cbot010

Module 2, Teaching Inquiry

Teacher Inquiry Plan
...effective pedagogy requires that teachers inquire into the impact of their teaching on
their students. NZ Curriculum, P35

Teacher/Team: Mr Webster/11B Senior Social Studies

Year level 11
Date: 6 July 2015

NZC p.35
Focusing Inquiry (establishes a baseline and a direction). The teacher uses all available information to determine what their
students have already learned and what they need to learn next.
Teaching Inquiry
The teacher uses evidence from research and from their own past practice and that of colleagues to plan teaching and learning
opportunities aimed at achieving the outcomes prioritised in the focusing inquiry.
Learning Inquiry
The teacher investigates the success of the teaching in terms of the prioritised outcomes, using a range of assessment
approaches.
(This occurs...) while learning activities are in progress and also as longer-term sequences or units of work come to an end.
(Teachers...) then analyse and interpret the information to consider what they should do next.

Using the Teaching as Inquiry process to inquire into the impact of teaching on students.
NZ Curriculum p.35.
Teacher/Group/Syndicate: Mr Webster/11B Social Studies

Room: E 4

Date: 6 July 2015

Focusing Inquiry (establishes a baseline and a direction). The teacher uses all available information to determine what
their students have already learned and what they need to learn next.

This class is one of two Year 11 Senior Social Studies classes at [] College in [.]. A decile 3, urban
secondary school with a role of some 370, its students come from largely Maori (65%) but also Pacific Island (20%)
and Pakeha/European (15%) backgrounds, along with a few students of Asian and Middle Eastern descent. The
class, of 14 students with 8 males and 6 females, has a mix of abilities and backgrounds including a number who did
only marginally well in Year 10 Social studies, and are now under pressure to perform at NCEA Level 1.
In terms of literacy in both reading and writing, half of the students are clearly working, as expected, at or toward level
6 or above (including 2, maybe 3, achieving beyond Level 6) of the NZ Curriculum. However, the other half are
struggling in both their reading and writing. See attached NCEA data analysis for the results of three Achievement
Standards completed so far. Of the 7 students who are not reading and writing at the expected level, four are working
toward Level 5 in reading and writing; one is working toward Level 5 in reading but is writing only at Level 4; and two
students are reading and writing effectively only at, or just beyond, Level 4.
Class 11 B has completed 3 Achievement Standards for the year so far. The first Achievement Standard, AS91043
1.5, Describe a social justice and human rights action (AS1), which counted for literacy, focused on social
actions in recent history including in the US, Britain, Australia and India and South Africa, as well as New Zealand. Six
of the fourteen students posted a Not Achieved. After the learning the teacher judged that the international foci,
which the teacher originally hoped would draw student interest, was too difficult for some students to identify with.
The second Achievement Standard, AS91042 1.4 Report on personal involvement in a social justice and human
rights action (AS2), did not count for literacy since reports could be presented in a variety of ways, not just in
writing, and most research and involvement was participatory. Only one student posted a Not Achieved. The teacher
assessed both during and after the unit of learning that the local community focus of the learning had enhanced
student participation and achievement.
The third Achievement Standard, AS91040 1.2, Conduct a social inquiry (AS3), did count for literacy. Though
students were encouraged to focus on individuals, groups or institutions working to promote social justice issues
within the local community or wider New Zealand/Aotearoa, and many students did so (building on AS2, and
addressing the teacher hoped what appeared to be the difficulty many students had in identifying with international
examples focused on in AS1), AS3 also proved to be too difficult for half the students, five of whom repeatedly said
the unit was too hard, some becoming disruptive in class. This threw up the literacy issues again. Of the fourteen
students in 11B, five posted a Not Submitted for AS3 while two posted a Not Achieved.
With NCEA now upon them, a full half of the class are not working at or even toward the expected curriculum and
literacy Level 6, and appear intimidated as well. The teacher has tried to ameliorate student concerns verbally, and the
mood of the class rose with AS2, which will count toward NCEA Level 1s (if not the necessary literacy component of
it). The lack of success with AS3, however, has reinforced concern. Half the students feel working complicating the
task of getting half the class moving forward again.
To address this situation I have chosen four students that I believe represent the range of challenges being
experienced by the half of the class that are struggling. I will assess these four students, identifying priority learnings
for each of them. These key learnings will be identified by: * * * three asterix for the top priorities, * * two for the
second-order priorities, and * one asterix for the third-order priorities.
I will then pinpoint the one key challenge common to all and will target that challenge in class going forward with
teaching strategies and learning tasks. I will also keep an eye on each students other individual learning priorities
fine-tuning help and support accordingly. In this way I hope to shift the dynamic in the class and pull those struggling
back on a path toward achievement.

What does the data indicate for this group of target students.
Student 1 Profile:

Manu

(Knowing the Learner profile your student here.)

Manu is a pleasant, open-minded student who enjoys positive relationships with most of his classmates, peers and
teachers and is engaged in learning. He enjoys sport and has a good circle of friends. Academically, this has helped him
as he interacts well and listens. He also has a somewhat innate interest in the people and their environment and
appears to like the Physical Sciences as well. That said, he has struggled somewhat like many of his peers with literacy
issues because of a lack of focus and consistent support. Though he can engage in the issues cognitively and verbally,
he has trouble absorbing a range of written material and presenting it in an ordered, sequential manner in writing. Manu
is working toward Level 5 in both reading and writing literacy with regard to the Social Sciences Learning Area.
Manu managed an Achieved in AS1 formulating a report on South Africas anti-apartheid movement, on the basis of
some genuine interest, which enabled him to grapple with some challenging concepts. But he used just a few texts, and
while he covered key points on the human rights action, a few were not well developed, some of the criteria were only
barely met. The report was not introduced well and the structure lacked some coherence despite repeated suggestions.
Manu was the only student to post a Not Achieved in AS2. He participated in the learning with enthusiasm, and used
whanau and community contacts to participate in local community kitchen and learned about the issues around it. But,
despite promptings, he failed to think ahead about how he might present it, and while a visual presentation and/or talk
may have suited his inclinations and abilities better, he did not prepare for these and ended up writing his report. This
written report was handed in very late and failed to meet many of the criteria.
Despite the achieved in AS1 and the good fieldwork in AS2 and a grounding in some of the social issues in the local
community and New Zealand, Manus confidence and morale appear to have been hit. He struggled to choose a fruitful
topic and was daunted by the prospect gathering information from the internet and library and composing another
written report. He began to doubt his abilities and, along with a few others in the class, was one of the students who
expressed the feeling that the unit was too hard and lost focus in the class. Ultimately he failed to submit a report
for AS3.

Student 1: Manu

AS1: Achieved;
AS2: Not Achieved;
AS3: Not submitted.

The students expected level is working beyond Curriculum

Level 5/working toward Curriculum Level 6.
Students at Level 5 can

This student can...

Reading:
1. Decode words, including unfamiliar words, quickly and
automatically.
2. Apply knowledge of features of a wide variety of text
types and forms, and understands how these text types
and forms are used in different subjects and curriculum
areas.
3. Recognise different grammatical constructions (e.g. that
express cause and effect), and uses this knowledge to
understand dense and complex text.
4. Have a large vocabulary that is connected to their own
knowledge of the world, including academic, subject
specific and technical terms.
5. Locate, evaluate, analyse and summurise information
and ideas within texts and across a range of texts
making decisions about their usefulness, reading flexibly
and using reading strategies (e.g., skimming scanning,
note-taking, annotating, mapping, coding information,
rephrasing) to gather information and re-organise it for
their own purpose.

Reading: Overall, working toward Level 5

1. Manu can do this most of the time.
2. * Yes, Manu is learning to do this.

3. Yes, if slower than expected at Level 5.

4. * Manu is beginning to get to this point. He is
unfamiliar with many specialist words.
5. * * * This has been the key challenge for Manu
as he looks to navigate new issues and absorb
a range of texts used in the study of the Social
Sciences.

6. Monitor their understanding as it develops and adjust

their strategies.
Writing:
1. Knows a wide variety of text types (genre) and text
forms (e.g. magazine articles), knows specific features
and structures associated with each, and uses
appropriate text types and forms flexibly in different
subject areas.
2. Plan their writing according to the purpose
3. Explains concepts, processes, phenomena, theories,
principles, beliefs and opinions.
4. Achieves coherence and cohesion in paragraphs or
longer sections of writing.
5. Has a large productive vocabulary that includes:
academic, subject-specific, technical terms, and some
low frequency words and phrases.
6. Uses nominalistation to express increasingly abstract
and complex ideas that conform with academic
conventions, and creates links that increase
conciseness and coherence of writing.
7. Knows generative principles of word formation (roots,
suffixes, prefixes) and can apply knowledge to extend
productive vocabulary.
8. Uses a wide range of text conventions (grammer,
spelling, punctuation) appropriately with increasing
accuracy.
9. Correctly acknowledges source of information, e.g.
quotes.

6. * Manu is just becoming more conscious of this

self-monitoring.
Writing: Overall, working toward Level 5
1. * * Manu is still working toward this.

2. * Manu has not shown the ability to do this.

3. * Manu can do this in a basic way.
4. * * Manu has yet to show he can achieve
coherence and cohesion in long sections of
writing.
5. * Manu is working toward this.
6. * Yes, Manu uses nominalization but he has yet
to show effective linking with conciseness and
coherence.
7. Yes.
8. Yes.
9. * Manu understands the principle but has not
had the chance to put this in practice more than
a few times.

To accelerate Manu I need to teach

Manu has a few skills and knowledge that he needs to develop but the priority for Manus learning is, as noted,
Reading point 5 above: to build his ability to seek out, find and use an appropriate range of texts and use
reading strategies to gather information and then re-organise it for their own purpose. Manu needs to apply
his knowledge in Reading point 2, of features of a wide variety of text types and forms, to help achieve this.
Manu also needs to show he can achieve coherence and cohesion in long sections of writing that Achievement
Standards at this level require (Writing point 4 above), and plan his writing (Writing point 2) but both of these will
be aided by addressing deficiencies in Reading point 5.

Student 2 Profile:

Tevita

(Knowing the Learner profile your student here.)

Tevita is a gregarious student who likes to have fun often too much fun. He enjoys good relationships with most of his
classmates and can be engaged in learning if he can concentrate, but he is a joker, can be easily distracted and can
distract others. He enjoys sport but his real strength is as a performer in dance and drama. He can interact productively
with others but often gets off-task and needs a leading hand. But if he is interested he listens, even sometimes when
you think he is not. As a performer, Tevita likes to please on a number of fronts, with his classmates, but also with the
teacher if his energies can be harnessed. He has the ability to achieve in literacy if he can focus and establish good
practices. He can engage in the issues cognitively and verbally, but because of the time and concentration it takes he
has had trouble absorbing a range of written material and presenting it in an ordered, sequential manner in writing.
Tevita is working toward Level 5 in both reading and writing literacy with regard to the Social Sciences Learning
Area.

Tevita posted a Not Achieved in AS1. He did not engage with the some challenging concepts associated with social
justice and human rights actions and his report, on the 1960s US civil rights movement, was cursory and did not meet
some of the core criteria. While his introduction was relatively well-written, and the structure of the report was sound, he
used only a couple of texts, and his points were not well developed in the rest of the report. As the first unit of the year,
Tevita just couldnt focus and was caught up with some of the others in the class who have been struggling.
Tevita did a good report in AS2, posting an Achieved. He participated in the learning with some sporadic
enthusiasm, producing a report on local fishing issues using family contacts. It was clear that he was inspired by his
friend and classmate, Sione, and Siones strong effort in AS2. Tevita was proud of his project and was a little
disappointed he did not do better but understood why.
With the influence of Sione with whom Tevita worked closely during AS3, and Tevitas own glimpse of how to achieve
success (i.e., with focus and time), Tevita grappled with the essentially new literacy challenges of gathering information
from the internet and library and composing his written report. He posted a Not Achieved in AS3, because his
research was not so well organized or acknowledged correctly, and the structure of his report and the clarity of the
points he wanted to make were not quite adequate. But his research was promising, and he is learning the importance
of breaking down his topic. With a little work, it has been agreed that he will re-submit his report and he is likely to
get a well-earned Achieved.

Student 2: Tevita

AS1: Not Achieved;

AS2: Achieved;
AS3: Not Achieved.

The students expected level is working beyond Curriculum

Level 5/working toward Curriculum Level 6.
Students at this level can

This student can...

Reading
1. Decode words, including unfamiliar words, quickly and
automatically.
2. Apply knowledge of features of a wide variety of text
types and forms, and understands how these text types
and forms are used in different subjects and curriculum
areas.
3. Recognise different grammatical constructions (e.g. that
express cause and effect), and uses this knowledge to
understand dense and complex text.
4. Have a large vocabulary that is connected to their own
knowledge of the world, including academic, subject
specific and technical terms.
5. Locate, evaluate, analyse and summurise information
and ideas within texts and across a range of texts
making decisions about their usefulness, reading flexibly
and using reading strategies (e.g., skimming scanning,
note-taking, annotating, mapping, coding information,
rephrasing) to gather information and reorganise it for
their own purpose.
6. Monitor their understanding as it develops and adjust
their strategies.

Reading: Overall, working toward Level 5

1. Tevita can do this almost all of the time.

Writing:
1. Knows a wide variety of text types (genre) and txt forms
(e.g. magazine articles), knows specific features and
structures associated with each, and uses appropriate
text types and forms flexibly in different subject areas.
2. Plan their writing according to the purpose
3. Explains concepts, processes, phenomena, theories,
principles, beliefs and opinions.
4. Achieves coherence and cohesion in paragraphs or
longer sections of writing.
5. Has a large productive vocabulary that includes:

Writing: Overall, working toward Level 5

1. * Tevita is now just beginning to put this into
practice regularly. More work is needed.

2. * Tevita is developing this; he not quite there yet

3. * Yes, if slower than expected at Level 6.

4. * Tevita is getting to this point. He too is
unfamiliar with many specialist words.
5. * * * This has been the key challenge for Tevita
as well as he looks to navigate new issues and
absorb a range of texts used in the study of the
Social Sciences. But he has shown that he is
attempting to put this into practice as seen in his
work with AS3.
6. * Tevita is doing more of this self-monitoring as
seen his work with AS3

2. * Tevita is beginning to think about this, but

needs to put into practice more regularly.
3. Tevita is beginning to do this.
4. * * Tevita has yet to show consistently that he
can achieve coherence and cohesion in long
sections of writing, but he is working at it.

6.

7.
8.
9.

academic, subject-specific, technical terms, and some

low frequency words and phrases.
Uses nominalistation to express increasingly abstract
and complex ideas that conform with academic
conventions, and creates links that increase
conciseness and coherence of writing.
Knows generative principles of word formation (roots,
suffixes, prefixes) and can apply knowledge to extend
productive vocabulary.
Uses a wide range of text conventions (grammer,
spelling, punctuation) appropriately with increasing
accuracy.
Correctly acknowledges source of information, e.g.
quotes.

5. * Tevita is working toward this.

6. * Tevita uses nominalization but he has yet to
show effective linking with conciseness and
coherence.
7. Yes.
8. Yes.
9. * Tevita is still grappling with the importance of
source information and correctly acknowledging
it, but he is very close.

To accelerate Tevita I need to teach

The priority for Tevitas learning is, like Manu, Reading point 5 above: to build his ability to seek out, find and
use an appropriate range of texts and use reading strategies to gather and then re-organise it for their own
purpose.
Like Manu, Tevita also needs to show he can achieve coherence and cohesion in long sections of writing (Writing
point 4 above), but he needs to show effective linking in his writing with conciseness and coherence (Writing point
6). Both of these, however, will be aided by addressing deficiencies in Reading point 5.

Student 3 Profile:

James

(Knowing the Learner profile your student here.)

James is a quiet, reserved fellow who is obviously struggling, but who has attempted to avoid attention. His home life is
disrupted with divorced parents; there are reports of conflict at home, largely through behavioural issues exhibited in
school by his younger brother, Jeremy, in Year 9. Jamess interactions with his wider classmates generally appear
limited. In 11B Senior Social Studies he spends some time with Wiremu, (also struggling) and Mohammad (who is doing
well). James has occasionally been teased by Bob and Tevita, but this does not appear serious, and in his lighter
moments James enjoys a joke. Academically, James has engaged in the two learnings that count for literacy, but says
little and keeps his head down. However, when he does talk he usually has something thoughtful to provide and he
appears to have a surprisingly good innate grasp of social issues and decent vocabulary. Elsewhere, James does well
in Art, notably photography, and there are no reports of disruption in other classes. Overall, James is operating above
Level 4 literacy in both reading and writing, with vocabulary and conceptual abilities pushing up toward level 5.
James posted a Not Achieved in AS1 on a report on the 1981 Springbok Tour to New Zealand, writing very little and
failing to meet quite a few of the criteria. Despite some participation in the learning and verbal articulation of some of the
issues, concerns and differing viewpoints on the issue, James struggled to find good texts and sources of information
on his issue on his own and had trouble absorbing what texts and information he found. Despite assistance from the
teacher, he likewise struggled to formulate a decent structure for his writing as well as keeping cohesion and coherence
in what writing he managed. James appeared disheartened by the experience.
James was absent for much of the next learning, AS2, and there was some concern that he had disengaged with
school. Reports of disruptions at home were duly noted. But James was present for initial parts of the AS, and when the
teacher checked to see if he understood the instructions and success criteria for the Standard, it was clear he did. And
despite repeated absences over the following few weeks, James quietly insisted that he was working on his report.
Indeed, he presented a visually strong photographic essay on local aspects of the foreshore and seabed issue along
with an almost adequate verbal presentation to the class, posting an Achieved in AS2 without much assistance.
James struggled with AS3, however, and ultimately a report was Not Submitted. The challenges of understanding
and absorbing a wide variety of texts, let alone gathering and re-organising this information for his own purpose, proved

too great for James, not just in writing but in reading. Though he did not articulate it like others in the class, its clear that
he, like them, felt the unit was too hard.

Student 3: James

AS1: Not Achieved;

AS2: Achieved;
AS3: Not Submitted.

The students expected level is working beyond Curriculum

Level 5/working toward Curriculum Level 6.
Students at this level can

This student can...

Reading:
1. Decode words, including unfamiliar words, quickly and
automatically.
2. Apply knowledge of features of a wide variety of text
types and forms, and understands how these text types
and forms are used in different subjects and curriculum
areas.
3. Recognise different grammatical constructions (e.g. that
express cause and effect), and uses this knowledge to
understand dense and complex text.
4. Have a large vocabulary that is connected to their own
knowledge of the world, including academic, subject
specific and technical terms.
5. Locate, evaluate, analyse and summurise information
and ideas within texts and across a range of texts
making decisions about their usefulness, reading flexibly
and using reading strategies (e.g., skimming scanning,
note-taking, annotating, mapping, coding information,
rephrasing) to gather information and reorganise it for
their own purpose.
6. Monitor their understanding as it develops and adjust
their strategies.

Reading: Overall, working above Level 4

1. * Despite a decent verbal ability, James has
some trouble decoding some unfamiliar words.
He is working toward Level 5.
2. * * James is not here yet and is working just
beyond Level 4.

Writing:
1. Knows a wide variety of text types (genre) and txt forms
(e.g. magazine articles), knows specific features and
structures associated with each, and uses appropriate
text types and forms flexibly in different subject areas.
2. Plan their writing according to the purpose
3. Explains concepts, processes, phenomena, theories,
principles, beliefs and opinions.
4. Achieves coherence and cohesion in paragraphs or
longer sections of writing.
5. Has a large productive vocabulary that includes:
academic, subject-specific, technical terms, and some
low frequency words and phrases.
6. Uses nominalistation to express increasingly abstract
and complex ideas that conform with academic
conventions, and creates links that increase
conciseness and coherence of writing.
7. Knows generative principles of word formation (roots,
suffixes, prefixes) and can apply knowledge to extend
productive vocabulary.
8. Uses a wide range of text conventions (grammer,
spelling, punctuation) appropriately with increasing
accuracy.
9. Correctly acknowledges source of information, e.g.
quotes.

Writing: Overall, working above level 4

1. * * James is still developing this knowledge
and is essentially working at Level 4.
2. * * James is thinking about this, but is still held
back from doing this fully because of other
challenges.
3. * * While James has an ability to grasp
concepts, processes, etc., mentally and often
verbally, he has hard time writing about these.
Hes working at Level 4 here.
4. * * * James certainly struggles to show
coherence and cohesion in sections of writing
of even moderate length. He is essentially
working at Level 4 literacy here.
5. * James is developing this vocabulary and is
approaching Level 5.
6. * James uses nominalization only occasionally
and has yet to show effective linking in his
writing with conciseness and coherence.
7. Yes.
8. * * This is developing, but James still has a lot
of work to do here.

3. * * * James is finding texts at Level 6 simply

too difficult to follow except in bits and is
getting lost with texts beyond Level 4.
4. Jamess vocabulary is getting bigger but he is
operating below Level 5 here.
5. * * * As a result of 2 And 3 above, this is a key
challenge for James. He is essentially
operating at Level 4 literacy here.
6. * James actually monitors his understanding
and is acutely aware that he is struggling in
the class. But he has yet to learn to adjust his
strategies accordingly.

9. * James understands the importance of

sourcing information, but hasnt got to the
point where he can engage with the process.

To accelerate James I need to teach

The priority learning for James is Reading point 3: Recognise different grammatical constructions (e.g. that
express cause and effect), and uses this knowledge to understand dense and complex text. This appears
to be causing problems particularly with Reading point 5 (gathering and reorganizing information), but also
Reading point 2 (around understanding how text types and forms are used).
James reading issues appear to be the root of James challenges with writing, which focus especially on Writing
points 4, but also points 3 and 1 for instance. I believe that if I can help James with grammatical constructions
and understanding dense and complex text, improvements will be seen in Reading point 5, and that progression
here will likely to be a good base for improvements in James writing challenges.
It appears to me that, given James challenges in reading and writing, he is a strong candidate for RTLB
assessment to see if he suffers from more acute learning challenges like dyslexia or dyspraxia, which may lie at
the root of some of his difficulties.

Student 4 Profile:

Mere

(Knowing the Learner profile your student here.)

Mere is a convivial young Tongan woman with some good friendships who wants to do well. She comes from a big
family of sisters, including two who have achieved NCEA Level 2, so she has good role models. That said, she has
struggled with literacy issues in the past, and these remain unaddressed. With both her mother and father working,
sometimes care for her elderly grandfather comes first at home, and while there are high expectations from her parents
to study it appears Mere avoids it; her natural inclination is more toward the arts and performance, and she has an
unusual knack with technology. Mere is operating at above Level 4 literacy in both reading and writing.
Mere posted a Not Achieved in AS1 with her project on the 1970s Dawn Raids. While a good, relevant New
Zealand and Pacific Island issue, Mere struggled to find texts and sources of information on the issue and had trouble
absorbing what texts and information she found. Despite some verbal articulation of some of the issues, she had a
difficult time explaining concepts, theories and beliefs and differing viewpoints on the issue. She likewise struggled to
keep cohesion and coherence in her writing as well as formulate a decent structure for the report. While she wrote a
longer report than others who did not achieve and met some of the success criteria, she failed to address the impact of
the social action on New Zealands Polynesian community or wider New Zealand society.
Despite her disappointment with AS1, Mere went on to post an Achieved with Merit for AS2 for a very good oral,
written and audio report on her participation in a local womens mat weaving cooperative. She used familial contacts
and her knack with technology, recording brief interviews with a number of older women about the importance of
traditional matt weaving practices and the difficulty of getting many younger women involved. Using just her smart
phone, some of her sound editing was rough, but the content was strong and inspired, and her accompanying highly
descriptive, rather than analytical written report was good. Her verbal presentation to class was very good. A strong
achievement for her.
As with the other students struggling in the class, Mere had a hard time with AS3 with her literacy challenges
reasserting themselves. She chose a good topic for the unit, looking at ., and the structure of her report was good.
But Mere found it difficult to find source material and extract what she needed from it; she struggled with a lot of the
texts; she found it difficult to replicate appropriate text types useful for her report; she struggled with coherence and
cohesion in her writing; and though there were improvements on AS1, Mere still found it hard to clarify key concepts,
processes and beliefs. She posted a Not Achieved on AS3. Mere did, however, submit her report, unlike five other
students in the class who did not submit, and that can be counted as positive.

Student 4: Mere

AS1: Not Achieved;

AS2: Achieved with Merit;
AS3: Not Achieved.

The students expected level is working beyond Curriculum

Level 5/working toward Curriculum Level 6.
Students at this level can

This student can...

Reading
1. Decode words, including unfamiliar words, quickly and
automatically.
2. Apply knowledge of features of a wide variety of text
types and forms, and understands how these text types
and forms are used in different subjects and curriculum
areas.
3. Recognise different grammatical constructions (e.g. that
express cause and effect), and uses this knowledge to
understand dense and complex text.
4. Have a large vocabulary that is connected to their own
knowledge of the world, including academic, subject
specific and technical terms
5. Locate, evaluate, analyse and summurise information
and ideas within texts and across a range of texts
making decisions about their usefulness, reading flexibly
and using reading strategies (e.g., skimming scanning,
note-taking, annotating, mapping, coding information,
rephrasing) to gather information and reorganise it for
their own purpose.
6. Monitor their understanding as it develops and adjust
their strategies.

Reading: Overall, working above Level 4

1. Mere can do this most of the time.

Writing:
1. Knows a wide variety of text types (genre) and txt forms
(e.g. magazine articles), knows specific features and
structures associated with each, and uses appropriate
text types and forms flexibly in different subject areas.
2. Plan their writing according to the purpose
3. Explains concepts, processes, phenomena, theories,
principles, beliefs and opinions.
4. Achieves coherence and cohesion in paragraphs or
longer sections of writing.
5. Has a large productive vocabulary that includes:
academic, subject-specific, technical terms, and some
low frequency words and phrases.
6. Uses nominalisation to express increasingly abstract
and complex ideas that conform with academic
conventions, and creates links that increase
conciseness and coherence of writing.
7. Knows generative principles of word formation (roots,
suffixes, prefixes) and can apply knowledge to extend
productive vocabulary
8. Uses a wide range of text conventions (grammer,
spelling, punctuation) appropriately with increasing
accuracy.
9. Correctly acknowledges source of information, e.g.
quotes.

Writing: Overall, working above level 4

1. * * Mere is having trouble replicating the kinds
of text types she sees in her reading as well as
utilizing them effectively in her own writing.
2. * * Mere is beginning to think about this, but
needs to put this into practice more regularly.
3. * * Mere has trouble with explaining concepts,
theories, beliefs, etc., coherently.
4. * * Mere has yet to show consistently that she
can achieve coherence and cohesion in long
sections of writing.
5. * Mere is still developing such a vocabulary.

2. * * Mere is able do this with effort. She is

working beyond Level 4 on this.
3. * Mere struggles with this. She is working
toward Level 5 in this ability.
4. * Meres vocabulary, particularly in the verbal
arena, is developing, which is helping with her
reading. She is working toward Level 5.
5. * * * This has been the key challenge for Mere
like others as she looks to navigate new
issues and absorb a range of new text type.
She is essentially working beyond Level 4.
6. * Mere is just becoming more conscious of this
sort of self-monitoring, so is thus not thinking
about strategies coherently yet.

6. * * Mere has not yet developed this skill of

nominalization and has yet to show effective
linking with conciseness and coherence.
7. Yes.
8. Sometimes.
9. * Mere is still grappling with the importance of
source information and correctly
acknowledging it.

To accelerate Mere I need to teach

The priority learning for Mere is Reading point 5: to seek out, find and use an appropriate range of texts and
use reading strategies to gather information and then re-organise it for their own purpose. While there are
other factors contributing to this challenge for Mere, including her challenges in Reading points 2 and 3, it is
processing a wide variety of information that is the key.

In addressing this priority learning for Mere, and supporting factors, I believe I can address the other priority
learnings for Mere, namely her challenges Writing point 1, her challenges replicating and utilizing the kinds of
text types she sees in her reading. And my aim will be to also make a start at helping Mere address the trouble
she has in explaining concepts, theories and beliefs, etc.

My own learning needs as a teacher at this time

It is clear to me that I did not adequately check prior learning and experience of the students and over estimated the
skills and knowledge of half the class at the beginning of the year relying too much on what was demonstrated by
those working above Level 5 literacy. I judged wrongly that the key difficulty with AS1 for those that struggled was its
international focus rather than the literacy challenges. While I did ensure the relevance of learning in AS2 with its
local/New Zealand focus, which was positive, I went with the ungrounded assumption that general achievement in AS2
was a result of this local focus, rather than the absence of a challenging literacy component. Essentially I did not
adequately monitor the development of skills and knowledge on task.
While I was worried about literacy issues for those who had not Achieved in AS1, I hoped that the experiential
grounding and success students had had in AS2 looking at local issues would expose them to the general issues
around social action and leverage most of them toward some success in AS3. When I realized many of those struggling
in AS3 were losing focus and hope, rather than listening to student voice and renewing efforts to see how I could help
them during the rest of that unit of learning, I found it easier to focus on those that had a chance to achieve. I should not
have been surprised when literacy challenges reasserted themselves with AS3. It appears I was also text heavy in my
lessons and did not work adequately to vary opportunities of learning with those struggling to ensure they could
navigate, absorb, and use the texts they were using. In pushing students to choose their own topic focus, I also
minimized the opportunities to facilitate shared learning.
My learning needs in this situation are multiple. I will ensure in the next unit of learning that I will address all the
neglected elements noted above. I will take as my key guide the outline of what effective pedagogy looks like found
on pp. 34-35 of the The New Zealand Curriculum, to ensure that I teach the class effectively. They are:

creating a supportive learning environment;

ensuring the relevance of learning to them;
tying learning in with past experience;
facilitating shared learning;
providing varying opportunities to learn; and
encouraging student reflection

Moreover, I did not enquire into the teachinglearning relationship as I am here.

Teaching Inquiry
The teacher uses evidence from research and from their own past practice and that of colleagues to plan teaching and learning
opportunities aimed at achieving the outcomes prioritised in the focusing inquiry.

One area of learning common to all

It appears to me that Reading point 5 is the area of learning common to all four students that would be most
important to focus on in the next Achievement Standard. It is a first learning priority for three of the four students
and the second most important priority for the fourth student. While for each of the three students - Manu, Tevita
and Mere - there are other factors affecting progress and achievement in Reading point 5, most of these other
factors can be assisted in the process of focusing on Reading point 5. For the fourth student, James, Reading point
5 is a second-order priority, because he essentially needs to focus on a more basic learning. But, as noted, his first
priority learning, Reading point 3, can be in part addressed for him as we all look at Reading point 5, even if the
expectations from him are simpler.
The learning described
To re-state here, Reading point 5 outlines the expectation that by the end of Year 10, students should be able to:

Locate, evaluate, analyse and summarise information and ideas within texts and across a range of texts making
decisions about their usefulness, reading flexibly and using reading strategies (e.g., skimming scanning, notetaking, annotating, mapping, coding information, rephrasing) to gather information and re-organise it for their own
purpose.
This appears to me to be the nuts and bolts of social science, and an essential skill that students will need if they
are decipher the range of text types found not just in Social Science but in other areas of learning as well. It is also
a key skill that is needed in social science writing and elsewhere.
Strategies and how I will teach this group
A focus on Reading point 5 will mean that we as a class will put an emphasis on reading comprehension and text
analysis. As noted above, this is key learning in the social science learning area. But we will not do this in isolation,
nor do I intend to make this a laborious process, or even text heavy.
My approach will be to revisit Achievement Standard, AS91043 1.5, Describe a social justice and human rights
action as we did in AS1 this time as AS4 choosing just one specifically New Zealand topic for the whole class
to look at together. This will facilitate class discussion and shared group learning, and help those struggling in the
class to formulate their thoughts about the topic alongside others.
I intend to teach this group of four students right alongside others in the class. Indeed, as noted, the four were
selected because they represented the challenges that half of the class had been experiencing. But I also want to
ensure that the learning of those struggling in the class is tied closely to those doing well to maximize the chance of
success.
I will endeavour to choose a topic most kids can identify with in some way, and because we have some time before
the next unit as well the material needed for a few topics, I will survey student opinions to see which one most
students will find relevant.
The unit of learning itself will be framed around a series of carefully structured, scaffolded and graduated Learning
Outcomes and tasks that will give students multiple and varied opportunities to learn, not just about the topic focus
but the reading and writing skills and knowledge required.
I will start with exercises and tasks aimed to establish student prior knowledge and place the topic focus firmly in
the students context. Special attention will also be paid to key vocabulary and word definitions, in the topic focus
and in social studies in general, (eg., impact, effect, or outcome.) Quite a few exercises will be spent on
breaking down a selected number of texts focused on the topic, varied in their type, structure and usefulness, with
the aim to develop students skills to navigate through these text, identify good texts, discard poor texts, scan for
useful tidbits and generally hone good their reading, summarisi.ng and rephrasing strategies.
The types of exercises will themselves vary , sometimes based on the same text, allowing students to broaden their
awareness of how they can approach a text, so again varying (and sometimes relating) the opportunities to learn. I
also aim to focus on visual, video representations of the topic focus to provide more opportunities to learn. And I
aim to include a field trip to key sites to embed and contextualise the learning, to look for live texts (in exhibits,
say) for the students to engage with and to develop their interpretive skills.
I will explicitly outline intended learning outcomes at the start of each lesson, note what we have covered at the end
of each lesson, and regularly check in with students as to how they think we are going.
These learnings will aim at level 5 for our chosen four students and others working at their level, but the tasks will
be differentiated for those working at Level 6 literacy or above. Indeed the Unit will be structured to allow the higher
achieving students to go deeper into and/or extend the topic focus. While we will be looking at Reading point 5 as a
focus, Reading points 2 and 3 will also be looked at as learnings that contribute toward it.
I will also be emphasizing explicitly to the students that Reading point 5 is a critical component to writing in the
Social Science Area of Learning, and I aim to leverage the focus on Reading point 5 into a very structured and
scaffolded approach to help the students write their reports. This will include a look at questions and answering
questions, as well as developing their own questions, and strengthening planning skills for their own writing.
Learning tasks will I use

use Finding out tables and other exercises to check prior knowledge.

present story, video and photography prompts to introduce the topic, and prompt discussion.

Carry out before and after vocabulary exercises, definition lists, definition tables, clines, loppy and an
ongoing guardian of the word exercise for key vocabulary, both for the Social Science learning area and
for the topic focus.

Conduct class, large group, small group and paired discussions and feedback at all stages of learning.

Carry out brainstorming , mind-maps, anticipatory reading guides, to get into the issues and texts.

Introduce and practice text scanning, note-taking, annotation, mapping and rephrasing exercises on a
range of short texts. Perhaps half of these will not be on the focus topic to begin with so as to take
pressure of students. These can be done in groups or pairs. Also guardian of the text exercises as one
student takes responsibility for one text or section of a text and shares with others in round robins.

Use concept stars, venn diagrams, T-charts, story maps and cloze exercises and various graphic
organizers to help students organize information and complex data in more digestible ways. A key exercise

Use learning logs to integrate content, process, and personal feelings

suggest formatted cause and effect diagrams and graphic organizers of process and events; get students
to devise their own formats and share with others; and get them to use these organizers to frame and
produce their writing.

suggest scaffolded formats and graphic organisers to summarise concepts, processes, phenomena,
theories, principles, beliefs and opinions; and get the students to devise their own and share with others;
and get them to use these organizers to frame and produce their writing.

suggest scaffolded formats for note-taking and text summaries; get students to devise their own and share
with others. A useful if challenging one is a multiple-gist strategy (see Shanahan and Shanahan,
Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescents Rethinking Content Area Literacy, Harvard Educational
Review, 78:1, Spring 2008, p.56.)

Interactive cloze exercise and K-W-L charts to check understanding.

Monitoring of student progress I will carry out

I will clearly outline intended Learning Outcomes at beginning of all lessons and all tasks, note what we
have covered at the end of each lesson, and regularly check in with students as to how they think we are
going.

I will check-in with students regularly during lessons, query content knowledge, making regular sum ups of
what we are learning.

I will closely monitor student participation in class exercises, ensure that they keep a record and monitor
their own progress, and keep a record myself, gauging the results and altering the teaching-learning as
needed.

I will conduct regular, short tests for skills practiced in exercises. These will be marked and recorded for
formative assessment and teacher purposes, but will not count against final summative assessment.

I will conduct 3-4 tests for skills practiced in exercises, including text analysis, but that are not heavy on
writing, a paragraph at most. These will focus on the topic focus and count toward a summative
assessment, but only for 5% each of final mark, so failure will not hurt student chances markedly.

Successes however, will build confidence.

The final report students will produce will be built up slowly and be broken down into sections to help build
student ability to write such reports. OF course I will be expecting more able to students to use this process
to build even stronger reports.

Pedagogical practices I will develop as I engage in the tasks, and some of the research behind them.
My choice to work with students this way is underpinned by the explanation and component parts of Effective
Pedagogy as outlined in the NZ Curriculum, pp. 34-35, and a range of research that pushes student-focused
learning, that makes learning intentions explicit, that puts a heavy emphasis on skills learned rather than subjects
mastered and which pushed student self-monitoring.
I will also use the related framework of ESOLs seven principles that will help my students to make both academic
progress and language progress in all curriculum learning areas. These are excellent and grounding guides to my
pedagogy. They are outlined at http://esolonline.tki.org.nz/ESOL-Online/Teacher-needs/Pedagogy/ESOLprinciples.
There are some very useful suggestions about developing a subtle and effective teaching inquiry and improving
teaching-learning in Using Classroom observations to improve literacy teaching and learning , Some thoughts, Trish
Holden (2011).
And I have targeted the exercises I will use in the unit of learning to the specific literacy skills needed in the Social
Science learning Area. In support, I cite Shanahan and Shanahan, Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescents
Rethinking Content Area Literacy, Harvard Educational Review, 78:1, Spring 2008.

Learning Inquiry.
Investigating the success of the teaching in terms of the outcomes, using a range of assessment approaches.