Local Library Visit - 5 Books 2 Rules

Hi Everyone,

Each week I take a small group of children to the local library to borrow books. This group of Junior Crew Kids have an insatiable appetite for information books.
Even though we had time to read inside the library, I heard nothing but complaints about my sensible rule banning reading on the bus ( to prevent bus sickness) so we sat in front of the library, in the glorious sunshine, to read before we headed back to school.
The children use the 5 Finger and Goldilocks Rules to select books that are 'just right' for them to read.
Each student borrows five books to bring back to school to read and share with others during relaxation and choice time. Some tricky books get put into the bag each week because as well as reading on your own it is also lovely to have someone read to you.
If you would like to find out more about the 5 Finger and Goldilocks Rules click on the picture or any of the hyperlinks to visit the Book Nuts Reading Club site.

Autumn Fun

Eleanor
My daffodils, carrots and snow peas are all growing well.
We all had a leaf fight. Sue said we could. I didn't get leaves in my jumper.



Joshua:
We had a leaf fight and Ricky put leaves down my shirt.

Ricky:
We had a leaf fight. It was fun and it was amazing. I was checking on the seeds and bulbs. There are the daffodils the carrots and the snow peas.


Tim:
We went to the vegetable garden to have a leaf fight. We threw the leaves . I threw the leaves at Eleanor. She was happy and surprised.

Danny:
We had a fight named ' The Leaf Fight'. I did the leaf 'burst of ability' move on Eleanor. She was scared.

To read more posts written by the Junior Crew kids, click on the student blogging picture in the left margin.

Telling the Time

Pssst...

Junior Crew parents and carers,

Between you and me, although it's really no secret, the kids are getting very good at telling the time using digital and analogue clocks.

Now would be an excellent time to buy a watch for them so they can practise reading the time and recognising times that relate to important routines in their day.

On the Road Again

Hi Everyone,

I spent Monday and Tuesday on the road this week visiting schools along the B400.

I am working with teachers who are new to working with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other special needs.

While I have been away from school the Junior Crew have been working with some terrific casual teachers.

It has been a great opportunity for my class to learn to work with unfamiliar people and a wonderful opportunity for me to meet with other teachers and share ideas.

As is usually the case, I think I have learned a great deal more from the schools that I have visited than I have contributed ! Thanks so much to those schools, for making me feel so welcome :)

Functional Maths and Language Skills - Supermarket Field Trip

Hi Everyone,
This week the Junior Crew hit the local supermarket and with the permission of our supermarket manager, went on a photographic safari looking for functional word displays in the environment.
We discovered that using the end of isle signs saves a lot of time when you are looking for the ingredients for a toasted cheese sandwich!
We had never noticed the top shelf signs before which is strange because there are loads of them.
The Crew also discovered that if you are looking for chicken you need to look in the poultry section!
Over the next few weeks we are going to be linking supermarket visits to our maths program. We are going to find out how supermarkets use classification strategies to organise their floor and shelf space. We'll weigh fruits and vegetables using the hanging scales and go on scavenger hunts to link maths activities with real life applications.

New Scarves for the Class of the Week!

Room 6 and 12 have scarves because we are the most famous classes. We are the classes of the week.
Tim

I got a scarf for class of the week. Everyone got one. It is a blue scarf.
Rick

We were the best class in the world because we were the class of the week
We got football scarves. Sometimes people wear them at the football. Some times people wear them in Winter.
Eleanor

The Junior Sleep-Over Night

Hi Everyone,
It's official! The Junior Sleep over Night will be on Thursday the 25th of June. That's the night before the last day of school for Term 2.
At this stage it's looking like it is going to be a pizza, hot chips and movie night, with some sleep in the mix there at some stage!
More details soon !

How Stuff Works - Mother's Day

Do you know how Mother's Day began?


Click on the Video Center picture to find out!

Speaking of Balloons...

Hi again,
This week the children began a paper mache project.
We are in the process of creating some giant bugs to act as visual reminders for strategies we can draw on when people or situations are 'bugging us!'
Blowing up the balloons with a pump was a lot of fun and gave us all a good work out.

The activity has also been great for developing patience, team work, sustained concentration and a host of maths skills to do with measuring, such as length, width, volume, capacity and estimation. We have made a great start on our bugs thanks to the support of our Inner Wheel volunteers, Val and Barb.

Dropped like a lead balloon!

Hi Everyone,

My family members don't get sick very often but when we do, we drop like lead balloons. I have been away for three days this week due to illness. The first day was spent with my husband in hospital being treated for a very nasty viral infection, followed by 2 days in bed with it myself. All being well ( I have 2 teenage sons at home who have not shown any symptoms yet) I should be back at school on Monday. In the meantime the class have been working under the care of some amazing casual teachers and of course Sarah, our brilliant Education Support worker. What would we do without Sarah!
Now that we are in bugs and flu season it is really important to reinforce those good personal hygiene habits like, hand washing, sneezing and nose blowing and all of that other germy stuff! For younger children I use the fantastic Crawford the Cat video series.

Crawford is a water waster though! You will see what I mean when you watch the videos. We had great discussions in our class about that. Click on the image to find out more.