A literacy resource for teaching reading Five Times Dizzy & Dancing in the Anzac Deli Year 3/4 A literacy resource for teaching reading Elyse Weir – ELA200

CONTENTS  What is reading?  Teaching and Learning Context  Teaching Methodology  Learning Links  ACARA Outcomes  Short and Long-term goals  Lesson Plans  Resources  Assessment  References  Appendixes

What is Reading? Outlined in the Economic and Social Research Council paper, Reading Comprehension: Nature, Assessment and Teaching, the objective of reading is to gain understanding. To make sense of texts, children must be able to decipher words on a page and extract meaning. Beginning to read happens when there is an understanding that speech is made up of sounds called phonemes and that written words represent these sounds, known as the alphabetic principle (Sousa, 2005).

Teaching and Learning Context This four week unit is based on a literacy, mainly reading, activity resource for year 3/4 students. Students are introduced to the book ‘Five Times Dizzy and Dancing in the Anzac Deli’ in the first week of the unit and complete four literacy reading lessons a week. The reading of the book is paired with many verbal and written exercises to give students the best opportunity to develop reading, viewing, speaking and writing skills. Furthermore, the activities in this resource aim to activate prior knowledge, predict and make inferences in reading, make personal connections to the text, as well as question, summarise and evaluate text. These strategies are crucial in student reading development as the more the reader can comprehend of the text, the more the student becomes a purposeful and active reader. Literacy experiences students will engage in include: joint class reading, group discussions, paired reading, brainstorming, written responses, think-pair-share and small group collaborations.

Teaching Methodology The methods undertaken in this unit to improve children’s reading are based on the knowledge that the teacher modelling reading to students and students reading out loud, will be of the highest value for students’ improvement of reading comprehension (Oakley, G. 2011). The importance on the teacher to ‘think aloud’ as s/he reads is that it models to students that they should be bringing up what comes to mind when a text is read and importantly, saying the idea/question aloud as it is thought ( as well as guiding them with suitable, pace, tone, expression and pronunciation). As students themselves read aloud regularly, they further develop reading and comprehension skills and become more confident readers. Students will be encouraged to generate rather than just receive information (L. Sim, F. S. 2009). Our literacy learning does not begin and end in the one lesson, but is active in our classroom environment throughout each day. Lessons will focus on engaging students as active participants in all activities – using their voice and developing reason. Throughout the unit a number of strategies will be implemented to give students a chance to actively engage with the content and to provide variety in their learning (find which methods best suit learners). Strategies such as: brainstorming, small group work, pair work, modelling and questioning.

Learning Links The learning experiences in this topic do not only serve a purpose to develop reading skills, but there are a number of ongoing themes in the book that as a class and as small peer groups, students become familiar with. The main subject this unit focuses on is culture and the many words that come with that term, such as multicultural, migration and differences. As a class we discover many different cultures and backgrounds in our class and all over Australia and how differing cultured people came to be living in Australia. The book discusses the treatment of Mareka and her Greek family, based on the fact that they are Greek and “not Australian”. During activities students think about the actions of people in the book toward Mareka and whether they agree with the way they are treated. Students also put themselves into the shoes of Mareka and imagine if they were in her situation how they would feel. This unit gives children great perspective of culture and understanding through meeting and learning from people in their community. The aim is that they read the text, understand what they read and take knowledge from the story.

ACARA Outcomes Literacy • participating in pair, group, class and school speaking and listening situations, including informal conversations, class discussions and presentations (ACELY1688) • developing appropriate speaking and listening behaviours including acknowledging and extending others’ contributions, presenting ideas and opinions clearly and coherently (ACELY1688) • reading new and different kinds of texts with the use of established word identification strategies, including knowledge of the topic and of text type together with self monitoring strategies; including rereading, self questioning and pausing, and including self correction strategies such confirming and cross-checking (ACELY1691) • reading aloud with fluency and expression (ACELY1691) • reading a wide range of different types of texts for pleasure (ACELY1691) • making connections between the text and students’ own experience and other texts (ACELY1692) • making connections between information in print and images (ACELY1692) • building and using prior knowledge and vocabulary (ACELY1692) • finding specific literal information (ACELY1692) • asking and answering questions creating mental images (ACELY1692) • finding the main idea of a text (ACELY1692) • drawing comparisons between multiple texts and students’ own experiences. Commenting orally, in written form and in digital reviews on aspects such as: 'Do I recognise this in my own world?'; 'How is this text similar to or different from other texts I’ve read?'; 'How common is it to human experience in the real world?'; 'What new ideas does it bring?'; ’How do they fit with what I believe?‘ (ACELT1603)

Short and Long-term Goals SHORT-TERM LONG-TERM Short term goals for year 3 Students can: Select information, ideas and events in texts that relate to their own lives and to other texts.  Listen to others' points of view and respond appropriately. Read texts that contain varied sentence structures, a range of punctuation conventions, and images that provide additional information. Short term goals for year 4 Explain how language features, images and vocabulary are used to engage the interest of audiences. Understand how to express an opinion based on information in a text. Respond to others' viewpoints. Long-term goals for year 3 Students are learning to: Identify literal and implied meaning connecting ideas in different parts of a text. Understand how language can be used to express feelings and opinions on topics. Understand how language features are used to link and sequence ideas. Long-term goals for year 4 Make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, varying language according to context. Listen for key points in discussions. Create structured texts to explain ideas for different audiences.

Adjustments for needs of Learners Lesson Information Area Detail Year Level - Year 3/4 Class Size - 30 students Timing - 45-60 minutes Preparation Ensure the book is uploaded to IWB. Source all required resources in advance of each lesson. Organise parent/community involvement of differing cultures for a “Culture Day”. Read to class during usual SSR time after lunch during the “relax” period. Behaviour Management Keep students engaged and interested Use clear and specific instructions Close proximity to misbehaving student Be fair and consistent Positive reinforcement and merit for on-task behaviour Early Finishers Encourage reading on in the book and researching websites throughout the unit. Encourage creative responses to questions and student to think of questions to ask class. Introduce new and challenging tasks. Adjustments for needs of Learners Incorporate a variety of learning styles for the diverse interests, cultures and abilities found within the classroom. Use small focus groups to target learning needs and scaffold the student.

CONTENT – read book during SSR time also during unit WEEK1 CONTENT – read book during SSR time also during unit Lesson 1 Introduce book “Five Times Dizzy and Dancing in the Anzac Deli” to class. Discuss title, illustrations and make predictions about what the book is about. Begin reading to class from book but also ensure the book is loaded on the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) for children to follow along. Read a couple of chapters, questioning along the way. Monitor student interaction and engagement. Stop reading earlier than planned if you are losing them. Use Stand and Share activity to get whole class to stand and in turn, share either a question or comment about the book to the class. When a student shares they sit down but are still involved in the discussion. This is an easy way to ease student’s into the new topic and openly discuss the book. Teacher direct some questions such as: What does migration mean? Are we all migrants? What cultures do we have in our class? Lesson 2 Bring book up on Interactive Whiteboard so children can see the words as teacher and students take turns to read aloud. Firstly, teacher model reading to students. Teacher pick a few students to read (all if possible, time and behaviours permitting). After a few chapters class discuss the book, who the characters are, where the story is set & the events so far. Bring up the word culture and speak about this with class. What culture are the characters even though they live in Australia? Direct toward activity where children each think about something they would like to find out in book. Students think of and write their detailed question on a hand-size circle piece of paper. Use these circles to begin building a wall display featuring this reading unit. Lesson 3 Finish reading book to class with students help via reading sections from IWB. Once first story is finished students engage in Think, Pair, Share with the aim to discuss in their pair a summary of the story. The pairs should decide on a summary of the story that they both agree with. In their pairs students will then be given the task to order certain events from the story correctly. Once numbered and arranged in order teacher will show the correct order of the events on the IWB. Each pair will then be given an event and large piece of cardboard to write out the event and illustrate it. The outline of the story will come together with all events being stuck up on display. Lesson 4 Begin literacy rotations. Five groups of 6 students (give or take) should be arranged into similar ability reading/literacy groups. Groups are known to students by colours. This lesson will begin with reading second story in the book. Have a student sit in the teacher’s chair to direct this part of the lesson and student start the reading and then choose appropriately the next student (and swap from the chair). Students can read from the book or IWB, whatever they prefer. After 5 mins class reading explain the 6 different activities for literacy groups (see resources) & then divide into groups. Group 1- barrier games, Group 2 – comprehension activity, Group 3 – stay on floor to read with teacher, Group 4 – character webs, Group 5 – story cubes, Group 6 – word charts.

CONTENT - read book during SSR time also during unit WEEK 2 CONTENT - read book during SSR time also during unit Lesson 1 Class continue reading small amounts of the book as a group for the initial 10mins of each reading lesson. Behaviour permitting, students can continue to operate the IWB and take turns sitting in the teachers chair to read and then choose the next student. This should engage and excite students to have the opportunity to be in charge of their own learning. After this, divide into literacy groups. Rotate groups from the last lesson. Group 1- word charts, Group 2 – barrier games, Group 3 – comprehension activity, Group 4 – stay on floor to read with teacher, Group 5 – character webs, Group 6 – story cubes. If extra staff (such as SSO) can be utilised, this the lesson to do it. Teacher can monitor groups on task from floor and will require quiet voices from groups so group on floor can concentrate. Collect books at end of each lesson to go through students’ work to check for understanding and if required, bring up and problems and outline in next lesson. Lesson 2 Reading for initial 10mins of lesson. Student’s group on floor and take turns in teacher chair. After this teacher can address any issues with activities students may be having to class group. Rotate literacy groups from last lesson. Collect books at end of each lesson to go through students’ work to check for understanding and if required, bring up and outline in next lesson. Group 1 – story cubes, Group 2 – word charts, Group 3 – barrier games, Group 4 – comprehension activity, Group 5 – stay on floor to read with teacher, Group 6 – character webs. Lesson 3 Group 1- character webs, Group 2 – story cubes, Group 3 – word charts, Group 4 – barrier games, Group 5 – comprehension activity, Group 6 – stay on floor to read with teacher. Lesson 4 Group 1- stay on floor to read with teacher, Group 2 – character webs, Group 3 – story cubes, Group 4 – word charts, Group 5 – barrier games, Group 6 – comprehension activity.

WEEK 3 CONTENT Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 and 4 Reading for initial 10mins of lesson. Student’s group on floor and take turns in teacher chair. After this teacher can address any issues with activities students may be having to class group. Rotate literacy groups from last lesson. Collect books at end of each lesson to go through students’ work to check for understanding and if required, bring up and outline in next lesson. Group 1- comprehension activity, Group 2 – stay on floor to read with teacher, Group 3 – character webs Group 4 – story cubes, Group 5 – word charts, Group 6 – barrier games. Lesson 2 Lesson begins with class on floor discussing the two stories in the book. On the board we record our thoughts about the main idea of the story, if our ideas have changed since reading the book, whether our predictions were right or completely different, if we have any questions now that we have completed the reading of the book and something we found useful from reading it. Students should be able to come up to board and record a key word or two about these topics as we go through them, under the corresponding heading. Once we have discussed these topics in detail and have input from all class members, each student will be given one of five different coloured rectangle pieces of card. From our keywords on the board, each student will be given a keyword to explain in more detail (at least 3 sentences) and neatly present on their piece of card. All of the final products will be attached to a piece of string under the heading and hung on display. This way students can make connection between what they first thought when beginning to read the book and their thoughts now that they have finished reading. Lesson 3 and 4 (see below) The focus is “Multicultural Australia”. As we read along in the book as a class we discussed the background of the main character Mareka, as being Greek. We spoke about different cultures in Australia and in our class. Now that we have finished the book we want to revisit this topic so we can concentrate on this more closely. Teacher model some questions to class: If Mareka lived in our community today what would be the same? What would be different? Students can find examples from the text. In your own local community what cultural groups have influenced the development and character of the community as it is today? What does multicultural mean? After a short discussion separate the class into 3 groups and spread them out on the floor. The groups get a piece of paper and a texta and nominate a scribe. They then have 5 – 10 mins to record their questions about Mareka’s family and culture, about culture and multiculturalism in Australia as best they can. When time is up, the groups take turns presenting one question at a time to the other two groups. The other two groups get to discuss what they think might best answer the question and can then put their hands up if they would like the opportunity to answer it. This should be arranged like a game show. Two teams are vying for the opportunity to answer a question, with the third team (always rotating) being the “quizmaster”.

[Send out letter to parents about Cultural Day.] WEEK 3 CONTINUED.. Lesson 4 [Send out letter to parents about Cultural Day.] Try to arrange this lesson in the same day as lesson 3, possibly split before recess and after recess. This ensures students can begin discussing and becoming familiar with the terms culture and multicultural as small groups before moving on. In this lesson teacher brings students back to the activity they just worked on. Point out the positives of the lesson and how fantastic it was to see people having a go and really working together to try and answer questions they may not have known that much about. The activity now is to read through a sheet called Multicultural Australia (as a class) with students sitting at desks, and then reading through and discussing questions to answer from the text on a separate sheet. Students are then given time to work individually on the questions using the text in front of them to answer questions in full sentences. To conclude the lessons students should share their answers. Before finishing, explain to students that you have an idea to hold a Culture Day at the end of next week. Give details on what will occur, say between recess to lunch and after lunch, students can invite their parents or family members in to school with the objective to describe their cultural background. Students will be formed into small groups to cook foods from their parents’ cultures. Send a letter home with students this week to make arrangements for parents to come in at the end of the next week (or when it best suits). Between recess and lunch students can assist in cooking groups and then at lunchtime all groups can come together to enjoy a bit of each meal creating a multicultural feast! After lunch (and playtime) invite parents to give small talks about their culture for example, the country/culture, languages spoken, main religion, food, celebrations, currency and any interesting facts. Aim for at least 3 different cultures. Parents can then choose to stay or leave for the remainder of the afternoon while students work on a cultural worksheet.

WEEK 4 CONTENT Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 In pairs, students reread Chapter 3 and examine how the author has established the setting, from the character of Yaya's point of view. How does Yaya describe the neighbourhood? Students use Venn diagram to compare and contrast Yaya's new home to her old home. Students should record actual phrases from the text. Using these phrases, students work in pairs and describe the imagery the author has created. Students might draw these images from Yaya's point of view. Join together as a class and discuss how her description implies how she feels about the neighbourhood? What does she feel about her old home? Lesson 2 SUMMATIVE WORK Teacher explains summative task to class and discuss questions. Students should use previous activities and learning experiences from the unit to draw on and help them complete this task. Students choose a scene in the story and re-create it using a different cultural setting point of view. Students could imagine that they are in Mareka's position, living in a small village in Greece. They need to think about the scene they are focusing on in the book and take note of what language is used to describe Mareka’s situation. They will need to imagine themselves in a similar situation to Mareka but in an unfamiliar country and connect their ideas to the text they create. Lesson 3 Continue with summative work. Students should go through a draft process before having the choice to decide how they would like to present their work. Students can share their drafts with peers and ask for questions and comments on their work to see if “the reader” can follow the re-created story. Lesson 4 Cultural Day! – Make all necessary arrangements prior to today where possible. Recess-lunch – groups of students help preparation and cooking (where safely possible). Record procedures how to make meal during free time (while waiting for meal to cook etc). Lunch – all groups display food and everyone can try the foods from different cultures. After lunch – invite parents to give short talk about their culture, for example; the country/culture, languages spoken, main religion, food, celebrations, currency and any interesting facts. Students then have time to fill in a comparing cultures worksheet, using the information they have gained throughout the day. Complete summative assessment this afternoon.

Resources • Barrier games - http://www.talkingmatters.com.au/resources/downloads/cat_view/2- barrier-games • Comprehension activity – Photocopy a page from the book that the class has all read. Use this as the reference text. Students will read through this text and answer the corresponding questions about the text. (The teacher can decide what questions are appropriate for each ability literacy group and write up on the boars for students’ reference). • Character webs – https://www.nationalserviceresources.gov/filemanager/download/learns/character_w eb.pdf • Venn Diagram – http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/pdf/venn.pdf

Assessment Type of Assessment What will be assessed When it will be assessed Tasks given from each lesson (formative) Collaboration of all lessons Culminating activity (Re-create a scene in story using a different cultural point of view, most likely their own).   Showing evidence of understanding the learnt information. Achieving the curriculum outcomes set. Convey their knowledge correctly into their tasks given. Assessment of student work throughout duration of unit, e.g. work samples, contribution to discussions etc. Final assessment on culminating piece of student work when unit has been taught. End of the unit, an overall mark and assessment will be concluded.

References L. Sim, F. S. (2009). Developing a Literacy Rich Environment. Retrieved from The Highland Literacy Council. Retrieved from: http://www.hvlc.org.uk/hlp/ Oakley, G. (2011). The assessment of reading comprehension. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. Vol.34., 279-293. Reading Comprehension: Nature, Assessment and Teaching. (year). Retrieved from: http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/50134/1/ESRCcomprehensionbooklet.pdf Sousa, D. (2005). Learning to Read. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press.Chapter2 How the brain learns to read. The Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority. (2012). Australian Curriculum: Literacy. Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Literacy/Introduction/Introducti on.

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Appendix 4

Appendix 5