Tag: Reading

Duffy’s 30th Birthday

On the 4th of September, we celebrated Duffy’s 30th Birthday. We created boxes and decorated them with cultural designs and zentangle designs. These boxes were made to store the Duffy books we get even each year. We also made birthday crowns and hats to wear during the birthday. The founder of Duffy (Alan Duff) saw that there are children in bookless homes. So he decided to make a company that provides schools with books, to children that don’t have the privillege of reading at home. Mainfreight then joined Duffy and helped them give out books to schools around New Zealand.

Comrades Marathon – Reading

LI: To make connections (self, text, world)

LI: To identify authors’ purpose

LI: To identify the main ideas

LI: To summarise a section of text

One of the guided reading tasks we have done is the Comrades Marathon. We collaboratively disscused as a group to unpack the story and to answer the questions. We use the comment tool to record our predictions and responses. The Comrades Marathon takes place in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is 87 kilometres long and it challenges those that qualified the race, past their limits. The marathon goes through hills and rough roads. It isn’t a smooth run, especially since it has to be completed in less than 12 hrs (the cut off time).

The question that I answered is “Why is there a cut off time? Do you think this is fair or unfair? Why?”. My answer was recorded in the comment tool and is right here. <——-

I enjoyed this activity because I learnt the history of the Comrades Marathon, when it was made, and where it takes place.

Poros of Malia – Reading

LI: To make connections (self, text, world)

LI: To identify the main ideas – negotiation game

LI: To make inferences about the events in the text using the clues provided by the author.

One of our reading texts this week is Poros of Malia. We collaborativly worked as a group to unpack the story. We used the comment tool to write our responses to the questions. This text takes place in Olympia, Greece, 356 BC. Poros competes in the 192 metre sprint. It shows how Poros focuses on the race and ignores all of the distractions around him. The question that I responded to was “Why did Poros think the others would laugh at his statue?”.

Rosie Ruiz – Reading

LI: To make connections (text, world)

LI: LI: To find information (facts) and retell it in less words

LI: To make inferences about the events in the text using the clues provided by the author.

This was one of our reading tasks this week. We collaborativly discussed and worked as a group to unpack the story and to answer the questions. This text is about Rosie Ruiz, a woman who cheated in the Boston Marathon. She won a laurel leaf wreath, a medal, and a silver bowl. However 8 days later, the rewards were rightfully given to Jacqueline Gareau of Canada, after the officials found out that she joined the race 1 mile before the finish line. Jacqueline Gareau is and example of a person that showed integrity and dedication to win the Boston Marathon.

Another activity we did was the 6 sentence story. We had to recreate the story by just using 6 sentences. We each assigned each other different sections for this activity. The sentence I wrote was “I can’t believe I’m doing this”, Rosie thought as she joined the marathon halfway, setting into her pace”. I also did “The moment the medal was placed around her neck, chills of guilt ran down her spine, and thoughts of relief flowed through her mind”, with the help of my group.

I found this activity interesting because I learnt that if you take the easy way, there will always be consequences. Just like Rosie Ruiz’s story.

Reading: Violet Walrond

LI: To make connections (self, text, world)

LI: To identify the main ideas – negotiation game

LI: To make inferences about the events in the text using the clues provided by the author.

Our guided reading text was Violet Walrond. For this activity, we had to work as a group to figure out the answers to the questions. We used evidence from the text to support our answers. All of our responses were in the comment tool.

The question I answered to was “The games didn’t take place in 1916. Why was that? What words in the text tell you this?”. I answered with “The Olympic Games were cancelled in 1916 due to World War One. Inferring from the book, we know this because in the text, it say, “The first World War intervened and the 1916 Games were cancelled”. 

Something interesting I found out about was that she was only 15 when she was chosen for New Zealand’s first National Olympic Team!

Reading: Born to Run

LI: To make connections (self, text, world)

LI: To identify the main ideas – negotiation game

LI: To make inferences about the events in the text using the clues provided by the author.

LI: To practise skimming and scanning by looking for key words in the text when answering questions.

Our guided reading text was ‘Born to run’, which was about Arthur Lydiard. We worked as a group to answer questions using evidence from the text to support our thinking. All our responses were written in the comments tool. I responded to the question, “How long do you think he has been training for him to achieve this goal”. I responed with “I think that he has been training since he was young because the title says “Born to run”. Something that I found interesting is how his legacy still continues to inspire others in the world and those that he trained broke Olympic Records.

I enjoyed this activity because I learnt about Arthur Lydiard and how he created his unique technique that helped many people in the world.

Information Report – Bengal Swamp Tigers

L.I: To write an information report that informs the reader about the Swamp Tigers

We used our smart searching skills to find facts about the Bengal Swamp Tiger. Once we had found the information we needed, we made notes in our own words. We used these notes to help us write our information reports. Information Reports give readers information on a chosen topic by providing them facts.

 

Swamp Tigers

Swamp Tigers, also known as Panthera Tigris Tigris, are located in the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. Not many people know that these vicious animals are endangered because as pollution deforestation and city expansion becomes more common, it takes away the natural habitat of animals.

These beasts have vigorous jaws and acuminate incisors, giving them advantages, like being able to shred their prey into pieces. They are Muscular and are Colossal in size, making them able to pounce onto their target. Because of their orange fur and black stripes, they are capable of camouflaging into their environment. A full grown male weighs around 300 kgs, and a fully grown female weighs about 225 kg. Did you know that their height can vary from 2.7 – 3 metres?

The diet of a Swamp Tiger consists of meat only. Making them a Carnivore (solely meat eaters). They are solitary and nocturnal hunters, meaning that they hunt on their own, and at night. Their meals are scarce, which means that they are hard to find. They have adapted to their habitats and have included marine life into their diet. Their meals vary from crabs, reptiles, turtles, deer, wild boar, fish and even humans.

The Bengal Swamp Tiger inhabits the continent of Asia, throughout the border of India and Bangladesh. Sundarbans, where they are located, is a mangrove forest with tidal waves surrounding. Unfortunately, the habitat is being wrecked from deforestation and natural disasters.

Did you know that Swamp Tigers are very territorial? That means that they guard and defend their territory. Because they live around aquatic areas, it enables them to have exceptional swimming skills. Did you know that they can swim up to 8 km?

Surprisingly, these brutal animals are vulnerable and endangered. In the future, we have to think about the effects that city expansion causes. Don’t you think so too?

Swamp Tigers

L.I: To create a multi modal DLO that tells others about Swamp Tigers.

Our challenge was to make an Information Report about Swamp Tigers. To be able to write about it though, we had to do research about Swamp Tigers. We wrote about its Appearance, Diet, Habitat, and its Behaiviour. Did you know that Swamp Tigers can run 40 mph! The Appearance of a Swamp Tiger is useful for camouflaging. Camouflaging is blending in with the surrounding. A Swamp Tiger is a Carnivore, meaning that their diet consists of only meat. Their food is scarce, meaning hard to find. Swamp Tigers are solitary hunters. Solitary means on its own. Did you know that the Habitat of Swamp Tigers is the largest Mangrove forest in the world! It’s located in Sundarbans. Unfortunately, it has had some damage caused to its environment because as humans are expanding cities, they are also taking away the natural habitats of animals. Swamp Tigers are very territorial, meaning that they defend and guard their territory. They are exceptional swimmers, and can swim up to 8km!

I enjoyed this activity because I learnt how to accept and reject facts, and I learnt how Information Reports are structured.

International Current Events

L.I: To identify the author’s purpose.

For this task, we looked at articles that related to the words we’ve chosen. After reading the paragraph we summarised it into 10 words and made a Google my maps with the summary, link and images included.

This activity was very interesting because I learnt what was happening in the outside world, and it gave me a challange because I had to only use 10 words, limiting the amount of words I use.

Current Events

L.I: To identify the author’s purpose

For this task, we looked at articles that related to the words we’ve chosen. After reading the paragraph we summarised it into 10 words and made a Google my maps with the summary, link and images included.

This activity was interesting because I was able to know what was happening in New Zealand. And making the 10 word summary was enjoyable because it limited the amount of words I had to use.