The Premier’s Reading Challenge
The Premier’s Reading Challenge began on March 6th
and will close on Friday August 27th. The challenge is best
explained in the following words from the PRC website:
The Challenge aims to
encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable
them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge
to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely.
The Premier's Reading
Challenge (PRC) is available for all NSW students in Kindergarten to Year 9, in
government, independent, Catholic and home schools.
National Simultaneous Storytime
The students of Cromer School will participate in National
Simultaneous Storytime on Wednesday May 24th.
This event aims to encourage more young Australians to read and enjoy
books. The Australian Library and Information Association tells us that:
Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an
Australian author and illustrator is read simultaneously in libraries, schools,
pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places
around the country. By facilitating National Simultaneous Storytime, we aim to:
•promote the value of reading and literacy;
•promote the value and fun of books;
•promote an Australian writer and publisher;
•promote storytime activities in public libraries and
communities around the country;
•provide opportunities to involve parents, grandparents, the
media and others to participate in and enjoy the occasion.
•NSS receives positive media coverage, generates a great
deal of community interest and is held annually as part of Library and
Information Week.
This year the story that will be read is The Cow Tripped
Over the Moon by Tony Wilson and Laura Wood.
The library program has been designed as follows:
K/6J
The students will continue with the unit of study that was
begun in term one.
They will continue to read together each week using the
digital books in World Book Online Early World of Learning and will follow
links to the related film clips, pictures and activities incorporated in the
program.
Each reading task will be supported with a related fiction
or non-fiction text which will be jointly read using the interactive
whiteboard.
The students will then complete each lesson with a worksheet
related to the theme studied in the lesson.
Kindergarten
The students will undertake an author study of the work of
Bruce Whatley. He is a popular author, illustrator and artist. He uses a
variety of illustration medium including oil paints, gouache, pen and ink and
watercolour. Bruce's style is humorous and imaginative with his aim to
entertain and surprise the reader.
This study has been requested by the kindergarten teachers
to complement their studies of picture books by Jackie French with whom Whatley
often collaborates to produce award winning picture books.
Year One
I love to present the work of Colin McNaughton to stage one
readers. His work is a wonderful vehicle for introducing young readers to
visual literacy. Visual images are
becoming increasingly more important in the modern world. Most information is
presented with a combination of words and images.
It is essential that
students develop the ability to decode, interpret, question, challenge and
evaluate texts that contain visual images as well as or instead of words.
In the study of visual literacy students use visual images
to help them read and understand texts. Visual information can support reading
and help the reader to make meaning of the text . The humorous and entertaining work of Colin
McNaughton is a great place to start such a study.
Year Two
The students will study the work of Stephen Michael King. He
is a popular author, illustrator and artist who uses a variety of artistic medium
such as oil paints, pen and ink and watercolour to create amazing
illustrations.
His style is humorous and imaginative. He is an author in
his own right but has also collaborated with some of our best known authors to
produce outstanding fiction for young readers.
Stage Two (Years Three and Four)
The students in stage two will enter the fascinating world
of author/illustrator Anthony Browne. His high quality picture books which
contain elegant art, visual jokes and deeper meaning are a source of
entertainment and food for thought for all ages. I really enjoy seeing the
excitement of the students as they delve deeper into each illustration and
discover all the hidden symbols.
Browne’s work is entertaining and engaging. The combination
of text and deeply meaningful illustrations encourage comprehension and high
level communication.
Stage Three (Years Five and Six)
The students are continuing with the study of poetry that
they began in term one. We have completed books of poems which
can be displayed in the library. The students have been very engaged with this
project and they understand that the writing of poetry requires thought and
skill. It is a wonderful vehicle for capturing a moment or reflecting on an
event.
The students are now undertaking a project-based learning
task in which they will design a breakfast cereal and write a lyrical poem to
advertise it. During this process the students will:
Happy reading and learning in term two!
- Undertake research on food using books in the library and World Book Online
- Brainstorm what their invented cereal will contain based on knowledge gained about food and nutrition.
- Design a poster to advertise the cereal considering the target market.
- Write a lyrical poem to advertise the product.
- Present the advertisement to the class.
