RPI 6 - Vocab lab

"My vocabulary is vast, my flow is everlasting" - Inspectah Deck

Sisters Underground

Discussion about our success from our last session in breakout groups added some of the usual gold. The use of songs and lyrics was a particular hot point. I have used but forget so a good reminder. Song choice and ideas from Sister's underground to war of the worlds. Look out intermediates, time to get educated on classic jams!

Sister's underground, in the neighbourhood, 

'Because I'm chill, I have to keep subliminal  

Because I know my enemy's a white-collar criminal'

Next up we had a tornado of ideas from Dorothy. -

A robust vocabulary improves all areas of communication. The more we know the more we are empowered...

Decile 1 children have learnt 30 000 000 less words than higher.

Discussion and growth is important and illustrates the effect of have and have nots.

• audio books 

• in-text support (e.g. for meanings; synonyms; pronunciation)

• immediate feedback (word lists; spelling)

• mileage & access (ubiquitous)

• variability in font/style 

• multi-text affords repeat encounters with words in context

• engagement

Apps are good when children move to creation and sharing.

Lots of ideas using tools we have free access to, don't sleep on the Google Doc!

• using tables - with text
• learner created matching games
• invisible ink just like this
• word work - using maps and other tools

Time for clarity - A good vocab can pay off!

Jay-Z - "Moment of Clarity" (from The Black Album, 2003): 

"I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars They criticized me for it, yet they all yell 'holla' 

If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be Lyrically Talib Kweli. 

Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense. But I did 5 mil - I ain't been rhyming like Common since."

Jay-Z's reflection on dumbing down for commercial success resonated with our discussion on word consciousness. 

Background to vocabulary

We checked how we're embedding vocabulary teaching, and 4 out of 5 ain't bad – but there's always room to grow!

Fast-mapping is described as the mental ‘placeholder’ made when first encountering a word.

The knowledge is preliminary and takes “extended mapping” for more ‘complete, productive use

Key approaches to delivery

• Building word consciousness - Grow it/expose

• Deliberate, robust interactive teaching of words - Use it

• Skills for cracking unfamiliar words - crack the words

• Morphology (incl. its importance in subject disciplines) - break it down

Looked to the curriculum and how this vocab can support the oral language area.

Group session allowed us to explore how we are going with the delivery approaches.

Building word consciousness:

"I know I can / Be what I wanna be / If I work hard at it / I'll be where I wanna be." - Nas, "I Can"

An interest and awareness of words.

Promote and value words - creates a future and allows us to manage and cope in the world.

- Words have power

- Communicate meaning

- Words have history

- Words and knowledge can be fun

TO enact and build word consciousness.

• pause and express interest or value in specific word(s): 

• Ask learners to watch out for high value or ‘survival’ words  - High frequency/everyday!

• Challenge learners to use high-interest words -

• Collect and display words - use the wall space - be a word magpie!

Make it fun!

"Weezy F. Baby and the 'F' is for phenomenal." - Lil Wayne ("Yes")

Use a rebus..

We discussed how we do it in a fun way in the class. Whole lot of ideas here! Great for a brain break.

Wordle

Boggle

Hangman

Word finds 

Cross words

Idioms - origin and meaning

Riddles

Dad jokes

Puns

Stuff news - word of the day

Ding bats

Pictionary

20 question game

Scattergories

I’m going to a desert island and Im taking a …….. Using rules such as double letters

Rebus link

Deliberate, robust interactive teaching of words

5 principles that matter - build a robust knowledge

1. Expose - audibly

2. See - Read - visual

3. Use - in context - speaking

4. Use - in context - writing

5. Break down - morphology

Direct explanation - at level

Thought provoking connections - connecting with something else - concepts PK

Playful use of words

Interactive engagement - discussion - use of words while talking or explaining

Follow up - repeat exposures

Bringing word to life - text to support

Tier 2 words is the target - used infrequently - add sophistication, cross domains

Simple texts can offer tier 2 discussion and breakdown when looked at. We used the shark e.g

“Sharks get a lot of bad press, but in New Zealand, fatal shark attacks are rare. A person is much more likely to drown than be killed by a shark. In fact, scientists argue that sharks themselves are under threat. Only seven species of sharks and rays are protected by New Zealand law. The conservation group IUCN lists four New Zealand shark species as vulnerable to extinction. Sharks mature late and have few young, so this by-catch puts all shark species at risk – not to mention your fish and chips!

(Sharks, School Journal)

Next up we paired up and figured our own ways to present new vocabulary and engage students.

Morphology

Neologisms/Coinages:

• "Stan": This word, meaning an overzealous fan, is a famous example from Eminem's song "Stan." It's a blend of "stalker" and "fan," creating a new word with a distinct meaning.
• "Crunk": A blend of "crazy" and "drunk," popularized in Southern hip-hop.
• "Trippin'": While "tripping" exists, in hip-hop, "trippin'" takes on a broader meaning of "acting foolish" or "overreacting."

Let's get deeper - A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning. Some words have only one morpheme (e.g., jump, maple, tiger) while many others are made up of two or more morphemes.

• Prefixes:
  • de-: down or away from
  • pre-: before or earlier
  • en-, em-: put into or onto
  • sub-: below or under
  • inter-: between
• Suffixes: Like "-metre" in millimetre, centimetre, kilometre.

We're already embedding morphology in our iDeal program, but we need to lock in a regular, engaging routine to make it even more fun and impactful in our daily timetable.  

Need to lock in a plan and routine to fit morphology into the timetable - covered in iDeal but it can be made more fun and engaging.

This session highlighted the critical role of a robust vocabulary in empowering communication, particularly for students in decile 1 schools who experience a significant word gap. Discussion emphasized engaging strategies like leveraging songs (e.g., Sisters Underground), audiobooks, apps for creation, and Google Docs for interactive word work, alongside fun activities like Wordle and riddles. Key delivery approaches involve building word consciousness, deliberate teaching of Tier 2 words with direct explanation and playful use, and mastering morphology to break down unfamiliar words, with a clear call to integrate these elements into a consistent timetable.

Next step: Develop a concrete, fun, and routine-based plan for incorporating daily morphology lessons into the timetable, drawing on the collaborative ideas shared during the session to make it engaging and effective for all learners.

What are your favourite quick and fun vocabulary-boosting activities you use in your classroom? Share your ideas in the comments!

RPI 5 - Time makes the wine

Guess who's back... 

Best day ever... or maybe that was a sunny day in Rarotonga, I spose weddings and birth of children might trump it also. There was that day... Ok maybe  an element of hyperbole but it was a great session of RPI as we looked at some very useful things, had some very useful discussion and had some very useful time to explore. Useful day ever if you please.

Breakout

We started with a discussion - peers share and ideas from colleagues - good to hear how things are working for others and challenges that seem universal.

Took some time to check out (maybe at the Blog stage) Sugarbug's Flutterbye album - may have to get a signature from Sean.

We shared our plans and resourcing for groups. More good and useful ideas.

Ubiquitous You

Dorothy came in from Spain (She said it was a background) and extolled the virtues of our sites. This was a reminder of all the things we have been doing and why, along with how they are proven effective.

Grouping - rule of thumb thanks to Kiri

• In Years 7-8: two groups per day per teacher, total time 45 - 50 mins

• Each teacher should have 4 - 5 groups altogether. 

• Groups achieving at or above expectation: twice a week. 

• Groups below expectation: more regularly - at least 3 times a week, daily if possible.

• This will mean that only the at risk students will be seen each day.

As the teacher - timetable for teaching groups, conferencing, roving, tracking and monitoring - taking observation notes.

Use your Teacher aide to support - I use this so I can target groups in writing and math currently along with specific 1-1 program delivery.

I felt my timetable would work better for me than examples due to my context. I have it working to almost a 100% teacher time thanks to my upstairs partna!

Fitting all the programs and curriculum is a 'fun' challenge.

Tracking - to empower

Pleased to say this is a happening thing in the Ki Runga crew thanks to the talented Whaea Kay. Check out the site to see (May need to reiterate, monitor and remind)

Digital aps

Something old something new. Looking forward to using these.

Used some text to set up think aloud. 

Lots more but I want to post. Loved the reader/writer connection and the templates provided. Inferring information will be of great value.

Looking forward to our next load of info. Time does make the wine and time to reflect, create and sandbox makes PD valuable! Thanks Adijah.

Ka kite

RP1 - Day 4 - Small Group Instruction - Flight of the Bumblebee

Notes and chaos: 

Sorry a bit scattered but the amount of information and resources we are exposed to and taught in our RPI sessions is incredible. By the end of the day (or 1pm) it is like a bee in your brain. 

• What did I learn that increased my understanding of the kaupapa and pedagogy of the Manaiakalani Reading Programme ?

• What did I learn that could improve my capability and confidence in teaching reading?

• What did I learn that could be used with my learners?

Small Group Instruction Vs Reading Apprenticeship

• small group of students 

• shared literacy learning need of the group

• text selected to support the focus learning need (including engagement)

Elements/Steps of framework

Routine, direct teaching on the strategic actions students need to process an increasingly complex range of texts.

Introducing the text and it's purpose

Depending on the teaching purpose, or progress through the text:

• Prompt students to make predictions based on the information revealed so far

• Reveal the structure of the text up front;

• Draw attention to illustrations - pictures, charts, maps, cutaways - and the information they represent;

Draw attention to the writer’s craft (or other features) you want students to notice (when reading) to support analysis.

To keep in line and stay on target we used this table to analyse a transcript of a text introduction.

 

Prompts for background knowledge	Prompts for text information (or ideas)	Prompts for vocabulary knowledge	Prompts for Reading processing strategies
Shares background knowledge	Shares text information (or ideas)	Shares vocabulary knowledge	Shares Reading processing strategies
Affirms background knowledge	Affirms text information (or ideas)	Affirms vocabulary knowledge	Affirms Reading processing strategies

Good group discussion around this, What a team we make

Reading for Fluency supports comprehension

- Need to be focused and productive when looking for precise behaviours around Literacy and learning.

• After text introduction learners will read individually and silently. Avoid sending away to read.

• Plan to check in on individual readers’ processing: 

Year 7-8 : once a month or needs based; could incorporate feedback on screencast / audio recordings of learners’ reading.

Use a recording sheet to monitor progress and record and listen to readers.

Fluency

Intorduce the rubrik to the students - explain it's purpose.

Boredometer - read and have the children rate/score

I used the fluency rubric to check in on my students. It became evident that one group may need more of a challenge. I am looking forward to sharing the rubric with the students so they can self assess.

Metacognitive bookmark!!!

By the end of the day (or 1pm) it is like a bee in your brain. Where do I go...

(I would like to point out that the leaderboard was in my sites even though it took me 2 questions to find and answer on the Kahoot and was confused by the 2 answer question, 6th is OK I guess - I'm not competitive)

What can I do now?

I really enjoyed seeing the fluency rubric and being able to use this against the preordered readings my students gave me. I really liked that it was broken down into more than just 'fluency'. This is definitely something that I will be sharing with my colleagues as it is a quality resource that will allow the students to be critical learners. I will introduce this to my class and co teacher, introducing reading too and then they can assess each other. 

Another thing I found very helpful were the graphic organisers. Having clear templates will save time and be a reminder about tools I can use to have the children delve into their learning and understanding

The homework is a good starting place to guide next steps but I am excited to use things from all 4 days to in my practice.