I Like Peter. I Like Jane.

Goodness me, it has been so long! Many apologies for the long absence of updates - been working on several projects at school and I have also recently gone back to uni.

But here is a little update on what I am currently working on at school. It is a reading program with my 2A learners (low proficiency learners). When I took them last year, most of the children barely knew their alphabet. We spent the whole year just learning the sounds and shapes of A - Z.

I introduced Peter and Jane to them last year (will write a lengthier post on this Peter and Jane series soon) but they only started reading the books on their own this year. They are familiar with the characters and could name Peter, Jane, Pat, Mummy, Daddy.

For those who are unfamiliar with the series, Peter and Jane books have been around for over 40 years. I grew up following their adventures at the beach, at the sweets shop, playing with Pat in the water and enjoying great picnics at the farm. The lifelike illustrations are difficult not to love and children are always eager to turn the pages so they could see what Peter and Jane are up next. The books are graded 1A - 12A, with each level introducing keywords gradually. The keywords are repeated in various contexts, making it easier for children to learn how to read these words without realizing that they are actually learning how to read.

I made copies of the book and stick them up on the softboard. Every morning from 720 - 740, I sit with the children as we read 3-4 pages of the book. It usually takes them about a week to read 4 pages fluently.
My main objective is for them to achieve reading fluency. I will go into comprehension later. At the moment, we are only focusing on recognition of keywords and being able to read the words out loud with confidence. I personally feel that once a child is able to read with confidence, he or she will be further motivated to explore the text on his or her own.

I will document the steps of doing this reading program in greater detail. I think most schools in Malaysia are supplied with at least one set of the Ladybird Peter and Jane series so do give it a try.

Reading for Comprehension: Using The Keywords Strategy.

As learners progress from word to sentence to text level, my concern shifts from learners' recognition of words to learners' comprehension of the text. Comprehension is crucial as it affects learners motivation in reading. It is also one of the skills tested in public examinations.

I recently tried out a new reading activity with my Year 5 Rose. Most of the learners in this class can read quite well but are unable to answer comprehension questions. I later found out that they do not have the neccesary skills to decode a text. For example, many of them can recognise wh-questions but are unable to say what information each of the wh-question seeks for.

So my lesson was intended to familiarise the learners with the wh-questions. I think this is the most basic need for text comprehension. I also wanted to teach them the strategy of using textual clues when answering comprehension questions.

Here is what we did;

1. In groups, learners tried reading the text (from their textbook) on their own.

2. As they read, I wrote five comprehension questions on the board, making sure that I underlined the keywords. For example (the keywords are in bold here as I cannot seem to underline using blogger).

1. Where was the charity sale held?
2. How many cupcakes were sold?

3. I revised the Wh-questions with the learners. We all agreed that who usually asks about a person, where usually asks about a place and when usually asks about time.

4. I then demonstrated to the class how the keywords could be used to help me find the answers from the text. For Question 1 for example, I told them to look for the phrase, "charity sale" and the word "held".

5. As the learners point to me the sentence in which the phrase "charity sale" and the word" held" appeared in, I asked them to read the sentence aloud.

6. I then asked the learners to reread the question posed, which was "Where was the charity sale held?" By this point, at least 2-3 learners in each group would have been able to point out the answer.

7. It was only after the learners have attempted to answer all the questions that I discussed the text with them. I also invited three learners to read aloud the text (I am still finding a better way of conducting this reading aloud session).

I find this direct teaching of a reading strategy helps to engage my learners in the reading comprehension activity for a longer period. Previously, I used whole-class discussion method but most learners appeared to 'switch off' after a while. Putting them into smaller groups where they could discuss for answers - and be rewarded as a group when they are able to provide correct answers - encourages better participation from the learners.

However, reading strategies need to be consistently reinforced so results may not be apparent after just a few trials. I will certainly try this activity again in the next few weeks to assess its true potential.