Reading

Here you can find information on what we're reading and the kinds of activities we'll be doing in class related to our reading. 

In week 2 of term 3 Rangiora Borough School had a Book Fair! On Friday we had a mufti day where we were asked to dress up as our favourite book character. Take a look at our amazing costumes... media type="custom" key="4180611"

In term 2 S4 will be doing the AVAILLL programme in reading. AVAILLL stands for Audio Visual Achievement in Literacy, Language and Learning. It is a programme developed by an American science professor who realized she could not teach her 15 year old students science before they could read proficiently. I have been fortunate enough to attend a professional development course on this amazing new initiative in reading instruction.

How it works: Part One of the programme consists of 3 DVDs (“Holes”, “Peter Pan”, “Bridge to Terabithia”, and a complimentary movie “March of the Penguins”). Above average readers will be trained to work as Student Assistants who help run the programme. The class will be watching movies on a big screen in the classroom and completing activities related to the subtitles. There are supplementary activities focusing on vocabulary, reading parts of the corresponding novels, competitions in teams about spotting mystery subtitles, summarizing and re-wording activities etc. Students will be pre- and post tested with PAT reading comprehension tests and their fluency reading will be recorded for them to hear their progress after the programme.

What the research shows: The programme was developed with struggling/ reluctant readers in mind. The data that the research showed in the USA and here in Christchurch (AVAILLL was trialled in six Christchurch schools last year) was very similar: During the six week programme below average readers improved their reading age 1.2 years and above average by 0.7 years overall ( compared to the 0.16 years expected in six weeks)! Feedback from students who have completed the programme show that 98.8% of students loved it and had never enjoyed reading so much.

Why it works: Fluency: Actors model how to sound natural when reading, children need to speed up their decoding skills, they need to read in chunks and phrases when subtitles come up. Images: There is no need for prior knowledge about the topic since the movie will show the contexts/meanings straight away. Even struggling readers can experience success in the learning as all activities are well scaffolded. Research: Scandinavia has the highest rate of literate people. In Scandinavia all movies are original (so usually English spoken) and children learn from a very young age to read subtitles. The countries with the five highest reading rates also have the highest TV watching rates.

Interesting Fact A high percentage of children who have participated in the AVAILLL programme have since turned on subtitles when watching movies at home and have even started to use dictionaries while watching movies with their parents.

As I have mentioned this is a very recently developed programme right at the very cutting edge of literacy learning. Many schools and teachers who have used the programme are convinced by it. I am extremely excited to be able to bring it to Rangiora Borough School and have the students of S4 benefit from it. If you have any questions or concerns please come and talk to me. If you would like any further information have a look on the AVAILLL website (www.availll.com).

Kind Regards,

Mr F.