Catherine- Week 2 Fox

This week I read the children’s book Fox by Margret Wild and Ron Brooks. Fox has won numerous awards and been translated into many different languages. I remember reading these types of books in Primary School and always being excited by book week as we read more picture books than normal around these special events. This particular story is about a dog and a magpie and their friendship until a fox comes along and tries to steal the magpie from the dog. The morals of this story are about friendship, loyalty, risk and betrayal. I think this book would be a great teacher resource in both primary and secondary classrooms as it would teach students about the morals mentioned earlier and would be a great starting point for further investigation into morals and the use of morals through story telling. This story is also follows standard narrative structure and is small enough for students of any age to dissect the structure to analyse. This book has a great story line which is accompanied by fantastic illustrations to help convey the story to the reader. Fox could also be linked to other subject areas using the relationships between the animals as a starting point for art, drama, poetry and music.

 

Catherine

 

Week Two - Reading Response

This week I revisited the book, "Jounrey to the river sea" by Eva Ibbotson. I remember reading this book in Year 6 at primary school, every friday afternoon we would sit down and then teacher would read another chapter of the book and we would all be taken on the adventure with Maia, the main character. This book would be used with Year 6 students and up as at raises issues such as orphaned children, and immigrating because of the loss of her parents. It's a complex book and would be a good book to read to the class, or have students take it in turns to read to the class.

Thanks!

Week 1- About Me Catherine Smart & The Piggy Book

I am new to blogging, so here goes……..

Hi my name is Catherine Smart. Like all of you I am in my second year of Primary Middle Education at the University of South Australia at Mawson Lakes.

I have moved to Adelaide from rural South Australia to undertake this university course. As this was a big step for me I decided to live in a boarding college, where I live with nearly two hundred other students in the same situation as me from rural Australia or overseas. This has been a great experience so far and I have been able to meet a lot of new people and make some great friends.

I have grown up on a farm and love getting outside and because of this I find it hard living in the city in such a confined space. Once I have completed my teaching degree I hope move back to the country and teach in rural Australia. I play netball in winter and tennis in summer and love the sporting experiences of the country and the social aspects.

I am looking forward to this course!

This week I read a children’s story book called The Piggy Book by Anthony Browne. I found this book interesting and could be used to teach children a number of morals about cleaning up after yourself and being considerate to others.  Mrs Piggott looked after her husband and two boys. She did everything for them and spent all of her days cleaning up, until one day she left leaving a note saying ‘you are pigs’. Mr Piggott and the sons return to find Mrs Piggott had left them. They didn’t know what to do. They could not cook, clean or look after themselves. Mrs Piggott returned to a grovelling Mr Piggott, she promised she would return if they would take on some house duties.

 

The author uses visual puns throughout the near photographic illustrations. As the book progresses pigs appear in the background starting as a subtle appearance and becoming more obvious throughout. This book would be a great teacher resource in a primary class as it is a humorous book which has been well written and illustrated.    

Catherine

 

Laurens first blog..

Hello!

I am also new to the world of 'blogging' and am unsure as to whether this is the correct place to blog, but we shall soon find out.

Now for a brief introduction on myself…

My name is Lauren; I am also nearly half way through my teaching degree with around two years left of studying. Much like the rest of the people undertaking this course, I am very eager to enter the wonderful world of teaching!

I have currently lived in Adelaide for five years, since immigrating to Australia, from England in November 2007. I live with my mum and dad, and also my sister (16) and brother (12). I regularly volunteer and help out in my brothers’ year 7 class, listening to students read and also accompanying the class on excursions.

I am very passionate about music and photography. I also share the same passion for rugby, as it is a sport that I have been brought up on. I started playing at age 12 but haven't played since moving to Australia. I enjoy reading when I have a spare five minutes between working part time at Woolworths and studying!

As I have a younger brother and sister and was a child not long ago myself, I have read a vast range of children's books. Last week I revisited Roald Dahl’s children's novel, "George's Marvellous Medicine" which was as enjoyable to read as it was the first five times. I love Roald Dahl’s approach to children’s books, the tone of the novel along with the wit and comedy portrayed can be very entertaining for children of age 8 and upwards to read. This book would also work well as a class novel to read to the class as with the expression and enthusiasm of the teacher when reading; children will be gripped to the book as I was.

I have attatched a collage of images that symbolizes me! Until next week, thank you for reading,

Lauren

Ben's 1st Blog

Hello fellow bloggers.
This is my first attempt at using a blog and I am somewhat unsure of what can be done with it just yet, but am grateful for the excuse to give it a try.

Now for my introduction.
My name is Ben and like the rest of you I am currently wishing I was halfway through this degree, like all the friends I talk to think that I am, rather than being three eighths the way through.

I am married with three children, boy 7, girl 4 and boy 2 whom I adore, but they are forever keen for my involvement in dancing, running, Lego, football, tea parties, puzzles etc, so I cannot do any uni work until they are asleep, hence studying after 8pm has become my lot.

I love my music, and don't mind the 40 minute drives to Mawson Lakes as it allows some sizable play lists to be consumed. I am interested in technical things and gadgetry, and worked for Clipsal (the electrical company, not the car race) for the last 4 years selling and programming home automation systems.

In terms of English, I do enjoy reading but never seem to have enough time to get through the books I'm interested in, and for Uni I very much wish I was faster at writing.

Given the age of my children I am familiar with a reasonable amount of children's literature, and this week I have been reading some classic Pamela Allen books; "Brown Bread and Honey", and "Is your Grandmother a Goanna". Both have a clever use of repetition while introducing a single new character/concept on each page. The texts also invite a response from the child such as "Is your Grandmother a Walrus" to which my two year old responds with a heartfelt "No".

 


Well that's probably sufficient for now, feel free to have a look at the link below which is a  presentation of photos about me. Thanks for reading and happy blogging.

Ben

http://prezi.com/71tx5nblbgog/a-bit-about-me/