Week 1 Term 3 - Words have power.

 WORDS HAVE POWER. 

Words gives us the power to articulate, express, assert, affirm and communicate what we are thinking. As teachers we want our students to be able to articulate their opinion and to be critical thinkers. This is not possible if our students do not bank 'words' and understand the depth and richness that words in their literacy. As an English teacher I take for granted the importance and richness in words. It is an important part of literacy that I need to prioritize into my teaching more. I would like to make the teaching of word groups, an explicit part of my practice as it will not only enrich my learning but also strengthen the learning of my students. 

At the end of Term 2 Ms George and I were approached by Dr Jannie with a proposal to work together with the English Department and our junior school focusing on word groups. The idea is to integrate word group activities as a do now activity at the beginning of every lesson, much like a jam session, focusing on a word that connects with the key concept of your learning program. Dr Jannie is has started this week working with my Year 9 English class - 9KLe. The focus for this class is to introduce the idea of word groups and to get the students engaged in what word groups are. We are at the beginning stages and already I am excited to see how this is panning out. I am going to share on how it started and what Dr Jannie has covered so far with the students. 

WHY ARE WORDS POWERFUL?

Dr Jannie's WORDS presentation 

Before the lesson started Dr Jannie asked me if I could put the students into groups of 2 so that they could have small group discussions and work together. Dr Jannie spent the first part of the lesson talking to the students about the power of words. She asked the students 'why are words powerful?' The students discussed this question in pairs and then Dr Jannie asked the students for their feedback. The student feedback was great and highlighted how they interpret the power of words in their own lives. "It expresses how you feel", "Words can help you to communicate", "Words help to show you who you are", "It helps you to connect" - what I loved about this discussion is that the students had to think about the impact words have in their lives - it is a tool to connect and communicate, it is something that they use every day. She explained that the word group journey that she has created is a 6 part series and that they will be focusing on the first part in the lesson. 

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS WORD?

Dr Jannie's presentation: Springboard Word. 

Following the class discussion Dr Jannie directed them through the next phase. This next phase brings the student's focus to one word. In our initial meeting Dr Jannie wanted to know what theme I was going to cover in Term 3 with 9KLe. I told her that the theme that I was going to cover links to a major idea in our Term 3 extended text (Hatchet) which is 'survival'. The spring board word is survival and Dr Jannie asked the students 'what do you know about this word?' Again, the students discussed this in depth in pairs and were asked to give their feedback at the end of the small group discussion. The feedback was interesting, thoughtful and for some students a little out of the box. Regardless, the students were engaged. They said "it means to escape", "trying not to get in danger or die", "perserverance" - what I loved about this phase is that the students were able to draw on their own experience or interpretation of the word. Dr Jannie navigated her way through the class discussion in way that was both affirming and respectful for the students. 

CONNECTING IMAGE + WORD. EXPLAIN THE CONNECT

The next part of the session was centered around connecting the word to a visual concept. Dr Jannie showed three visual concepts that she found that is connected to the word 'survival'. 

Dr Jannie's presentation: Visual Concept linked to Word. 

She asked the students to discuss what is the connection between the visual concept and the word survival. The students discussed what they thought the link was with the image and word, which much like the earlier discussions, was an interesting talking point. The students were able to share what they thought the connection for each image and this was the perfect segue for the final part of the do now activity. 

FIND YOUR CONNECTING IMAGE FOR SURVIVE

This final leg of the do now activity enables the students to use their imagination, their own creative drive to find a visual concept and connect it to 'survival'. The students were given instructions to work in pairs, find an image and include it in the shared powerpoint and then be ready to explain to the rest of the class what the image is and how it links to 'survival'. 

The students shared what the image is and the relationship between image and word. The way the activity was framed from the outset enabled the student to share in depth. Dr Jannie provided a platform for the students to share comfortably with each other and to confidently explain how they think the image and word connect with each other. 

MY THOUGHTS

I enjoyed the first session. I think that my students enjoyed the session as well. A fundamental basic element in writing and reading is knowing and understanding of words. What I have learnt from Dr Jannie and this first initial activity with word group is that this is something that is worth exploring with your students. I have spoken about this before, but I often fall into the machinery of teaching life - my time and practice is measured against the demands of the education system. Exploring the beauty of words can get lost or even diminished because of the demanding nature of the curriculum. The curriculum in secondary teaching does not always allow time and space to focus on the beauty of language. I can see now that this is a worthwhile pit stop to take. It allows students to unpack the strength that words can give in reading and in writing. It is important for our young people to see that words are powerful, that words are an integral part of how we communicate in life. Why not spend time exploring the very thing that we use everyday and understand it more. I am excited to continue this journey with Dr Jannie and 9KLe.