Weeks 3 and 4: Supporting literacy skills at home
Our focus for weeks 3 and 4 of our pilot program have been about building literacy skills for our families to use at home. We decided to divide the various age groups to cater for their differing needs. For our littlest ones we organised a librarian to come and do a “wiggle and giggle” session focussing on oral language development through song and rhyme. This was followed by a story book or two. Leilah and Pat wiggled and giggled along and ensured even the littlest members had a good time.
Whilst the little ones where practising their rhyming, Bek and Greg worked with the middle age group to create a movie trailer of their favourite book using the ipads. The boys were engaged and loved seeing their interpretation of their stories spring to life. Once they had learnt how to use the app they began publishing their own stories on the ipads. Greg and Bek supported the boys with expanding vocabulary, punctuation for impact and ensuring sentence structure was effective in conveying their message. The boys were engaged and honed their skills which will transfer to the classroom.
Angela introduced the concept of a book orientation to the parents and we shared the wonderful story of a young girl’s journey as an immigrant to Australia through the book, My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood (2015). We spoke about the importance of introducing a book and drawing on background knowledge to ensure meaning is made whilst reading and practiced this on each other. Once we all had a good understanding of the story we used multiple copies, which meant we all had our own copy, to take turns reading and supporting each other’s understanding. The topic of the book was culturally relevant and meaningful to the parents who participated. We also read the The Colour of Home by Mary Hoffman and Karin Littlewood, which carries a similar theme.
Each evening concludes with a meal and this time chicken rolls and salad was enjoyed by all. We even finished the night with a dance – see the video, click ‘Watch on Facebook’ below.