Play: Lucky Dip

Room To Improve - Brown Kiwi's play

Kaitiaki of the stream - literature circle

One of our reading groups read Kaitiaki of the Stream, and then ran a literature circle discussion about it. Literature circles are a way to think about a piece of writing in different ways. Each person takes on a different role: Discussion Director, Connector, Illustrator, Word Master, Passage Picker, and Summariser. Then the Discussion Directors lead the discussion about the piece of writing. Have a look at some of our thoughts about this School Journal article.

Click here to download an MP3 of the article.

Silent reading!

Here we are devouring new library books purchased during the holidays... Listen to the silence! We're going to create book reviews for the new books for the library so the other kids in the school can learn about them when they come to the library.

Term 2 Newsletter

Monday 5^th May

Kia ora parents, caregivers and children,

I hope you’ve had a happy autumnal Easter and ANZAC break. It was great to meet with you at the end of last term to talk about how your child’s learning is going and to set goals for their next learning steps. This term is shaping up to be a great term, kicking off with cross country training and swimming.

Inquiry

We are looking forward to a science-focussed inquiry this term, investigating how The Land Changes, exploring how land changes affect us and how we affect the land. We have planned lots of hands-on experiments, and are particularly focusing on developing children’s scientific skills of observing, pattern-seeking, and modelling. This will involve lots of observation of erosion in the school playground and in the community: the sea wall, the effects of the deforestation above the golf course and bike track, landslides in the area… We will explore the concept of kaitiakitanga and learn about traditional explanations for changes to landforms through legends like Ngake and Whataitai. In groups, children will create learning stories to chart their growing and changing understanding of changes to the land. If you are, or anyone you know of is, an expert in landforms, erosion, or the changing environment, and would like to share your knowledge with us, we would love to hear from you!

Our maths focus areas this term are Number: Addition & Subtraction and Multiplication & Subtraction, Problem Solving, Basic Facts, and Measurement.

In reading, we will continue to develop comprehension strategies through reading texts about changes to the land. Our writing programmes will flow from this as we write reports, explanations, procedures, and scientific investigations, interspersed with ongoing recounts, character writing and poetic writing.

Mathletics

This application is a great way to support your child’s maths learning. Teachers can tailor each child’s profile so that questions are aligned to their level. We plan to use this in class as well as encouraging children to use this site at home. If you haven’t yet signed up and would like to, you can contact the office – the school subscription offers you a much-discounted price of $21, rather than $100 for a yearly subscription.

PE

This term we will be swimming each Thursday – children will be assessed on the first day and grouped according to their strengths and needs. Children always need a particularly substantial lunch on swimming days! We are also focussing on gymnastics in the first 5 weeks of term on Mondays; children need to wear suitable clothing for leaping and balancing! We are also training daily in the first two weeks ready for the school cross country day on Friday 16^th May; children need to wear (or bring) suitable footwear to school.

Blogging

We’re really enjoying sharing our learning with you through our blog. Thank you for your support in commenting on children’s writing – it is a wonderful form of immediate feedback and a real incentive for future learning.

Parent help

If you can support our class programme with either regular or one-off parent help, we’d love to hear from you. We really enjoyed hearing from those parents who came in and shared a favourite story with us last term. We always welcome parents visiting; even if you’ve already read one story, we’d love you to come back and share another!

Home learning

Because Fridays are such a busy day of extension and enrichment programmes, we have decided to change the day for returning home learning folders to Monday. Children should bring home a new list of ten spelling words, an updated Reading log (if needed) and basic facts to be learned off by heart.

Dates this term

Mondays:                   Gymnastics in the school hall

Every Thursday:       Swimming at Kilbirnie Pool

Friday 16^th May:        Cross country at Houghton Valley School

Monday 2^nd June:      Queen’s birthday

Tuesday 1^st July:       Portfolios come home

Friday 4^th July:           Last day of Term 2

To be confirmed:        a school trip to observe landforms

Thank you for your ongoing support. As always, if there is anything you would like to discuss about your child’s learning, please get in touch to make a time to talk.

Nga mihi,

Amy

amyaustin@islandbay.school.nz

Literature circles | Passage picker

Today the Brown Kiwi reading group shared their ideas about the passages they'd found interesting in 'A Vanishing Art', an article about making Tapa cloths in Tonga.

Amy got out some real tapa cloths for us to feel and look at. Joe made a connection - when we looked at the back of one of the tapa cloths, he thought it looked like Mali mudcloth (which Gretchen taught M13 about on the last Art Day).

Francesca read out part of the article:

     Tapa's main function is to be a gift that's passed on again and again at weddings, 21sts, funerals , and other important events. In this way, it binds communities and forms links between past, present and future.

She also made a connection; Francesca thought this was like the marae because the marae also supports people who died because the ancestors are on the walls and the roof. We've done this in our class too - another connection!

On re-reading

Booker Prize excitement live in M10 last year

Last year, after Eleanor Catton won the Booker Prize, I read an article written by one of the Booker judges who talked about how they chose the winner.  One of their main criteria was: does the book deliver upon a reread?  And again, on a third read?  The Luminaries has so many layers to it that it could be enjoyed, and new elements discovered, each time they reread it.

This reminded me of Kate De Goldi's love of rereading (she always seems to be talking about this with Kim Hill), and mine, when I was young.  My all-time favourite book/series when I was a kid was Anne of Green Gables and all the ensuing novels.  I can't even tell you how many times I've reread each of those books.  It was as though Anne and Diana and Gilbert became friends who I could return to, almost converse with, whenever I picked up my worn, well-loved copies.

I can think of many authors I reread as a kid: Cynthia Voigt (especially the Tillerman series), Judy Blume, Tessa Duder...   Recently I was talking to a ten-year-old friend of mine who's another avid reader and rereader, and she said that her take on a good book is one that you can reread at least three times.

This made me think: perhaps a good way to encourage kids to read is to read them a novel, and then let them reread it themselves afterwards?  I'm reading Joy Cowley's latest book, Dunger, to the class at the moment.  Perhaps you could try getting it out of the library and giving it a reread?

What do you think?  Are you a rereader?

~ Amy

Do returns diminish on rereading and re-rereading? The Guardian
Rereading The Guardian