LANTERN POETRY

Gemma and Daniel were our poetry inspirers today with their poetry form, the "Lantern Poem." Below are the poems they inspired others to write.

Isabella wrote: Rain Through the green trees In the winter Breeze	Mia wrote: Bee Buzzes Happily Through the summer Trees	Natalia wrote: Fly Buzzes Having fun Swiftly swooping Splat
Tia wrote: Rose Growing Beautiful Very Sharp thorns Rose	Corinne wrote: Rose Petals Soft to touch Into Summer Rose	Ivan wrote: Bling Shiny So much gold Makes me look cool Swag
Joe wrote: Ball On ground Specky mark All those flyers high	Akon wrote: Leaf Beauty  Autumn,Spring So precious, both Blade	Madison wrote: Book Read it You need it You so want it Read

   

HAIKU-students teach one another how to write poetry.

The next poetry topic was "Haiku," and the teachers today were Ivan and Nick.


Teacher response: Nick and Ivan, you prepared a wonderful presentation about how to write haiku. The process was clearly explained to the other students. I really enjoyed your own work and, again, you made the "how to" part easy for the class. I will now publish some of the student work that resulted from your lesson!

Joe wrote:                                                                   Tessa wrote:
At the MCG                                                                Outside in the sun
"Up there Cazaly!" they screamed                            laughing, playing all day long
many years ago.                                                         'til the bright sun sets.

Corinne wrote:                                                             Jamie wrote:
Through the tall, barked trees                                    Stars cover the sky
the soft breeze whispers to me                                   sparkling and glittering down
at the crack of dawn                                                    as day turns to night.

Madeline wrote:
Gallipoli plains
The bugle blows long and loud
in nineteen fifteen

STUDENTS TEACH ONE ANOTHER POETRY

Corinne and Kathryn speak! 

At the moment we are doing a students teaching students programme. We are studying poetry and we learnt about a poem called the sonnet. It was a form of poetry used by Shakespeare. Firstly, we researched it and found out that a sonnet has fourteen lines with ten syllables in each line. It has three quatrains with the rhyming pattern of ABAB meaning the first and third line rhyme and the second and fourth line rhyme. This is repeated twice before a couplet, which is simply two lines that rhyme with each other.

We created this poem together!   

Teacher Response: As a teacher, I am blown away by the power of peer teaching. From the outset of this exercise, all students were highly engaged in the lessons each pair was preparing. As the fortnight came to an end, students were keenly selecting the days for their presentation. Engagement during Corinne and Kathryn's presentation was high. All students have had a really good go at writing the first quatrain of their sonnet. We will publish some of their efforts. And how do I feel as the teacher? Excited, engaged and enthusiastically brainstormimg the next possibility.

Corinne and Kathryn: your sonnet is beautiful, reflective and creates amazing images for me. You have captured the essence of this form of poetry. You have attended to the strict requirements of a sonnet's structure. Have you explored one of Shakespeare's sonnets?

 Sonnet 18, Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? is perhaps the most famous. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/18.html  It is thought to be one of the most widely read poems in all of English Literature. Try reading it then click the link for further explanation of the meaning. See how close you were to interpreting Shakespeare's intention!

GUEST SPEAKERS: Health

This week one of our fabulous Mums came to talk to us about her work at the Royal Children's Hospital. She works with newborn babies, especially those born early, in the Butterfly Ward. She cares for them day and night and especially after their operations. Some stay a long time before they are well enough to go home. The Royal Children's Hospital is a fabulous child friendly, fun friendly place.

Cooper and Madison.

BAHAY TULUYAN

Today, we again experienced a visit from Catherine, and the group who work with her, at Bahay Tuluyan in the Philippines.Can you imagine having to live on the street, not knowing where your next meal would come from?  We were amazed at how movingly Diana and Robert acted the story of their lives. It was sad to hear how many people walked past Robert as he lay on the street. It was really moving how someone finally took him to hospital and that his life then changed so dramatically.

At Bahay Tuluyan, the students are taught about their rights as children, taught English and experience games, fun and belonging. The stories we heard were heart wrenching. The presenters' lives have been so hard, yet they' re filled with hope.

WAR ANIMALS

Today we learnt about war animals. "So what are war animals?" you may ask. They are animals that are used in war and they helped the army by doing things they couldn't do.This included pigeons taking messages, dogs listening for the enemy and cats eating the rats and mice that ate the supplies. Horses, mules and donkeys carried the injured men off the battlefield and carried the heavy supplies. We would love to hear your opinions about this video in the comments below. Here are some comments from the students who are arguing about whether or not animals should be used in war. Report from Tom and Will C.
In Ivan's opinion,"Dogs can be great company. But, they can also be trained to sniff out explosives or listen for the enemy."
In Madeline's opinion, "Animals have been, and still are, help we've always needed. However, this is no excuse for animal cruelty. A long time ago, one thousand horse were sent to war and only one returned."
In Katherine's opinion, "Horses were once used to carry food and most importantly, to help wounded soldiers to safety such as the famous example of Simpson and his donkey. On the other hand, it could be dangerous for animals to be at war with no protection and they could easily be killed, die of hunger or suffer from a lack of water."
In Corinne's opinion, "Animals play a big part in today's society and in yesterday's war and should continue their noble work."

HOLY THURSDAY-Student leaders wash the feet of their friends.

Before school finished for the holidays, we re-experienced the events of Holy Thursday with our whole school. Our student leaders followed the example of Jesus, and washed the feet of their friends, parents and teachers. 
May we follow Jesus' example and be servants to one another.

Holy Thursday Liturgy from Marg Yore on Vimeo.

EARTH HOUR - ARE YOU ON BOARD?

http://www.earthhour.org/earth-hour-around-world

REVISITING THE INSPIRATION OF FRED WILLIAMS

Fred Williams spent a great deal of time in Europe. Australia is so different to England and Europe, as he found out when he returned to Australia. The colours here are so vibrant and strong compared to the soft blues and greys that he was used to. He painted the Australian landscape with new vibrancy. We viewed images of his forest works including, "Sherbrooke 1961." The artist liked the strong vertical lines of the tree trunks making a pattern across the page. By having no horizon line, he created the impression of being in the middle of a dense forest. Afterwards, we created a variety of interpretations based on the Australian landscape. INSPIRED BY FRED WILLIAMS on PhotoPeach

Student Blogging Challenge

This year, all our Year 5 & 6 students will be participating in the Student blogging challenge.  This is a series of 10 weekly challenges intended to provide a diverse range of experiences for our students.  The added benefit is that we are joining students and teachers from around the world and will be interacting by way of comments with many other students from USA, Canada, UK, UAE, Hong Kong, Russia and more.   

Our Student Blogs are all conveniently available from this site 

Our Student Blogs

We would love you to view our student blogs and leave us some encouraging comments and ideas!

PERSONIFICATION

Experimenting with Personification: look at what we wrote!

Everyone knows what a person is, but do you know what personification is? Personification is when you assign the qualities of a person to something that isn't human or, in some cases, to something that isn't even alive. There are many reasons for using personification. It can be used as a method of describing something so that others can understand. It can be used to emphasize a point. It is a commonly favoured literary tool, and you may in fact use personification without even knowing it.

Today we learnt about personification. We looked at some examples and shared our favourites with the class. We then were able to create our own personification- here are some examples from the class. (Katherine and Mia)

Mia: Happiness shone in my heart!
Katherine: Joy swept through my body until it came rushing out my eyes.
Daniel: The waffle jumped out of the toaster.
Corinne: I held bravery's hand through the cave.
Tessa: As I leapt out the door, I heard the wind calling to me, "Freedom, freedom!"

Jonathan: Death was closing in on me!
Nicholas: Bad luck wouldn't leave me alone!
Will J: When I woke up, joy sprang through my window.
Akon: Bravery followed me as I was fighting for my life!
Isabella: Hunger controlled my stomach when I was in class.

Ava: The moon winked at me through the clouds.
Madison: The rainbow lifted me from my sadness.
Cooper: Bravery told me to stand up.
Will C: Joy hit me in a flash when I found out I had won.
Jacob: Freedom gave me the chance to live.

Connor: Joy struck me as quickly as a flash of light.
Tia: Hunger is nobody's friend.
Jamie: Freedom patted me on the shoulder and set me on my journey.
Madeline: Fear towered over me!
Joe: Bravery was by my side the whole way.

Ivan: Loneliness consumed me as I sat in my cell.
Tom: The tower leered at me nastily.
Natalia: Moonlight danced on the water.
Gemma: When I listen to the song called, "Happy," happiness shines down upon me.

CYBER SMART SLOGANS - Inspired by BTN

CARITAS "JUST LEADERSHIP' DAY

Social Justice is an issue that is important to us and everyone around the world. Today we had a conference provided by Caritas Australia. Megan taught us about equality, generosity, raising consciousness and many other things. We were fortunate to play many games that were tied in with justice. Finally, we had time to plan justice initiatives for our own school.

Akon and Gemma


CARITAS "JUST LEADERSHIP" on PhotoPeach

COMPANIONS ON THE JOURNEY

And so another year begins...we are all shiny and "uncrumpled," ready for a brand new start. This year our scripture theme is,"Companions on the Journey." We will be exploring its depth throughout the year.

So for some "Hopes and Dreams in 2014!"

-that this year our class achieves a lot by learning together

-that I can follow the Gospel message and learn more about others

-that we all come together as one

-that I have many opportunities to get to know others well

-to get to know everyone in a way that makes our classroom feel like home

-that this year we can really push ourselves to experience and learn many different things

-to be highly focused in our learning

Please add some ideas that will inspire us further!

IN THE COMMUNITY - CAROLS AT INALA

Carols at Inala from Marg Yore on Vimeo.