Literacy learning

Book Week

We loved Book Week. Our favourite part was buddy reading with other classes. We buddy read with ourselves one day too :) We read "Choose your own adventure" books together. Here are some photos from reading with the Wee Sprouts and with each other in Room 13.

Speeches

Congratulations to Rylee for her Success at the West Cluster Speech competition. She won!
Read her speech below....

Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

It is I.

Don’t you mean, it is me?

Certainly not! According to the strict rules of English grammar, it should be, “It is I’.

However, if you said this today, most people would look at you in a strange way because we no longer follow the rules of grammar based on Latin.

These rules would even have us saying things like, “That is something up with which I shall not put.”

No wonder English is such a crazy language.

Good Morning, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.

Our language is like the air we breathe. It always surrounds us, it is invisible and we take it for granted. English is the most widely spoken language in the world and used by at least one in seven people. Half the world’s books are written in English, 80% of all computer text is stored in English and all airline pilots communicate in English.

It also has the largest vocabulary of all the world’s languages with about two million words, with a new word added about every four hours.

However, we still need to face the fact that English is a crazy language.

Even though a word may contain a clue to its meaning, we cannot always rely on it. There is no egg in eggplant, no pine in pineapple, no peas in peanuts and no ham in hamburger. To make matters worse...Why can your nose run and your feet smell? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

English spelling is also a nightmare because there are always exceptions to the rules. For example, “i” before “e” except after “c” is fine for “believe and “receive” but what about “weight” and “seize”? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth “beeth”? One mouse, two mice should mean one house, two “hice”.

Another problem in English is caused by homophones, which are words that sound or are spelt the same but have different meanings. We tie a bow in our shoelace, fire a bow and arrow, stand at the bow of a ship, bow to the audience or swing from the bough of a tree. The last bough also causes pronunciation problems with words like rough, cough, through and though, not to mention the torture of learning how to spell them!

The lack of any kind of language logic is also shown by many common sayings:

A hot cup of coffee - who cares if the cup is hot? Surely we mean a cup of hot coffee!

A sign on low doorways - Watch your head! Very difficult…can you actually watch your own head?

Put on your shoes and socks. Again, very difficult… don’t most people put on their socks first?

By now, you must agree with me that English is a crazy language but don’t get stressed about it, just eat some ice cream, chocolate and sweets. Do you know why? Because only in English stressed spelt backwards becomes desserts!

By Rylee van Dijk.

Lacey was the Year 5 winner at the school speech competition. Well done Lacey!

If you eat your crusts - your hair will go curly. Okaaay, but who wants curly hair anyway? If God gave me straight hair, I should be happy with it.  I think curly hair is far too overrated

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we all know about the “Crazy things  parents say.” those sayings that have been passed down through generations - my grandparents said the to my Mum and Dad but I promise, I will never, EVER say them to MY children!

No matter their parenting style, personality or education, all parents seem to say these strange things. I’m sure MY parents swore they would never ever (EVER) say these sorts of things, but now they come out of their mouths so naturally. It’s not bad or good humor, it’s real life!

Of course your mum and dad always mean well, but sometimes they totally just don't get you.

“Wait until you get into the real world!” Sometimes my dad says this to me instead of saying I’m not old enough. Is this world not real? But this is MY world! Where is this real world?

“Keep your eyes peeled!” Ewww what do they want us to do ... peel our eyes open?

Most of these sayings are usually used to stop us from misbehaving, or eating something that we shouldn’t, or hurting ourselves, or doing something that means parents will have to clean up.

“Finish your dinner, there are starving kids in Africa!” Wait a second ... does this mean that if I eat my dinner, there won’t be starving kids in Africa?

“If you don't pick up these toys,  I’m going to throw them away!”  Now that is something that MY DAD has said at least 50 times and he hasn't  thrown them away yet. So Dad. I don’t believe you! You wouldn’t do that anyway because of all the kids in Africa without toys...

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of bed this morning?" Which is the wrong side of the bed... the left or the right? And why on Earth does it matter anyway?

One of the all-time favourites for parents, and even some teachers, is "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?" Of course not, I'm not a fool! But, how does that even relate to wanting to get the same hair bow as my best friend?

And lastly, ... "You have no idea what hard work is!" Well let me tell you… Going to school, doing my homework, helping around the house, all while making time for friends is still hard work, even if "it doesn't pay the bills".

Most children are raised to believe that their parents know best. And often they do… But those children grow up and soon realize all the things they’ve been fed over the years are nonsense. But, can you really blame parents? Kids ask a lot of questions and sometimes it’s just easier to fib.

Your parents have got a million different things on their plates besides taking care of you, so the struggle to be a cool parent while also being a good parent is real. Let's face it, as annoying as your parents can be sometimes, they’ve always got your back — and they give the best hugs.

By Lacey Graham.

Alex made it through as one of the Year 5/6 school finalists too...

Albert Einstein once said ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’. And that's something i totally agree with.So, I sat down, feeling pretty happy with myself that imagination was going to be a perfect speech topic

It ticked all the boxes. I’ll have lots of ideas and it's something that I love.

I thought it was going to be pretty easy writing my speech, but BAM. No ideas!!

So I got thinking….when was the last time I actually used my imagination?

When I was in year 1 and 2 I’m pretty sure I used my imagination all of the time...We used to play all sorts of pretend games ... we could be anything or anyone or anywhere that our imagination took us.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Imagination. Do we lose our imagination as we get older? When was the last time you saw an adult using their imagination? I mean have you ever seen them playing on the playground pretending to be pirates or princesses? I don't think so. They are normally sitting on the benchseat on their phone. Wait! Phones… so are we are losing our imagination because we are getting older OR is it because of devices?

Hey hey hey, don't go all evil eyes on me, I'm not here to give you a lecture that you're using your device too much….I’ll leave that to your parents!

I love my iPad, I use it all the time, I FaceTime my friends and family on it, I read on it, I take it school everyday and use it for school work. BUT I'm not going to lie, I also play games on it. This got me thinking … am I using my imagination when I play games on my device? Yes, I am!  

I would give anything to live in that mansion I built in minecraft last week … with my indoor pool … with a hydro slide and … my ice skating rink in my bedroom.  While I am playing, I am thinking and dreaming all the time about what I am creating. That’s using my imagination, right?

Technology and devices are a part of our everyday life and they are here to stay. So maybe we are losing our imagination as we get older! That means I'm hitting the laptop and I got researching. Did you know that you do actually lose your imagination as you get older?

It's been researched for over a century and it has been discovered that your imagination decreases in your twenties and even more in your late thirties or early forties. But in my opinion, I think that if you use it, it won't decrease so it's a case of use it or lose it!

So yes you do use your imagination when you use a device … and yes you will lose your imagination if you don't use it. Adults need to start doing things they imagined when they were kids and continue to be creative, because Albert Einstein also said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun and that's knowledge!”.

By Alex Wright.

Myths and legends

This term, we have been learning about myths and legends. We have learnt that myths and legends are actually quite different. While they are both traditional tales that have been passed down orally through generations of a culture, they usually have a different purpose. Myths usually explain a natural phenomenon such as why the kiwi can't fly or why we have thunderstorms. Although they are not scientific and usually contain gods, mythological creatures and unrealistic, farfetched events. Whereas legends are usually stories about a hero who achieves great feats and saves their town. They are sometimes assisted by a god but also often battle a god to achieve greatness. 

Below you will find a couple of student examples of each...

Myths:

Why The Sky Is Blue

At Olympus…

Zeus was watching the village as normal with the sun shining when someone riding a three-headed dog came out from the underworld and took Persephone before winter. Demeter cried because Persephone was gone. The crops and plants died and trees became bare of leaves.

Zeus and the villagers got angry at this and Zeus made earthquakes by striking lightning at the ground which shook the underworld, forcing Hades to come out of the underworld; the battle raged on and on and the sky was turning blue and red, a blitz of lightning and fire until…Hades gave up because he knew Zeus was stronger.

Hades let Persephone go and Zeus made the sky blue to show the he had won. Persephone returned to Demeter and all the plants, crops and leaves grew back. Then everyone was happy(well, except for Hades).

By Ben Rikiriki

Why the grass is green

A long time ago when the grass could not be seen the gods decided to colour it . Hades wanted black  grass Athena wanted white.  The battling went on and on until it became unbearable. The gods decided to have a competition

“The winner will  decide the colour,” they agreed.

Every-one was training like crazy. No-one knew what the challenge  would be. Hermes was out more than usual, Zeus had taken to doing push ups, and Poseidon was polishing up some new tricks with his trident.

Finally the day had come. They had to battle each other to win. In the first round Athena beat Poseidon with her skill. In the second round Hades beat Athena with his three headed dog. Then Hermes beat Hades, Apollo beat Hermes until only Zeus and Hera were left. It was a dramatic battle indeed but in the end Hera came out on top.

The colour was decided, the grass was to be gold.

To decide who would colour the grass they had a chariot race. They each got a colour for their chariot. Zeus had just finished his chariot and just had to magic it green. He shot the bolt but missed and hit the grass.

And that is why the grass is green.

By Rylee van Dijk.

Legends:

A long time ago, in ancient Rome there was a man named Heracles. Heracles was the strongest man in Rome. Everyone would call Heracles for help.

One morning, Heracles was up walking through the village before anyone else was up. He did this just in case there was any danger. That’s why everyone liked him, because he kept the village safe. But this morning, he heard whispers. He knew it couldn’t be the villagers because they were still fast asleep. He kept on walking, he heard more whispering, before he knew it the whispering was all through the village. He had to find out who and what was whispering.

Heracles thought he should knock on a villager’s door to see if they knew where the whispering was coming from.

So Heracles knocked. No one answered. He knocked again. Again no answer. He knocked once more. No answer. Then he knew the best place where the whispering could have come from. The Temple.

“It has razer sharp teeth!” one villager cried. “The cute eyes can torture you.” Said another. “It can knock you off your feet!” The talking just did not stop. “Enough Enough !” said Heracles. “What exactly is going on here?” “There is a monster that is so dangerous it has enough power to kill you!” said a villager. “Do not worry I will go and find this monster and kill it.”

So Heracles went out in search of the mysterious monster. He was walking through the woods and heard a noise of the bush shaking. He looked behind the bush. No one was there. Then he saw another bush shaking. He ran to the bush, nothing was there. So he called for the Goddess Diana. Diana appeared out of nowhere. “Can you help me?” Heracles asked. “I have something for you,” Diana said. She gave him a sword and shield as pure as gold. “The sword can kill anything and the shield can blind anyone’s eyes so they will never be able to see again. Make sure you DON’T look into the shield.” Diana was very strict about this. Heracles then thanked Diana, then she disappeared into thin air.

Now Heracles was ready to battle. Then suddenly, he felt the ground vibrating beneath his feet. And then there he saw it, face to face: the unknown creature. Heracles was running around trying to get the creature to look at the shield. It didn’t work. So he climbed up onto the highest tree then got the creature’s attention and blinded it with the shield. Heracles got down from the tree and tried to kill the creature with the sword. But he missed, the creature swiped Heracles with it’s big horny tail. But Heracles got up and kept on trying. The villagers were right, this creature is powerful. He ran up to it and stabbed it the heart.

Everyone celebrated that night, because Heracles had done it again!

By Emily Verstappen.

Long ago a young man named Hercules was out for a walk in the forest when he heard a whisper, not a normal whisper, it was said in a different language, and it quietly echoed across the forest. He followed it but nothing was there. He looked all around, but still nothing in sight. So he decided to go back to his village, wondering what it could be. Once he had arrived at his village, he walked into his house and began packing his bags ready to camp out in the forest for however long it took to find it.

Hercules was a rather strong man in his mid-twenties, and loved going on missions. He lived in the countryside in his small village, but a big house. He had emerald green eyes, and his skin was a deep tanned colour, and his hair was brown and curly.

The next day he set out to the forest at dawn, with all his bags, looking around at all of the sparkling dew. Once he arrived at the spot he was the day before, he ran into a very weird but cute looking creature. It was a zebra with adorable bunny ears and enchanted looking pegasus wings. It made a gesture like it was trying to say,“Hop on!” It was definitely sent by the goddess Ceres. It landed on the grass and Hercules got off, still in search of the noise. As it flew away, he heard it again but louder, now he was definitely close enough to find it. He began to follow the noise once again, when he was stopped by Cybele the earth mother. She was there to help him on his journey by giving him a gift. His gift was a shell that could translate the whisper to his normal language, and she insisted for him to take it. So he gratefully took it, and carried on with his journey.

A few minutes later he was walking through the forest, when he saw a slightly hidden cave in amongst the trees,and he found himself walking towards it. Once he got to the cave he stopped and peeped through. He heard the whisper again and it was coming from the cave. He walked in and saw two huge, greedy looking creatures whispering amongst fountains of gold and jewels. They were both scaly and slightly dragon- like. Hercules hid behind a rock and put the shell to his ear, and understood exactly what they were saying. They were planning to attack his village for more gold! So Hercules ran a little while away from the cave and set up a little camp out for the night.

Hours later he had set up a plan to kill them on their way to his village.

The next morning he was sitting on a branch next to a river, he saw them coming and had his sword ready to chop the branch off. They walked under the branch that he was sitting on and he cut it off,  the branch landed on them, both of them bleeding in pain next to the river, then he rolled them into the river and they drowned there, turning the river red, him leaving them there forever. Then he took his things back to his village, and had a big celebration that night, never worrying about them again.

By Mikaylee Barclay

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The kids have been writing amazing metaphor poems in class. I have been so inspired by the descriptive language they are choosing to use. While you will have the chance to share yours through your sharing folder, I thought it would be great to share a couple on our blog. 

I am Autumn.

Leaves floating through

buzzing with endless energy

swirling into patterns

softly thumping to the ground.

I am fog.

A dark curtain enveloping the trees

a faint halo of mist

marking my trail

a curving wave of endless white

a cloud of silver

leaving glum people in its wake.

I am a drum.

Energetic beat

thrumming through the air

catchy tune lifting my spirits

people inflamed with passion at my sound

an endless melody.

I am black.

The inky semi-darkness

helping me concentrate

making me drift off

into oblivion.

By Nico Birt.

I am a guitar

strumming strings

musical notes

calm sounds

lifts your spirit.

I am a storm

soggy mud

the grey clouds 

in the sky.

Rain dribbling

showering

from above.

Blushing leaves flowing

round the ground.

I am Winter

flowing snow

falling from the sky.

Crashing ice

frozen glass

blue lips.

I am icecream

soft, frozen,

icey, melted,

cold, dark,

watery.

I am black

on a mountain-top

inside a dark cave.

By Cheyenne Taylor.

I'm a banjo

lifts me when I am down

my strings echo around the room.

I am rain

bringing a rainbow of dancing colour

leaving a trail of frost to cover my tiny toes.

I'm a big cup of hot chocolate

burning my tongue

fluffy white marshmallows disintegrating into the hot mixture.

I am Autumn

an icy wind coming and freezing your body

while you're searching for a chocolatey treat.

I'm a tall oak tree

on a hill

leaves spiralling around me

all sorts of colours.

I am a deep green

helping me blend in 

decorative surroundings.

By Marissa Barber.

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I often get asked for recommended reads for Year 5 and 6 students. So I have attached a couple of links that other schools have created for comprehensive lists of books that you could find in the library or bookshop for your child.

Year 5 recommended reads

Year 6 recommended reads

Reading Eggspress is a fantastic programme that can be used at home and at school to develop your child's reading skills. We use the programme to complement our class reading programme for those students that subscribe. If you wish to subscribe, please refer to the Tauriko School website.
Reading Eggspress website