More about whales

Past student book rappers created a digital slideshow on Photo Peach to accompany our work on the Aboriginal Dreaming story, How the whale got a hole in his head:


How the whale got a hole in his head


Humpback whale shows amazing appreciation after being freed from nets

Additional audiovisual resources on whales, starfish and barnacles, used in previous years of the cycle, are HERE.

Mirragan and Guranggatch

This week, students in Stage 1 and Early Stage 1 are learning about a local Gundungurra Aboriginal Dreaming story of Mirragan and Guranggatch, which tells of the creation of the Nepean River, Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves. It was first recorded Europeans in the early 1900s by RH Matthews. We are watching this Photo Peach slideshow, which uses the art from a school-created “big book” from 1995. The beautiful artwork is by Mrs Bagnell, with one mural panel by a former Penrith PS teacher, Mrs Martin.


Mirragan and Guranggatch

Library rules – Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 students

Next week in Library lessons, students from K-2 are investigating rules. Classroom rules, playground rules and home rules are being discussed in class (and in the library), giving us an opportunity to revisit the school library rules.

Our School Library rules have been traditional for many years, with only a few amendments over time. They are:

1. Clean hands.
2. Line up quietly outside.
3. Be quiet in the library.
4. Please walk in the library.
5. Take care of the books, furniture and all library equipment.

* Remember to bring a cloth library bag to borrow books.


Robbie Rules: My first day at school (2013).

Dogs, dogs, dogs

This week, Early Stage 1 and Stage students are investigating factual information about dogs.

We also discussed a few famous literary dogs, such as Clifford, Fearless and Spot.

Clifford & Phoebe at Penrith PS (2011):

Travelling Fearless at Penrith PS (Book Week 2010):

Travelling Fearless, Part 2: Farewell Fearless! (Book Week 2010):

An Easter tale (2014):

Teachers’ notes for One red shoe

The Teachers’ notes I wrote for Wilkins Farago Publishing are now online. I hope lots of school libraries buy their own copy of the picture book, One red shoe, and get good use out of it!

The notes can be downloaded as a PDF here.

When I was testing the book out with our Stage 3 students, even the Stage 2 students were intrigued, although they only really discussed the red symbolism throughout, not the stronger themes about war/unrest in the Gaza Strip, but they came up with this digital slideshow:

Too many elephants in this school!

NSS

Coinciding with today’s National Simultaneous Storytime 2014, here’s a box of elephants from the picture book, “Too many elephants in this house” by Ursula Dubosarsky and Andrew Joyner. It was created with masking tape, red acrylic paint with sponged shading, blue corrugated cardboard, black ink permanent marker and pink and silver waterbomb balloons. Trunks were cut from matching pink and silver plastic partyware bowls.

Week 21 Boxes

Week 21 Boxes Back of Elephant house

This back panel was left unpainted deliberately. Note the yellow plastic ladder emerging from the chimney hole.

Week 21 Boxes last one in
One more elephant squeezes in!

Here’s a great book trailer for the picture book:


Too many elephants in this house by Ursula Dubosarsky
& Andrew Joyner


And an elephant story we once retold as a digital slideshow on PhotoPeach:


The elephant’s child

UPDATE:
Just before 11.00 this morning, the school library at Penrith Public School was invaded by a herd of tiny elephants, to help celebrate National Simultaneous Storytime 2014:

Elephants

Elephants 2

Elephants 3

We go crazy with some sheep

This week, Class 2RB celebrated the end of our investigations into nursery rhymes by collecting white objects, from home and around school, taking photographs in the school library, and brainstorming some rhyming text to create a crazy slideshow on PhotoPeach!


Baa baa white sheep

Meanwhile, Class 2S worked on a different story about a lonely, brown sheep. The students took some inspiration from the picture book, Hunwick’s egg by Mem Fox & Pamela Lofts, and our current Chicks ‘R’ Us program.


Ewe and the egg