BSLA - Literacy skills

As per the recommendation, I have been reading one quality storybook a week with my class. Throughout the book, I read the explanantions of new words in each sentence which need highlighting. I have noticed that by the end of the week, the children have learnt new words to add to their vocabulary as well as Te Reo Maori words and their meanings. I encourage the children to think about the characters in the story, name them if possible and write down their ideas using a whiteboard marker and pens. Each contribution is acknowledged with verbal praise and encouragement. This helps students with their story writing ideas and writing full sentences, rather than stand alone words. I brainstorm ideas on the mat, using the whiteboard and draw a mind map with the title in the middle. This is a whole class learning opportunity with role modelling of sounding out unknown words. I may gift them some of the new vocabulary words if they are tricky? This technique promotes cognitive skills and uses a peer scaffolded approach to learning together and helping each other. I have noticed an improvement in the top writing group, adding more detail. They are writing more, and starting to use a sequence of events to recall what happened.