Round up of week one

Firstly, I would like to start with quickly going through what happened on Friday.

Friday afternoon is the scheduled PPA time for my phase (Year's 5/6) and although on Friday's I'm normally at Reading University for Centralised Training, I was able to the an active role in the following weeks planning.

In the morning, all was similar to the previous 4 days. The class teachergave the class a 15-letter Countdown style game. In which they had to make up as any words as possible from the letters and also put them into a sentence. 

             ICMPLESSRAIDT

Impossible

Leaders

Tied

Diet

Scrap

Paris

Said

Palm

The World's Leaders were tied up in Paris after it was said they had a scrap after disagreeing over an impossible diet. 

MATHS

The lesson started with a mental maths test in which I read out 5,10 and 15 second questions - with them getting more difficult with the longer time. 

This is to help replicate part of the SAT's papers and allow the children a chance to learn new techniques in jotting down notes and also adapting to how they work out the answers. 

Building on from yesterday, the teacher decided to focus on Decimal Ordering and Comparing. The questions were differentiated 3 ways depending on ability. 

LITERACY

The class teacher introduced the class into the way she marks work.

G-check the sense of the grammar

P- check punctuation

S- check spelling

U- uplevelling is possible

They then looked at an Assessment Focus target sheet and each student had to highlight their literacy skills:

GREEN- anything the individual can do comfortably and all the time

PINK- anything they are not showing enough of, or feel comfortable doing 

These looked at Levels 4-6 although two of the students (who are currently at a level 3) were given a slightly different sheet.  

Focus points included:

Sentence Structure and Punctuation

Text Structure and Organisation

Composition and Effect

Behaviour Management 

I played some music for the first time and says that should I hear too much chatter, it would be switched off. Needless to say the class actually worked a lot quieter than they have done all week. 

Afterwards, the teacher read through some of the Grand Writing work and selected a line from someone's report of their table partners summer holiday.

X voyaged to the funfair and went on an ecstatic ride.

She explained to the class that whilst using a thesaurus is great, the use of the word in context, is more important. 

Asking the class what 'voyaged' would normally link to, one answered - 'a ship at sea'. Voyaged was changed to travelled.

Ecstatic was also investigated and decided by the class to sound good but not the best word to chose. A student said that  'Ecstatic is something you would say when you are really pleased about something happening/about to take place'.

Thrilling was the amended word because it described how exciting the ride was and even the phrase 'white-knuckle' was added to it.

PPA 

After lunch a lot was discussed about Guided Reading groups, Literacy planning and a few other items. However all I can say now is wait and see. 

To recapitulate (meaning to summarise and state the main points) I would like to say that the week has been a success. 

My class seem to respond well to question and answering. All of them are willing to talk (some more than others) and no-one is afraid to ask for help.

The new team I am working with is huge and will take a lot of getting used to. Being a 2/3 form entry with a lot of classes having shared teaching, this equates to a lot of names and personalities. 

Training as a teacher is something totally new to me and it will require a lot of patience, time and energy. Old clichés, but I will honour them. Not only is my mentor an important cog in my learning process but the entire school network plus my fiancee, family and fellow Schools Direct trainees. 

Observing is going to be much easier after Centralised Training. I will notice more things in lessons and develop my own teaching style to include best practice.

Roll on next week and see how it all pans out at Reading University. 

Book review part 2: Primary English, Knowledge and Understanding

Hey to all who were waiting for the 2nd part of this book review. It's been a manic 10 days and most of it had been spent with INSET Training, 1st week at school and generally getting stuck in. 

However, today I finally read the final chapter and must thank the contributiors Jane Medwell, David Wray, George Moore and Vivienne Griffiths. 

This is Achieving QTS:Meeting the Professional Standards Framework books and gives 'all the subject knowledge you need to teach primary English'.

In a nutshell, it refers to the Teachers' Standards at the start of each chapter, gives Curriculum Context, and also highlights the Early Years Foundation Stage and Early Learning Goals. This is a great read for both KS1 and KS2 teachers. 

Chapters 8-14 have now been read and they cover; Punctuation, Cohession:grammar at the level of the text, The qualities of stories, The qualities of poetry, The qualities of drama, Looking at information books, and Electronic texts.

Since the 1st part of this book review, I have attended a Grammar and Language training session held at my new school. 

This was great because it backed up a lot of what I had recently read and I was able to put my newfound subject knowledge to good use.

The layout of the book was easy to follow, each chapter summarised key points, there were pedagogical links and also Masters Level investigations (which could prove useful in future learning). 

The content had been an eye-opener to literacy and has also provided me with some useful resources for Spelling Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG) lessons. When I have time, I will carry out a few of the self-assessment tasks, although some I may be able to do with my class. 

Book review: Primary English, Knowledge and Understanding

Over the past few days, I have been busy reading up on one of Reading Universities recommended reading materials, for my teacher training. 

It's one of the Achieving QTS:Meeting the Professional Standards Framework books and gives 'all the subject knowledge you need to teach primary English'.

Now, 102 pages read so far, and it doesn't disappoint. Some of it I've seen or heard of before, but not into great detail. It refers to the Teachers' Standards at the start of each chapter, gives Curriculum Context, and also highlights the Early Years Foundation Stage and Early Learning Goals. Despite my training being in a Year 6 class, and at the top end of Primary Education, I know that it's not only important to know how learning at EYFS happens but I may also work in KS1 at some stage into career.

At the moment I have read chapters 1-7 and they cover; Spoken English and Standard English, The acquisition of language, Representing sound in writing, Words, vocabulary and morphology, The grammar of the sentence in Standard English, and finally The components of sentences.

These have been an eye-opener and also provided me with some useful resources for Spelling Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG) lessons. It has self assessment questions plus an appendix and glossary, so this book will prove useful, not only for the pending year, but for years to come.