found: an excellent interactive guided reading website!

Everyone, meet Roy.
This tale tells the story of a unique zebra who has lost his herd! Help Roy find his herd!

This website, is both beautiful and actually laugh out loud funny. I sat one night, flicking through the interactive pages of this story, laughing at the witty jokes and illustrations.

This is ultimately a 'guided reading' activity site for Early Stage 1 - Stage 1. It contains a 9 part adventure series based around Roy the Singing Zebra. The site also contains lesson plans, online activities and games for students, songs and many printables! It even documents how to adjust your lesson if you do not have a smart-board!

Go and take a look at the lovely website here.

the great divide.

this image, from leah, is slightly irrelevant at the moment.
but i thought her blog was awesome about giving thanks all the time. and also, sometimes i don't want to post a flickr picture of a computer.
so maybe, sometime soon, this image/text can become relevant.

Last Monday we had a great tutorial with Glynis Jones, discussing the 'Gender Divide'.
It was a really informative, theory based tutorial which actually was great and different from the usual hands-on activities that we are used to. I find it good to sometimes not look at a computer screen and just listen to someone speak.

We talked about ICT issues such as:
> the technology divide
> the international divide
> the economical divide
> the gender divide
> the teacher skill set divide
> the access and connectivity divide

In future tutorials we will be discussing topics such as:
> pedagody and inquiry-based learning
> games in education - are they educational?
> the anti-technology movement
> the standards movement (NSW Institute of Teaching)
> special needs and assistive technologies
> plagerism (All My Own Work)
> social networking

Not sure really what to comment on right now, it was a slight case of information overload, so maybe I will make some more insightful comments after next tutorial. I should get reading on some literature!

So completely overwhelmed!

gorgeous image by catherine campbell

Wow, ok.
HUGE BREATH IN! Times are about to get tough!
(With assessments that is!)

Now that prac has finished, it seems that we have a huge amount of work to be completed, and right now it seems so daunting to me!

First up, Mathematics Workstations this Monday.
Then Research in Learning poster presentation.
Then a Maths Exam.
Then the Digital Story and End of Semester Statement.
Then another Research in Learning assignment.

Anyway, I'll just need to plan my time wisely.
(which I am usually terrible at!)

Second Week at Botany Public.

our collaborative class portrait!

Another big week at Botany Public School!
It was extremely busy, due to the controversial NAPLAN tests, but very fun as well!

Tuesday: PDHPE lesson focusing on the heart/pulse, with skipping in the afternoon.
(This lesson was CRAZY, due to being held straight after NAPLAN tests, but essentially it worked out okay.)

Wednesday: Read 'The Magic School Bus - Inside the Human Body', Drama games, and introduction lesson for 'Picasso Portraits'.
(Again, being held after NAPLAN triggers problems such as restlesness. Kids loved the drama games such as 'working machine' and 'hula-hoop circle'. They also loved the Magic School Bus book, and they actually learnt quite alot from it! The introductory lesson for the 'Picasso Portraits' was half failure, half success - if that makes sense! We only had 30 minutes, and the slideshow I prepared for the smartboard proved too exciting for them, sending them into a talking frenzy.)

Thursday: 'The Singing Hat' book review, and 'Mr Picasso Head' collaborative class portrait and planning individual portraits.
(The students liked the book, and payed attention throughout. The concept of a book review as a structured text was maybe out of their reach for that afternoon though! I uploaded the book review proforma sheet onto the smartboard and wrote ideas directly on it, which was awesome! But even though I said for students NOT to copy what was on the board but to use it to jog their memory (as I had written in bullet points) they still did copy. SO ANNOYING! I wish they had the initiative to think for themselves! haha, maybe I need to teach them that first! But, the 'Mr Picasso Head' collaborative portraits lesson went so well! Maybe my best lesson to date! I had the site opened on the smartboard, and used it as an aide to further reflect and explain abstract art. I chose well behaved students to 'add' to our group portrait, and they LOVED it! Then, as we had time, we 'planned' our own portraits, using abstract elements. What was annoying however, was that my co-operating teacher decided to leave the room during the lesson for some reason, and she didn't get to see what the children did.)

Friday: Social maths games (3D objects, Chance/Data, Addition/Subtraction), and 'Cup Rocket' science lesson.
(Social maths games were fun. First was a game of 'BUZZ OFF'. I love tricking the children, they think they are playing but they are actually learning! We had different stations, focusing on what they had learnt throughout last week, in order to revise and remember, and apply. They worked individually, or in pairs/threes, and I gave them different 'challenges'. The science lesson went REALLY well! I was so surprised! We looked at 'force' and 'energy transference' through the experiment of a paper cup rocket. I got the experiment from a book titled 'Science toys and crafts - Years 3-6' by Barbara J. Fagenbaum. It is an excellent source of fun and interactive experiments.)

The week was stressful and busy, yet exciting and rewarding. I am really happy I was able to witness the structure of the NAPLAN tests aswell. Overall, I think it was a successful week.
Just two more prac days to go!

found: an awesome kids book review website.

I have just stumbled upon a FANTASTIC kids book review blog. Simply named 'Kid's Book Review', it provides a detailed look at some of the wonderful picturebooks/short-stories/novels/chapter-books available nowadays.

I am a die-hard book lover. I ADORE opening a lesson, or introducing a topic with a book. But these days, seeing there are just so many books around, how are we as teachers able to choose appropriate and engaging books for our lessons/reading groups/students?

This blog provides an easy way for teachers to find books related to other KLA's and other literacy topics. Additionally, it also provides lesson plans and extra resources!

Time to Teach.

(scanned image)

Pheewww!
What a week! I have just finished my first week of Prac at Botany Public School on a darling little year 3 class. I had so much fun, but boy, it was hard work!

My co-operating teacher, Kim Briggs, is fantastic. So helpful and encouraging, she has let me find my feet in her classroom.

Wednesday was my first real teaching day, and since they are doing the COGS unit of 'Growth and Change', I decided to present a lesson on the skeletal system. It went really well, the children were engaged and enthusiastic about the activity (naming bones, pretending we have no bones, making their own skeleton poster).

Thursday, I presented an 'interactive tangram lesson' on their newly installed Smartboard. I first read a story (Grandfather Tang's Story) which focused on Tangrams - which they loved! Then I explained what Tangrams were, their history and had this site up on the smartboard behind me: http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/area/tangram.html
They loved getting up and having a go at 'rotating' and 'flipping' the shapes to make the different animals and objects.

On Friday I presented a 'social maths' lesson, which basically allows the children to have 'free play' but with mathematic activities. I didn't explain things well in this lesson, so everyone was a bit confused. But I brought everyone back on the floor and re-explained everything, so everyone understood at the end. There were 4 'stations' of activities:
1) Interactive Tangrams
2) Ruler/Cube game
3) Geometric shape building
4) 3D Shape building
The essence of 'social maths' is for the teacher to allow children to discover mathematical concepts for themselves. I just walked around while they were playing and asked them open-ended questions about the games they were playing.

Overall, it was a great week. The school is so supportive of young teachers and prac students, so we are all made to feel welcome. Also, the school places emphasis on implementing technology, and I was so impressed to see that all teachers had MacBooks in their rooms, along with their own smartboards, and the library had about 30 large MacBooks. Really great resources!

Next week I plan to do lessons on:
- the circulatory system
- portraits in cubist style (using Mr Picasso Head)
- book review on Tohby Riddle's 'The Singing Hat' to encourage a more defined vocab
- more maths games
- a interactive science experiment (any ideas anyone! I have NO idea about science!)

mathematics in everyday life.

(image is from a screenshot I took)

I found a great interactive resource which revolves around the use of mathematics in everyday activities. It is called 'Cyberchase', and essentially contains videos and interactive games that reinforce concepts such as AREA, PERIMETRE, SPACE, TIME, MEASUREMENT, GRAPHING ect. Additionally, it has a 'Parent/Teacher' section, which gives free lesson plans and information. Ideally, this site is suited for primary aged students. I intend to use this on Prac after a lesson about TANGRAMS.