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C&Pa Design for Learning: Literacy 3

…connect with the Teaching Standard ‘Design for Learning’.  You have already built a firm plank for this Standard with ‘Professional Relationships’ (Module 1) and ‘Learning-focused Culture’ (Module 2). 

Lived experiences – or more specifically funds of knowledge that our ākonga and whānau hold, provide rich and meaningful content to support the purpose of writing.  

… inquiry-based learning (IBL) provides yet another opportunity for authentic authorship and is often situated in the localised curriculum where questions are conceived and developed based on the interests of ākonga. 

Genre – Purpose & Audience

Genre is different from forms or types of writing, such as letters, plays, sonnets, formal debates, and so on. 

We can think of genre as a social process, i.e., as a particular set of activities or a way of doing something that is carried out for a purpose. It also has a recognisable structure or pattern, and this is true of any genre.  Genre can be viewed as a social process which, in order to be relevant to ākonga, is situated in the context of the lived experiences. 

Read Tompkins et al.  (2019) pp. 51-53, considering purpose and form and text types (including figure 2.7) and Loane (2010 pp. 209-11; 2017 pp. 2011-2013).

Texts that Explain – Linking to inquiry-based learning (IBL) and ignitions

  • pedagogical approaches:
    • inquiry-based learning (IBL)
    • ignitions

We can make authentic connections to other learning areas, such as science and the IBL pedagogies in literacy.  

Ignition is another form of a launch where you tap into the curiosity and interests of ākonga.  This is an important pedagogical approach in science and leads to the ākonga sharing their noticings, wonderings, and questions.

Launch – What do you know about this creature?

Activate background (prior knowledge) using the pedagogical approach of quick writing (or drawing or combination of the two(Tompkins et al., 2019).  Akonga write/draw for about 5 minutes on what they know about this creature. 

Have you set the socio participatory norms?

Time to share, in pairs or a small rōpū what ākonga know.  Practice your Talk Moves – this is a great opportunity for ‘repeating’. This is then shared back with the whole class. Create a brainstorm of what we know about this creature.  

Return to the image.  “We already know quite a lot about this creature, for instance, we now know this is a wētā.  What questions do you have about wētā?”

Using sticky notes record each question and pop them up on the board. 

Writing – Context & Place

…include ‘place’ in relation to the connections that ākonga make to their Tangata Whenua and Mana Whenua.  Whilst we have structures in place to teach the various genre, none of this is relevant without context and place.  English online demonstrates supporting Māori ākonga requires  “culturally competent teachers are able to use the learner’s culture/s as a building block to learn and teach. They understand how to utilise the learner’s culture/s to aid the teaching and learning process, as well as to facilitate relationships and professional growth” (para. 3).