Researching the why...

 Why am I inquiring into maths this year?

Manaiakalani and school data (see previous blog post on why this is such an important area of focus for our school).

ERO: Keeping children engaged and achieving in mathematics (February 2018). In this report by ERO (Education Review Office, NZ), it is mentioned that PISA data shows that in high school, there is an "accelerated decline" in maths achievement (page 2). 

LOTS of research arguing that ability groupings is not the best way to teach maths. The group of children I am working with are working with me because they all show an understanding of their multiplication facts. Is this ability grouping?? I don't think it is as within this group which I see, there are still children at a wide range of abilities within maths. I am also only seeing this group for 1 hour a week, so they continue to go back to their own classes for the rest of the week's maths classes. I would be interested to know if anyone considers this to still be ability grouping.

Strategies to be implemented, according to the ERO report:

- Mixed ability grouping - the group I see have been selected for a particular purpose - to move them from having times tables knowledge to being able to apply this knowledge. Within the group, there is a range of students with differing levels of times tables knowledge so it is therefore still a mixed ability group.

- Use of Talk Moves (Revoicing, Repeating, Reasoning, Adding on, Waiting)

- "Engaging in authentic mathematics tasks" (p12)

- "Developing children's confidence to share their strategies and learning." (p12)

- The structure of learning that I am going to be following is similar to that used by a school mentioned in the ERO report (page 36). This is where students get an opportunity to use their prior knowledge, be modelled new learning and then a chance to apply knowledge.

- I found it interesting that in the ERO report (pg43), they talk about a case study class who use multi-ability groups however the class to begin with has children with "similar needs." When you look at our school and class data for the spread of maths needs and levels, it becomes clear that we may need to do things a little differently.

- Page 49: "Developing children's confidence to share their strategies and learning."
                    - Two Challenges: (1) Reluctance to share ideas  (2) Needed to slow down and think
                    - Intervention: Introducing Talk Moves, Introducing Visual Prompts ("What is the important                          information?", "What do you have to find out?", What operation / strategy are you going to                          use?) 

- Page 56: A poster to support maths problem solving:

Effective Pedagogy in Maths (Glenda Anthony & Margaret Walshaw)

- One suggestion they have is to give students "independent thinking time." This is something I have not yet explicitly included in my intervention but I think it is worth adding in. Their argument is that children need time to think the question over without their thoughts and ideas being confused or warped by those of others.

- Another suggestion is to build learning from mistakes that the children make. 

- They talk about "making connections." I think this is a valuable thing that I am incorporating into my intervention. The whole idea with how the lessons with these children are structured is to support them in making connections in maths.

Inquiry Causal Chain

 Here is my causal chain for this year's inquiry. This causal chain summarises how different elements of my inquiry connect up. It also supports me in staying true to what my inquiry is set out to do - move students from having a superficial understanding of maths concepts to having a deep and applied knowledge of maths concepts.

Next step: When I see my inquiry group next week, I will begin the lesson with getting students to spend 10 minutes on a times table grid. This will allow me to see if students have this times table knowledge. This is essential as there is no point in me trying to move students onto applying the knowledge if they don't even have the knowledge in the first place.

Structure of Implemented Change

Here is my initial plan of a structure of implemented change.

Initial Planning for Maths Group

 

Along with my colleague and inquiry partner, Clarelle Carruthers and Year 3 and 4 team leader, Angela Moala, we have created a group which I will take for maths once a week. 

Initial planning leans towards me teaching these students using a problem-based learning approach with these students where the maths is applied. From these workshops, the students will gain knowledge which they will then be able to take back to their class to support the rest of their class learning for the week. 

Footage Rubric

I have created a rubric which I can use to assess the quality of footage the students gather during a videography experience:

Videography experience - Self Assessment/ Survey

 Today I created a survey for children to fill out after being a videographer at an out-of-school sporting event. We have 3 events this week so it will be really interesting to see how they get on and find the experience! 

The survey I have created is quite open-ended to allow the children to tell me what they have got out of the experience.

How will I collect information about implementation of changed practices/intervention?

 Hypothesis: If a less experienced classmate is supported by a more experienced classmate to learn a new skill, then their confidence in this skill will begin to develop. Confidence will begin improving in this skill as well as in other areas of school and life once they are out making decisions for themselves as members of the PENN (school news) crew. 

Inquiry Question: How does confidence of children improve by being given leadership roles as part of the school news team?

This is my second year in the Creative Space role. Last year, a lot of time was spent in Lockdown and when we were at school, we had to run things a bit differently. We were fortunate to have some sports competitions throughout the year. Last year, I relied on children who came to me expressing an interest in being videographers for sports tournaments. I also relied on children who had previously been presenters on PENN news. I worked with a small number of keen year 5 children to begin training them up as news presenters. 

This year, I began by utilising the same children who I had as my PENN crew last year. I had two keen year 7 children who expressed an interest in being videographers for sporting events. I had two keen year 8 children who expressed an interest in being videographers for assembly.

More recently, I have begun implementing a different approach. In the first half of my inquiry, I have identified a target group of children whose confidence I want to develop through being members of the PENN crew. These children are unlikely to be children who would step forward and ask to be given an opportunity like this. Instead, I am encouraging them to step into this role.

During the first half of this term, I have begun transitioning towards these target learners being the regular PENN videographers and photographers. One of these children has even stepped forward to give presenting a go!

During the final term and a half of this year, I will try to give these children as many opportunities as possible. I want them to see themselves as the PENN roaming videographers and photographers.

I will create blog post summaries of these experiences. It will be essential that I gather self-assessment data from the children after these experiences as I am not present with the children when they go out and video at sports events.

Other data that would be useful to gather will be to create a rubric to mark the quality of the footage that the children video. This will be important to make any comparisons in the quality of what they produce between now and the end of the year.

Restating my inquiry question and chain of events/ theory of action

Hypothesis: If a less experienced classmate is supported by a more experienced classmate to learn a new skill, then their confidence in this skill will begin to develop. Confidence will begin improving in this skill as well as in other areas of school and life once they are out making decisions for themselves as members of the PENN (school news) crew. 

Inquiry Question: How does confidence of children improve by being given leadership roles as part of the school news team?

Monitoring Progress (Assessment):

- Self confidence survey (see previous blog post and graphs)
- Anecdotal notes of children's confidence (from past teachers)
- Empowerment and Agency progression

Chain of Events (What I have done so far):

Chain of Events (What I will do next):

Examples of children creating the content to develop confidence, communication and oral language.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have had some awesome examples where children have used film/videography as a medium for their learning.

These first two examples were learning experiences led by our Sport Coordinator, Sally Va'afusuaga. Sally worked with our 2022 House Captains to create these movies for the school. These are clear examples of film being used for the teaching and developing of confidence, communication and oral language. 

The first movie was also edited by Finau and Jade, two Year 8 House Captains.

This next example was created when our year 5s & 6s had their fun day in place of the usual year 5&6 camp. I had some time where I took two keen year 4 children out to try out the video cameras. This is an example of developing confidence but also communication as the children had to ask questions to learn more about using the cameras.

These are just three examples where tauira are being given opportunities to use film as a medium for learning, developing confidence, communication and oral language. 

How can I develop more confidence through PENN and how can I encourage more of this sort of learning to be happening through the classroom?2

Collecting information about implementation of my changed practices/intervention

Changed practice/intervention: Providing children with prompts/scaffolds to support speaking and presenting to encourage use of language.

How am I going to record implementation of this?

In a spreadsheet, I will record information every time I use the new tool. 

Here is an example:

Date: 5.08.21
Task: How does a Long Jumper's body move?
Speaking & Presenting Opportunity: Children spent time researching how the body of different athletes' bodies move. They had to think about the skeletal system and muscular system. In response to this, each child was given a unique prompt card which they had to respond to at the end of the session.
Time spent on new intervention: Children were given a unique prompt cards 20 minutes before they were to present to the class whilst they were still participating in the small group research task. 15 minutes of sharing through speaking and presenting.

Restating my Inquiry Question and Chain of Events

We are now half way through the year. In this post, I am going to restate my inquiry question to ensure I am still on track with my inquiry focus this year.

Inquiry Question: How can I change my teaching to support oral language progression towards the level of language which children can comprehend when reading?

Inquiry Goals: To improve oral language.

To reduce the disparity between the level of oral language and vocabulary used and the level of language and vocabulary they can read and recognise in written texts. To increase confidence when speaking and presenting.

Challenge: There is a disparity between the level of oral language and vocabulary which the year 5-6 extension children use and the level of language and vocabulary they can read and recognise in written texts.

Hypothesis: Giving children many opportunities to speak in front of each other (through sharing and presenting their ideas and learning within a small and a larger group), with the support of prompts and scaffolds will improve their confidence to speak and therefore improve their use of oral language.

Implementation of a new tool into my practice

This term, I have begun implementing my new tool for the year 5&6 extension class. Using a range of conversational and discussion prompts from online, I have made a set of speaking prompts for the children. During each session with me, the children will be given a laminated card with a prompt. Their job is to respond to the work from the session using the prompt they have been given. This could be in response to a video they have watched, a discussion point or a text they have read, for example. 

From today, I would like to start giving them their prompt at the beginning of the session so they have a longer amount of time to prepare their response. We will finish each session 10 minutes before the end of the day so the children can share their responses. 

The initial implementation of this tool has been really successful. The children find the prompts useful and they appear much more confident when they have the prompt to support them in speaking and presenting. Here are copies of the prompts:

I have had discussions with a year 2 teacher at school who really liked the idea and thought her year 2 children could benefit from a similar approach. This began me thinking about how we could adapt the design for different age groups.

Causal Chain

 Here is the causal chain for my inquiry which sets out the plan going forward for the rest of the year. This could still be adapted as the year continues to meet the needs of the children.

Profile of my Teaching

The challenge: There is a disparity between the level of oral language and vocabulary which the year 5-6 extension children use and the level of language and vocabulary they can read and recognise in written texts.

My target group of children are all very good readers however find it challenging to demonstrate the same level of understanding and use of vocabulary through speaking and presenting.

Purpose: Create a profile of my teaching to support design of a useful intervention.

What do I currently do, relevant to my inquiry?

Currently, I teach the year 5-6 extension class 2x a week which equates to approximately 3 hours a week. The children work on group projects over a term where they have to demonstrate team work, collaboration, and practice speaking and presenting in their group and then finally in front of their peers. Also during this time, I read a novel aloud to the children. Once a week, the children also complete questions on a reading text with a focus around vocabulary development.

At the end of the term, the children are assessed off a rubric for their collaborative projects.

Manaiakalani Observation

This term, I had Fiona Grant from Manaiakalani observe how I incorporate reading into my Extension class programme. She used the Manaiakalani Observation Checklist during the observation. The following description comes from this observation.

It was observed that the purpose of reading in the extension classroom was for reading to learn. This is in line with the fact that these children are all at a level of their reading where they are accessing texts in order to find information. In the planning for this session, it was observed that I had planned for teaching comprehension strategies, critical thinking (analysing), critical thinking (synthesising), critical thinking (making connections to the wider world), and student reflection. In my planning, there was also evidence of literal questions and open ended questions. In the session, the children had opportunities to see short texts, non fiction texts, a text for a general audience (e.g. newspaper), printed text, digital text, pictorial text (e.g. image), video text, teacher selected text and a text set. Through the session, it was observed that I had ambitious learning intentions. This is what I want to be including for the extension learners as well as to build their oral language skills. I also planned for activities to support consolidation of learning and mileage.

It was observed that I had a purpose to the learning and provided the children with a provocation. However, engagement was lacking. This is a really important part of the observation as I need to think about how I can create better engagement for the children. I wonder whether providing more choice for the children will support better engagement.

In the direct instruction, I included teaching of new vocabulary as well as giving a new context for known vocabulary. This is something I need to ensure I keep doing to develop the children's knowledge and confidence.

In learner follow up activities, it was observed that I provide reflection on strategy use. This will be important to explicitly teach and do so children know the strategies which will support their development of speaking and oral language. Follow up activities were collaborative which supports development of oral language.

I could be doing a better job of planning for critical thinking (evaluating) and critical literacy as well as giving the children opportunities to take part in extended discussions and providing them with conversation scaffolds. It was observed that I did include opportunities for evaluation in the lesson, however I need to be explicitly planning for this. I could be considering providing children with longer texts, audio texts and learner selected texts in relation to the topic.

Even though conversation scaffolds were not evident in my planning, they were evident in the direct instruction. I therefore need to ensure I am explicitly providing the children with these conversation scaffolds.

What are my strengths?

1. Giving the children choice. I like to give the children choice in terms of how they present their final product from their project. 

2. Encouraging deeper thinking using causal links. I ensure that I do not accept yes/no answers from the children. I set up an expectation that the children have to answer a yes/no question with an explanation. That is, 'Yes/No because..." or "I thinking ________ because." for example. Using causal links has been a big focus of my previous inquiries so it is engrained in my teaching practice. 

3. Collaboration. Creating collaborative opportunities.

4. Teaching new vocabulary and sharing this vocabulary in new contexts. I can do a better job of keeping a record of this new vocabulary which we learn.

What are some areas I could develop?

For this question, I want to reflect on my latest lesson that I planned for this class. This term, we are looking into the topic of meteorology. For this topic, I first had the children research a number of weather instruments that are used to measure weather conditions. Here are the slides which the children worked from:

This first lesson was extremely scaffolded as I wanted to ensure the children all had a broad understanding of weather and how it is measured before the children moved off into their group projects. Interestingly, many of the children really struggled with what I thought would be quite a simple task. As a result, I had to stop and think what I could be doing better to support the children with this task.

1. I could be doing a better job of giving these children more real-life experiences before getting them to research. Perhaps what the children needed in this research activity was to see the weather instrument in action. 

2. I could be doing a better job of explicitly teaching alongside project-based learning. I need to improve in my ability to ensure that each child is presenting on NEW learnings, not just things they already know. In last term's project, the children really enjoyed creating their DLO which they would share with the class, whether it be a movie, a poster or a coded animation. One common observation though was the number of groups who tended to present on information they already knew, rather than included NEW information. Perhaps this is partially a confidence issue but I also need to look into what I can be doing as the teacher to support them to share their new learning. I need to be asking myself the following question:

"Could this child/these children presented this at the start of the term or have they only presented this as a result of their new learning?"

I could be getting the children to ask themselves this question:

"What is some new learn from this experience that I didn't know before?"

Something that came up from the observation which I would like to work on is creating more engagement learning experiences. I wonder whether part of this is that we have had limited time together as a class this term so I have not provided as much choice as I would have previously. Even so, it is an element of my teaching which I should really focus on.

I also need to think about how I can provide opportunities for the children to be part of extended discussions. Often I find that the children have difficulty focussing long enough to participate in extended discussions. As a result, part of my inquiry should be on providing children with conversation scaffolds which could support their engagement in an extended sense.

What do the students say (student voice)?

In the student voice survey, this is what the children told me I could help them with in terms of speaking and presenting:

1/17: Management of emotions/ feeling
1/17: Using better vocabulary
1/17: Handwriting
1/17: Memory
1/17: Knowing how to explain my thinking
1/17: Spelling
2/17: Other people showing respect while I'm speaking
2/17: Get better at Maths, Writing and Reading
3/17: Give me books to read
5/17: Give me opportunities to talk so I don't feel nervous and can practice speaking up and expressing what I feel when I talk / Confidence

Interestingly, some of these are points really resonate with the data I collected from observation and assessment. For example, the children know they need help with using better vocabulary when they speak and present. They also know they need help with knowing how to explain their thinking and being given opportunities to speak to develop their confidence. Some of their other responses though show a possible lack in knowing what they need to get better at speaking and presenting. For example, thinking that getting help with handwriting and spelling will help their speaking and presenting. 

Current analysis of The 'Big Six'

1. Ambitious outcomes for all. The learning experiences that I develop for these children are ambitious and provide opportunity for growth and development for all. The learning experiences have both a low floor and a high ceiling so all can access learning from them at all levels.
2. Eyes on text. This is something I can continue to work on developing. When I have these children for a short time, I need to find these best way to do this. I need to continue gifting texts to the children at their level which are related to the topic focus. This would still be possible through group projects where the children read a text and pull new learning from it to support their projects. 
3. Language and vocabulary development. I am providing opportunities for the children to do this as a result of it being the focus of my inquiry. I am doing this through weekly texts, reading of novels, opportunities to work as a team and opportunities to speak and present.
4. High Level Discussions. This is something I can continue to work on developing. This needs to be working hand-in-hand with the third point (Language and vocabulary development) as a result of doing the second point (Eyes on text). I need to be giving the children strategies and prompts to be able to have these high level, effective and productive discussions.
5. Transforming and transference of knowledge through creation. As a said above, I need to be teaching the children to transform and transfer NEW knowledge through creation, not just the knowledge that they previously held.
6. Making thinking visible. This is happening as an end product however I could be encouraging the children to complete video diary entries to share their learning during the term as well.

Causal Chain

(Click on image to enlarge).

Student Voice: The Concept Box (Worley)

Today I gathered some student voice data in a google form about learning using 'The Concept Box' by Peter Worley. Below are the results from this. I have highlighted key words that were mentioned.

1. Explain what you have to do in this type of learning.

Key words from responses:
- Learn
- Words [Vocabulary]
- Making sense [Comprehension]
- Describe, explain
- Talk [Converse/Discuss]
- Think

2. How does this way of learning help you?

Key words from responses:
- Learn
- Words [Vocabulary]
- Listen
- Describe
- Understand [Comprehension]
- Deeper thinking [Critical thinking]

3. What do you get out of this way of learning? (Tick boxes)

Most popular responses:

- Introduced to new words (5/5 responses)
- Summarising - explaining the ideas in a text using a small number of words (5/5 responses)
- Adding more detail to my or others ideas (4/5 responses)
- Confidence (4/5 responses)
- Sharing ideas (4/5 responses)

What might this mean?

The children are implicitly aware that they are critically thinking. This is clear through the children's responses to their thoughts around the process of learning using 'The Concept Box' (Worley). Responses which include the concept of having to listen, explain, learn new vocabulary, making sense and thinking deeper suggest they are aware they are learning to think critically.

This is really positive for going forward with a focus on critical thinking. The next step will be to analyse the children's online blog posts and/or comments to see if this level of critical thinking is also visible in their online blogging. I then need to ask the question as to why or why not it is present in their online blogging. 

The Concept Box - Session 3

Text: The Patience of Trees (Once upon an If, by Peter Worley, page 118-122).

During the free speech section of the comprehension stage of 'The Concept Box,' the children talked about freedom to do things. River - a statement was made about the river not being able to choose when to do things - Is this freedom?

During concept fishing, these words were brainstormed regarding the story:

Control
Weather
Determination
Freedom
Unfair
Happiness
Jealous
Wisdom
Mather-nature
Believing
Possibilities
Problems
Wishing
Movement
Gust
Friendship
Ability
First step
Misfortune
Courage
Confidence
Strength

During concept funnelling, the children reduced these words to the following words:

- Control - this was removed because they can't control themselves. It goes with freedom. The ones who were 'free' also were being controlled. What does this mean?
- Happiness
- Friendship
- Ability- isn't this a bit like control and freedom?
- Courage
- Confidence
- Strength - get rid of
- Determination - because little tree tried to get out when he had no hydration. Should be cut as was only in one part of the story.

Finally, as the children explored central concepts, the narrowed the above words down to these final words. Note: They added 'control' back in. A lot of the discussion revolved around the face that the characters in the story who appeared to have freedom were in fact being controlled. The word 'potential' was also added in to summarise a number of the words decided upon during concept funnelling.

- Control-freedom
- Potential (decided that covered ability, courage, confidence, determination)

The Concept Box - Session 2

Text: Matilda, the Fireless Dragon (Once upon an If, by Peter Worley, page 92).

In today's session of 'The Concept Box' by Peter Worley, these are the words the children reached during the concept funnelling time. For some words, I have made notes with children's responses, comments or arguments.

 
Bravery - dragon was brave to fight the water monster. King was brave to ask dragon to help. I don't think he was brave to fight the monster. Dragon tricked the water monster. The princess was the brave one as she went to the dragon in the first place.
Stereotype - plays a big part in the story. Dragon didn't breathe fire but villagers believed he did.
Manipulation - I would say trick. | But trick is like manipulation.
Ignorant -
Slay
Annoying - not part of the story. | Only describes a character. |

During the exploration of central concepts, one of the children added in the word, 'unique.' His explanation for this was that she (the dragon) was unique because she didn't breathe fire. Also, the werewolf didn't have teeth so was also unique. Unique is like a stereotype. The children discussed how they are opposite.

Through doing a 'Concept Box' session once a week, I am noticing that the children are extremely capable of thinking for themselves and pulling deeper ideas and concepts out of the texts they read independent of the teacher. This is really positive as I develop the learning programme for these children who are reading to learn.

So what am I going to do differently?

Task: Write a reflection in which you summarise your main learning about your teaching and next steps. This will prepare you to design an intervention next time.

Hypothesis: A focus on critical thinking and causal reasoning when responding to texts will support increased levels of critical thinking and ability to create causal links in online written interactions with others for year 5 children reading between 10 and 12 years.



1. Choose a text - image or story with no words OR story read aloud.
2. At the start of the instructional time, provide a provocation/dilemma for the concept of this text.
3. Let children discuss, encouraging use of causal reasoning.
4. Move onto guided reading session.
5. Children go off and create a video diary entry, in pairs, responding to the provocation. Each person to take a difference stance - agree or disagree.

I feel that this will be a great introduction to new texts to get the children thinking and engaged. It will also provide the children an opportunity to practice their critical thinking. The video diary task at the end will give the children a chance to draw on the new ideas from their peers and share their learning on their blog.

Texts to support me with this:
- See links above
- Once upon an if: The storythinking handbook by Peter Worley
- The Philosophy Shop: Ideas, activities and questions to get people, young and old, thinking philosophically - edited by Peter Worley
- The Numberverse by Andrew Day
- Bloomsbury: Conversations and Controversies

Activity ideas:
- Bloomsbury - The If Machine

Once Upon an If by Peter Worley:

This text explains the use of stories to get children thinking deeply/critically. It teaches questioning. It also touches on The Concept Box.

There are different types of stories to consider. This will help me in forming a provocation or dilemma for particular texts.
- Myths/Legends: jump between fiction and non fiction. Explaining why things are as they are.
- Fables/ Parables: Teach a lesson or moral.
- Fairy tales: passed down through generations
- Anecdotes: short stories about things/events that have happened
- Humour stories: Jokes
- Tales with a twist: Not what you expect.
- 'What if' stories

The Concept Box (page 78-79, Once Upon an If by Peter Worley)
1. Read the text/story/poem OR could look at an image.
2. Comprehension Stage
     a) Talk with neighbour
     b) Free response to text (statement/question) - important for children to lead - sit back / observe.
3. Concept Fishing
     a) Talk with neighbour - what is the text about?
     b) Talk with neighbour - 1 word
     c) Share 1 word (key word) - each child to share.
4. Concept Funnelling
     a) Look at key words
     b) Choose best word to describe the text.
     c) Share both strongest word justifications and weakest word justifications.
     d) Get down to list of around 5 key words
5. Exploring central concepts
     a) Debate

How am I going to monitor my teaching and the children's learning?

Task: Write a reflection in which you summarise your main learning about your teaching and next steps. This will prepare you to design an intervention next time.

Hypothesis: A focus on critical thinking and causal reasoning when responding to texts will support increased levels of critical thinking and ability to create causal links in online written interactions with others for year 5 children reading between 10 and 12 years.

Based on the main learnings from observations of my teaching as well as articles by Richard Anderson that I have read, I created the following monitoring spreadsheet. Once I implement the intervention, this will allow me to efficiently keep track of children's levels of critical thinking and my teaching without taking away from the lesson. I will respond with a drop down response each week.  I have also created a tab on this same spreadsheet for my teaching, focusing on areas which I need to adapt, based on observations of my teaching.

Student Profile and Tools/ measures/ approaches

Task: Describe the tools/measures/approaches you plan to use to get a more detailed and accurate profile of students’ learning in relation to that challenge. Justify why you chose these approaches and tools.

Challenge: Across the curriculum, how do we give children the tools and skills to become critical thinkers?

Profile of students' learning: Children who are reading at or above a level expected for year 5 learners, often still lack critical thinking required to be successful at their instructional level.

- Observation: I have observed this through several years teaching year 5 students. There tends to be two separate ability/ skill levels of children who are reading at or above their age: Those who freely make causal relationships and translate what they have read into their own words and those who can't yet do this. 

I want to focus in on those children who do not yet have all these skills/abilities. I feel that this group of children have not yet been a large focus for me. We are fortunate in our team to have Helen Squires supporting us with our children who are learning to read, with a focus on letter sounds. We are also fortunate to have Kelsey Parrant, a year 6 teacher who last year inquired into strategies to support those children who are reading at 7-9 years.

In this inquiry, I hope to be able to work with Sandy Lagitupu, who has previously looked into a similar challenge through the inquiry process. I hope my inquiry will provide a continuation of her inquiry.

Measures:

Beginning of year and end of year running record - with a focus on how the children answer the comprehension questions.

Beginning of year and end of year blog comment - with a focus on the level of critical thinking in the comment in relation to the blog post.

Tools/ approaches:

- Teaching causal reasoning --> see Richard Anderson's research.

- Self-explaining (see article) across reading, writing and maths.

- Talk moves (prompts to use during reading, writing and maths).

- Template blog post to encourage deeper thinking.

- Blog comment prompts to encourage deeper thinking.