Student reflections on using reciprocal reading

Excursion to the Blackburn Lake Sanctuary

Yesterday, we walked to and from the Blackburn Lake Sanctuary. We went there, because we wanted to learn more about local history, especially of the Wurundjeri people. We were also fortunate to hear a story about the best ways to use the Sanctuary, as next term we are exploring geography and climate.

Ways that we connect to reading

Ms Scott - I read books and websites that help me understand and train my dogs
Jamie - When I'm out in the city and I see billboards and advertising, I connect to reading because I might have seen that advertisement in a magazine
Cooper - I connect to reading when I see something and it reminds me of a book
Jenny - I like to read with my bunnies because it is fun
Natasha - I connect to reading by reading instructions to make something
Grace - By reading something a character did and then I do it in real life because it looks cool
Oscar - When I read a book and the character says something, I might say that to some one else because it sounds really cool or funny
Aerodyne - When I google stuff and then I use the facts to make power points
Angelo - I connect to reading when I'm watching a movie and I've heard of someone who's made a book of that reading
Jack - When I pick up an interesting book, I connect to reading
Ryan - I connect to reading by reading a book and it reminds me of something that has happened to me or that I have done in real life
Molly - When I see a ballet poster I connect to reading because I think of the time when I went to the ballet
James - I connect to reading when I see a movie and then I read the book that it was made from, like The Hobbit
Jake - I connect to reading when I read the blurb of the book which gives me a head start on what the book is about
Jacob - I connect to reading when I read something and then see it in real life

Here's the slideshow of how we, and others at school, connect to reading...

Book Week 2014 from marieck

Book Week Parade

Today our whole school dressed up as a character from a book that we really connect with...

Lachie – Greg Heffley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Grace – Grace series of books

Natasha – Claudette from Thea Stilton books

Aerodyne – random girl on the back of a book

Molly – Hermione Granger in Harry Potter

Oscar - Batman, from Batman Begins part 1 and 2

Jamie – Ned Kelly, from Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly

Jenny – Alice, from Alice In Wonderland

Jack – Fart from the Fartionary

James – Gandalf, from The Hobbit

Sienna – the Cat from The Cat in the Hat

Jake – Jack Sparrow from The Pirates of the Caribbean

Ryan – Yoda, from Star Wars

Riley – Darth Vader, from Star Wars

Jacob – Harry Potter, from The order of the Phoenix

Natalia – soccer player from Goal

Angelo – Steve from Mine Craft

Cooper – Shaggy from Scooby Doo

Ms Scott – Natalie Prior, from Divergent

Saying goodbye...

Today is a very sad day for Middle S, because our great classmate Adol, is leaving. She has been at St Luke’s for five years and we are all very sad. I will miss her very much. I think of her as my sister. I will miss seeing her every morning when I come to school and her laugh and her smile xxxxooo - Cooper

Adol is a wonderful little girl (even though she’s bigger than me). It’s been good having her here – Aerodyne

Adol is a wonderful girl and I will miss her very, very much – Natasha

I will miss you! – Molly

I will miss you so much, Adol. You will always be my best friend forever – Jamie

I hope Adol will always remember Middle S forever – Grace

I hope Adol has the best time at her new school and house. I will miss you so much Adol. You have been here for 5 years. I will remember all the best times we had together. You will always be in our hearts - Sienna

Adol is very funny. I’ll miss her - Ryan

Adol is a good friend – James

Adol is very nice – Riley

Adol is the nicest friend you can have in the world - Natalia

Melbourne Museum History Excursion

Yesterday, we visited the Melbourne Museum, especially to see the "First Peoples" Exhibition in the Bunjilaka Cultural Centre http://museumvictoria.com.au/bunjilaka/visiting/first-peoples/

Cam showed us how to use the app, Book Creator, on the mini iPads that we shared and Bernard guided us around this new (but permanent) exhibition. Along the way, we took photos and interviewed each other with a variety of materials that explained the early history of a land we know as Australia.

What was good about using iPads and Book Creator at the Museum?

• It’s like writing facts down, but it stays as a movie on the iPad – Cooper
• Mini iPads are good because it’s like making a movie and learning new things – Sienna
• Mini iPads are good to use because you don’t have to video and you won’t lose what you created – Natasha
• It was good because you could do voice messages and take photos. It was a good place because there was a man talking and lots of good things to take photos of. It was good because we haven’t used mini iPads before and they trusted us not to break them – Jenny
• I think Book Creator is good because you don’t just take photos of things, you describe them – Jake
• It wasn’t just getting to learn about the museum, but we also got to learn about using iPad minis and Book Creator
• This was a good learning opportunity for Middle S – Jacob
• We were learning when Bernard was telling us information and we were learning about Aboriginal History – Natalia
• We got to learn a new app which is good because we got to explore more and have more fun – Molly
• It made it easier because I didn’t have to write – Riley
• I liked the Book Creator because we were having fun, but at the same time we were practising photography – Jamie
• It was good to use the app because it was easier to take pics of what we were learning, instead of writing it down – Adol

Here are the movies we made...

  

Term 3 and Australian History

After watching this video about the First Australians, these are some of our initial questions and discoveries about Australian History...

Why did the English Dance with the Aborigines? - Molly
A family got murdered for stealing a bag of potato. Did the Aboriginals use horses for trasnport? - Aerodyne
Why did the Aborigines cry and shout because Bennelong left? -Natalia
When the world was made was every country joined? - Jamie
The Aboriginals said ''take off your clothes'' to whoever came and was wearing clothes, because they didn't know if they were a boy or a girl - Jake
How many ships went to Australia? - Lachlan
I wonder what Sydney Cove looked like then - Cooper
How did Captain Cook know where Australia was? - Angelo
Who had the biggest impact in Australian history? - Riley
How was small pox introduced? - Ryan
How did Indigenous Australians live? - James
Why did Bennelong survive small pox and how? - Adol
Why were the Aborigines turned into stone? - Sienna
What was Australia like before the Englishmen discovered Australia? - Oscar
Why did the Englishmen execute the Aborigines? - Jacob
How many Aborigines got killed by the Englishmen and why did they go there? - Jenny
How did the Aborigines get small pox?-  Jack
Why did the Englishmen call Australia, "Australia"? - Natasha

Did you know about these events? Can you answer any of our questions? We'd love to hear from you!