Reading Reflection

ASSESS Bump It Up Wall from LearnTeachLead on Vimeo.

In week 5 I explored the website LearnTeachLead which is designed to provide resources for teachers and educators in different subjects and acts as a collaborative space for learning. Specifically, I watched a video and learned about a strategy called "Bump it up wall". In this strategy students complete a piece of writing, edit it, have it peer reviewed and then put it up on the wall. The teacher then reviews it and asks the students to create a good copy. The students put a good copy on the wall and the teacher provides feedback for students. The next time they do a writing piece they are to incorporate the feedback. This wall shows the students' progress and gives them a chance to improve their work. 

This particular video aims to improve students writing ability but in the process they are using their reading skills. First, they are editing their own work which means they are evaluating the writing for good vocabulary, punctuation, clear content and good use of information. Then their piece of writing is peer reviewed. This gives a student the chance to read someone else’s writing and again look for elements which need to be improved. In the curriculum students are expected to grasp ideas communicated in a text and apply them in new contexts. In this particular resource video, students must understand the ideas of their classmates and evaluate if what they are reading is well written. Students are also expected to read for a variety of purposes and so this activity has students reading in order to peer review which is something they will have to do as they progress through school.

As a teacher, if I used this strategy I would have the student edit in a different colour pen so I could clearly see their understanding of the different elements of writing (sentence structure, punctuation  spelling ect.). I like the idea of having a student submit their rough draft, peer edited draft and good copy. It would show them how much work can go into a single piece of writing and you could even turn that into a lesson on reading. I could find an article and have my students read it. After, we could talk about how many drafts we thought a particular piece might need and what things they would change or edit in the particular article. This would teach them to think critically about something they are reading and apply a skill they use in writing to evaluate an article while reading. 

The entire LearnTeachLead website was extremely useful. You could search a specific subject and find specific resources that relate to your search. The videos are a great way to get a good overview on what is being taught or suggested. The “Bump it up wall” showed me that I can get creative with how I introduce reading to my class. Of course, my students will have to read age appropriate books and do more traditional learning activities but I can also get creative with how I incorporate reading. Peer review is just one way to get students reading in another subject or unit.