Results are in...

So what effect did teaching reading through multimodal texts have? Check it out:

My biggest wondering is: how much did using multimodal texts actually influence the data? 

I used a multi-pronged strategy which included building relationships at home, increasing 1:1 reading time through TA and parent help, using our school librarian to 'advertise' books to the learners, regularly visiting the school library, using the pizza challenge competition to increase home reading, having the children create multimodal responses to texts in meaningful ways, as well as crafting specific lessons using multimodal texts aimed to maximise engagement and extended discussion.

I am left wondering how much of an influence multimodal texts had, amongst all this! I suspect it had a big influence in engaging the learners and helping them make connections and use specific strategies for inferencing and supporting their ideas.

Another wondering I have is how could I have pushed those learners who were below standard to achieve at standard? Despite all the methods used above, 2 learners stayed below standard (although they did make 12 months progress) and one learner is still well below standard. These children all have processing difficulties. How might I have tailored the learning to get greater shift here?

Overall, I am pleased with the journey the learners and I have taken. It is gratifying to see reading progress being made, and even more so to see these learners now wanting to read for pleasure,  knowing what books spin their wheels and being intrinsically motivated to read more. Ka mau te wehi!

Creating a multimodal lesson to enable making connections

This week I am trying to push these learners further into making meaning. 

My recent gap analysis of my focus group learners showed we need to work on comparing and connecting. I did this using Schooltalk.

I have crafted a workshop using 4 different texts, one of which is a chapter book. Children will explain the connections they make using the digital tool Coggle.

Focus Group Data

I have 5 boys who I have been targeting to make 18 months shift in 12. Here is their mid-year data... not as dismal as I had thought, but then again lots of room for improvement!

This equates to 2 boys already making 12 months progress, and 3 boys making 6 months progress in 6 months. 

Mid year data

The first set of data here at is my whole literacy group data, who have received teaching through multimodal texts.

This group consists of 20 learners comprised of 15 boys and 5 girls. From the graph below, you can see all boys have made progress, 4 boys making 12 months and 11 boys making 6 months. The girls have mixed results, for various reasons.

It is gratifying to see the shift in the boys progress; not as much as I was hoping for, especially for the learners who started the year at below or well below. My colleagues have given me more strategies to try and raise achievement even further using multimodal texts.... watch this space!

Planning for shift

A big part of my inquiry this year is accelerating progress. 

This means we are aiming for 18 months shift in 12. Which means I need to take it back, step by step, thinking about what are the big things these learners need to tackle to raise their achievement and understanding (and enjoyment of texts!). I am thinking about not back-filling in every gap, but looking at the bigger concepts the learners need.

GAP analysis: 

Making Meaning: Comprehension strategies and thinking critically

As you can see from the example images below, looking at individual achievement of comprehension strategies as mapped by SchoolTalk, there are many areas of thinking critically and comprehending texts which have not been 'hit' by these learners yet.

For me, the skills here link back to the basic idea of comprehending text, thinking about what is happening in the story and visualising it. So this is where my starting point will be: going back to basics but aiming for an age-appropriate level through multi-modal texts.