JPD Write-Up - Reading

How can guided reading enthuse and inspire children whilst being manageable?A Joint Professional Development research project by Rosie Chapleo, Heather Corney, Sally Greener, Emi Islam, Kim Abraham, Vicki O’Regan, Sarah Dandridge, May-Lin Goh, Tara Coffin and Shuna StevensonBackgroundOur recent Ofsted report1 highlighted reading as an area for improvement within the school. The report emphasised that“progress in reading was not as strong as in writing and mathematics, in both Key Stages 1 and 2.” Because of this, improvingteaching and learning of reading has been a whole-school priority for 2014-15. In autumn term 2014, a group of teachers metto consider ways in which we could improve progress in reading.In encouraging contrast, Ofsted also reported that “pupils do the group recognised that we needed to ensure our teachingenjoy reading a great deal” and that “there is considerable of reading was “manageable”.discussion about books, and the most popular titles have alist of whom is going to read them next.” As such, the Joint As a technology-forward school, we looked into research byProfessional Development group were keen to investigate the National Literacy Trust on the impact of eBooks on thehow we can maintain our children’s enjoyment and reading motivation and skills of children4. A US study ofenthusiasm for reading. We wanted to focus on researching motivation and engagement in middle-grade children’show we can ensure our teaching of reading is as enthusing reading found that “reluctant readers demonstratedand inspiring as we know our maths and writing lessons to motivation, engagement and expressed high levels ofbe. satisfaction with the e-readers,” noting that “Boys, particularly, benefited from the e-reader use.”5. However,In both Key Stages 1 and 2, reading is taught through daily much remains unknown as to the impact of the digitalguided reading sessions. In January, 2015, we introduced a medium on children’s early literacy knowledge, skills, andnew planning format for guided reading lessons which motivation6 and reading that a Swedish study found studentsensured coverage of the New Curriculum2. As a school, we learned better when reading from print rather than eBooksalso re-introduced the “Netley Detectives”. The JPD group lead us to look into using iPads both as eBooks and forfelt it was important that we investigated how these accessing story apps (which offer a different experienceplanning and teaching initiatives could be utilised and for the reader, in terms of interactivity, rather thanembedded without it being an extra burden on teachers. simply replicating a book electronically).With the media reporting that teachers feel over-worked3,

Action Research: Guided Reading in KS1After discussion with teachers and support staff in KS1, four areas were targeted for improvement.Using inspiring independent activities Using the ‘Netley Detectives’ charactersWe focussed on using more creative and inspiring activities We further developed the idea of usingfor independent work in guided reading sessions, such as characters to aid with the teaching andcreating posters or answering questions about images. We learning of reading skills. We agreed thatfound that using these activities deepened the children’s making these skills explicit in a child-friendlyunderstanding of the text, as well as provided more evidence way would support the teaching of reading.when forming assessments. Using the Netley Detectives to We began by trialling using fans (with avary the focus ensured that a greater number of objectives cartoon picture of each character on the frontwere covered. and a key skill on the reverse). It was recognised that the fans were too fiddly for Using the new planning format KS1, and could not be referred to outside of This has ensured both consistency and guided reading sessions. Building on this, we coverage of the New Curriculum across the created coloured posters for display, with the skills (and visual symbols) on Velcroed cards. school. However, in order to do this, These can be are continuously displayed and KS1 teachers and support staff had to referred to throughout the curriculum. Skills re-plan some units of work attached can be detached from the display, when to previously-used texts. It was felt appropriate, to focus teaching and learning. that this time could be better spent After trial, it was felt that this was a success and each KS1 planning the independent activities classroom now has these posters for display at all times and mentioned above and so, to ensure for use in guided reading sessions. manageability, it was deemed vital that all staff continue to share planning. This insight Ensuring decoding objectives were covered has been transferred to KS2 to aid with planning When using the list of objectives from the New Curriculum, manageability and there is now a centralised many staff in KS1 felt that some skills and objectives were planning folder to ensure planning for texts can not explicit. In particular, teachers and support staff felt it be shared and built was necessary to break down skills needed for decoding. To upon. aid with this, we introduced a new character to the Netley Detectives – ‘Decoder Dog’, a side-kick to Lucy Literal. Decoder Dog’s objectives now allow coverage of decoding and phonics-related skills in guided reading lessons. Action Research: Reading picture books in KS2 The group felt that picture books were not being fully exploited in KS2 guided reading sessions.We felt that there were missed opportunities for enhancing inference skills through reading pictures and considering an authoror illustrator’s thought process. The group researched quality picture books that were age appropriate and enabled children touse higher-level thinking. Sets of picture books were purchased and teachers worked in pairs to trial the same text (Two BadAnts by Chris Van Allsberg) with both a low ability year six group and a high ability year four group. It was also used as a classtext with a differentiated level of enquiry (i.e. some activities were centred around only pictures, while others focused onwords and the imagery the words were creating).The teachers involved felt that using pictures books challenged children’s inference skills as they were not previously familiarwith the concept of ‘reading’ a picture. Children were able to join in with discussions and make profound inferences regardlessof their reading ability or ‘level’. It was also recognised that there were opportunities for cross-curricular learning anddiscussion as each child was able to decipher a different element to the picture based on their personal experiences. Thisstrengthened the idea of there being ‘no right answer’ and made links to Philosophy for Children (being trialled concurrentlyby other adults in the school).Every child can access the books regardless of their level. It was also felt that children’s motivation towards readingappeared to increase when using picture books. Deeming the trial a success, the group went on to create planning formore picture books which have been saved in a centralised planning folder.

Action Research: eBooks and reading apps We investigated how apps can be used to bring enjoyment to guided reading sessions.Puppet Pals Nosy Crow’s Jack and the BeanstalkPuppet Pals offers an easy way for children to Nosy Crow is a children’s publisher who createcreate and record their own storytelling print books as well as interactive book apps.scenes. Children are able to choose from a They have a series of apps which re-tell well-set of characters. It is possible to buy sets known fairy tales. We focussed our research onof characters which are linked to various using their Jack and the Beanstalk app with athemes, such as Wild West or Pirates. However, as low ability year three group during guided readingour school iPads have in-app purchases disabled, our sessions and again with a SEN year 3 group. Again, theresearch was limited to those which come free with the app. teacher felt children were keen, engaged and motivated. Unlike the apps previously mentioned, Nosy Crow apps areAdults found the app to be tricky to use with younger interactive and offer a gaming element which the teacherchildren as it relied heavily on a child’s creativity. It did not felt children were particularly impressed with. The groupallow opportunities for children to read or listen to text. The began to look forward to guided reading sessions and askedapp has not been used in reading lessons since the trial. if they could use other apps. When asked what they had learnt from using the app, children said that it helped themEspresso to practice using expression when reading (as much of theAll KS1 iPads have the Espresso app installed. It has a range text is dialogue). It also helped one of the children improveof stories – some with words on screen and some simply her reading speed, as the speech bubbles disappear after awith voice recordings – and some tie-in well with current KS1 while.topics, such as traditional stories. There are often follow-up activities which are either interactive and The experience of using an app in guided reading a mixed available via the app, or paper-based and one. We felt the children more motivated to read, and they can be printed via the website. were keen to talk about the story, but sometimes they needed to be reminded that it was a reading session and not The app has continued to be used in KS1 just time to play games. Some children would rush to the guided reading lessons, particularly for game parts without reading the text to understand how toindependent, follow-up activities. Teachers and support operate the game. It was also difficult to keepstaff felt that children were engaged when listening to the children on similar parts of the story,stories independently and found the app which made questioning and groupeasy to navigate. discussion difficult. However, it was easy to create meaningful follow-up activities usingOxford Owl screen-shots from the app.Oxford Owl has a website with over 250free eBooks that can be used at home and The teacher felt that they would use the Nosy Crow bookin school. Like the Oxford Owl books, the apps again in guided reading sessions to motivate reluctantonline eBooks are colour-banded. The eBooks also have a readers and to offer a different type of text that can berecorded narration which children can pause and replay, and compared to a traditional story book. So that both Oxfordit is possible to zoom in on text and pictures. Owl and Espresso can be used more frequently in all four KS1 classes, we have committed to buying more headphones.The app has continued to be used in KS1 since the trial, with Each class will now permanently have at least six sets. In KS2,both low and high ability reading groups and during there will be a larger set of headphones available duringhomework clubs. Teachers and support staff felt children are guided reading sessions and we will purchase more if theymore engaged when reading on an iPad and the range of are required.books available means that we have seen few limitations ofusing the app instead of print texts. Action Research: Using film in guided readingWe investigated whether film could be used alongside ‘traditional’ teaching with a low ability year six group.The group of children (consisting mostly of ‘tough’ boys; the majority with behaviour concerns) were tasked with studyingShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It was thought that their enjoyment and motivation could be piqued and sustained by usingfilm. The children struggled with pace and it was felt that Shakespearean language would hinder opportunities for deepinference. The film with a director’s cut (a version of a film that reflects the director's original intentions) was used to delvedeeper into the characters’ viewpoints and behaviour. Activities also included using a ‘zone of proximity’ to map a character’semotions as the story progressed.It was felt that children were motivated by the inclusion of film clips and the group voiced their disappointment when theunit ended. Children’s questioning and responses became more in depth and their empathy towards the characters grew –explanations became clearer and children became confident to argue a viewpoint using quotations from the text tosupport their answers. The teacher involved with the research felt that they would use film ‘whenever possible’alongside a carefully selected book to maximise the outcomes for children who have limited exposure to a widerexperience of language and books.

Action Research: Building children’s confidence in assessmentsLast September, we introduced a school-wide assessment scheme consisting of end-of-term written reading tests.We discovered early on that, throughout the school, children answered a question, not realising thathad difficultly reading and understanding the questioning they need to do a ‘2 or 3 pointformat. The tests featured a range of unfamiliar activities answer’ (i.e. an extended answer, a(such as completing tables, boxes to be ticked and sentences more comprehensive answer, orto order). We recognised that our reading lessons would multiple answers).need to involve some kind of practise of using this style ofassessment. However, we were keen to ensure that this was To support children throughoutstill creative and inspiring, and related to the ‘real’ texts the school, we have created abeing used (instead of asking children to repeatedly practise bank of activities for all yeartaking tests). groups, with similar lay-outs and language to the tests. We will alsoIn upper KS2, the group also highlighted the difficulty for create a bank of ideas to allowpupils to achieve level 5 in the SATs for reading. This was children to practise answering ‘3deemed to be because children struggled to score well on ‘3 mark questions’ – by highlighting and writing answers inmark questions’ (which have declined in recent SATs tests, bullet points or teaching children to support their answersalthough it is suspected they will reappear as testing with evidence (following the PEE chain: P – make a point; E –becomes more formal in 2016). For pupils to achieve find the evidence; E – explain how the evidence supports themaximum marks in these questions, they are expected to point). It was recognised that this type of thinking needs togive 3 reasons or observations directly linked to the text. be embedded consistently throughout the school so thatTeachers from KS1 and 2 noted that children often do not there is no need for ‘catch-up’ in year six.recognise that there are marks to be ‘scored’. A child may befully capable and may believe that they have adequatelyNext StepsThe group felt that our trials were either outright successful, or fine-tuned throughout the year, so that they can now be em-bedded throughout the school. We acknowledge that it is still a work in progress which will rely heavily on our teachers’ up-take and sharing of planning and resources. Adults throughout the school (not just those in the JPD group) need to feel confi-dent to embed picture books, films, apps and the Netley Detectives in their teaching of reading.To aid with this there are banks of planning and focussed activities for guided reading lessons (which need to be continuouslyadded to). The guided reading cupboard is now fully-stocked with a range of texts, including picture books. There are also setsof headphones to enable the use of films, eBooks and reading apps.Bibliography1Ofsted, (2014) Netley Primary School Inspection Report 8-9th July 2014, London: H.M.S.O.2The National curriculum in England : key stages 1 and 2 framework document, September 20133http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10923967/OECD-teachers-overworked-and-not-valued-by-society.html (accessed June 2015)4http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0002/3898/Ebooks_lit_review_2014.pdf (accessed June 2015)5Miranda, T., Williams-Rossi, D., Johnson, K.A., McKenzie, N. (2011) Successful Engagement with Text Using the EReader6http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/4/1/2158244013517244 SAGE (accessed June 2015)7 Wästlund, E., Reinikka, H., Norlander, T. and Archer. T. (2004) Effects of VDT and paper presentation on consumptionand production of information: Psychological and physiological factors, Sweden: University of Karlstad.