Cooperative reading

Reading engagement and successful reading are linked and research supports this view, so Cooperative Reading in our classroom focuses on specific processes that facilitate reading engagement and motivation to read.

Engaged readers are motivated to make choices about what they read, how they read and what they take from the reading.

Engaged readers:

- are motivated to read by personal goals
- use a range of effective reading strategies to understand what they read
- are knowledgeable in the way they built new understanding from text
- are socially interactive in their approach to literacy

In our classroom:

- students choose from a range of books
- the teacher explicitly teaches social skills necessary for partner and group discussions and cooperative learning
- students interact around a text
- teacher reads aloud with pauses from time to time to model explicitly what readers do as they read
- students read aloud and use peer support to scaffold reading of difficult texts
- students read exciting and interesting novels, poems, short stories and specifically - blog entries such as Daisy's Designs and Jessica Watson's solo voyage around the world.

We will also read aloud the works of Beatrix Potter, namely Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

- Dorothy Law Nolte 1972

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

Word List:
anchor, fathom, engine, port, starboard, dinghy, chart, mast, sail, porthole,

Writing Topics

New Experiences
Learning to ride a bike
Flying
Making friends
Moving house

Favourite Things
Being in a sports team
Eating out
Favourite games
Foods I like
Friends
Hobbies
Holidays
My cubby
My family
My favourite toy
My pet
Parties
Staying overnight

Games and pastimes
Board games
Building a go-kart
Dressing Up
Swimming
The cooking experiment

Special Days
Christmas Day
First day of school
School holidays
Dress up day

People in my life
Aunts
Siblings
Best friends
Favourite singers
Grandparents
People I like

Special Places
My Bedroom
My trip overseas
My Favourite country
Staying at a motel/hotel
The most unusual place I've ever been
The museum
My treehouse

Good Times
After school
Going fishing
Going on a plane
Horse riding
In my spare time
My biggest success so far

Spelling Yr 4 2010

Unit 1

spade, blade, trade, lane, mane, cane, crane, ape, cape, tape, shape, scape, grape, escape, daze, blaze, gaze, maze, graze, crate, plate, skate, state, grate, slave, grave, shave, behave

Challenge Words:

barricade, decade, lemonade, debate, insane, humane, hurricane, elevate, inflation, vibrate, operate, amazed

Unit 2

dare, care, hare, mare, fare, ware, pare, rare, bare, spare, blare, scare, stare, glare, share, square, aware, beware

Challenge Words:

compare, declare, prepare, nightmare, welfare

Unit 3

time, mime, lime, crime, slime, grime, chime, prime, overtime, pantomime

Challenge Words:

sublime, limelight

Unit 4

role, dole, home, dome, zone, alone, cone, tone, cope, lope, mope, scope

Challenge Words:

rissole, gnome, chrome, aerodrome, telephone, microphone, microscope, stethoscope, telescope, periscope, kaleidoscope

Unit 5

sheep, green, speed, creek, creep, sleep, greet, bleed, sweet, breed, knee, queen, fleet, steep, agree, greed, sweep, street, teeth, speech, screech

Challenge Words:

agreed, decree, asleep, esteem, tweed, freedom, screen

Unit 6

stout, cloud, blouse, drought, trout, proud, trousers, plough, spout, shroud, thousand, scout, shout, flour, crouch, sprout

Challenge Words:

pronoun, scoundrel, flounder, pronounce


Unit 7

bow, crow, show, tow, blow, know, row, glow, stow, sow, flow, throw, mow, slow, bowl, low, grow, below, own, snow

Challenge Words:

tomorrow

Unit 8

roast, toast, coast, boast, float, throat, coach, grown, croak, cloak, cocoa, approach

Challenge Words:

gloat, loathe, shoal, encroach, cockroach

Unit 9

air, fair, hair, pair, lair, chair, stairs, fairy, repair, upstairs

Challenge Words

affair, flair, prairie

Unit 10

real, deal, seal, steal, meal, heal, squeal, beam, seam, cream, steam, peak, leak, bleak, freak, streak, neat, beat, heat, feat, bleat, treat, lean, lead, leaf, leap, peach, bleach, least, yeast, leash

Challenge Words:

conceal, appeal, league, reveal, ideal

Unit 11

head, dead, lead, read, tread, bread, ahead, spread, thread, ready, stead, already, instead, homestead, meadow

Challenge Words:

measure, pleasure, treasure, steadfast, breadth, dreadful

Unit 12

boil, soil, toil, oil, foil, coil, spoil, toilet, join, coin, point, choice, voice, rejoice, noise, poison, moist, hoist, avoid

Challenge Words:

appoint, quoit, void, recoil, poise, joist, ointment, invoice

Unit 13

tie, die, lie, pie, magpie, fried, flies, pied, science, society

Challenge Words:

anxiety, piety, piebald

Unit 14

dew, blew, grew, nephew, few, brew, knew, jewel, new, chew, stew, ewe, crew, screw, drew, threw, flew

Challenge Words:

pew, shrewd, renew, skewer, mildew, jewelry, newspaper

Unit 15

Reading List - for children of all ages

Including me.

Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
The Father Christmas Letters - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graham
The House at Pooh Corner - A.A. Milne
Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild
Just William - Richmal Compton
Dr Dolittle - Hugh Lofting
My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrel
P.L. Travers
Round The Twist - Paul Jennings
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy - Lynley Dodd
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
Dr Seuss
Madeline - Ludwig Bemelmans

Terminology - for the differentiated classroom

Curriculum telescoping - is a form of acceleration as students complete several years of the school curriculum in less time than their peers. Note that material is not 'skipped', rather, students move through the program more rapidly by increasing the pace of instruction.

Enrichment - the student's learning pace is faster than that of their cohort. The student's learning is broadened by enrichment activities that are related to the content area.

Extension - leads to deepening of knowledge and a greater understanding. Students are given additional tasks, projects, and research questions and have a variety of ways to present their work such as by publishing it to the Internet and by teaching it to others. Extension activities are more challenging, abstract, have advanced content and are appropriate in difficulty.

There are five levels of giftedness: mild, moderate, high, exceptional and profound.

Differentiation - is where students learn differently and have different needs. It's where there is a commitment to plan for students' differences. It celebrates diversity. Its goal is to maximise student growth and to promote individual student success. It builds academic self esteem.

When planning a teaching unit:

- pre-assess to identify current levels of knowledge and understanding
- base a unit on a concept rather than a topic
- be prepared to modify the content, process and product
- layer tasks to contain at least three levels of teaching and learning experiences-
use higher order questioning strategies
- use creative/divergent thinking strategies
- ensure students have a choice of activities
- students may negotiate aspects of the curriculum
- layered assessments are planned to assess students of different skills and abilities
- students know and accept that other students may be engaged in different tasks within the classroom.
- student work samples are used to evaluate differentiation
- parents are informed of student progress using learning gain measures not just with test scores.

In the differentiated classroom

You will find:

- layered tasks
- creative thinking
- higher order thinking
- differentiated assessment
- at least three levels of appropriate activities
- planned layering
- the needs of all students are met
- acceleration, extension and enrichment

What are the needs of gifted children?

- The mythical "norm" fits very few students.
- There are both emotional and educational needs.
- Gifted children have learning needs that require a special educational program.
- Gifted children need a responsive school environment.
- Gifted learners need careful nurturing, by home, the community and by schools.
- A general education program does not respond adequately to their specialised needs because of the emphasis on teaching basic skills.

Notes on identifying and teaching the gifted and talented child

- gifts will not be translated into talent (high performance) without a facilitative environment.
- with curriculum compacting, a student's program is compacted by removing any content/processes where mastery is demonstrated.
- curriculum differentiation is where we modify the curriculum; adjust the content, processes and the learning environment; and include enrichment and extension activities.

Signs of a gifted student include:

- an increased power of concentration, a long attention span
- an unusually well developed memory
- a large vocabulary
- the student is an independent learner
- is widely informed about many topics
- the student shows good judgement and logical thinking
- the student produces original/unusual products

Providing for the talented learner

* encourage a scientific hobby such as bird watching or gardening - this leads to such learning experiences as scientific classification and increased research skills
* investigate scientific toys - put together a chemistry set, design and construct with technic toys
*provide basic tools - binoculars, camera, magnifying glass
* an ongoing scrabble game
* a puzzle under construction
* a new challenge/problem solving puzzle published in the class daily doings website
* metaphors and abstract nouns - instead of just similes
* metaphysical poetry, such as The Thought Fox by Ted Hughes
* an exhibition space for student's products
* means of publication for the student to self-publish a novel/poetry anthology

Typing Teacher

Try this typing tutor! This is the program in use for 2010 when students have access to the Computer Lab for a double seesion each week, and on a regular basis in the classroom.

SOSE: Transport through the ages

The question on everybody's lips is this:
In Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park" what is the difference between a chaise and a barouche?

Let's look at the types of transport from the year 1AD.

* From 1 to 500
* From 500 to 1000
* From 1000 to 1500
* From 1500 to
* From 1800 to 1850
* From 1850 to 1900
* From 1900 to 1920
* From 1920 to 1950
* From 1950 to 1975
* From 1975 to 2000
* from 2000

Writing Topics - Grade 9-12

My craziest experience in a restaurant or shopping mall
The hardest thing I’ve ever done
My first encounter with a bully
Let’s hear it for my favorite senior citizen.
The toys I’ll never give up
A friend who moved away
I couldn’t believe that my mother volunteered me for that job.
Putting my foot in my mouth
What if school sports were dropped?
Who knows me best?
What do I worry about?
My muscles were so sore after . . .
What do we Australians do well?
“Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”

An unforgettable dream
My worst vacation
Coping with brothers and sisters
A typical evening at home
Morning madness
A meaningful gift I’ve given or received
We all make mistakes.
Why do I deserve the job?
My brother (or sister) made me so mad!
Hanging out
Something this school really needs is . . .
I take some things too seriously.
What do I do to break routine?

Writing Topics - Grade 6-8

Here’s what a new student needs to know about my school.
Why weekends should be longer
A narrow escape from trouble
What I’ve broken or lost that belongs to someone else
My first friend
A visit to a relative’s house
My chores
A dedicated teacher or coach
When I was lost
My idea of a fun weekend
A school field trip
I’ve done something no one else has done.

I’m principal for the day. Here’s my schedule of events.
A typical lunch hour
If only I would have listened!
How could TV be better?
My favorite neighbor
My bedroom from top to bottom
A memorable bus ride
My best class ever
My first concert
Finally, a good assembly
If I could be someone else, I would be . . .
The most fun I’ve had recently

Writing Topics - Grade 4-5

Staying at a friend’s house
A special secret place
When I was upside down
What if we suddenly had to move?
My most embarrassing moment
Talk about being scared!
Do I want to be famous?
Creepy, crawly things
What if I were the teacher?
I’ll never eat another . . .
My biggest surprise
This school really needs . . .
The first day of school is the worst/best.

A pet sitter needs special instructions to care for my pet.
A song that means a lot to me
My best day
A day in the life of my pet
I don't understand why . . .
Dirt bikes and in-line skates
A visit to a friend’s school
What is important to me?
A terrible storm
Me and the outdoors
My first school memories

Writing Topics - Grade 3-4

New Experiences
Learning to ride a bike
Flying
Making Friends
Moving House

Favourite Things
Being in a sports team
Eating out
Favourite games
Food I like
Friends
Hobbies
Holidays
My cubby
My family
My favourite toy
My pet
Parties
Staying Overnight

Games and Pastimes
Board games
Building a go-kart
Dressing up
Swimming
The cooking experience

Special Days
Christmas Day
First day of school
School Holidays
Dress up day

People in my life
Aunts
Brothers and Sisters
Favourite singers
My best friend
Grandparents
People I Like

Special Places
My bedroom
My trip overseas
My favourite country
Staying a a mote
The most unusual place i have ever been
The museum
My tree house

Good Times
After school
Going fishing
Going on a plane
Horse riding
In my spare time
My biggest success so far

Language - Poetry

Poems are images in your mind. They let you go beyond the surface and discover your deepest feelings. Here is our class poetry anthology which is incorporated into our reading program and into our weekly homework program.

Learning Outcomes

· Understand and write in different forms of poetry.
· Experiment with words, phrases, ideas and feelings.
· Use different styles of poetry to express themselves.
· Communicate effectively through writing.
· Speak and read poetry with confidence.

Learning Tasks

· Read and analyse poetry.
· Write in poetry form.
· Keep a poetry anthology.
· Listen and participate in reading.

Assessment Tasks

· Book work.
· Class participation.
· Poetry anthology.