The class chosen for part B of this study was at a rural school in the junior year’s campus; which focuses on teaching grades prep to four. The literacy observation for this study took place in a joint prep/ grade one class, with 7 preps and 13 grade one children. The literacy observation for this study took place in a joint prep/ grade one class, with 7 preps and 13 grade one children; as part of the observation, I documented the workflow of the literacy session (appendix four ). The classroom itself is full of graphic learning aids; cards lining the wall displaying sequence of phonic aids such as ‘oo’ and ‘ght’ words, numbers counting from one to 100 and how these numbers are spelt. Australian geographic maps filled an entire wall and a smart board sat to the side of the original blackboards, now covered in illustrations and other learning aids. The tables were organised in two lines, separating the two year levels and there was a large floor space for the children to sit and engage with the teacher.
Because it is a split class, as the teacher explained, there is the problem of having two VELS levels in the one classroom; the preps are level one, and the grade ones are in the second level. Thus, as witnessed, the class is often split into two groups and given VELS appropriate activities for each group. When asked, the teacher explained that as the preps advance in their skills, the two groups can do interrelated activities, but as it is now, they are specifically given level one tasks. When I arrived at the session, the class was running a bit behind with their maths, but fortunately, the final prep maths activity was a good example of interactive writing. As explained by Hill, interactive writing is when the teacher and the students both have control over what is written (pg. 300, 2010). In this instance, the teacher was showing the preps how to write numbers. She gathered the children in a semicircle, explained and demonstrated how a one, for example, was drawn with a downward stroke. Then, together, the teacher and preps drew the number in the air, and then proceeded to draw a series of ones on their pages; this then continued with twos and threes.
The next part of the literacy session focussed on shared reading; first the grade one’s group read through a large picture book called Diving Deep, and answered interactive questions about its contents. The grade ones answered the prompts quickly and knowledgably, consolidating that the text is frequently used in the literacy block. The prep’s book was clearly much simpler in its design and structure, but the shared reading was much the same for both groups. As Hill describes, shared reading is led by the teacher, and is often used as a way to practice reading. Hill explains that there are varied focuses involved with shared reading. One reason for using shared reading is to learn how to problem solve and identify harder words, and to understand how grammar and sentence structure is used to convey meaning (2010, pg 73). The shared reading with the preps for example, was focused on repetition and phonic recognition of the way certain words sound, alternatively the grade one reading time was more about interpreting the way the book was set out, what an index and contents page was for and what a compound word was.
The independent group activities were varied in their content; one grade one group were given the task of shared reading within their group, and then with the teacher to assist them. The second grade one group was given an activity sheet to complete which focussed on the large picture book read earlier in the literacy session, involving compound words and discussing what items could be found on certain pages. The final grade one group were given a ‘making and breaking’ activity. In which they were required to make words from a set group of cards with certain letter combinations on it, such as ‘th’ and ‘ing’ which would make ‘thing’, and alternatively they were required to break down words, ‘cat’ for example would be broken to make just ‘at’. The prep class was given the task of matching the illustrations from the earlier shared reading, to the corresponding sentence. This problem solving task enabled the preps to use their knowledge of high frequency words, and the syntactic and semantic cues provided. Semantic cues, as defined by Hill, are meaning that comes from prior experience or knowledge, thus the students are able to define the required sequence of the pictures for their activity, through their recognition of the illustrations and story. The syntactic cues, as Hill also explains, are the structure in which the information is delivered. The students are able to define what word they need to decipher to complete the activity, by recognising that the repetitious sentence ‘here is my ..._’ appears in every square. Thus the student only needs to focus on the final word (2010, pg. 141).
Because it is a split class, as the teacher explained, there is the problem of having two VELS levels in the one classroom; the preps are level one, and the grade ones are in the second level. Thus, as witnessed, the class is often split into two groups and given VELS appropriate activities for each group. When asked, the teacher explained that as the preps advance in their skills, the two groups can do interrelated activities, but as it is now, they are specifically given level one tasks. When I arrived at the session, the class was running a bit behind with their maths, but fortunately, the final prep maths activity was a good example of interactive writing. As explained by Hill, interactive writing is when the teacher and the students both have control over what is written (pg. 300, 2010). In this instance, the teacher was showing the preps how to write numbers. She gathered the children in a semicircle, explained and demonstrated how a one, for example, was drawn with a downward stroke. Then, together, the teacher and preps drew the number in the air, and then proceeded to draw a series of ones on their pages; this then continued with twos and threes.
The next part of the literacy session focussed on shared reading; first the grade one’s group read through a large picture book called Diving Deep, and answered interactive questions about its contents. The grade ones answered the prompts quickly and knowledgably, consolidating that the text is frequently used in the literacy block. The prep’s book was clearly much simpler in its design and structure, but the shared reading was much the same for both groups. As Hill describes, shared reading is led by the teacher, and is often used as a way to practice reading. Hill explains that there are varied focuses involved with shared reading. One reason for using shared reading is to learn how to problem solve and identify harder words, and to understand how grammar and sentence structure is used to convey meaning (2010, pg 73). The shared reading with the preps for example, was focused on repetition and phonic recognition of the way certain words sound, alternatively the grade one reading time was more about interpreting the way the book was set out, what an index and contents page was for and what a compound word was.
The independent group activities were varied in their content; one grade one group were given the task of shared reading within their group, and then with the teacher to assist them. The second grade one group was given an activity sheet to complete which focussed on the large picture book read earlier in the literacy session, involving compound words and discussing what items could be found on certain pages. The final grade one group were given a ‘making and breaking’ activity. In which they were required to make words from a set group of cards with certain letter combinations on it, such as ‘th’ and ‘ing’ which would make ‘thing’, and alternatively they were required to break down words, ‘cat’ for example would be broken to make just ‘at’. The prep class was given the task of matching the illustrations from the earlier shared reading, to the corresponding sentence. This problem solving task enabled the preps to use their knowledge of high frequency words, and the syntactic and semantic cues provided. Semantic cues, as defined by Hill, are meaning that comes from prior experience or knowledge, thus the students are able to define the required sequence of the pictures for their activity, through their recognition of the illustrations and story. The syntactic cues, as Hill also explains, are the structure in which the information is delivered. The students are able to define what word they need to decipher to complete the activity, by recognising that the repetitious sentence ‘here is my ..._’ appears in every square. Thus the student only needs to focus on the final word (2010, pg. 141).