What good readers do...

Have a look at these classroom activities to help children learn to think about their thinking and the strategies they use to solve problems :

making animal creations from playdoh
http://www.wested.org/stratlit/ideas/animalcreations.shtml

and identifying what good readers do...
http://www.wested.org/stratlit/ideas/readingprocess.shtml

ICT Games

Mandy shared this resource ICT games - good for junior school, for numeracy and literacy, computer games and online activities...
http://www.ictgames.com/

Carl's Corner

Lynne shared this great resource - great for literacy conventions, alphabet etc
http://www.carlscorner.us.com/
Watch out for American-isms !

Sparklebox

Here is a resource shared by Raewyn at Juls Kaitaia today
http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/
Great resources for literacy and maths for new entrants...

Tumble Books - A Fantastic Online Resource

Hi guys, this was mentioned at an ICT course I went on a while ago and I felt it worth sharing. Tumble Books is a great website where you can find a range of books (with activities to accompany them online) at different levels. You can select a book and it will read it aloud while showing some animations/pictures to go with the story and some of the texts even highlight the words that are being read aloud. Worth a look . .

Here's what to do (this is how to get into the site the 'free' way)

1) Google Tumble Books

2) Scroll down until you get to the site that says 'Login to Tumble Books' - click

3) Click on 'click here' (this will take you to the Tumble Books site)

4) Use the search up the top to find what you are looking for

5) Select a book and click 'view online'

A fantastic resource - Good luck hope you find some use for it.

Michelle :-)

Just checking to see if I can do it. What a great day!

Book introductions

Chris just did a great book introduction for Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman - a wonderful wordless picture book about adventure and friendship, available from National Library (here is the online request form page).


Here is the link to it on LibraryThing

Book introductions - they are so effective in helping a child make some connection to a book and to excite interest, support understanding, engage...

Here is a link to a book "Catching readers before they fall" by Pat Johnson and Katie Keier which is available to read online.
Page 92 has a section on quality book introductions.

What makes a good Year 1 - 4 teacher ?

What makes a good Year 1 – 4 teacher ?
Supple joints High literacy Multi tasker Rich vocabulary Multi-listener Talking talking talking Organisation Child involvement Busy Mess Approachable to parents Flexible Focussed Clear idea of where at / where to Specific Belief in literacy Knowledge of techniques Open minded Sense of humour Different voices Aware Sensitive Creative Know your resources Able to access information Reflective Highly motivated Know your limits Affirmative with parents Empathetic not pathetic Focussed on strengths and needs Targeted teaching to strengths and needs Patient Organised Caring Intuitive Resourceful Flexible Healthy High expectations Enthusiastic Good professional knowledge Open minded Persistent Established excellent relationships with child and caregivers Knowledge of school community Knowledge of wider educational community Firm Consistent Sensitive Multi-tasker Anticipate possible problems Pro-active Creative thinker and do-er Patience Perseverance Problem solving Positive reinforcement Praise Consistency Encouragement Fun Calm Role model Passionate Child-speak Empathy Expectations Modelling Creativity Open-minded Realistic Self-reflective Approachable Knowing the learner Prepared Constant feedback

Ideas for what to do with weeded books

Some fun activities are suggested in this article available from the SCIS Connections newsletter :
eg making bookmarks and place mats, dioramas, book art, etc...

http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/a_new_life_for_weeded_books.html

UK list of "the best children's books ever"

From The Guardian newspaper, Best Children's Books Ever by Lucy Mangan

Increasing numbers of children are starting school without having been read to. But which are the books to get them – and keep them – hooked? Lucy Mangan introduces our guide to the best. So whether it's to fight the White Witch or snuggle up with the Moomins, make yourself comfy...
The following – a combination of personal recommendations, enduring classics and currently popular borrowings from school and public libraries – are suggestions and starting points only, of course (and the age ranges attached even more so), but hopefully there will be something, somewhere for everyone.

Best books: 0-2 year-olds

Best books: 2-4 year-olds

Best books: 5-7 year-olds

Best books: 8-12 year-olds

Best books: 12-years-old and over

This article refers to a recent survey of primary school teachers which found that over half of them said they were teaching children who had never been read a bedtime story... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/primaryeducation/7652760/Children-missing-out-on-bedtime-stories-say-primary-teachers.html )

Two things :

• I wonder what the story is (no pun intended !) about bedtime reading with the children in your class - how many have bedtime stories each night / most nights ? and who reads it to them ? where do they get their read-aloud bedtime stories from ?
  
• What do you think would be on our list of "the best New Zealand books ever"
  

Hello from Shirley T

Hey Guys,
Hopefully I am posting a blog. Really, it's my second attempt. I tried last year but failed. If you can read this, then I HAVE SUCCEEDED!!! And if I can do it, then you can too.
I will put something more worthwhile next time.
Cheers, Shirley T.

Follow up from National Library session on picture books last term

Hi JuLS teachers - I thought I'd do a quick post on the blog to follow up from the busy afternoon session last term - from the evaluations some people liked it but some people found it too rushed - I'll ensure more discussion time next session...

The focus for the session was to celebrate the picture book and some of the ideas were :

• getting to know them yourselves - increasing your knowledge / setting yourself reading challenges / sharing children's literature in your school with other teachers - the importance of teachers as readers
  
• reading picture books aloud every day / more than once a day to your students and encouraging parents to read aloud http://www.literacyconnections.com/ReadingAloud.php
  
• borrowing from National Library Curriculum Services - here is the online order form link http://www.natlib.govt.nz/cis-online-request
  
• focussing on the wonderful rich vocabulary - word of the day, word wall...
  
• visiting LibraryThing and setting up a class LibraryThing of your favourites http://www.librarything.com/
  
• exploring the pictures / teaching visual literacy - looking for the details, allusions and references, use of colour and space etc - What is going on in this picture ? (seeing and interpreting) What else can you find ? (from observations to stories in pictures) What do you see that makes you say that ? (visual evidence to support opinions)
  
• talking about authors and illustrators - getting to know their style, discussing preferences
  
• using the language of books - jacket, spine, endpapers...
• sharing reading responses - eg using the Aidan Chambers tell me questions to facilitate thoughtful reading responses and discussion
  
• comprehension strategies such as making connections
  http://www.readinglady.com/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=2&MMN_position=4:4
  
• using picture books as mentor texts to inspire students' own writing http://www.writingfix.com/picture_book_prompts.htm
  
• using wordless picture books - teaching ideas from ReadWriteThink (IRA website) http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/creative-writing-through-wordless-130.html and here is a booklist http://nancykeane.com/rl/317.htm
  
• developing extension activities around books - examples shared around The Smartest Giant - art, reviews, website activities, writing etc http://www.gruffalo.com/index.html
  

Phew, it was a lot in one session ! You might like to look again at the powerpoint which I sent out and review the various handouts ?

We'll start our next workshop together (workshop 4 - 9th June Whangarei / 16th June Kaitaia) by sharing what things you have done with your students and picture books in your classroom and be inspired by each other's practice... As well as general feedback, please bring along at least one idea in particular that you'd like to share with the rest of the group.

How about posting something about what you have done on the JuLS blog ?! What picture books have you read read recently that your students loved ?

Did you get a chance to read the Michael Rosen talk ?

By the way, has anybody done anything with maps in their classroom ?

I'm looking forward to seeing you in week 8 and 9 of this term.
Cheers, Jeannie

The power of words

I've come across a couple of interesting books recently about the power of language - in particular how a teacher talks in the classroom - and some chapters are available to read online :

The Power of our Words : teacher language that helps children learn by Paula Denton http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/bookstore/tupowerofwords.html

Here is the first chapter : http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/pdf_files/pow/pow_intro.pdf
It is easy to read and annecdotal - these are the subheadings

• Language molds our sense of who we are
• Language helps us understand how we think, work and play
• Language influences the nature of our relationships

and the Goals of teacher language :

• Developing self-control
• Building a sense of community
• Gaining academic skills and knowledge

Choice words : how our language affects children and learning by Peter Johnston
http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=389&idcategory=0

and if you google "choice words peter johnston" it will bring up 120+ pages of the book at Google Books
http://books.google.com/books?id=tJJqZ_uSVxcC&dq=choice+words++peter+johnston&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=OHzLS6qmKIaasgOGxcyTAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

Hi All,
I have a couple of Junior novels to recommend (if they are not in your library you may like to request them)
Hunter by Joy Cowley AND River Song by Belinda Hollyer,
I have been onto Juls Library Thing to add them.
Let me know what you think
Cheers Vera

Art and picture books, visual literacy

There are a couple of interesting articles on the School Library Journal website about encouraging children to look at and appreciate the art in picture books, based on workshops run at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art www.carlemuseum.org

Part 1 - If a picture is worth a thousand words, what’s a picture book museum worth? By Wendy Lukehart -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2010 http://tiny.cc/artinpicturebookspart1

Part 2 - How do a museum’s philosophies work in a public library setting? By Wendy Lukehart -- School Library Journal, 2/1/2010 http://tiny.cc/artinpicturebookspart2

Here are a couple of short extracts from the articles :

Thumbnail Sketch of Visual Thinking Strategies VTS - from Part 1 article

The leader invites the group to take a few moments to look closely at an image and then asks these, and only these, open-ended questions:

• What’s going on in this picture?
• What do you see that makes you say that?
• What else can you find?

The leader continually paraphrases student responses, all the while increasing the accuracy of the language without making participants feel corrected, validating individual views, connecting observations, and pointing out differences of opinion.
Participants must provide visual evidence to support their interpretations.

VTS is both the name of a curriculum and a framework for looking at a single image. For much more see: www.vtshome.org To see a short video of children engaged with VTS, click on: www.vtshome.org/pages/videos

Whole Book Approach Guide - from Part 2 article

Spend time with the book before sharing it with a group ; consider how each element contributes to meaning. Use these questions as a guide to draw attention to aspects of the design and illustration that are noteworthy.

• Jacket: Think of the jacket as a poster for the book and use VTS questions. (See Part 1 of this series)
  
• Spine: Does the jacket image wrap around the spine? Consider the lettering.
  
• Cover: Is it cloth bound? Embossed? What are the colors? Why?
  
• Format: Portrait? Landscape? Square? Shaped? Why?
  
• Endpapers: How are they the visual overture for the art in the book?
  
• Front Matter: How do these pages ease you into the book?
  
• Gutter: How does the artist accommodate or use the gutter between the verso and recto pages?
  
• Typography: How are all elements of the book proper arranged on the facing pages? Consider the absence or presence of frames, the use and pacing of double and single spreads, font choices, placement of text and pictures, etc.
  
• Medium and Style: How does the artist’s choice and use of medium(s) suit the story? How does the medium generate attention to artistic elements (color, line, shape, etc.) and principles?
  

The following link offers an edited WBA reading led by Megan Lambert at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art: www.picturebookart.org/Noggin2

"Picture book a day" blog

I've just come across this blog which may be of interest - Anastasia Suen’s Picture Book of the Day blog at http://6traits.wordpress.com/

This blog recommends a picture book each day of the week (some days have a special focus eg Non-fiction Monday, Poetry Friday) with a 1 or 2 line plot summary, a short quote from the text, and a suggested writing activity for one of the six traits of writing

The six traits of writing were identified in the 1980s as a way to help young writers look at their own writing. They are

1. Ideas
2. Organization
3. Voice
4. Word Choice
5. Sentence Fluency
6. Conventions

The books featured in Anastasia Suen's blog are American, but many are available from National Library and may trigger ideas for using similar books / activities.

Here is a link http://educationnorthwest.org/resource/503 for more information about the 6 Traits which has been expanded to now include a 7th - presentation...

The 6+1 Trait® Writing analytical model for assessing and teaching writing is made up of 6+1 key qualities that define strong writing. These are:

• Ideas, the main message;
• Organization, the internal structure of the piece;
• Voice, the personal tone and flavor of the author's message;
• Word Choice, the vocabulary a writer chooses to convey meaning;
• Sentence Fluency, the rhythm and flow of the language;
• Conventions, the mechanical correctness;
• and Presentation, how the writing actually looks on the page.

Assessment Resource Bank news - 2009

NEW ASSESSMENT RESOURCES

English:
'Learning vocabulary through reading' has been added to our support material section. This page lists English resources that provide teachers with assessment data on student ability to understand new or unfamiliar words as they read, by using background knowledge, context clues, and word part clues.
All listed resources have been published this year, with the addition of two new English resources. They are: WL2657, Nippers: "awkward"; WL2656, Nippers: "spectators". Both resources are based on a Part 4 School Journal article, "Playing with words". http://arb.nzcer.org.nz/new_english.php

Maths:
One level 4 and six level 3 resources have just been published.
The contexts include:

• deciding whether a graph is suitable to display category data;
  
• placing decimal numbers in the correct order and positioning them on a number line;
• identifying fractions that are greater than a half;
  
• identifying fractions that are greater than one;
  
• showing or explaining how two different fraction numbers can represent the same fraction;
• finding subsequent shapes in several patterns and showing how to work out another shape based further on in the pattern; using given numbers to work out rules. http://arb.nzcer.org.nz/new_maths.php

ALIGNMENT TO THE NEW CURRICULUM
The ARB resources are currently being aligned to the new curriculum.
From the 19th of October, all resources will map to the new curriculum. This means that the classification search pages will use the new strands and objectives of the new curriculum.
If you have any questions about the alignment to the new curriculum, please contact us.
http://arb.nzcer.org.nz/contact.php

Writing activity

I've just been helping Vera do her previous post about the neat activity she did for her kids using the Ready to Read "Going to the beach"... It reminded me of a wonderful activity I saw many years ago at Peria School - the students (junior school) each chose a favourite picture from the New Zealand Geographic magazine - usually a double page spread, A3 size. It might be dolphins coursing through water, a Maori hunter creeping up on a moa, bungy jumping off the Sky Tower, a shark with wide open jaws etc... The children then were photographed in a pose (it would be so much easier now with digital cameras), then the child was "cut out" from the photo and stuck onto the NZ Geographic picture with blu tak, then it was photocopied. Although black and white it made a very effective illustration for some great story writing, putting the child as a character in the picture and action... "Here I am, creeping silently up to the lion sleeping in the sun..." sort of thing. I guess now you could do it with Photoshop so much more easily but this is a more low tech version from a decade ago !

Vera suggested that you could use this activity with the National Exemplar writing indicators for recount - consider what moves writing from Level 1ii to 1iii and identify the learning for the student, eg

• Write your thoughts and feelings that really show or tell the reader about how you feel at this point
• Add enough information so that the reader can feel as if they are there with you...
  

Going to the beach

Here's an idea, that I made up for my own BIG kids from a much loved ready to read, you could try this idea with your class, but include lots of written text for reading...

There is my photo can you spot my son in the back seat ?
Cheers, Vera

Click on the picture to enlarge it...

Hi Everyone,
Its great to start the year off with our first Juls workshop in Whangarei.
Welcome Carolyn Henwood, good to catch up. I hope you enjoyed the first workshop.
I am looking forward to workshop one in Kaitaia.
Cheers Vera Unka