BSLA review

After 40 weeks of teaching the Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) to the children in my class, all of the children have been tested. Out of the whole class of 20 children, the reading group who are considered as the most capable readers 4 of them have reached the top reading level called Rakau. As part of the assessment schedule they were tested at the end of the year and came out with top results ranging from 100%, 99%, 98% and 92%. Considering the fact that all of these children are ESOL and they have accumulated so many more words to their vocabulary, it is a great credit to them. They have read a range of books that they can relate to, learnt the characters names and Te Reo Maori phrases. The teaching strategies have introduced a new focus sound each week that is found in the words of the book they are reading. They learn a new morpheme such as -ing, -ed, -ll (double consonant) and have learnt how to sound out a word phonetically. I am so proud of their achievements. One of these students has received a top academic award for this year out of 60 Year 2 students. It is interesting to note that all of these children have had homework reading support from their own families at home, which has proved to be successful. In comparison to a small number of children who have had minimal input from their parents and/or significant absences from school throughout this year. In conclusion I feel that a consistent approach of teaching and learning at school and home is required in order for the BSLA reading program to be successful.