Reading Recommendations

As we lead into the summer break we ask ourselves that big daunting question... 

What should I read next!?

In Māhutonga Matariki we are here to help you out! We have put together our recommendations from books that we've read and enjoyed. 

Raising a Reader - Visual Literacy Inquiry

Our Visual Inquiry learning/ reading has inspired us to create our own zines. 

This is us planning what we will include. 

We have stumbled across a great article in the New York Times, By Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, "How to Raise a Reader." This article has tips for parents about how to raise a reader at every age and stage.  

Some key points:

• Read throughout the day 
• When reading with kids, introduce your own preferences
• Respect the child's preferences
• Choose a range of books/ texts
• Don't make reading work, reading is fun!
• Format does not matter- comics can help students become avid readers
• A book about a computer game is still reading
• Some kids prefer non-fiction

We are all very excited about our ongoing Visual Literacy Inquiry. We have been reading a range of texts that have visual images or diagrams. 

We’ve been working on our reading comprehension skills, using some exciting comic and graphic novels stories. We are being reading detectives and learning to read both the words and the pictures to gather information. We are making predictions about what characters will do next, and inferring the reasons for their actions from the information we have. We are practising saying why we think these things by referring to the text for evidence.

Ngā Kōrero ō Mua - Stories of the Past

Motukairangi History Walk

This term we have been getting stuck into a new Inquiry, Ngā Kōrero ō Mua / Stories of the Past. While a new NZ History curriculum is being implemented across the motu, we are really proud of the learning we had already been doing, especially around the Treaty of Waitangi, Polynesian Navigation and the rich history of our places - Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Whetūkairangi. 

We started off by thinking about what history is and how it's recorded. How much of it is just plain wrong?

We're really lucky to have an excellent vantage point up here on Seatoun Heights Road, for imagining the past. Te Whanganui-a-Tara, the Great Harbour of Tara. How would it have looked 800 years ago?

Our peninsula history walk has become an annual experience. Each time we build a little further on our knowledge of Māori history through stories such as Ngake & Whataitai and Kupe & the Giant Wheke. This time we added the story of Hutia Kākāriki Pā at the bottom of Awa Road. Ask us what we learnt! Our scavenger hunt also encouraged us to look a little closer at post-contact history including the Wahine Memorial and Fort Dorset.

Thinking about the strategic placement of Fort Dorset and Ōruaiti Pā

We are also exploring history through our reading programme. Take a look at this term's Literacy Links document which is full of useful and interesting sources.

Reading about the New Zealand gold rush in Bright Fine Gold.

We'll continue covering the stories of our past through Literacy and Inquiry learning. We're also very excited to head over to Wellington Museum next month to take part in the Te Upoko o Te Ika programme. Ko Te Upoko o Te Ika e tangi nei, ko Whetūkairangi e tangi nei!

Book Club: Collaboration with Auroa School

We know that lots of you have been reading some great books. Please add to "Book Club." Our friends at Auroa School have also been adding their recommendations. 

This is a place to share books! Tell us about what you’re reading at the moment...

What thoughts and ideas does it spark?
What characters do you admire and why?
What advice would you give the main characters?
Describe the setting, what does it look like?
What’s a summary of the plot?

Who would you recommend this book to?

 

Phonics Across the School

Today in Māhutonga Matariki we started our morning rotations. From Tuesday through Friday, each base group visits each of the four teachers in the morning to practice key literacy skills. Spelling with Nic, Typing with Jenny, Te Reo Māori with John and Handwriting/Phonics with Nik.

Today we had an introduction to phonics session. Some of us were very familiar with phonics. Some of us had no clue what it was!

We discussed what phonemes and graphemes are. We practiced listening & dictation, adding phoneme lines to words and segmenting/blending words with the 'robot.'

We are aiming for consistency in our phonics teaching and learning! As senior students, we want to be able to visit Autahi and Tautoru to help with their learning in phonics and reading. Embedding common phonics language across the school will help us towards achieving this goal.

Phonics in Autahi

Buddy reading in Autahi

We already help a lot with reading. Equipped with phonics in our toolkit we'll be even more effective.

Please ask us about phonics at home!

Polynesian Navigation Inquiry - Nik's Base Group

This week we've been studying the Polynesian navigators Kupe, Whatonga and Tupaia. Three very similar men from three very different times! Here's a three-way Venn diagram we made together today to compare them.

We are planning to make an information board for the school about Polynesian Navigation. We think it will have a map to show where the first navigators went, a timeline of navigation events in Aotearoa, background art inspired by our view and information on Kupe, Whatonga and Tupaia.

We spent some time outside imagining what it might have been like to see a waka hourua sailing past. How would our view have been different?

We plotted the journeys of Kupe, Whatonga and his sons Tara and Tautoki on a map after reading and hearing their stories.

We discussed when navigation events in Aotearoa happened in relation to one another.

Whole Literacy & Reading Comprehension

Our rich and varied literacy programme is humming along. We want to be a community of readers, authors and critical thinkers. We are.

We are having some great conversations about reading comprehension. We know there are a range of strategies we can call upon before, during and after reading.

We have been working in small groups to unpack and practice using these strategies.

In their independent time, one group have been completing role cards that encourage deeper thinking around their personal reading.

Another group have been expanding their minds with wonderings about the strange and mysterious story The Watertower by Gary Crew. Our library has some fantastic, thought-provoking picture books. But, you know that already because John regularly shouts it from the rooftops!

Once a Panther by Victor Rodger, from the School Journal Story Library has been the subject of analysis by another group. The story of the Polynesian Panthers has students growing more curious about New Zealand's history and the lessons we might learn from it.

Our explanation writing muscle has been getting a work out explaining, among other things, the wonders of our Arts Celebration. Now we're aggressively sharpening up our pencils in preparation for persuasive writing - get ready to hear an argument or two!

Performing Plays Using Puppet Pals

On Monday some of us read Play Scripts. We used Puppet Pals to read our stories. Our next steps are to write our own plays and record our own stories... 


 Jack and Jill

 
The Three Little Pigs

 

 Goldilocks and the Three Bears

 
I Spy

 
 Jack and Jill

Hooked into the story! After lunch shared reading

In some our base groups we have been doing some shared reading of chapter books after lunch.

We do this to relax and unwind after lunch, as well as being exposed to different types of stories and even more vocabulary. At the moment we are reading

- The Pied Piper by Russell Brand

- Red Dog by Louie de Bernieres

Some of us are even having a go at reading them to the class!

The Cardiovascular System: Thank You to our Special Guest, Bec!

Thank you to Bec who talked to us yesterday about what happens to your body when you exercise. Here are some of our Quick Writes about Bec's talk:

What I learned today about health? 
I learned about the cardiovascular system I learned that when you get stitch it is because you can’t breathe and you need to slow down and sometimes when you keep going you can vomit. I also learned about VT1, VT2 and V2o max VT1 is  when you breathe slightly deeply. VT2 is when you are breathing really deep. V2o max is when you are working to the max. When you get stitch you need to take an extra breath every 8 words. Fun fact: Never stretch before you exercise, just stretch after.
By Orla

Today Bec, Emelia's mum came in and talked to us about the cardiovascular system and about VT 1 VT 2 and VT+ . VT 1 is just when your running normally and just breathing normally and VT 1 is when your really out of breath and you just cant get enough oxygen and you start getting stitch and you start getting lactic acid in your body, when you get to much lactic acid you throw up and your normal again and the lactic acid is what makes you have stitch. You also have an anaerobic system which is where all your VT 1 VT 2 and VT +. The thing that helps you get rid of lactic acid is to slow down not to stop.
By Nela

Today Bec came in to talk about cardiovascular system. She told us that if when your running you can get into VT1 and VT2. VT1 is that you can talk normally but you are a bit puffed. VT2 is when you can't talk your puffed and you have the stitch. When you are in VT2 your muscles let out acid that goes into your Stomach, Organs and stuff like that. When you've finished doing whatever your doing you normally feel like your going to puke. If your in VT2 then slow down.
By Alba

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM 
Today I learnt how you get stitch...  
Let's say it like this: you were running up a hill. You started puffing hard, because of how fast you were running. But ate the same time you were eating a banana. Your body will get confused, not knowing What to do. Digest the food or run?? It uses up energy. If you body try's to do both, You will get stitch.
By Kirsty


We have been working in different rotations in the last couple of days. We have been learning about Nutrition + Water, Rest/Sleep, Cardiovascular system and Muscle Growth.

In the Cardiovascular System Rotation we read:

Cardiovascular System: Ducksters

We also did this quiz: 

Quiz

Here is a poem that we read: 

Games, games, games

 We've had a theme of games recently as we look at rules as part of our inquiry into power. We have created physical games to challenge ourselves and tried them out with our base groups, and now written the rules for them. We've also been playing games in maths - Greedy Pigs has been very popular.

In reading, Gabrielle's literacy group has really enjoyed reading the rules for the game Cloak of Protection where you weave a cloak of birds from one realm (forest, sea, settlement and extinct) to win. You have to do this before being wiped out by predators, but some of the Gods like Tane Mahuta and Pandora can help you out.

Skype Buddies

Recently we have been Skypeing with Aurora School. We have been reading and sharing poems and art with them. We have been doing a display of poems and art to go with it we decided to pick an animal and did a poem and picture to go with it and the poem is about the wind wishing to be an animal. These are some animals we did cat, dog x3, giraffe ,whale, pig and fox .

Sometimes we talk about what we have been learning  at school or we read together or they show as some work they have been doing.They are doing a presentation for some of their work and they are going to send it to us.

Today they showed us a display that they have been making about us. If you come into the classroom, you can see the display that we made about them.

By Yasmin, Orla and Isabel

Connections with South Taranaki

Skype between Worser Bay School and Auroa School

A group of us have been skyping  to Auroa school.

Today we read a text about the weather. Auroa School shared some research and we shared some ideas about our upcoming Art Exhibition. We also shared some jokes.

We are planning to make a collaborative piece of artwork based on a poem for the art exhibition.

By Alba, Mia and Molly

Weather Poem: reading with our friends from South Taranaki

Today we read a poem with a reading group from Auroa Primary School. We read a tounge twister poem about the weather. Our school focus this term is about being connected and we are enjoying connecting with our friends in South Taranaki.

Weather - Poem by Eve Merriam

Dot a dot dot dot a dot dot

Spotting the windowpane.

Spack a spack speck flick a flack fleck

Freckling the windowpane.

A spatter a scatter a wet cat a clatter

A splatter a rumble outside.

Umbrella umbrella umbrella umbrella

Bumbershoot barrel of rain.

Slosh a galosh slosh a galosh

Slither and slather a glide

A puddle a jump a puddle a jump

A puddle a jump puddle splosh

A juddle a pump a luddle a dump

A pudmuddle jump in and slide!

WBS and Auroa School Reading Groups: Little Red Riding Hood And The Wolf - Poem by Roald Dahl

A reading group at Worser Bay are meeting with a reading group at Auroa Primary School in Taranaki once a week. We are reading the same text and meeting on skype to discuss what we have read.  

We are excited about the collaboration!

This week we read Little Red Riding Hood And The Wolf - Poem by Roald Dahl 

We focused on reading the poem with fluency and expression. 

Students at Auroa School drew pictures of what we read and Worser bay added the captions.

WBS and Auroa Reading Groups Connect!

Reading groups connect
It’s great to connect with our friends at Auroa School!

Today one of our reading groups connected with a reading group in a school in the Taranaki countryside called Auroa School. We did some reading with them, were we did one paragraph and they did a paragraph.

We were reading: Awarua the Taniwha of Porirua

You can listen to the story: Awarua The Taniwha of Porirua

We managed to power through it

By Zach and Alastair

Earlier in the week some of us read half of the story and made predictions about what might happen:

We also summarised what we read then wrote our own versions. Here is one that we made on Puppet Pals: 

Ngake and Whataitai: Maori Myths

We have been learning about Maori myths. We have read the story of Ngake and Whataitai. We have been retelling the story in our own words. 

Some of our students have used Puppet Pals to retell the story: 

By Leola and Alba

By Haare and Hugo W

Parent workshop on reading with your child

Thanks to all those who came along to our workshop on reading today. We shared some decoding and comprehension strategies, and some popular books. Remember to show your child that you enjoy reading, and that you do it often. 

Have a look at the Worser Bay library website for some more ideas for books to read with or to your child. We're going to put together a list of books with the students that they enjoy and will share it on the blog shortly.

What in the world is salp?

Over the past week there has been lots of discussion about the funny looking blobs found at out local beaches. There was a lot of debate about what they could be. This led us to the conclusion that we needed to do some research. Luckily for us there was an article in the newspaper this week which we read in our reading groups. This led to more of our own research and the following reports. 

Salp
by Chester,Hayley, Blake,Caitlyn, Alex B, Sam Sh,Thomas Jackson

There has been a new sea animal that has been in Wellington beaches for the last month. People have thought it is sea lice, fish eggs, baby jellyfish and plankton. Well the the name is salp.
 
Salp can come in chains or single and can be found at Karaka Bay,Worser Bay  and Scorching Bay,Eastbourne and all the other local beaches.
Salp is completely harmless so you can still swim in Wellington  
beaches.


Salp is a filter feeder that feeds on plant plankton. Salp swim by jetting out water and is related to fish. It's also very common in Antarctica and is the most efficient in the animal kingdom. Its scientific name is Salpidae.The average size for a salp is a 2 to 7 mm blob.

Salp 

By Oto Betty Meg Emma R Louise Sophia Hugo M Emma M

Have you spotted the small jelly like creatures at the beach?

Some people call them jelly fish and others call them sea lice. But they are really just salp and are completely harmless. Salp  are a blobby animal with a black dot in the middle. The ones in Wellington are the size of a fingernail and are a colony of animals distantly related to fish.They slowly move through the water by forming a chain then sucking in water through one end then blowing it out the other end; this is how they move and filter feed.Salp can be found all over the globe and can be as big as four inches long! You often find salp close to floating seaweed because they feed on plant planton. Salp is common around Antarctica. Salp were first discovered in 1982.

  

       

Research about charities

As part of our inquiry, we have been thinking about how we can give back to the community. One idea is to give some money to charity. During our beach weeks we will be competing in a duathlon to raise funds for one of the charities that we have chosen. Watch this space...

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