Category Archives: Early Stage 1

Robbie Rules: My first day at school

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This digital story is especially for author Meredith Costain, with many thanks for sending Penrith Public School the signed copy of her wonderful new picture book, My first day at school (Windy Hollow Books, 2013). The book’s illustrations are by Michelle Macintosh.

Stage 3 students have recently been working as “buddies” for Kindergarten Orientation, and they enjoyed having Meredith’s book read to them in a library session, and then reminiscing, brainstorming, storyboarding, photographing, and suggesting possible text for a joint construction to create a PhotoPeach presentation. We anticipate our incoming Kindergarten students, future buddies and staff and students at other schools to get some useful tips from it.

Special thanks to Ms Stockton, who allowed Robbie Rules – our oldest “student” at Penrith PS, who’s never graduated from Stage 1 – to visit the library for the last few weeks of Term 4, 2013.


Robbie Rules: My first day at school

Comparing reindeer to boomers

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Stage 2 students are still investigating People and their beliefs in HSIE. Today we compared Santa in Australia, a picture book by Maryann Pfeifer & David Van Asten with the song popularised by Rolf Harris, Six white boomers:


Six white boomers – a Rolf Harris tribute

We have read several Australian parody versions of “The twelve days of Christmas”, but here is a Youtube ciip of the original carol:


12 Days of Christmas – Christmas carol

Early Stage 1 students asked me to add this Youtube clip, one of their classroom favourites:


Aussie Jingle Bells – Bucko & Champs – the original

More fables: The magic fish and The town mouse & the country mouse

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Stage 1 and Early Stage 1 students are studying fables this term. These Youtube videos will support the reading.

The magic fish, or The fisherman and his wife, is often categorised as a Grimm’s fairy tale, but it also has an obvious moral.


The fisherman and his wife

Two parodies of the same tale:

The magic fish – Fractured Fairy Tales


Fractured Fairy Tales – The fisherman and his wife


Aesop: biography of a great thinker


The town mouse and the country mouse – Aesop’s fables


City mouse and country mouse


Мышь vs. Печенька (Mouse vs Biscuit)

After reading several versions of the famous Aesop’s fable, the students created their own interpretation of “City Mouse & Country Mouse” as a PhotoPeach slideshow. A combined effort of brainstorming, storyboarding, set creation, photographing, and joint construction of text!


City Mouse & Country Mouse

Facts about fish

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Stage 1 and Early Stage 1 students are studying fables this term and every second week, we are concentrating on gathering factual information on one of the animals/concepts featured in the fable.

These Youtube videos will be useful for “Fish”:


How do fish live under water?


Setting up a goldfish aquarium


How the seahorse got its shape — by Nature Video

Mirragan and Guranggatch – and The first sunrise

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This week, Class KB retold the Aboriginal Dreaming story of Mirragan and Guranggatch to create a new Photo Peach slideshow using the art from a school-created “big book” from 1995. The beautiful artwork is by Mrs Bagnell, with one mural panel by Mrs Martin.


Mirragan and Guranggatch

Then Class 1/2St retold the Aboriginal Dreaming story of The first sunrise, with art from another school-created “big book” made by Mrs Bagnell, this time from 1994.


The first sunrise

Kookaburras!

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This week’s Aboriginal Dreaming story for Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 is “The kookaburra who stole the moon”.

The picture book I have usually used for this week’s theme, on the three-year literacy cycle, has not shown up since our move to the new library, so I went looking online. As I said three years ago, there are slim pickings on the story itself, although there are many references to travelling theatre shows and audio productions. This Youtube kookaburra laugh is still useful, though:


Kookaburra calls.

Kooka1
Coming soon to a Photo Peach slideshow!

Related Dreaming stories include:

* Laughing jackass and the sun fire at JoyZine

* Goo-Goor-Gaga the kookaburra at Dreamtime Kullilla Art.

How the birds got their colours

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Stage 1 and Early Stage 1 students are learning about Aboriginal Dreaming stories.


How the birds got their colours by Pamela Lofts and Mary Albert

A student, from somewhere in the world, adapted this story as an animation, setting it in the Philippines:

How birds got their color by Naufal Shukri

How smart are crows?


Crow intelligence – multi-step tool action test


Joe the talking crow


Smart crow uses cars to crack nuts in Akita, Japan, near Senshu Park

Last time we visited this part of the cycle, students enjoyed this Youtube clip.

Winter – and the Rainbow Serpent

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In Term 3, our Stage 1 and Early Stage 1 students will be investigating the topic of Winter, and then moving on the Aboriginal Dreaming Stories.

I had promised to share a childhood favourite winter book from my own collection, Snow by Roy McKie & PD Eastman, which is a hard title to find, Down Under, in Dr Suess’s classic Cat in the Hat Beginner Books series. I bought this particular copy during my White Christmas 2012 trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, where, way back in 1984, my penpal had taught me how to make snowmen and snow angels, just like in the book I’d read in 1966!

Next week, we will be comparing this book to the more recent, There was a cold lady who swallowed some snow! by Lucille Colandro & Jared Lee. The school library’s resident artifical snowman is actually a stage prop from my 2006 Stage 1’s assembly item performance of this book. This was also when I learned, via Wikipedia, about the inate and significant differences between British and American snowmen. (Count the bodyparts!)

3D Snowman
Snowman built by Mr McLean and his penpal, Ann Arbor MI, USA, January 1984 (Three body parts)

Snowperson
Snowman built by Mr McLean and his class, November 1996 (Two body parts)

Penrith snowman in a hailstorm
The artificial snowman finally experience a real hailstorm, Penrith NSW, December 2010


Penrith PS in December: a white Christmas?
Please click HERE if the music track doesn’t play.

Day 5 Snowman
Miniature snowman in Ann Arbor MI, USA, December 2012 (Three body parts)

Snowman
Even artificial snowmen must do their research! Penrith NSW, December 2010

Our first Aboriginal Dreaming Story, in Week 3, will be about the Rainbow Serpent. Past Kindergarten students, now in Year 3, made some great artwork last cycle and it is preserved in a Flickr SLIDESHOW. We also made good use of a Youtube animation, located HERE.

Plants, trees and forests

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This week, Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 classes are investigating the topic of “Trees” (and “forests”), and relating it back to the fairytales of Hansel and Gretel and Goldilocks, and to previous work on “Autumn” leaves.

Books to be used include Seed to plant by Melvin & Gilda Berger and Trees (Go facts plants series) by Paul McEvoy.

Supporting Youtube video clips will include:


Planting bean seeds


Time-lapse phaseolus runner bean. Hypogeal germination


Acorn to oak filmed over an 8 month period time-lapse

The 2013 CBCA Crichton Award nominee, “A forest” by Marc Martin, will also be a useful resource for this topic. I recently found the following clip on Youtube which carries similar environmental messages. It is an animated short by Aspen Center for Environmental Studies “exploring how forests affect, and are affected by, the forces around them”:


What’s happening in our forest?