Dr van Hees had modelled a reading lesson in my class in Term 2 and I have been using the strategies that she showed me. I had an observation today, as I wanted to be sure that I was doing it correctly.
The students enjoyed the reading using chunking, and are almost able to do chunk independently. I used a whole-class text with lots of scaffolding of vocabulary. Vocabulary needs to be taught explicitly, even though most vocabulary learning occurs incidentally, through engagement with spoken language and reading. The number one requirement for vocabulary learning is large amounts of of language input at the right level for the learners. Research by Farkas and Beron (2004) shows that the vocabulary gap between high and low socioeconomic learners is established by about the age of 5 and is persistent unless there is a determined effort to support a very rapid gain of vocabulary knowledge for learners who have lower levels of vocabulary knowledge at an early schooling age. - excerpt from 'What every primary school teacher should know about vocabulary' by Jannie van Hees and Paul Nation.
Some feedback from students about doing whole-class reading, using chunking and deep-diving:
Sam: "This is so much better than doing vocabulary maps. Vocabulary maps are boring and it takes long to complete."
Sau: " No-one feels dumb 'cause we're all doing the same story."
Lathaniel: "Spending lots of time on vocabulary makes it stick."
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