Tag: Reading

Firework Provocation

LI: to consider both sides of a story.

Today we were practicing considering both sides of a story. Our topic was fireworks and the provocation was introduced later on. A provocation is a question or statement that makes someone think hard or have a lot of feelings about.

First we researched and listed reasons as to why fireworks are good. Fireworks are good because they are used for illumination and shouldn’t be harmful when used properly. People often celebrate their traditions with fireworks making them an important symbolization of celebration and tradition. After this, we researched about reasons as to why fireworks are bad. Fireworks contain 3 greenhouse chemicals that are; carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen that are released into the air once they explode. This can be very harmful to our environment.

After researching, we had an extended discussion where we listed reasons why we think we should ban fireworks and reasons why we think we should continue the use of fireworks. Although my group had many good reasons for each side, my opinion is that we should continue the use of fireworks under some circumstances. I think we should have many strict safety protocols when it comes to fireworks because they are very unpredictable.

I enjoyed this activity because I got to consider both sides of a provocation and came up with my own answer as to why we should/shouldn’t ban fireworks.

Narrator Perspective

LI: to rewrite the story of Cinderella using a different narrative perspective. 

We have been continuing our learning about the different types of perspectives author’s bring to a text. Our challange today was to change the fairytale of Cinderella from third person omniscient to first person. Third person omniscient is when the narrator is not a character in the story but watches what is happening and knows all of the facts about the story. The pronouns would be the same as third person perspective (he, she, they). First person is when the narrator is the main character and are telling the audience what they experience and what happens to them.

I enjoyed this activity because it was interesting listening to other group’s ideas as well as writing our own version of Cinderella in a different perspective/point of view.

Narrator Perspective

LI: to understand what types of perspectives are used.

This morning we have been learning about the different perspscteives authors bring to a text. An example of a narrator perspectives is second person. This is when the author uses words like you, your and yours to describe the events.  

It was a dull day when you woke up. After getting ready, you made your way to school. You walked through the gates and saw your best friend. Suddenly a wave of energy hit you like a brick. Your eyes were now focused on your friend, while you thought about how your day was going to be like.

I found this activity interesting because I didn’t know that there were five perspectives.

Understanding Questions

LI: to understand the language of questioning.

Today we reminded ourselves what questions were asking us to do with the information we had. It is important when you are answering questions about a text you have read that you know what information you need to look for to find the answer.

We created a collaborative DLO to help other strengthen their connections to the language of questioning using an exemplar text from Readtheory.org and our own questions.

I found this activity informational because it helped me understand the questions more in depth.

Waltzing Matilda

This week we have been looking at making sense of an unfamiliar text.

We looked at the title of the poem and made predictions of what the poem could be about. We then looked at what we thought the text was about after reading the poem. Using our research skills, we looked up the definition of different words in order to understand and unpack the text. This would be our last main idea. After this, we unpacked the poem using our prior knowledge to make meaning of what the text was about while justifying our thinking with evidence. 

I enjoyed this activity because it helped me unpack a text I was unfamiliar with.

RFE Poster (International Literacy Day)

LI: to raise awareness of international literacy day.

On the 8th of September, it is the international Literacy Day where everyone around the world celebrates the day and takes their time to acknowledge literacy. Being able to read and writie gives people a huge advantage. Literacy enriches lives, word knowledge and creates opportunities for people to develop skills that will help them provide for themselves and their family.

Something I found interesting was that reading for 20 minutes a school day is equivalent to 3,600 minutes per school year and 1,800,000 words each school year. I found this interesting because it shows me that you do not have to read for a long time and still get enough words and enough knowledge.

First Impressions

LI: to describe the first impressions we got of a character and compare them with other characters

We recorded our first impressions of the wolf character from three different texts on the table. Two texts show the wolf as the antagonist and one text shows the wolf as the protagonist. An antagonist is a character in a story/movie that goes against the protagonist. A protagonist is a the main character who the author tries to give sympathy to. To synthesise our ideas we used our prior knowledge and the new knowledge we gained from reading the text to help us form new ideas. This activity was about recording our first impressions and making a comparision statement in order to evaluate the appearances, objects, actions, sounds and quotes said by them.

I found this activity and interesting because it gave me the opportunity to compare and contrast different texts while learning new things.

First Impression Character Comparison

This activity was about gathering our first impressions and comparing them to create an informed opinion. First impressions on texts are important as they are what you think or understand of the story. We chose two texts from different perspectives. I chose The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing by Aesop and Little Red Riding Hood Not Quite by Yvonne Morrison. The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is portraying the wolf in a bad light, whereas Little Red Riding Hood Not Quite gives multiple opinions about why the wolf wouldn’t be at fault all while reading the original story. We wrote a short summary about each text along with what we noticed about the texts and the use of vocabulary or language features. After writing each summary, we compared the two texts and stated our opinion about what we currently think. Each text has made me come to realize that the ‘norm’ often paints the wolf in a bad light and authors emphasise physical features of wolves in order to accomplish this. I understand that although people could look at both perspectives, they would still naturally think that the wolf is the antagonist. These books that make the wolves as a villian create a mindset that all wolves are bad. This makes it that people would be unable to differentiate the realistic characteristics of a wolf and the made up attributes of a wolf.

I enjoyed this activity because I got to look at two perspectives and share my opinion about this. I also think that this task has made it easier for me to compare two texts or two characters in depth and form an educated opinion using learning conversations.

Describe a Character

LI: to notice how authors use vocabulary to develop characters in a text.

Describing a character can give you the ability to realize and notice unique traits an author gives the character. Our focus for this task was to describe characters, using our knowledge from the texts. Our reading group read through many children’s literature. Some of these texts were painting the wolf in a bad light, and some of these texts were paitning the wolf in a good light. After reading these texts, we completed follow up tasks to build our understanding on characterisation and how authors can use vocabulary to make the readers look at a character how the author wants them to look like.

This task was about describing a character using adjectives. We described the wolf character and then used an example from the text, giving evidence on why we would think that. For example; The wolf character from Wolves by Emily Gravett is deceiving because he used a planned out and inhumane technique to kill the sheep by luring it using a sheep carcass. In this statement, I stated my thoughts on how I think the sheep is deceiving and then backed that up with evidence from the text.

I enjoyed this activity because it got me to look into the text and notice what the character does in order to think of the personality or traits of the character.

 

Describe a Scene

Using your sensory imagery helps to describe a scene with greater detail. Our reading group read texts from two different perspectives that focused on wolves.

This task was about describing a scene in the text using our sensory imagery (olfactory, gustatory, tactile, auditory, visual and kinesthetic). This task allowed us to point out the vocabulary author’s use to impact the way the reader would think of the scene. To describe a scene, you can use hooks to give the reader interest in the book and ask themselves what happens next. For example: “My screams could be heard from a mile away”. This gives information but also makes people think about what could have happened that made the character scream. To write a scene description, people use; the time of day, verbs, adverbs, the setting, the weather, a colour, a touch, a smell and a sound. Using all of these, you would be able to write a scene with extreme detail and also hook in the audience to want to read more.

I enjoyed this activity because I find it interesting that when writing a scene, you can notice things that doesn’t immediately come to mind.