Author David Seow came to speak to Grade 2 and 3 students today. See more pictures on the Book Week 2014 page. He will return tomorrow with author Emma Nicholson to do writing workshops with the Grade 2 and 3 students. Book Fair presented by Bookabura started today in the Library. Come get some great books; before or after school browsing available for families.
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Author Grant S. Clark came to ISS as our first guest author of Book Week 2014. More pictures from his visit can be found on the Book Week 2014 page. Take a look at his author's web page to learn more about Grant S. Clark.
Next week is book week on the Paterson campus - we have 4 authors coming to visit and many fun literacy activities planned for the week. Check your child's class blog and watch this space! Just tried out TumbleBooks today and think it would be a great resource for home reading. There are quality stories, great illustrations and quizzes to check comprehension.
Check it out today: tumblebooks.com For the free trial - username: fannyTBL password: trial Check it out and let me know what you think. Just came across some new holiday reading lists - this time I am looking at lists from "down under". I have some new sources at the Christchurch Libraries and Common Sense Media.org
These sounded quite interesting - and if you want more ideas try these longer lists.
Semester 1 is rapidly drawing to a close and we are all looking forward to the holiday break. But before we go - one important event - The Lion King. Please come and enjoy the show - the students have worked hard and the performance is great!
With all the great apps and websites for Literacy, technology is a powerful tool to help our little ones grow as readers and writers. Come in to ISS on Monday to learn how to manage your digital life and help our students get the most
On Wednesday the students brought their parents to school for our ES 3 Way Conferences. Each student had a 20 minute appointment with their classroom teacher. A new feature this year was having the specialists all gather in one place (the MPR) and be available throughout the day. The turnout was greater than we expected. I got to speak with many parents - current students, former students and just students I know from working in classrooms or visiting with on the playgrounds. It was a big success more opportunities for home - school connections. The pictures above show just some of the parents meeting with specialists, this was early on, later in the day it really got rocking with groups of people waiting to meet with each specialist.
We set up the room with teachers around the outside and chairs in the middle for families to wait for a turn to chat. We used sample work, folders and e media to share the learning happening in each specialty area. Let us know what you thought about the set up. Would you rather have appointments next time or did you enjoy being able to spontaneously stop by and visit with specialist teachers? People are always asking for "good websites" to read with kids. My friend who is an ESL teacher recommended this site to me. I have explored it a bit and really love the great readers they have found share the books. While there is a teacher area with lessons and strategies, the student area is full of great books, activities and more. Try it out and let me know what you think.
Let's take a look at a couple more examples of word sorting so you can be sure your child is on the right track. The first example would be a student who is looking at the difference between short vowel pattersn Here is a cute clip that shows how a student can explain their thinking and sorting. This should be part of the homework when sorting - talking about why the words belong in the various categories. There are lots more videos out there but wouldn't it be fun to make your own and share it with us?
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