Library News | Junior School
With everyone working remotely, I was keen to share with you some of the fantastic learning that the boys have been doing during online library classes this week. Here is a quick snap shot of what they boys have been doing.
Kindergarten – How we use our imagination and solve problems. The boys were asked to re-tell the story of Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina that I shared with them using a felt board story. They then recorded themselves repeating the story. Boys were able to articlulate how we use our imagination in the story and how the peddler solved his problem. This was utterly delightful!
Lachlan retelling the story with props that he made from Lego. Also note the cap on his head, just like the peddler!
Year 1 – People express themselves in diverse ways through the arts. We looked at the colourful, curvy lines on the Hundertwasser House in Austria; and the bright straight lines of colourful houses in Singapore. The boys then chose which one they liked the best and then drew and coloured a house similar to that design. The book that tied in to this lesson was Hundertwasser; The House of Happy Spirits.
Year 2 – People’s lives are affected by the use of machines. We looked at a couple of pages in What do Machines do all day? by Jo Nelson. Our focus was then on the vending machine. The boys were asked to come up with the pros and cons of having a fruit vending maching in the Junior School. Some recorded their answers to camea and while others wrote/typed their responses. There were many great ideas.
Year 3 – Spaces provide people with opportunities to establish a sense of community. The focus was Yeo Park, the large community space next to Trinity Grammar Summer Hill campus. We looked at how the community uses this space.
Year 4 – Scientific principles help shape our understanding of the world. We used the book How does my Home Work? By Chris Butterworth to look at how energy comes into our homes. Boys were asked to film themselves using energy in their homes by showing the use of electricity through turning on a light, the TV, and opening the fridge to show a cold bottle of milk. We also looked at where water and gas come from. Boys were asked to film themselves turning on the tap and explaining how the energy came to their homes. They did this with great enthusiasm.
Year 5 – Living things change in response to their environment. We used Alison Lester’s Book One Small Island as the focus for understanding how the ecosystem and habitat of Macquarie Island were disrupted and impacted by the arrival of sealers and explorers in 1810 AD. Students were asked to respond by either creating a poster or speaking directly to camera about saving the native animals on Macquarie Island. The boys produced a great range of emotive and informative works.
Year 6 – Natural disasters affect the way we live. We looked at how people have been trying to make sense of natural disasters since time began. The focus for this lesson was on Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Norse Mythology. Story telling of events through mythology was the way people made sense of events such as natural disasters up until the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th Century. The boys were asked to create a comic strip about a story of a natural disaster. They needed to include at least one of the gods or mythical creatures that we looked at in the lesson. We used the book Gods, goddesses and Heroes, Mythology from around the world.by Marzia Accatino. The creativity seen in the boys work was fabulous.
Nikki Bowden | Teaching and Learning Librarian
