Congratulations Belinda from all staff, the PrepD children, parents and me. Thank you for your work, professionalism and we all know you will be an amazing asset to our profession and future leader!
Cheers Nina
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Congratulations Belinda (4th Year Monash Student) : Ongoing Employment for 2013!
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Comprehension: A 4 Part Diorama – Three Little Pigs or Little Red Riding Hood
One of our Prep classrooms was working on comprehension dioramas and I knew I had to make these with my students. The children have been engaged in narratives and are loving this task. Young children need to be able to demonstrate their understanding in a variety of ways and having opportunities to create is important. Writing a narrative is our genre focus along with comprehension.
The narrative has a beginning, middle, end, problem and resolution. Using a fairy tale works well beacause the children are familiar with the story and this is important. They were read two stories and were able to choose which story they liked best.
The first task was to complete a story map. The map is used by students to guide their diorama. The children will use their diorama to retell the fairy tale to a peer and then to the grade. Identifying the problem and resolution will help my students format and write their own simple narratives.
Cheers Nina
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One Teacher’s Perspective: Australian Ski Resort Review- Thredbo is all Go!
Something different… THREDBO!
This has been my winter on the slopes. I’ve skied a number of mountains in Victoria this year… but last week I had the opportunity to take a week Long Service Leave and ski the Thredbo Resort in New South Wales, Australia for the first time. How could I have got to my age and not been to Thredbo?
Driving into Thredbo was breathtaking. From the village you look up at the mountain and runs. In the early evening the groomers start and can be watched through the night. On Saturday night fireworks light up the night sky and a snake of lights weave their way down the mountain.
What an amazing mountain! Wonderful long groomed runs from top to bottom of the mountain and crowds spread out meaning very few lift queues. Cruising slopes without having to worry about collisions and knowing that the grooming has been completed to perfection is refreshing. The Thredbo Resort Management knows how to look after their mountain and therefore the skiers.
Great weather at the beginning of the week enabled me to have a close look at this beautiful mountain. The terrain is varied with plenty of variety to cater for all skier levels. The Ski School has its own space with many attractions for young children. The staff are well looked after within the organisation and happy to share their mountain. As the wind picked up later in the week, skiers were able to find protected areas to ski.
Skiing the Golf Course area was a highlight, tricky and nicely challenging and for those skiers who enjoy off piste the back country at Thredbo is amazing. I was able to view the terrain from the top of the mountain.
So Thredbo, I’ll be back again and as a Victorian skier that’s difficult to type. Thanks for the great week! And thank you to the mountain staff who work hard to ensure visitors to Thredbo have a great time on and off the slopes!
Cheers Nina
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International Baccalaureate IB-PYP Teaching Perspective to 5&6 Year Olds…
The following post was written by Belinda who is completing her final year of university. Belinda writes her own blog called BDORIOTEACHING.
Our inquiry central idea is: Personal histories reflect traditions and culture. They key concepts are change, perspective and reflection. Over the past two days children have been bringing in items that show their ‘personal history’. Items such as baby clothes, photos, medals etc. have come in so far. Today I was able to share some of my personal history with the students, and they really enjoyed seeing the photos of me at their age.
To explore perspective, we began with a discussion. The aim of the discussion was to expose students to the fact that people have different points of views, opinions and perspectives.
I showed the students the front cover of the book My Place, by Nadia Wheatley and we spoke about how people thought the book would be about different things depending on their perspective.
I had them break off into groups and discuss their thoughts and then come back and report to the class.
After our whole class discussion I opened the book to a page where a school boy is walking down a path way, but it is unclear exactly what he is doing (for those who are not familiar with the book, it has no words).
I asked “Where might he be going?” and received different responses from each child. Every child’s answer was plausible, as they were taking cues from the picture.
‘He is going to meet the girl at the gate, he is going to school, he is going to the shed, he is going to ride that horse’ etc.
5/9/12
Today I expanded on this discussion by re-capping our conversation from yesterday and showing that same picture. Tying in with our narrative focus, I then asked the students to write a story about the boy walking down the path. I stressed that they could write anything they liked, as long as it was their thoughts or perspective of the picture. I was really impressed by the quality of work.
Post by Belinda Dorio
Cheers Nina
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Prep (5&6 Year Olds) Authentic Writing: Father’s Day 2012
My students have made beautiful Father’s Day cards. It was interesting to read that many of my students wrote that they love it when dad reads to them. We had not discussed this as a grade. I hope the fathers enjoy their cards and realise the effort each child made to make their card beautiful.
Above: The front of our cards…
Above: The inside of our cards…
Cheers Nina
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The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler – Comprehension: Identifying the beginning, middle & end of a story
My Preps recently recited The Gruffalo at our school assembly. They explained to the audience that they were learning expression and to make their reading sound like talking. We had read the story many times, discussed the problem, used our perspective lens to think about each creature’s feelings and enjoyed pattern and pace.
The children have been talking about and drawing the beginning, middle and end of a story. My students are learning to write their own simple narratives and deconstructing narratives helps children understand how to construct their own. Reading a story many times enables the children to develop a deep understanding of the text.
Cheers Nina
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International Baccalaureate IB – PYP: Inquiry – Toy Story / Toy Expo / Toy Expo Recount (Partner Writing) 5&6 Year Olds
For visitors who have been reading my recent posts on our inquiry Toy Story I’ve included photos of the Prep Toy Expo 2012. Once again this was a wonderful experience for our Prep students. The expo gives our students the opportunity to talk, explain and display their design brief and model. The whole school supports this event with parents and community members attending. It also provides a common experience for my students to write about.
Partner writing is collaborative, involves student talk and talking together about a piece of writing assists my students to create a logical sequential structured piece of writing. The saying ‘two heads is better than one’ is certainly true. As I roam I can hear children verbalising their experiences and jointly constructing a written text. This age group need support to think a piece of writing through and verbalising their ideas first is ideal. I’m often heard saying, ‘tell me more’.
Cheers Nina
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RUNNING FOR DAD AND RAISING AWARENESS for Bowel Cancer: Bo’s List – Lincoln & Ryan Trainor New York Marathon 2012 ‘Help them reach 1000 people’
Sometimes people share something special with me, and this is something special. Social media certainly gets the message around the globe and my little blog can be part of spreading this message.
RUNNING FOR DAD AND RAISING AWARENESS
Dad’s story inspired us to create our own bucket list (Bo’s List) and this year we are going for it by entering the New York Marathon on his birthday, 04th of November 2012. We saw this as an opportunity to honour Dad, fulfill a dream and build awareness of Bowel Cancer. 1 in 12 of us will receive a Bowel Cancer diagnosis during our lifetime. To build awareness we are asking 1000 people to make small $12 donation to raise $12000 for Bowel Cancer Australia. Help us fight Bowel Cancer and share in the amazing story of Bo Trainor and our marathon to remember him!
BO’S LIST
When you think about Life with Cancer, it often leads to thoughts of sadness, pain and struggle. Dad saw it differently and these words did not exist in his world. He was determined to keep living his best life. Nothing would stop him. He made a bucket list and just went for it! The list of accomplishments Dad achieved in the final four years of his life remains an absolute inspiration.
His bucket list would read:
1. Reach my 70th Birthday
2. Sky Diving over the south coast from Torquay with Lincoln
3. 4WD across Simpson Desert with Marlene
4. 4WD Ayers Rock, Olgas, Kings Canyon with Marlene
5. 4WD from Darwin to Broome and particularly along the Gibb River Road with Lincoln
6. Have an unforgettable holiday with my two boys in Broome which includes sunset dinners on Cable beach, a sea plane ride, jet boat through the horizontal falls and swimming with sharks
7. Sail in Westernport Bay with Peter and family
8. Drive Geoff Edelsten Super Cruiser with all family aboard for my 70th birthday
9. Have a two week family holiday in an incredible villa in Bali
10. Take a cruise with Marlene around NZ
11. Travel overseas to Las Vegas and do every casino in 12 hours, fly over the over the Grand Canyon, walk the Golden Gate bridge and see Alcatraz.
12. Play a round of golf at Pebble Beach
13. March alongside Lincoln in Melbourne for Anzac Day with the Fleet Air Arm Association
14. Attend Ryans Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award dinner
15. Watch as many live Sporting matches with family as possible including AFL, NRL, A League, World Cup Qualifier
16. Watch favourite singers in live concerts including Elton John, Peter Allen, Billy Joel with Marlene
17. Keep holidaying each year down beach with family, this was particularly special this past Xmas
18. Go to cinemas and watch great action movies every week – his last movie was Safe House and this was only a week before he passed, an incredible effort for a man who could barely move his body, but never lost his strength of mind
19. Never say no to an offer of a good DVD – must be fast paced and plenty of action! He didn’t mind a thriller either.
20. Find joy in every moment!
DAD’S STORY
The story about Dads journey with cancer shows insight into a man who displayed tremendous strength, determination and courage. He fought cancer with grace and dignity. Once you read about his incredible fight with Bowel Cancer, you will see why we are so proud to call him Dad. He was a man who truly lived in the now, was always excited about the future and no regrets about the past!
Dad was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer in May 2006 and the following day he was admitted to hospital for an extensive 9 hour operation to remove a large section of his colon. He had no chemotherapy and was in remission for two years. It returned in the lower part of his spine in 2008. In October 2008 he was involved in a marathon 14 hour operation where they actually cut the bone of the coccyx and sacrum off and radiated the affected spinal area during the surgery. It took a team of world leading surgeons in one of the most complex operations they had ever performed to successfully remove the cancer. It was lucky he could walk after the operation as they cut the lower part of the spine up to a point where the nerves could have been very problematic. He was left with a colostomy bag and several rounds of chemotherapy to try and ensure the cancer would not return. This operation was very confronting and it led to Dad making a conscious decision to set out and achieve all his dreams. He decided to seize every moment he could for adventure and family. It was at this time in Intensive Care that Dad decided to fulfill his life long ambition to skydive, a dream he later fulfilled down at Torquay. After this operation Dad had to face the huge challenge of pain management. It’s hard to believe he never complained during his entire journey with cancer, taking it in his stride and always remaining strong and upbeat for all those around him. It was during one of Dad and Marlene’s 4WD adventures to the red centre when strange cancer nodules appeared on the base of his back causing him extreme pain. He and Marlene drove night and day to get Dad urgent treatment back in Melbourne. He then was involved in a solid course of chemotherapy and radiation so he could continue his adventures. It was found at this time that the cancer was spreading, but by no means was it keeping him down! The whole family was extremely excited to see him get an invitation to a world leading drug study for bowel cancer for the first half of 2011. This regressed the cancer for 6 months before he was taken off the study. It provided him with enough strength to achieve his biggest 4WD dream of conquering the Kimberly and Gibb River Rd. He made it known to the doctors that he must do this trip and they were to do everything to get him ready. So prior to the trip he endured 10 days of radiation treatment with mainly double doses right up until the day before he left for Darwin.
He was a constant ball of energy looking to the next challenge and adventure on the list! Although his body was failing, he simply could not see it, he was still planning to go to Dubai and buy a Caravan in the coming months. He was also planning to attend ANZAC day this year again. His determination and denial of what was in front of him led to him to achieve things that left us and his doctors in continual disbelief! I imagine most people would not believe me when I say he never complained. His incredible mental strength, positive attitude and stubbornness meant he outlived and exceeded every negative medical prognosis. He would do it his way and when he was ready with family surrounding him at home. His perspective on life found him taking joy in the simple things, maybe a visit from his friends in Real Estate, going to a Wandrin 4 Wheelers meeting, a family visit surrounded with all his grandchildren or just an afternoon in the sun reading the Newspaper and doing the cross word. If you measure a person by the way they react to a situation. His warmth, love and incredible capacity to make you feel comfortable around him no matter how he was feeling. He was truly inspiring man.
Dad passed away surrounded by family on 17th of February 2012 aged 70.
Bowel Cancer Australia works to reduce the impact of bowel cancer in our society through awareness, education, support and research. Bowel Cancer is Australia’s second biggest cancer killer. It affects men and women equally, of any age. 78 people die every week from the disease. (Lincoln & Ryan Trainor)
Cheers Nina
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Toy Story: Stage 2- Final Preparations for Toy Expo 2012
Today my students checked their Toy Design Briefs to make sure they had completed their color swatch, displayed their material samples and recorded their equipment and join materials. They continued to paint their toys and tomorrow they will add the final touches to their toy in preparation for the Toy Expo on Thursday. The whole school and our student’s families visit the expo. The students are asked questions about their toys by expo visitors as they proudly display their toy and talk about their design. A gold coin donation is requested with the Preps donating monies raised to a worthy children’s cause.
Cheers Nina
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Toy Story: IB – PYP How the world works… 5&6 Year Olds design & make a toy.
Transdisciplinary Theme: HOW THE WORLD WORKS
Central Idea: Toys have changed over time due to technology.
Key Concepts: Function & Change
Related Concepts: Communication & Transformation
Lines of Inquiry:
Toys are made of a variety of materials
Toys move in different ways
Technology has changed toys over time
My students are loving their inquiry into toys. They are in the process of designing their own toy and have started creating their toy after commencing their design brief. My Preps have designed their toy, inquired into various ways of joining their chosen materials, selected their materials and completed the first stage of making their toy prototype.
Cheers Nina
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Nina Davis: Teaching & Learning in Australia 