2021 Inquiry Snapshot

 

2021 Inquiry - Will increasing the amount of explicit phonics instruction in small-reading group time lead to better outcomes for my target students in reading and writing?

What is your inquiry question?

Will increasing the amount of explicit phonics instruction in small-reading group time lead to better outcomes for my target students in reading and writing?

What is happening in your class at the moment for this group of students?

Target students often guess when they are reading and do not use their sound knowledge unless  teacher led.  I need to remind students to sound out and NOT guess. 

What strategies have you used? What do you see as your next steps in your inquiry?

I have started using the new MOE phonics readers with my target students with a focus on short vowels sounds and initial blends. Students choose 3-5 short readers to read independently before reading 1:1 with teacher and then with the group. We use the texts to spot blends and vowels, discussing what sounds they make. Word hunt activities help students make the connection between spelling words and reading words.

Use texts students have previously read. Focus on patterns within words, following the particular spelling patterns they are learning.

Decodable texts support young readers to read a word by matching letters and sounds throughout the word rather than looking at the first letter and the accompanying picture and “guessing” what the word is.

Orthographic mapping involves forming letter–sound connections to combine the spelling, pronunciation, and meaning of specific words into memory. 

How have you/ will you involve whanau during your inquiry process?

I haven’t. This is my next step in my inquiry.