Week+5+Term+2+A+visit+from+VInce

Vince from CORE Education visited our classroom today and when he walked into the room he was greeted with a warm ‘hello Vince’ from members of the class. The children knew he was coming and were very excited. They welcomed him with ease and were happy to work with him explaining what we have been doing this term. I was intrigued that they were fascinated when he set up the video camera on the tripod – they gathered around him with some straining to see in the viewfinder.
 * == Week 5 Term 2 A visit from Vince == ||
 * __**Monday**__

We will be writing information reports next week so in preparation of this we shared the text ‘goldfish’ and set up a Y chart to organise the information we gleaned from the text. || || A morning spent with Vince talking about my inquiry. It was great to be able to talk about the project, reflect and clarify my thinking. - The integration of ICT within the programme for me is imperative - Holistic view of literacy – literacy is evident in all aspect of our school day. - Making links in literacy – is important - Ensuring children understand how texts work assists them in constructing written texts and understanding texts constructed by others. The interconnected nature of creating meaning (speaking, writing, presenting) and making meaning ( listening, reading, viewing) is clear in this inquiry as they are interwoven with each other.
 * __**Tuesday**__

People are obviously viewing the blog but not necessarily commenting on it. || || Three children had been busy commenting on the blog over night and were excited to tell me in the morning.
 * __**Wednesday**__

We did a word dump this morning related to rain. – the children were quick to fire vocabulary at me as if working on automatic as they have internalised the text organization of a cinquain. After the word dump the children videoed each other in their literacy buddies.

Viewing these tonight I smile when I hear several buddies tell each other – you’ve got to smile at the end. – (the expectation of talking to an audience in the formal videoing required for the blog is creeping into the videoing of the planner)

It’s interesting to note that they are becoming more supportive of each other and are beginning to offer words of encouragement to each other. ||

New oral language planner || We viewed several of the children's recordings – which followed the planner. As the children gave feedback on what they saw I took heart in their developing critical eye and feedback statements.
 * **__Thursday__**

The children finished their cinquain’s with many of them writing 2 using their planner of initial ideas. They were so proud of their efforts.

The children are starting to articulate the connections I keep trying to make explicit to my learners. Sarah proudly announced I know why we are reading so many poems, its because we are writing them!

Ora also took the ‘thinking through the process cards’ and organised them into a circle without any teacher prompting. Yipee. I videoed her as she explained why. Listening to Ora I realise I need to add We listen



Ora has also taken to commenting on the blog – giving feedback to her classmates in ways they can improve their writing.



I’m thinking through the tracking of the children’s work – i.e. the recording as well as drawing their pictures related to their stories. This is in part because we seem to have slowed down getting through children drawing their illustrations on KidPix. I feel a new system developing.

I find myself talking more and more to the children about illustrations and how these match what the author has written about. We are beginning to look at these in relation to their own e books when we view them as a class. || Last week Ora worked with her literacy buddy

This week Ora worked on her own. I videoed her as she explained her thinking.

media type="file" key="thinking about thinking ora.mov" width="217" height="217" || Teacher only day based on the NZ curriculum. I shared some planning sheets for English and talked about the role we have as teachers to make explicit to our learners the links between creating meaning (speaking, writing, presenting) and making meaning ( listening, reading, viewing). The further I get into this inquiry the more I can see the benefits in making these connections explicit to our learners. ||  || • Children can articulate their understanding of the learning process, we as teachers just need to give them the time and tools to do so • Children are keen to share their experiences with others. • Creating meaning and making meaning are interwoven in this project. ||
 * __**Friday**__
 * As the week draws to a close – I ponder and acknowledge the following
 * [[image:sarah_thinking_through_the_process.jpg width="341" height="512" align="center"]] || Sarah explained her understanding of the process.

media type="file" key="thinking about thinking sarah 2.mov" width="196" height="196" ||