Melissa in action with her reading. She has an opportunity to hear a DVD whilst reading by herself in a quiet space within the classroom.

How We Have Affected Our Waterways - Reading Responses

Using graphic organisers can make it easier for students to respond to texts.  

With inquiry-based texts, they find key words and ideas are what we are really wanting to use instead of focusing on lots of written text.

This enables a quicker flow of thinking, discussion and analysing of information toward synthesising of ideas.

It is also easier to go back over bullet pointed ideas or short text.

Having quirky ways of setting out the information  also assists with making tasks like this more appealing for students to respond to.

Author's Purpose

We are looking at the  author's purpose for writing during our reading sessions.
We have learnt that they write to:
Inform
Entertain
Persuade.

We are learning to pick up key ideas within texts in order to recognise the main points used by authors when they write.

We watched this video to consider ways that they write to get their messages across.

We will be applying this to our reading for the rest of the week and then further in our author study later this term.

Tips and Tricks from Google

This is one of the Youtube videos that we watched to help us find out the top ten Google Tips and Tricks to enable us to use Google more effectively.

We used VideoNot.es  to record our note taking while we watched the videos.

The other video we watched was How to use the Google Search Engine more Effectively.

Have a watch to find out more!

 

The Mustelid Mob!!!

Two reading groups recently read an article based on mustelids and the effect that they have had on New Zealand native birds and animals.  Mustelids were imported to New Zealand to catch rabbits, who had already overrun farmlands throughout the country.  The mustelids, which are ferrets, stoats and weasels, found easier prey to catch which resulted in a lowered numbers of native creatures.

Because of their short metabolism timing, some mustelids need to eat every 24 hours so they can eat quite a few young  birds, eggs or animals.  This puts even more, pressure on endangered creatures.

There are now steps in progress to catch the mustelids throughout the country.  Room 17's reading groups have realised the impact of these creatures and the incredible need to get them under control  

Some of the class wanted to have their photo taken with the hunters.  Included also, is an opossum which in itself is a very successful immigrant to New Zealand, It is now, a very much an unwanted visitor to our shores.

The animals with the group are, as in order:  weasel, opossum, stoat and weasel.

The stuffed animals were on loan from DoC as part of Room 17's Elective, Pest Trackers.

Working Out in the Library Last Week.