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The vision of New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) is for all young people to be “confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners”. Particular curriculum principles that set the direction for a school’s support for English language learners are:
The curriculum is ... non-discriminatory; it ensures that students’ identities, languages, abilities and talents are recognised and affirmed and that their learning needs are met. NZC p.9
The curriculum is ... non-discriminatory; it ensures that students’ identities, languages, abilities and talents are recognised and affirmed and that their learning needs are met.
The statement in the NZC that most clearly relates to the cross-curricular language learning needs of English language learners is from p. 16:
Learning areas and language
Each learning area has its own language or languages. As students discover how to use them, they find they are able to think in different ways, access new areas of knowledge, and see their world from new perspectives.
For each area, students need specific help from their teachers as they learn:
In addition to such help, students who are new learners of English or coming into an English-medium environment for the first time need explicit and extensive teaching of English vocabulary, word forms, sentence and text structures, and language uses.
As language is central to learning and English is the medium for most learning in the New Zealand Curriculum, the importance of literacy in English cannot be overstated. (NZC, p. 16)
Schools are accountable for English language learners through the National Administration Guidelines. For example, in (NAG) 1:
c) on the basis of good quality assessment information, identify students and groups of students:
i. who are not achieving;
ii. who are at risk of not achieving;
iii. who have special needs (including gifted and talented students); and
iv. aspects of the curriculum which require particular attention;
d) develop and implement teaching and learning strategies to address the needs
of students and aspects of the curriculum identified in (c) above
Teachers are accountable for all ākonga. The interests of English language learners are highlighted in the Practising Teacher Criteria Overarching Statement 3:
In an increasingly multi-cultural Aotearoa New Zealand, teachers need to be aware of and respect the languages, heritages and cultures of all ākonga.
LearnersStudents who are learning English as an additional language must be understood as being bilingual or multilingual, having rich heritages and often being able to read and write competently. By drawing on and strengthening students’ existing literacy, accelerated progress in developing English literacy can be expected.
Multi-lingual/
Bi-lingual students
Status
A students’ status will impact on some of your decisions. Refer to Ministry of Education Circular 2012/01 Eligibility to enrol in New Zealand schools
Citizenship
citizenship
Refugee
From a refugee background
Asylum-seeker
Teaching English in a way that is responsive to the diversity in our classrooms has the most profound effect on our learners. Strong school–whānau relationships, culturally responsive classrooms, and the deliberate use of effective teaching strategies can help Pasifika learners achieve success.
The Pasifika effective teacher pedagogical practices
from Effecting change for Pasifika students (Word 39KB)
There are a range of resources and readings to help us begin to understand and use appropriate pedagogies that will enhance learning for Pasifika learners, and all learners, when engaging with the English Learning area in The New Zealand Curriculum.
Building relationships with Pasifika students and fanauMalae Aloali’i has taught English at Aorere College for over 10 years and establishes caring relationships with her students and fanau, and this impacts positively on student achievement. In this interview with Togi Lemanu, Malae shares her approaches to academic mentoring.
Salem and the Dawn RaidsThis snapshot from the English senior secondary curriculum guide describes how a teacher used a local context and community resources to help students get into the text and the themes of a play set in seventeenth century America.
Pasifika poetry and English classicsThis snapshot, from the English senior secondary curriculum guide, describes how a teacher designed a year 13 course specifically for her class of Pasifika students and how, by making thematic connections across Pasifika poetry,Othello, and The Crucible, their understanding and appreciation of the literature of both cultures was enriched.
LEAP (Language Enhancing the Achievement of Pasifika)LEAP is a web-based guideline for teachers that supports the learning of bilingual Pasifika students in mainstream (English-medium) classrooms in New Zealand schools.
Takiala Pasifika 2020–2023Helpful information and resources to help support Pasifika learners engaged in the New Zealand secondary education system. Including NZQA's Takiala Pasifika, a commitment to enabling Pacific learners, families and communities to achieve their aspirations.
Effective literacy strategies Pasifika focus (PDF 192KB) Summary of findings from the 2006 professional development project.
Tapasā: Cultural Competencies Framework for Teachers of Pacific LearnersTapasā is designed to support teachers to become more culturally aware, confident and competent when engaging with Pacific learners and their parents, families and communities.
David Riley shares useful tips on how to engage Pasifika boys in literacy. He also discusses ways that we can be more culturally responsive in our teaching.
Big Idea - A Light source is required to create a shadow
Foggy Foggy Forest by Nick Sharatt’s shared by the teacher with the class as a starting point with the Shadows unit. The text uses a number of known fairy tale characters. There is a sequence of questions posed with silhouettes in the illustrations on a double page spread followed by a colour illustration showing the characters involved in contemporary activities. The graphic design of the book layout as takes the reader on a journey through the Foggy Foggy Forest.
The text was chosen as the pages are translucent and there is a sense of heading into the forest with illustrations showing more is to come becoming evident in each turn of the page. Also the reader can use the preceding shadows on the translucent pages to see where they have come in the walk through the foggy foggy forest.
Students are encouraged to predict what some of the unknown objects could be. Working in pairs the students use the Think Pair Share strategy.
The teacher is focussing on the students’ ability to:
Confirmation of skills and strategies to predict what the hand silhouettes could be further developed by viewing the following clip twice.
Hands - Fundacion
Students articulate why they selected those animals and what difference the introduction of sound made in their interpretation.
The teacher uses students’ oral responses used as a result of the What Makes A Shadow activity to build vocabulary word bank of words associated with size and movement. Generate discussion for students to look at comparatives etc and use orally in a sentence sharing their understanding with others. (ie vocabulary - small, smaller, smallest, larger, larger largest, big, bigger biggest.) Shadows Vocabulary (PDF 26KB) Shadows Vocabulary Teacher Notes (PDF 100KB) Teacher then asks students to share key words and ideas that can be recorded and shared on the Shadows Word Bank (PDF 91KB) . Students also contribute and write words on the Word Bank.
Investigative Activity
WHAT MAKES A SHADOW?
What You Need
What You Do
Discuss with the class where an object needs to be held for it to cast a shadow.
Demonstrate how a shadow is formed when an object is held between the light source and the wall.
Close down the light source by covering the lens on the data projector or turn off the overhead projector and ask the class why there is no shadow anymore?
Turn on the light source again and repeat the first demonstration. Discuss why there is a shadow again?
Close down the light source and ask why there is no shadow?
What to Look For
Make sure the students understand;
Opportunities for students to explore –
Allow the students the opportunity to try different objects.
When you vary the distance from the light source, what happens to the shadow?
What happens if you use a different light source:
Is the edge of the shadow sharp or blurry?
This is what some students thought about their shadow:
‘The shadow is bigger when the object is held closer to the screen.’
‘If you stand closer to the projector the shadow will be bigger.’
‘It does not matter where the object is held between the projector and the wall, it will always be the same size.’
‘When you hold the object close to the light source it will be very and sharp shadow.’
What do you think? Give students the opportunity to explore their ideas with a range of equipment and get them to share back in small groups Then each group selects one exploration they all were interested in and share with the class.
Definition Word Match (to be used throughout the unit, and can easily used more than once) There are seven key terms used in this task that are required to be used and understood by students in the class in this unit. This task has been designed to be used at any point throughout the Shadows Unit and not just once. (examples are given in the teacher notes). Cross cultural vocabulary and culturally significant phrases and beliefs to be incorporated throughout the unit and advocated in meaningful ways encouraging students to inquire into their understanding and use/explain meaningfully. Shadows Definition Match Template (PDF 239KB) Shadows Definition Match Teacher Notes (PDF 126KB)
Optional
Writing Opportunity that could run throughout the unit alongside the planned investigations and learning tasks Students will attempt to create three different shadow puppet actions with their hand.
As a result of trials and practice they select the one the like the best (e.g. a rabbit hopping).
They write a set of instructions underneath 5 static visual images (photographs, drawings etc) to teach someone else how to make the shadow action. 5 Step Sequence (PDF 77KB)
Assessment opportunities by the teacher using the teaching as inquiry framework
Observation of students’ conversations and working in groups
Students’ opportunity to assess their learning
Students are able to orally explain and demonstrate their understanding of a light source generating a shadow using some key words from the Vocabulary Word Bank.
Student 1:
You're missing a full stop at the front there first.
Student 2:
On yeah. What else?
I think you have to have a capital letter at the front of Honolulu.
And you've um, put Hawaii in both... in one sentence. You only need it once.
Even though we're not in the same space, we can still use Google Chat to chat to each other, give questions, answers. Yeah.
Back to Gerard's class - Learning Inquiry
What strategies were most likely to help Laura’s students learn what they needed to learn?
Through diagnostic and formative assessment, students are grouped deliberately to offer extension for all students. The tasks are scaffolded through an adaptation of the three level reading guide, based on Bloom’s taxonomy of thinking. The three level writing guide supports students through forming simple ideas with detail - Curriculum Levels 1 & 2 - to adding detail in an organised way. This process scaffolds them towards the final paragraph task which requires them to demonstrate “develops and communicates increasingly comprehensive ideas, information and understandings” NZC English Level 5 - Ideas. The video clip shows the benefits of mixed ability grouping alongside the differentiated task :
Video clip: differentiation of ideas
Laura: Remember, we're working on creative writing. So we're building up to a bigger piece of writing. So in the middle of your tables, you have a sheet that looks like this. Okay, this sheet is for you and the people that you're working with to share.
You're going to do three main steps. The three main steps are three different sets of questions which you're going to answer. At the end of each set of questions, there is a short writing activity for you to do. In between doing those questions, there are a couple of different tasks for you to do to help you develop your superhero character more.
On your table there are level one questions. On one side of the page, you're going to have blank superheroes. Okay? On the other side of the page, you have blank superhero logos.
Well, if you have this template and you want your superhero to not necessarily be human, that's fine. You can change this a little bit and make it whatever you'd like it to be. When you finish question... level one questions and you're ready, you think you have some good answers, you can come up and get your level two questions. Again, the same with the level three questions.
Student 1: So how would we describe the superhero's body structure?
Student 2: Maybe just focus on like the basics type of stuff, like whether they're going to be tall or short?
Student 3: And so my character is going to have long hair, good tan, broad chin, really square chiselled face.
Student 4: So, I've already finished my level one and my drawing. I'll get my level two.
Student 5: So what are you guys' superhero's names going to be?
Student 6: I'm going to go with Whirlwinds.
Student 7: I'm probably going to go with ExtremeForce.
Student 4: What about you?
Student 5: I think I'm going to call my superhero Red Falcon. Because he's like strong, he's like ... red just means like "strong". You know, all that stuff. And falcon because I'm going to give him the power to, like, fly and stuff.
Student 2: You guys, I've finished the first couple of questions. You know, I've got my superhero's name. I know what they look like. I'm pretty sure I know what they wear. I know what city they live in, I think. And I've got their superpower and stuff. So I'm going to do the extension activity, where I list three things that they've done to help people in their city.
Student 1: Are you stuck on that? Do you want some help? You could've, like, maybe wrote down that, I don't know, maybe your superhero could have saved someone from a burning building. Maybe.
Student 8: Why did you call your superhero The FoxMouse?
Student 2: Actually I got it ... I thought back to my childhood and my dad used to call me "Fox". And he also used to call me "Squeaker-mouse". So I put those two together and I got, The FoxMouse.
Student 9: May I just ask why they both look the same?
Student 10: I'm giving her an outline of a monster so we can have opposite, like, enemies of monsters. That's the good guy, who makes everyone all happy. And then this person here is going to be the bad guy, who makes everyone sad.
Where do you want the hands?
Student 11: Just put it where that one is so it looks like twins.
Student 12: I'm on level three, which has got... you need to put more detail into the question, which makes it harder.
What evidence did Laura draw on?
As a Te Kotahitanga trained teacher, in a school where this is the primary professional development programme, the pedagogy of that programme informs all classroom practice.
What evidence did Laura draw on from her own practice or that of her colleagues?
Writing mileage and accuracy issues are barriers to writing for many Massey High School students. Therefore beginning with drawing and talking allows students to generate ideas before facing the writing barrier. The gradual build-up of depth and detail through differentiated tasks allows students to begin with a clearly achievable task, then move into the level of writing required at curriculum level 5 (which is the aim for the whole class in the end of year assessment). This level of the curriculum requires deliberate choice of content, language and text form and this task scaffolds students into reaching that level of writing.
Laura's class - learning inquiry
Student 1: When we do our mahi, we can choose... there are multiple choices that you can do. Like, you can do an interview, a fictional interview, that you write about or you can do a fictional story about someone not fitting in. So, yeah, so we can choose out of those activities.
Hama: You're going to pick two topics. You're going to pick one, He tuhinga pakimaero. One is a creative writing topic. Ka pai? The other one is, He tuhinga ōkawa. The other one you're going to pick a formal or a transactional writing topic.
So our two creative topics are these – number one, write a fictional interview with Mike Jonathan... Ka pai... about Hawaiki.
Write a fictional account about someone trying to find acceptance. Ka pai? Acceptance, and finding acceptance, is the big theme in our short story. So I want you to give your interpretation on it. So you need to pick one of these. And you need to pick one of these, here. Ka pai?
These things here, they get a little bit harder as we go down. So it's up to you which one you pick. But I'd really like us to challenge ourselves and maybe go for one that's a little bit of a challenge for us.
Tuatahi, who's read Te Ao Hou magazine? Ka pai.
Student 2: I just went on to the dictionary online to see if one of the words that I added in my story made sense. That word was, being "indecisive". I just put that word in my story because my story is about acceptance. And people are complaining... they're complaining about things not going their way. Well, being "indecisive" means you can't make your mind up, and stuff. So if you want to accept yourself, you just want to see what you want to accept in you.
back to Hama's class - teaching inquiry
Hama: Yeah. So I would have seen an example that a student has produced and discussed with them and clarified, okay, what's going on here? How have you done that? And why have you done it? So as long as they can articulate it to me, then they're good enough to get up and speak to the class. Even if a part's missing, even if it's not perfect, even if I would have put it a little bit differently, it doesn't matter. It's another voice that's teaching them. It's coming from a peer.
With the writing, I always display student writing up on the board. So they can see exactly what the student has done. And I'll get that student up sometimes to talk about it, saying, "Oh, this is why I've put this here. This is what I've done here". Sometimes just displaying student work, in itself. You know, the students, many pick up, "Great, what they've done here" or "I can use that in my one". It doesn't even have to be explicit. It doesn't have to be explained.
But again, using students to do the modelling and getting them to do some of the teaching has been really invaluable. And it challenges the more able students in class as well.
Student: When um, I got [name] to help me read my story. When she reads it, it helps me in two ways. It helps me to see if it sounds right, or to see if I need to change things.
back to Hama's class - learning inquiry
Student 1: So Sara, how's your poem going?
Student 2: I think it's going good.
Student 1: Can you read it to me?
Student 2:Sure. Joy – yellow, orange and neon colours. Sounds like the last laughter of little kids in a playground. Tastes like a freshly made chocolate pie. Smells like the fragrance of Calvin Klein cologne. Feels like a big hug from your mother. Meeting up with friends you haven't seen in ages, is joy!
Student 1:That's pretty cool. Do you remember what Miss said about what makes a good poem?
Student 2: Yep. It has to be descriptive and has to paint a picture in your head. And I think I've done those things.
Student 3: The teacher would also give us feedback like how we can improve, making it make more sense, different grammar. And it's cool cuz if she's marking our work at home, and we're doing homework, then we can finish it that night instead of waiting for her to give us feedback at school.
Back to Christine's class - teaching inquiry
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