It was with
great excitement that we welcomed the Scholastic Book Fair into our school for
the first time in three years. The quality of books on offer did not disappoint
and I know that our grandparents enjoyed purchasing books for their grandchildren
on their special day. The book fair is always a wonderful opportunity to expose
our students to a wide range of quality literature.
Kindergarten
The students
will study a range of picture books from our collection. Picture books are not
only fun and delightful to read, but they are also a crucial tool for
developing a child’s literacy and language skills in the early years and
beyond.
Stage One
The students
are undertaking an author study of the work of Colin Thompson.
They are
enjoying identifying the following elements which are features of the work of
the author:
Happy
endings
Everyone
winning
Nonviolent
resolution
Imaginative
and creative
Challenging
stereotypes
Faith and
hope
Peace with
the environment
Stage Two
A unit of
work has been designed to support the geography studies being undertaken in the
classroom. We are addressing the question:
How do
people's perceptions about places influence their views about the protection of
places?
The question
will be answered by investigating landmarks, national parks and sacred sites in
Australia.
All work
will be completed in Stile.
Stage Three
The first
weeks of term have been dedicated to completing the study of the novel How
to be prime Minister and Survive Grade 5 by Carla Fitzgerald.
In
subsequent weeks the students will study episodes of the ACTF series Double
Trouble.
This is s a
story of different cultures, white and Aboriginal Australians and life in the
city and in the bush.
Traditional
ways of life and modern-day thinking are compared and examined. The story is an
opportunity to explore Aboriginal culture without it being a tourist oddity.
The major theme explores being exposed to a new and very different culture and
having to cope.
Other themes
to be studied in this course include Identity, relationships, family, twins,
belonging, ancestry, stereotype, adolescence, growth and development, genre,
humour and satire, expectations and decision making.
During this
unit the students will undertake a visual literacy study of cinematic
techniques used to create mood and tell a story while also analysing the
underlying themes mentioned above.
