Noteworthy
Term 3, 2023
A word from our committee...
The New Zealand Literacy Association's (NZLA) Annual Meeting took place on the 10th/11th June down in Wellington. It was a great opportunity to connect with other literacy councils around the country. We officially said goodbye to our Forum Editor, Stephanie Dix, who is embarking on new adventures- we are currently looking for an editor/co-editors to fill this position- just in case you can think of someone who might be interested.
The Libraries Alive student event on the 17th May had to be postponed because of a raft of winter illness. This event will now take place in August.
We have invited Jacinta Oldehaver from Auckland University to speak about dialogic practice in August (more info below).
Congratulations to our WLA committee members Kylie Te Arihi and Wendy Carss for their successful nominations to the Common Practise Model working group, organised by the Ministry of Education. We hope to hear more about phase two before the end of the year - it’s all very secret squirrel at the moment..shhh. For more information, search: Common Practise Model.
Planning for the inaugural Waikato Book Battle is well underway. A number of our committee members have chosen a selection of high interest books suitable for both Year 5/6 & Year 7/8 students which are now available to schools. Due to such a popular response, registrations are now closed. Let the study begin!
We have confirmed Waikato’s successful Marie Clay Trust Award recipients for the 45th NZLA Conference to be held in Invercargill this September. Therese Cargo (Peachgrove Intermediate), and Meg Davies (Deanwell School) received $500 each for the Experienced Teacher Award (to go towards conference registration). Keirryn Hintz (Knighton Normal School) and Sara Ale (Peachgrove Intermediate) will be attending as the Early Careers Award recipients.
Enjoy your school holidays.
Regards
WLA Team
Marie Clay Early Years Award
Marie Clay Experienced Teacher Award
National Simultaneous Storytime
Libraries Alive: Postponed
This student event will now take place on Wednesday 02 August. There will be lots of photos in our next edition of Noteworthy.
BOOK BATTLE
2023 Inaugural Book Battle - SOLD OUT!
$20 per team ($5 per student) Registered teams will have been given the official Book Lists for the competition.
So what is a Book Battle?
A Book Battle competition is an exciting and engaging literary event designed to foster a love for reading and encourage friendly competition among students.
Students are in teams representing their school and are assigned a selection of books to read.
After thoroughly reading the assigned books, teams compete against each other, testing their knowledge through a series of multi-choice questions. A couple of mystery rounds are added in unknown to the students i.e nursery rhymes The Book Battle competition not only promotes critical thinking and comprehension skills but also encourages teamwork, sportsmanship, and a deeper appreciation for literature. It provides an opportunity for students to showcase their reading abilities in a fun and competitive environment.
What is Dialogic Practice?
"Dialogic Practice" means using talk most effectively for carrying out teaching and learning. Dialogic Practise involves ongoing talk between teacher and students, not just teacher presentation.
Through dialogue, teachers can elicit students' everyday, 'common sense' perspectives, engage with their developing ideas and help them overcome misunderstandings.
When students are given opportunities to contribute to classroom dialogue in extended and varied ways, they can explore the limits of their own understanding. At the same time they practice new ways of using language as a tool for constructing knowledge.
By engaging students in dialogue, teachers can:
- explain ideas
- clarify the point and purpose of activities
- 'model' scientific ways of using language
- help students grasp new, scientific ways of describing phenomena.