is one that incorporates:

Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness
Systematic phonics instruction
Methods to improve fluency
Ways to enhance comprehension

The Panel found that a combination of techniques is effective for teaching children to read:

Phonemic awareness—the knowledge that spoken words can be broken apart into smaller segments of sound known as phonemes. Children who are read to at home—especially material that rhymes—often develop the basis of phonemic awareness. Children who are not read to will probably need to be taught that words can be broken apart into smaller sounds.
Phonics—the knowledge that letters of the alphabet represent phonemes, and that these sounds are blended together to form written words. Readers who are skilled in phonics can sound out words they haven’t seen before, without first having to memorize them.
Fluency—the ability to recognize words easily, read with greater speed, accuracy, and expression, and to better understand what is read. Children gain fluency by practicing reading until the process becomes automatic; guided oral repeated reading is one approach to helping children become fluent readers.
Guided oral reading—reading out loud while getting guidance and feedback from skilled readers. The combination of practice and feedback promotes reading fluency.
Teaching vocabulary words—teaching new words, either as they appear in text, or by introducing new words separately. This type of instruction also aids reading ability.
Reading comprehension strategies—techniques for helping individuals to understand what they read. Such techniques involve having students summarize what they’ve read, to gain a better understanding of the material.”

From: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/Pages/nrp.aspx/

Jan

2015

Article: End of a Chapter

“Teacher Comes to End of a Chapter”
The West Australian January 29, 2015 by Bethany Hiatt

“Rosalie Hamilton, 75, has seen teaching methods come and go during a career spanning half a century.

The Year 1 teacher closed her classroom door at South Lake Primary School for good last month after more than 50 years of teaching every age group from kindergarten to Year 12.

‘I never tire of teaching reading,’ she said.’That’s my passion. I love seeing the little flowers open as they learn.’

Mrs Hamilton said that in the 1960’s teachers used phonics – the relationship between letters and sounds – to teach reading, but that was later frowned on.

‘The idea was that children would just pick it up by reading,’ she said. ‘We went through phases of look and say and learning from literature. We still have that, but I think that before you get to that you have to have this really basic bedrock of know ing sounds and knowing digraphs.’

She is pleased the pendulum has swung back towards phonics.”