A wanted man it would seem

Literacy for 0-2 comes to you from the letter 'S'

Literacy planning for this term has seen me focus around a single letter.

The Letter S is a very unreliable letter that often makes sounds other than the base /s/ sound:

• /s/ as in snake
• /z/ as in was
• /sh/ as in sheep 

Att: Kidzone

But I've tried to vary the media involved.

Books I shared with the class

No so silly sausages!
Slinky Malinky, Open the door
Sinky socks
Pies for Simple Simon


iPad app - Dr Suess ABC's

Videos to support letter recognition

Blog post ideas

Teaching Children about Letters

Learning Our Letters: Why Our Names Are What We Learn First

Worksheets

Yes... I have included a few worksheets and printable activities:
Hidden letter worksheet
Beginning Consonant Sounds

Just for fun: 

A young teacher from an industrial city in the north of England had accepted a temporary job teaching a class of four-year-olds out in one of the most isolated, rural parts of north Wales. One of her first lessons involved teaching the letter S so she held up a big colour photograph of a sheep and said: "Now, who can tell me what this is?"  

Read the remainder of the joke here...

Increasing my use of Te Reo/ Pacifika/ Punjabi in my classroom practise

In the school in which I work there are 3 main language besides English; Te Reo, Samoan (and other Pasifika languages) and Punjabi.
One of my goals for my appraisal is to learn and use some simple phrases from each of these cultures. I have always been terrible when learning a new language... When I was in secondary school we had to learn Welsh, German and French to Y10. There was an "Encore Tricolore" student book which we worked through. At the end of each chapter there was a test. and you were given a 'report card' with ticks to show your progress.
"Simon introduce himself in French Confidently, satifactory, with prompts." (Tick)... I did SOOOOOO badly on these tests the teacher said it was not worth printing out my report card... personally I think that was purely a limitation on the report card. It should have read:

"Simon introduce himself in French Confidently, satifactory, with prompts, dismally."

Anyway, the upshot is that I am pretty terrible at languages, my tongue and my brain can't cope.... But I'm going to give it a go and here are a few notes to get me started. 

Te Reo

The first is Te Reo: The native language of New Zealand and the second language with which I am most familiar. When I say "Most familiar" I actually mean some key command and greeting phrases to use with students. Below is a short list of the ones I am currently attempting to use.

Simple commands

E tū  - Stand up
E noho - Sit down
Haere mai  - Come here
Turituri - Be quiet
Whakarongo mai - Listen to me

Simple greetings

Kia ora  - Hello, good health
Tēnā koe  - Hello to one person, thank you to one person
Tēnā kōrua  - Hello to two people, thank you to two people
Tēnā koutou - Hello to lots of people (more than three), thank you to lots of people

Pacifika

fa'amolemole int. please;

fa'afetai v. to thank;

talofa v. hello, greetings; 

Tōfā soifua

Goodbye

Other Useful phrases in Samoan

Punjabi Language 

Reference: 

• http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/english/pub_e/classroom/appendix1.shtml
• 
  
• http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/samoan.php
• 
  
• Samoan in the New Zealand curriculum (PDF, 589 KB)
•  
• Other resources for learning Punjabi 

Smarty Pants

Storybox Guided Reading Program
Smarty Pants
Stories by Joy Cowley (author)
Publisher：McGraw-Hill Education


I came across an awesome display in a school I was at the other day.

The students (Y0-2) Had shared this big book. They then drew some 'smarty pants of their own onto an A3 paper and painted them.

The teacher took their pictures and they placed their own torso on top of their smarty pants. The whole class was displayed but we're just going to have to make do with this blurred out photo I took. I will certainly be having a go myself later in the term if I can find the book at MY school. Let me know, by leaving a comment, if you've done something similar. 

Writing a lie

Came into class today. The class had begun a story plan for 'telling a lie'. It was my job to kickstart the writing session again.

I told them as story about how I went to visit my brother in Auckland. The journey was rotten and weather bad. When I arrived my brother mae me coffee and said friend Justin was coming over. When Justin arrived it turned out to be Justin Beiber!!! Imagine my surprise!

Obviously, I embellished the story somewhat and shared my story plan with them (See the image above).
Their task: To write a story about something ordinary that happened in the school holidays but then inject a lie that will grab the audience's attention. They chose from the list below:

A famous person visits.
A natural disaster, earthquake, flood.
A terrible storm/ tornado/ hurricane which leave you the hero.
Save someone from an accident.
Foil thieves either accidentally, or deliberately.

The plan took the whole lesson to complete, and next week I will return to see how the actually story writing went.

Parent/ Teacher Conference

With the last term kicking off we're all start thinking about the report writing and the parent teacher conference. A little while ago I shared on youtube some thoughts on the upcoming conferences.

Science: Fonterra

In the last holidays I spent a lovely day at MOTAT.
 Fonterra, although they have a  bad rep at the at mo, put on a great science fair. I managed to put take some pictures that got me thinking about Science, forces, friction and energy.

Swinging pendulum. Watch how the force is transferred.

Roll the two balls from different heights and see them ALWAYS meet in the middle.

Roll two marbles from the top. Which marble reaches the bottom first.

Stage 2 Maths

Let us not forget, as I did the other day, that level 2 of the New Zealand Curriculum does not equate to stage 2 in the Numeracy Project (NUMP).

I collected a series of 'Figure it Out' books for a maths taskboard activity the other day and the lovely, kind maths adviser smiled sweetly at me and informed me that the levels marked on the bottom were in fact NZ curriculum levels and not NUMP levels. 

Here's a breakdown, so I don't forget again.

NUMP level	New Zealand Curriculum level
1	1
2	1
3	1
4	1
5	2
6	2/3?

 

Additonally I've put together the Level 2 (NZC) problems on a helpful pdf. Here's an example:

The Problem

Mary had a $5 note. She exchanged it with her brother Sam for some coins.
Could shehave exchanged it for 6 coins?
What is the largest number of coins that Sam could have given Mary?

Word problems resource level 2 A5 size (198.2 KB, pdf) 

Te Toi Tupu – Maths focus on Measurement

First day of school and it’s a teacher only day. I’m not being paid for it but I need the PD.

The maths advisers from Te Toi Tupu came to school. We discussed Geometry and the teaching of measurement.

As a reliever visiting each class a couple of times a term I found this session amazingly helpful.  Taking a strand like this into the classroom is going to be so much easier than trying to teach number knowledge or strategy. The planning and delivery of those to are very specific, targeted to small groups and individuals and a there is a lot of room for error as I found last Monday.

So bring on the teaching of Strand is what I say.

The sessions and activities are very ‘discovery’ orientated, with practical activities and the opportunities presented to students to ‘figure it out’ themselves. 

The learning levels for measurement are as follows

     Identify

The first step in the measuring process is understanding that objects have attributes that can be measured. Initial experiences are needed to develop awareness of the attribute and to introduce the necessary language, for example, big, heavy, tall, empty.

 Compare and Ordering

When students are aware of the attribute being investigated they should be given opportunities to compare different objects. Adults realise that to say something is "long" does not have a lot of meaning. "Longer than what?" is a usual response.

 Non-standard units of measure

Some form of unit needs to be used if a question such as "How much longer is your pencil than mine?" is asked. Non-standard units are ordinary objects which are used because they are known to students and are readily available, for example, paces for length, books for area and cups for volume.

 Standard

Some form of unit needs to be used if a question such as "How much longer is your pencil than mine?" is asked. Non-standard units are ordinary objects which are used because they are known to students and are readily available, for example, paces for length, books for area and cups for volume.

 Applying

When students are comfortable and efficient in measuring and estimating using appropriate standard units, learning experiences can be directed towards applications of measurement and to the use of measurement formulae.

6.       Using appropriate units

SI Units used in school measurement

Length	metre (m)
Area	square metre (m2)
Volume	cubic metre (m3)
Mass	gram (g)
Time	second (s)

Non SI units

Time	minute (min) hour (h)
Angle	degree of plane angle (O)
Temperature	degree Celsius (OC)

Resources:

• Key mathematical ideas, click on the key at each level and thread to read the key mathematical idea.
• A maths dictionary for kids - Another wonderful resource from Jenny Eather.
• Assessment Resource Bank -You will need to know the ARBs username and password to access the specific examples and units.

Taskboards: Reading, Writing and a vague Maths one

So its not so flash or interesting but still a necessary component of the planning process. I've jsut spent this morning collating all my resources, collected and created over the past week and built a series of taskboards for the coming term. The Maths taskboard needs fleshing out with the specific tasks.  I visit each classroom twice in the term so I will two taskboards and the associated activities but what I created here should last me for the next four or five weeks. Fingers crossed.  This purely for my benefit but thought I'd share it anyway.

Tackboard download includes: Senior and Junior Reading, Senior and Junior Writing, Senior and Junior Maths.

Teacher Pay Teacher

There are a truck load of resources available on Teacher Pay Teacher. And some of it is free. For example:

Daily 5: Posters and Rotation Cards!

Use these posters and rotation cards to facilitate The Daily 5 in your classroom! Posters include Word Work, Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing and an additional Work with the Teacher card. Thanks One Extra Degree

Guided Reading Prompt Cards

This resource includes 24 eye-catching prompt cards for during guided reading. During reading breaks, a student can choose a card and complete the task or answer the question. Thanks Shelley Gray

FREE 8 Reading Strategy Posters!

Use these bright and colorful posters at centers or to decorate your classroom. A great way to remind students to use their reading strategies! Thanks Rachel Lynette

Elementary Poetry Collection 

Here is a collection of poems and activities that I put together to use throughout the year with my students. None of the poems are original- but they sure are fun to learn! There are poems related to each month, season, and holiday throughout the school year. Thanks Mary Lirette

Noun, Verb, and Adjective Sort 

This download contains a Noun, Verb, and Adjective Sort with a sorting mat, 24 word cards to sort, and a recording sheet. Thnaks Jamie Rector

Additional Free resources

There are other great free resources on TeacherPay Teacher. These are focused around Reading for lower primary as that was what I'm researching now but its worth digging around this site. Especially if you hold a small classroom budget or can sweet talk your literacy coordinator.