Diamante Poems

Room 17 & 18 decided to use the knowledge they had developed as part of the character descriptions for Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf to create some diamante poems. Here are some images of finished examples and a link to the Read Write Think site for some examples.

Marking books - or giving feedback.

Who else brought books home to mark this weekend?

Thanks for the image Adela.

Here is a link from the UK worth reading and discussing. What works for you and what works for the children.
https://www.gov.uk/…/reducing-teacher-workload-marking-poli…

Junior School Writing

Here are some photos of what Ngā Kiwi have been writing recently. Thanks for sharing the photos.

A Penguin Story

Here is a clip that we were talking about in choir on Friday. What an amazing bond.
Ideas for writing:

• Recount the story
• Take some stills using screen shot and add speech bubbles.
• Information Report on penguins
• Tell the story from the penguins viewpoint

NZ Flag Referendum

This is an opportunity that doesn't come around often. Getting the kids involved in the discussion provides the chance to take their learning home.

Suggested ideas;

• Question starters: What is a flag? What are they used for? Where do you find them? Why do we have flags? Do we need flags?
• Have an 'Irish' debate prior to writing their opinion. teacher assigns for and against and sets the rules e.g., can build on / restate the ideas of others, agree/disagree with ideas (not the person), time limit for talking. 
• Persuasive Writing e.g., Letter to the editor
• Design your own flag - include labels

Link to the Te Ara website for background information by clicking on the image below.

Link to website on the referendum by clicking on the image below.

Relevant School Journal article about the NZ flag

Teacher support material for this can be accessed by clicking on the image below and scrolling down to the 2006 archive for Part 1 No. 1

Baby Dragon Photo Prompt

Images provide wonderful prompts for a variety of writing activities. Have you thought about using one as part of a news article. This one tickled my fancy.

Baby Dragon found at St Albans school this morning.

That Was Aquagym

This piece is based on an idea shared by Louise Dempsey at the PD session on The Writing Book last month. Here is the link to the lesson plan on their website.

http://www.thewritingbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/remember_when.pdf?v=8e3eb2c69a18

I loved the planning template and the exemplars to help the children grasp the concept. I used this idea instead of doing a recount for our Aquagym week and was pleased with the results. It was good for getting the kids thinking about adding details based around the senses. I also used the original poem (below) for a whole class reading activity which helped familiarise them with the structure prior to the lesson.