Mid Year Reflection

 After completing the BSLA Week 10 Testing and analysing the data, I changed the students in my focus group. This term, I will focus on supporting Student A, Student MT, Student M and Student F. I made this change to better support the learning needs shown in the assessment.

As a result, I have adjusted my planning to ensure that each lesson is targeted to these students' next steps. To support oral language development and comprehension, I regularly use ChatGPT to generate story-specific prompts including retelling, inferencing and open-ended questions.I have streamlined my planning and this has increased the effectiveness of my teaching. I have observed noticeable growth in my students’ confidence, their ability to engage in meaningful conversations about the story and their ability to make connections with their own experiences. These improvements show that the students are getting better at understanding stories and talking about them,

Next Steps

Next Steps for Strengthening Comprehension Skills:

Foster Active Listening Skills:

Continue to reinforce the importance of listening to peers before responding, supporting peer turn- talking

and discussion.

Use of Visual Support:

Incorporate pictures and illustrations from the reader/story to ehlp students make connections between

text and visuals.

Ask open-ended questions:

Use more open -ended prompts to encourage deeper thinking.

Promote predictive Thinking: 

Encourage students to make predictions to support engagement and inference-making.

Encourage Peer Sharing: 

Provide opportunities for group discussions, students can share personal responses and justify their

thinking.

Integrate Movement: 

Use drama, gestures and physical expression to help students show understanding and maintain

engagement.

Vosaic with AI Prompt

To support my inquiry into oral language comprehension, I used Vosaic to record and review a guided reading lesson.

AI Prompt: Is it evident that the children understood the story.

Info it gave me:

Understanding of the Story by Children

Yes, it is evident that the children understood the story. Throughout the transcript, several instances demonstrate their

comprehension and engagement with the narrative.

When the teacher asks, "What happened in the story?" multiple children respond, indicating they are recalling details from the text (00:35).

Aya mentions that "Becca was hungry," and the teacher builds on this by asking for more details about the beginning of the

story (01:10). This shows that the children are not only recalling facts but also engaging in a discussion about the character's

feelings.

As the teacher guides them through the story, children like Abela and Lucas contribute observations about the pictures

and events, such as noticing the spider webs and discussing the farmer's potential reactions (05:01, 06:06).

At the end of the session, when asked about their favorite parts, children express their thoughts clearly, with Abela mentioning her favourite part was when Becca was thinking about food (09:37), which reflects their connection to the story's themes.

Overall, the children's ability to recall details, discuss character emotions, and share their favorite parts indicates a solid

understanding of the story.

Research:

Research supports the idea that children's engagement in discussions about stories enhances their comprehension. According

to studies, when children are encouraged to express their thoughts and feelings about a narrative, it fosters deeper

understanding and retention of the material (Duke & Pearson, 2002).

Next Steps for Developing Comprehension with 5-Year-Old Students:

To enhance comprehension skills among the 5-year-old students, the teacher can implement the following strategies based on

the transcript:

Encourage Active Listening: The teacher should continue to emphasize the importance of listening when others are speaking.

This was highlighted when the teacher reminded students to "listen to them" before adding their thoughts (00:40).

Use Visual Aids: The teacher can incorporate more visual aids, such as pictures from the story, to help students connect the text

with imagery. For instance, the teacher referred to the first page and asked students to describe what they saw (01:15).

Ask Open-Ended Questions: The teacher can ask more open-ended questions that require students to think critically about the

story. For example, when discussing the farmer's actions, the teacher prompted students to consider what the farmer might do

(06:30).

Encourage Predictions: The teacher can ask students to predict what might happen next in the story, fostering engagement and

critical thinking. This was evident when the teacher asked, "What happens next?" (04:36).

Facilitate Group Discussions: The teacher can create opportunities for group discussions where students can share their favorite

parts of the story and explain why, as seen when the teacher asked students to share their favorite parts (09:09).

Incorporate Movement: Integrating movement into the learning process can help maintain engagement. The teacher could have

students act out parts of the story or use gestures to express their understanding (e.g., when discussing the character's emotions).

By implementing these strategies, the teacher can create a more interactive and engaging learning environment that supports the

development of comprehension skills in young learners.

Research:

Research indicates that active listening and engagement strategies significantly enhance comprehension skills in early

childhood education. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), interactive

read-alouds and discussions promote language development and comprehension in young children.

Term 1 2025 - Inquiry Focus

 This year, my professional inquiry is focused on Literacy, with a particular emphasis on supporting the development of oral language comprehension. 

As part of this focus, I am working closely with a small target group of four students—two boys and two girls. Three of these students started school last year and have had some exposure to the Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA), while one student started at the beginning of this year and is still new to this approach.

Evidence Gathering and Problem Clarification:

Through a combination of classroom observations, group reading sessions, and analysis of BSLA data, I have identified oral language comprehension as an area of need for these students. Some students are finding it challenging to retain and process information from texts. They often struggle to recall key details or ideas from a story and have difficulty answering comprehension questions or participating in discussions. In many cases, students tend to remain silent when prompted, which can be attributed to limited vocabulary, lack of confidence, and underdeveloped listening skills.

BSLA assessments—particularly the oral narrative component.

These have provided valuable insight into these needs. Two students have completed this assessment, revealing difficulties with sequencing, retelling and answering questions related to the story. One student has not yet completed the oral narrative assessment due to a recent school start, and another is not yet due for testing.

This inquiry is aimed at deepening my understanding of how to effectively support oral language development within a structured literacy framework. I will continue to monitor progress through targeted teaching, ongoing observation, and the use of BSLA tools to inform and adapt my teaching practise.