Southland Literacy Symposium

Saturday 18 May 2019

Keynote: Time to Teach

by Brian Parker, Sharp Reading
Who does the most work in a reading lesson? The person who creates the questions (the teacher) does the
most thinking.

Teacher are trying to fit too much in. The way we teach forms habits in a learner: We rush through, so
some students don’t answer questions because they are aware that you’ll move on (due to time pressure).

“Stop asking content questions and start promoting for strategy use.” (This is problematic when we are
expected to integrate other curriculum areas with reading. Also, as we move through the levels, children are
expected to read for a purpose in order to understand the wider curriculum.)

Literacy is More than Books

by Lindsay King, Invercargill Public Library

Bloxels
Teaching coding through making video games, helps to build a narrative. Start with a story, Māori legends
are great because they have heroes and quests, which are great models. Start with a storyboard - stick
figures. 4 stages for 4 levels: beginning (1 stage = 1 box), middle (2 stages = 2 boxes), end (1 stage = 1
box).

Make a physical level with a board and some physical blocks. Start with the ground, otherwise your
character falls to their death! Can then build on the app, by taking a photo of the physical board. Could also
build completely on the app without the physical materials.

Blockly
Uses robots, similar to Sphero Bolts.
Have a tower of plastic cups, send the robot around and then make it knock all the cups over.
Slalom of cups to drive around.
Then make mazes with straws and code the robot to navigate the maze.