Appendix 1: Discussion with the year two classroom teacher

Summary of question and responses (paraphrased)

How do you accommodate for the lower and higher abilities within literacy.

I tested the students at the start of the year to create the groups Students seating is based on their academic ability

- They work in their groups together There are a range of books and tasks which the school provides to cater for the different

abilities I walk around the classroom and work with groups of students who need more guidance

What ‘red flags’ do you see when deciding who needs to be part of multilit

Their writing is illegible They are unable to complete tasks on time Their reading ability is limited Their spelling is not improving They are constantly making mistakes in their writing They cannot sound out words They are ESL

What effect does the low-litercy have on their learning?

Lower academic grades Lower self-esteem and class involvement Unable to complete tasks and assessments on time Behavioural issues

How far in advance do you plan?

I have a year planner based on letters & sounds I plan my week 2 weeks in advance

What resources do you use to plan?

I have been teaching for x amount of years and use those plans as a guide I follow the school approach I collaborate with the other year 2 teachers

- Moderating and assessing There are a number of websites for activities – sparklebox, twinkl....

Appendix 2: Scanned MulitLit lesson plan

Appendix 3: reflective journals

http://andreaedn470.weebly.com/journal-entries

Appendix 4: Classroom observations

Morning

English :All students are given the first 15minutes of the morning to complete any tasks which

they did not finish the day before; a lot of students were finishing their writing piece and getting

the teacher to mark them. One of the students which I work with did not complete his work to

the teacher’s standard as her response to him was “what is this? It is all one sentence, there is

no full stops, capital letters, fix it”. To which the student replied “I don’t know how to” as he

walked away. The student lost his temper in that moment and threw his book across the room,

the teacher ignored it. He then picked up his book and went back to his table, he began to cry “I

can’t do anything” he sobbed to his friends. They tried to cheer him up and support him, it

wasn’t long before he was distracted by the excitement of morning fitness.

All students were engaged in morning fitness; they were able to retain the steps which needed

to be completed to play the activity, and we equally involved as all the other students.

MultiLit: The teacher asked MultiLit volunteers to wait until students participated in the

introduction of the lesson. It was important to see this as it showed that the teacher still valued

the student learning and did not want them to miss out or fall behind any further. The first

student was called out; there was no fuss made, the students immediately went to mutlilit

outside of the classroom and began their work. After 20 minutes they returned to the classroom

yelling across the room for the next child (student 2) to go outside. Student 2 seemed more

reluctant to go; they did not finish their task, instead left their desk mid-sentence and went out

of the classroom. This was concern for me as this student was mid thought when they were

interrupted and immediately expected to go outside. Student 1 returned to the classroom and

took a while to become engaged, after a small (off task) discussion with their peers they began

working on the classroom task.

Student 2 returned to the classroom and walked over to student 3 discretely, student 2 then

returned to their desk and without a fuss they continued onto their in class task. Student 3 took

some time to leave the classroom, as they finished their work. They returned to the classroom

and told Student 4 they were needed outside. Student 4 made a huge fuss about having to leave,

resulting in the class of students becoming distracted as student 4 yells “Uhh, really, why do I

have to go!” Following the direction from the classroom teacher, student 4 stomped out of the

class into MultiLit. Immediately when they stepped back into the classroom they too yelled

across the room saying “(Student 5) you need to go outside!”. They then sat back down on their

table but refused to finish their work as they were “so far behind, they won’t be able to finish it

on time.... everyone else is so far ahead, there is no point.” With guidance from the teacher and

agree to finishing less of the task compared to their peers student 4 began working again.

Student 5 slipped out of the classroom and returned ten minutes before the end of the day,

walking up to student 6 and telling them to go outside. Student 5 did not finish the in-class

work, instead packed up early in preparation to go home. Student 6 was eager to partipate in

MultiLit and sped outside in hope to finish the it in the ten minutes that were left.

Student 4 has an IEP as they do have behavioural issues, which could be linked to the learning

difficulty; but aside from that, all students were actively involved in all lessons, it was not noted

that these students need an educational assistant in the classroom. The teacher has created

appropriate groupings for students, as they do work effectively with one another.

Appendix 5: Diagnostic task

Student sheet: Sight Words

the and a to said

in he I of it

was you they on she

is for at his but

that with all we can

are up had my her

what there out this have

went be like some so

not then were go little

as no mum one them

do me down dad big

when it’s see looked very

look don’t come will into

back from children him Mr

get just now came oh

about got their people your

put could house old too

by day made time I’m

if help Mrs called here

off asked saw make an

Student Sheet: Phonics

s a t p i n

sip at tin pin in nat

sap ap tap pat it nit

sat as tas pas ina nip

m d g o c ck

mas dat gat pog cod mock

mit dom gin nod poc sock

e u r h b f

et un rat hon bin fan

get up rin hot bon fick

ll ss rull toss bass gill

j v w x y z

jag vin wat gax yin zop

jeff vog will gup yot zun

jas vet wop gin yull zef

qu ch sh th ng ai

quit chop shin thit fong jai

quat chin shop thap long hai

Student Phonic assessment – stop after 6 incorrect

Student Number 1 2 3 4 5 6

sa x xtp xn xi x x

m xd xg xo c xk xck xe xur h b

f, ffl, llssjvwxy

z, zzquchsh

th, thngai

Student Sight Word assessment – stop after 6 incorrect

Student Number1 2 3 4 5 6

theand

ato

SaidInheI

Of xit

Was xYou

They x xOnShe x xIs

for xAtHis x x xbut x

That xWith x x x x

All x xWeCan xAre x xup x

Had x xMyher x

What x xthere x xoutThis x xHave xWent x

BeLike x x

some xSo

Not xThenWere x

Golittle

AsNo

MumOne

ThemdmeoDownDadBig

WhenItsSee

LookedVeryLookDon’tComeWillIntoBackfrom

ChildrenHimGetJustNowCameAbout

GotTheir

PeopleYourPut

couldHouse

OldtooBy

DayMadetimeI’mIf

HelpCalledHereOff

AskedSaw

Madean

Appendix 6: Meeting with MulitLit coordinator

Purpose of mutlilit

There are a lot of students in the school who speak another language at home, and so

they are either EAL or ESL

MulitLit is an intensive program which aims to help students ‘catch up’. They are to

complete MultiLit twice a week and also follow through with it at home

It is run by voultneers who are trained in a 1hr session

MultiLit is not connected to classroom learning; however it does have a specific

sequence of learning which is to be strictly followed.

Why multilit

I have done a lot of research and it seems to be one with a lot of results

The fact that their is also MiniLit it seemed more reasonable, as there are a lot of

students who are not confident in speaking English

Ultimately we would like to help these students to the point where they do not need the

additional help and can equally contribute to all classroom learning.

How does it correlate with letters and sounds

It doesn’t match exactly; but there are resources letters and sounds use which can help

with multilit

I hope to use the resources from letters and sounds to help students transition back into

the classroom

The use a very similar sequence of learning, just a few things are different; nothing to

dramatic though

Can we integrate the EYLF

Using the games from letters and sounds

It is really hard when the volunteers are untrained; it can be hard to control their

behaviour

I would suggest creating activities and play based for the classroom transition

Discussion on ‘home-packs’ which are engaging and allow the students to continue the

learning at home.

How is this moderated?

It isn’t

There is a communication book which can be used to share ideas, confusion and any

additional notes which all voultneers should look at prior to

Ideally it would be good to look over/test the students myself – or have the teachers do

it... but time is valuable

How can we assist the students in the classroom?

Create classroom packs for students

Appendix 7: work samples

Student 1: phonics practice

Student 3: Moderation of sight words

Student 5: Phonics work

Appendix 8: Students’ opinions on MulitLit

Student 1: I like multilit because I know exactly what to do, and if I get it all right, I can add a sticker to my file.

Student 2: Multilit is ok, but I want to in the class with my friends.

Student 3: MultiLit will help me be smarter and I want to be smarter

Student 4: Uhh it is so boring, I hate it

Student 5: I like how it is very quick, but I don’t like that I do it all the time.

Student 6: I like not having to work in class and then going back to class with a new sticker

Appendix 9: Lesson plan for fly swatter

Day: Monday Date: 11.05.2015 Time: 1.oopm (20 minutes) Class: yr 2

Outcome: students develop accuracy in sight words Topic: MultiLit

Prior Knowledge: Students have been participating in MultiLit for a number of weeks

Students understand the purpose of sight words

Students have begun to develop a bank of sight words

Learning Purpose: Literacy: Interpret, analyse and evaluate: Read less predictable texts with phrasing and fluency by combining contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge using text processing strategies, for example monitoring meaning, predicting, rereading and self-correcting

Student evaluation:

Can they swat the word within 2 seconds Can they sight the word; do not need to

sound out Students compete against time in hope to

‘swat’ as many words as they can

Preparation/ Resources

1 x fly swatter

Sight word list (Multilit)

Assessment sheet (multilit)

Time Learning experience

2 minutes Revise sight words by flicking through them; mark down all correct sight words

2minutes Explain: revise purpose of sight word, go through incorrect sight words.

Explain purpose of game and set boundries – gently and quickly

10 minutes Play swatter game: begin with 2 words and progress up to 5. Mix up words so they are not remembering position but the word itself. Once mastered, use other half of words.

2 mins Conclude: revise all sight words and compare progress; highlight ‘you need to be able to remember what word looks like’ needs to quick.