RPI: Text Selection

 After learning about the importance of text selection, and hearing at a school level PD the importance of working with mixed ability groups, my teaching partner and I came up with this reading lesson for Week 3 that went along with the Narrative Text sets and elements of a Narrative writing lessons we had been focusing on. 

After two weeks focusing on the elements of a narrative (Setting, characters, problem/conflict, resolution), during week 3 we shifted our focus to thinking primarily about the main characters of the stories we were reading. Students read two texts in their reading groups (for this Year 4 group Long, Long Night and Flight of the Albatross). Then, after some discussion with their reading group, I read aloud "Aroha's Way". 

"Aroha's Way" is a story that our students are familiar with as we use it (and previously used it last year) for our Mitey (wellness) lessons. Only this time, instead of focusing on the emotions and feelings of Aroha page by page, we looked at Aroha as the whole person. 

Students then broke off into mixed ability groups to complete a JamBoard activity (link on slide) sharing 3 things about the main character in one of the stories their group read during the past week. Groups were then able to choose the characteristics from the characters from their JamBoards to create their own avatar using a program linked on the site. 

It was great seeing students come to life and share in their groups about the character they were introduced to in their texts over the past week. My students reading at Levels 3-9 of the reading programme were able to engage with their peers reading at Levels 24-26 about the texts they were reading in a way that they could all benefit from each other.