This is an editing checklist I give my students when we write narratives. It is made up of a number of prompts to help them accurately edit their stories.
How can you tell if you are a literacy teacher? You get really excited when you hear that recent research has come up with a revised high frequency word list which includes words which are relevant to students today.
About the Research:
• 2007 research conducted in Australian schools.
• The 307 most frequently used words collected from over 4000 writing samples of students in their first three years of school.
• Wordlist available to ALL Australian educators.
• Supported with FREE fully customisable classroom support material.
• Gathered under the guidance of, and endorsed by, the University of Melbourne.
• Ready for use in your classroom in 2008!
The Oxford Wordlist can be found at:
www.oup.com.au/thesuccessfulteacher
Thanks to a fellow teacher who sent me this very funny email last year, for the following humorous read.
YOU MIGHT BE A TEACHER IF…
* You want to slap the next person who says “It must be nice to have all those holidays!”
* You can tell it’s a full moon without looking outside.
* When out in public, you feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behaviour.
* You can ‘hold on’ until after lunchtime yard duty.
* You can go to the loo, take a phone call, have a conference with a colleague, tend to first aid and have a cup of coffee in 20 minutes.
* You check for spelling and punctuation errors in every piece of writing you see.
* You walk around shopping centres wearing face paint, stickers and a daisy chain, and don’t even notice the stares.
* You look 50 before you are 30.
* You can’t pick a name for your unborn child as every name reminds you of a student.
* When you can’t get your friends to listen to you, you put your hands on your head.
* You rate the educational value of cartoons.
* You count you life in periods of ten weeks (depending on term length).
* You can sing all of the words to Advance Australia Fair (even the 2nd verse!)
* You can’t go anywhere without thinking ‘what a great place for an excursion!’
* You cringe at the way bank tellers grip their pens.
* You don’t know the date, but you know it’s day 5, week 4, term 4.
* You believe the staffroom should have a Valium salt lick.
* You believe ‘shallow gene pool’ should have it’s own box the new reports.
* You believe that unspeakable evil will befall if someone says “gee, the kids sure are mellow today.”
* Meeting a child’s parents instantly answer ‘why is this child like this?’
* You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac.
* You get a warm inner glow when just one child says “thank you for helping me.”
This slideshow is to explain how we use Literature Circles in our classes at Hawkesdale P12 College.
Meet Eliza, my 5 year old neice who has wild, red curls and a personality to suit. She is THE cutest little dot with a mind of her own. This is Eliza and her big brother Ryan.
ELIZA WAS A SWEETHEART
Eliza was a sweetheart, the cutest little dot
But when mummy said “Eliza would” – Eliza said “would not”
Eliza was a gorgeous child; she’d brighten up your day
But when mummy said “Eliza will”, Eliza said “no way”
Eliza was adorable; she had a lovely smile,
When mummy said to “go to bed”, she’d say “yes in a while”.
Eliza had a gorgeous laugh; she loved to have some fun
But when it came to packing up, Eliza loved to run.
Eliza had a gorgeous head of ticklish, curly hair
But mummy couldn’t brush it – and it strayed just everywhere
Eliza stayed with grandma – the apple of her eye
But grandma flopped into a chair when Liza said goodbye
Eliza loved a shopping trip – the toy stores were the best
But mummy always came back home, looking like a wreck.
Then one day something happened. Eliza she turned 3
She brushed her hair, and cleaned her room, sat still on mummy’s knee
She walked beside her grandma, held hands nice and tight
Let mummy brush her ticklish hair, without the noisy fight
She went to bed when mummy said; she packed up all her toys
Went shopping to the toy shops, with hardly any noise
She still loved being silly, running crazy like a kid
But mostly now when mummy said to slow down, Liza did.
Eliza is a sweetheart, the cutest little dot
She still gets into trouble but mostly she does not.
Marg Murnane
After visiting the web site www.icanw.org.au and after viewing and discussing several videos on teacher tube re the bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the students were invited to write to world leaders, expressing their concerns on the existence of nuclear weapons. These letters reflected their understanding of the issues and their concern for a future which did not entertain the threat of nuclear war. The following are a couple of responses from the year 6 students, which I felt were very impressive for their age.
Dear world leaders,
Nuclear weapons are very dangerous. The uranium can get into the skin and do serious damage to your blood, cells and organs. Even worse it can kill you.
The detonation of a nuclear weapon would totally wipe out entire countries and hundreds of thousands of people would die, in only a few seconds.
Surprisingly, even though we know all the facts, nine countries still have nuclear weapons. Those countries are France, Pakistan, Israel, Russia, China, USA, North Korea, UK and India.
Today’s Nuclear weapons are 20,000 times stronger then the Hiroshima A bomb. The death toll from the explosion and the fallout of that bomb was 200,000 deaths over a number of weeks and months. The black acid rain killed people weeks after the explosion.
I’m only 11 and I want to live my life to the full. We need to abolish nuclear weapons for us to be able to do that safely. As a beginning point, we need to get the nuclear weapons off high alert. At least then, there is less likelihood of an accidental bombing. After that, the countries need to get together and discuss abolishing these devastating weapons altogether.
If kids can think like this, why can’t world leaders?
If you would like to learn more about this subject, visit the website www.ican.w.org
From Bailey
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Dear World Leaders,
I’m 11 years old.
These nuclear weapons have affected land, water, air and human life. Thousands of people have died terrible deaths because of these nuclear bombs. Millions have suffered. It’s got to stop now!
There are only nine countries still involved or who own nuclear weapons including Russia, France, China, USA, Israel, Pakistan, U.K, Nth. Korea and India.
You owe it to the world to get the weapons off high alert. It would be the start of peace process that will lead to the abolishment of nuclear weapons.
I want my future looking positive. I don’t want to grow up living with the threat of nuclear war: food and crops destroyed, water sources polluted, air pollution and death and disease threatening my future. I don’t want this for my generation or for future generations.
There are only 27000 nuclear weapons left in the world. There should be zero!
Make peace. Stop Nuclear weapons. Everyone can make a difference.
Sincerely,
Georgia
I asked students to imagine their mum’s in their favourite place and then write about them as though they were viewing them from a secret spot. They had to begin their writing with, “I see you……” They had to use adjectives to really show the reader what it was the author was seeing. The written responses were beautiful. See some of these responses on the year 6 blog
www.techno6.globalstudent.org.au under the category, Literacy Challenge.
One of the students took her writing a step further, and created a powerpoint which we then saved in slideshare. This is Rachael’s response about her mum.
Hey bloggers - make sure you check out our year 6 blog at
www.techno6.globalstudent.org.au (listed under techno6 in my blogroll)
We are really pleased with how that is shaping up. Leave a comment for the kids if you have time, they would really appreciate it.
Ok, this is quite exciting. I am getting it! Thanks to Anne, Jess and Britt- my journey is really underway. Tomorrow I am learning more about slideshare and voice thread and then look out! Stay tuned or check out my other blog - www.techno6.globalstudent.org.au I’m all “Twitterpated” about it all.
The year 6 students were invited to write their thoughts about ANZAC day. The topics were
MY THOUGHTS ON ANZAC DAY
WHAT ANZAC DAY MEANS TO ME
Below are some of the beautiful responses from the students.
Army corps
Nineteen fifteen
Zoning
Australia
Convicts
Ashley
*************************************
April 25th 1915
ANZACS landing in Gallipoli
A terrible mistake by ally leaders
As dawn breaks to end the night
Turkish soldiers waiting up top
Letting off their guns with a deafening roar
ANZAC’s falling by the dozens
And weeks later grieving cousins
Belinda
*************************************
25th of April is not just a normal day in Australia’s calendar. It is one of the saddest but greatest days in Australian history. It is ANZAC day, a day of remembrance for those who died in the dreadful war; where they were supposed to land on the beaches and fight the Turkish on fair grounds. But instead they got the wrong directions from Britain and came ashore on a beach at the base of steep cliffs. At the top of these surprising cliffs were the Turkish waiting to slaughter the ANZAC’S. They were defending their country too. It was indeed a dreadful day but we will always remember those brave soldiers Lest we forget
Jayden
*************************************
Anzac day…
Anzac day, is a day to remember,
The tough, strong solders,
Who died a terrible frightening death,
And those worried families,
Waiting for their young digger,
To open the door,
To say the war is over,
But only a very few did.
The Anzac’s were very gutsy,
As they fought the Turkish.
They all wished,
To win the one-sided war.
Everybody knows,
You can’t win if you’re on checkmate.
But the Anzacs tried,
And did their best,
That’s why we remember them.
Cody
*************************************
ANZAC day is a day to remember those brave, courageous, young men who gave our country a great reputation. The war showed everyone that the Australian and New Zealand soldiers were very brave men.
The soldiers had a terrible time when landing in an area with steep cliffs. The second they walked onto land they were under attack.
The ANZAC soldiers fought all those years ago but for some it feels like yesterday.
You might never really understand what the soldiers went through but how would you like to see your friends die in front of you? It would not be a pleasant feeling.
Not many of those came home to their families so let’s remember them who went to war and fought for our country.
Georgia
*************************************
Many years ago Australian and New Zealand men and women, fought in war to defend our country. But many people died because of the Turkish soldiers who were waiting on top of the cliff at ANZAC cove. They were defending their country too.
Lots of families lost their brothers, dads, and uncles. Now all people have left is memories, photos and diaries of people in war who have died.
Hailey
*************************************
I feel the soldiers being brave
As they fight the good and bad
They saw the dead right next to them
Their faces looked so sad.
They fought so well, so strong
Their reputation soldiers on.
ANZAC is a special day
To thank them in a respectful way.
Joshuah
*************************************
A is for Australians, all brave, young and old,
N is for Nights, spent in the cold.
Z is for Zany young men, happily joining the throng,
A is for All of the wiling ones being proved wrong.
C is for Crying for all the lost souls,
ANZAC will be remembered all over the world.
Tzigane
