Reading Takes You Everywhere
Student Report
On Friday the 15th of August, we had the opportunity to go to Primary Classes to observe, learn, and help out with the students. One of our experiences was going to visit Foundation C's Class. The classroom had a very calm atmosphere; it had lots of posters on the walls, and the students were very engaged with their teacher Ms. Sukhman. In session 2, Foundation students learnt about sentences and sentence fragments. The students completed their Little Learners Love Literacy Booklets and wrote their answers down indicating if the word was a fragment or a sentence.
While Lana enjoyed learning about the building blocks of Literacy, I participated in helping the Year 3 students with their booklet stories for the unit - The Real - ish Chronicles. Class 3A were focused on brainstorming ideas for front covers and blurbs for their own novels which would be published! Students were required to include a catchy title, author, picture of a character, and the setting. Students discussed three different front covers with their teacher. The teacher asked the students what they predicted the story would be about just by looking at the front covers. From engaging in this explicit teaching, the students then began to work on their own books. They used their time effectively and efficiently to create imaginative but realistic stories while including lots of interesting ideas and pictures in their booklets.
During our experience with the Primary students, as Year 9 students of Truganina College, we learnt about the different ways that the teachers teach literacy in their classes; it showed us the importance of learning, writing, and reading. Literacy includes these three important modes of communication. It isn’t just about reading and writing; it also teaches us the importance of thinking. Overall, literacy teaching was a very good experience and opportunity for us to reflect on our own learning. While going into the year 3 class, I gained knowledge by watching and observing how the teachers used strategies to make literacy a better experience for the students. It has helped me reflect my own skills and the connection between speaking, reading and writing
- Kansiree Year 9
During my experience in the foundation class, I saw the foundation skills students need to read and write, and I reflected on how it becomes more complex over time. I also reflected on how reading gives an opportunity for me to be in my own world. Everything goes quiet when I read - it is an escape from reality!