The News In Term Four

 

The students and staff celebrated book week with an outstanding book parade in the COLA. The Cromer family always enjoy book week and the costumes reflect a great love of reading.

The visit from the Co Theatre Physical group informed our junior students about the need for sustainability and the importance of bees. The play mesmerised the students for well over an hour and the teachers were delighted with a show that supported their studies of Science in the classroom.

We were honoured to meet Boori Monty Pryor who is an Indigenous Australian writer best known as a storyteller and as the inaugural Australian Children's Laureate (2012–2013). He is descended from the Birri-gubba nation of the Bowen region and the Kunggandji people from Yarrabah, near Cairns. His performance gave our students the opportunity to participate in dancing and singing in order to understand aspects of Aboriginal culture.

Book Fair 2019

The annual book fair will take place at our school from Wednesday October 23^rd until Friday October 25^th. It will be open before and after school on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and all day on Grandparents Day October 24^th. Please support our school library by buying a book for your child.

MS Readthon

At last count the students of Cromer have raised $632.88. Thank you so much for reading for such a great cause.

 

The Library Program

Kindergarten

The students will study a range of high quality texts which have been shortlisted in previous years. They will be given the opportunity to respond to a variety of imaginative and informative texts which will be read for enjoyment and pleasure. They will have the opportunity to join in with chants and rhymes, research information and share their own opinions about various topics encountered in the texts.

 

Stage One

Aaron Blabey is one of Australia's most loved authors for children. He has nearly four million books in print, many of which are multiple award winners. He was the 2012 National Literacy Ambassador and, in 2015, The Brothers Quibble was featured in National Simultaneous Storytime.

Blabey's books are extremely popular in our school library and in 29 other countries. He often uses the poetic genre and his stories are humorous, often with a moral. The text is always supported by his engaging illustrations.

The students in stage one will study eleven books in this unit.

Stage Two

The students in stage two will participate in a series of visual literacy lessons exploring the conversion of story to film. They will analyse the main elements of a story and explore the manner in which they are redesigned to suit the production of a film. They will then study the nature of subplots, the use of background music, montages, the use of satire, irony and the role of the villain. The importance of conflict and resolution will also be examined.

 

Stage Three

The novel His Name Was Walter by Emily Rodda won book of the year for younger readers in the Children’s Book Council awards this year. It is a powerful story within a story brilliantly crafted by this gifted author. Reviewer Danny Solomon States:

The story within the story at first seems like nonsense - a boy raised by bees, who works for mice, meets a witch who turns into a cat, lives with a landlord who’s a chicken and falls in love with a young woman who turns into a sparrow - but as both stories move on fantasy and history blend and reveal themselves for what they are.

In the hands of a less skilled writer the ‘reveal’ could have been almost jarring - the way reality suddenly appears on top of this story about talking animals and ogres - but instead - the shift from an English-style folk story to Australian history was a thrill. Another magnificent book from Emily Rodda.

The students in stage three will undertake a literacy contract using this outstanding text.

 

Stocktake

The annual stocktake will begin in week eight. We ask that all books are returned to the library by week six when all borrowing will cease.

 

 

The Power of Reading in Term Two

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 22nd.  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 Alpacas with Maracas by Matt Cosgrove.

The Reading Adventures

Kindergarten

The students will undertake an author study of the work of Pamela Allen. She is an award-winning author who has enchanted children for over thirty years. Her books are full of the music of language and are designed to be read aloud and shared.

Author studies enable teachers to share quality literature with their students. As the students share the excitement of exposure to engaging literature the skills of comprehension and communication emerge. The students gain a deeper attachment to books and critical thinking skills, reading skills and writing skills develop and improve.

Year One

Babette Cole was the author/illustrator of over 150 popular books for children. She won multiple awards with her witty, thought provoking and often irreverent picture books. Her writing demonstrates her love of the absurd and her zany sense of humour. The children will study ten popular books in our Babette Cole collection and reading her work should be a source of laughter, entertainment and all round good fun. Also, many of her books have a message for us to discuss and ponder upon.

Year Two

Jackie French was the Australian Children's Laureate in 2014/15 and the 2015 Senior Australian of the Year.  She is an historian, a very passionate ecologist and, as a sufferer of dyslexia, she is dedicated to her work of ensuring that all children can learn to read and appreciate the power of literature.

The students in Year 2 will study ten of her picture books which are filled with the benefits of her personal experiences of life in the country, her detailed research into historical events and her love of nature. In her own words:

Every adult has the right to know the children of this planet are being given the tools of literacy and the power of books to change the world and ensure our future.

Stage Two ( Years 3 and 4)

The students will undertake a Roald Dahl author study. A different book will be showcased at each lesson and activities in response to the extracts read will be undertaken.

This is not an in-depth study of the texts. It is a journey to discover the influences of childhood that affected Dahl's writing and his journey as an author. We aim to gain inspiration for our own writing from the work of this great author.

Many authors state that the source of inspiration for their writing is the varied content that they read. Roald Dahl is a master of character creation and is known for his dark humour and unexpected endings. His books never fail to capture the imagination and his work and life provide a huge writing inspiration for us all.

Stage Three (Years 5 and 6)

The students in stage three will study a number of quality pieces of literature which have been shortlisted by the Australian Children’s Book Council in past years. The purpose of the study is to enable the students to engage closely with works of literature and provide them with the tools to make judgements of value and quality in relation to the works and develop their skills of contextual analysis. It is hoped that the texts studied will challenge, stimulate and inspire their abilities as informed and critical readers and writers.

Welcome Back to the Library in 2019

During the 2018 stocktake a number of changes were made in the library to make it a more comfortable and engaging learning environment. The students are enjoying the new spacious, stimulating library layout.

This year we have three teachers taking library lessons. I will be working in the library on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. Mrs Sullivan will be here on Wednesday and Thursday and Mrs Demetriou will work in the library on Fridays.

The library will be open before school on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and at lunch time on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier’s reading challenge will open on March 4^th and will need to be finalised by August 30^th. A number of students have already expressed an interest in the challenge and have begun their reading journey.

The library program will be as follows:

Kindergarten

The unit of study will serve as an introduction to the library. The students will be introduced to a range of ten different picture books by various authors and illustrators. They will be exposed to the work of some exemplary authors. The parts of a book will be examined in detail. The difference between fiction and non-fiction will be explicitly taught. The students will understand the components of the collection and where books are housed in the library. They will understand the role of the author and illustrator and will share picture books for enjoyment.

Year One

The students will study ten picture books by a variety of authors and illustrators. The books have been short listed in past years and are all examples of quality literature. The students will use various visual literacy skills in order to understand the manner in which pictures enhance and support the text.

Year Two

Nick Bland is one of our foremost Australian authors for children. His books which are loaded with engaging rhythm and rhyme and colourful illustrations provide a sense of adventure and enjoyment for all readers. This term Year two will undertake a study of ten books by Nick Bland. It is expected that, as the students are exposed to such language features as rhyme, repetition alliteration and personification supported by high quality illustrations they will be entertained and inspired to write creatively.

Stage Two

For the first half of term one a unit of work has been designed to support the Stage 2 geography studies. In the library the students will focus on Uluru. The resources which will be accessed in Stile are aimed to help students acquire the skills and develop the knowledge needed to become geographically aware and active students. Themes of sustainability, Aboriginal peoples (Anangu), the natural environment and the values of different people can be seen through the links provided. Uluru is an iconic, world heritage site about which everyone has an opinion. Ultimately the value in which people hold Uluru, in turn impacts the rock itself, its surrounding environments and the traditional custodians of the land.

In the second half of the term the students will study a number of Aboriginal dreamtime stories in order to understand the following:

Oral Tradition: Stories passed on through telling and re-telling many times over a long period.

Storytellers: Very important people who pass on knowledge.

The Storyteller's Job: Teachers, custodians and mentors to the next generation of storytellers.

What The Stories Are About: Traditional Dreaming stories and stories about what has happened since European settlement.

Why They Are Told: To teach the rules and laws of the indigenous people. They teach the listeners how to behave, to treat each other with respect, to live in a balanced way with nature and to understand the land and the creatures around them.

Subjects of The Stories: Plants and animals, natural features, sacred places, creation stories, what happened to people when they disobeyed the law.

Stage Three

To Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the word deadly means successful, great, and outstanding. Deadly Australians are people that we can all look up to. Through research in the Aboriginal studies collection in our library and by viewing video clips and exploring websites the stage three students will learn about eight deadly Australians who have worked hard and achieved local and international fame for their achievements. These people have made an incredible impact on their communities, their country and the world. The following content in the Stage 3 History document is addressed in this unit:

•          Using a range of sources, research and describe the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other groups to Australian society.

•          The contribution of individuals and groups, including Aboriginal people and/or Torres Strait Islanders and migrants, to the development of Australian society, for example in areas such as the economy, education, sciences, the arts, sport

•          Examine Australian human rights, past and present, affecting Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, migrants, women and children.