Congratulations to the 50 year 6 and 7 students who received their Reader for Life certificate from the Premier's Reading Challenge.
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Miss Emma's Foundation students have been participating in a special library time where they have been enjoying books and creating art and craft based on the stories they have heard. They painted cats from "Maya and Cat" and made pom poms after noticing that Maya used a pom pom on a stick to attract cat. They used their pom pom skills to make the little mouse from "Red House, Blue House, Green House, Tree House!" Finally they created their own toys based on their favourite book character. Students at Ardtornish Primary School all contributed to the writer's display in the library. Every student either made a book of their own or contributed to a collection of stories. These were very popular stories to read in the library. After multiple student requests we are now going to publish collections of student written short stories for borrowing.
Book Week has started and this year we are decorating the library as scenes from Aladdin (the play students will be performing in term 4). It was a busy 3 days setting up the displays and I give thanks to Mandy Ascott ( and her Mum), Judy and Steve Luckas and Geoff Moore for all your help. The old marquee frame makes a great Jasmine's tent and another unwanted item, a pop up beach tent became the "Cave of Wonders." Lunch time activities were busy and the library was full. In lesson time JP's had a quest to find the 6 genie magic lamps that contained the shortlisted early childhood books that had escaped as "magic smoke" and older students had an Aladdin or Superhero Kahoots to play. Some of the actors from our Aladdin play dressed up in costume and had their photos taken with other students. Three children's illustrators visited Ardtornish Primary School in weeks 2 and 3 of term 3. Sally Heinrich, Lauren Mullinder and Georgina Chadderton talked to our students about illustrating text and creating graphic novels.
Students applied to be ambassadors for our visitors and were responsible for making sure they were taken to each class and helped with carrying their tools and ordering lunch etc. All students were excellent representatives of our school and enjoyed their time as ambassadors. Last term several classes were involved in creating art based on the Children's Book Council of Australia's Notable books. They were displayed at a professional development session for teachers and teacher librarians and were greatly admired. The artwork is now on display in the school library for all students to enjoy.
On Saturday, March 9th, 56 people attended a professional development session on using the library and children's literature to run a reading program in their classrooms.
Teachers and teacher librarians from country and city South Australia were able to see first hand how the reading program operates in Ardtornish Primary School. This PD session was supported by The Children's Book Council of South Australia, whose mission is to "engage the South Australian community with literature for young Australians and encourage children's reading though a variety of community based activities." Students are able to select a book that is at their reading level because they understand what makes a "Just Right" book for them. They have learnt the guidelines for selecting and testing a book they can read at school or at home.
(article from APS Newsletter, week 5, term 1, 2019)
Frequent independent reading supports a student’s learning across the curriculum. The more children read the more they learn. So, at Ardtornish we are committed to making access to books as easy as possible. When all classes make their weekly visit to the library each student borrows on average of 5 to 10 books and last year 42,040 books were loaned out. At Ardtornish we set high expectations for students as readers and students from F-7 are encouraged to read at least 40 books a year. Last year 75 % of our year 2/3 to 7 students read 40 books or more (sometimes in the 100’s), 85% read 30 plus books and 95% 20 plus books. The Read Write Inc program, run in the junior primary, is highly effective and supports many students to become independent readers by year 1. Just knowing how to read is not enough, we want students to be passionate, independent readers for life. Research shows that students who read more, are better at every subject and are more likely to achieve higher educational qualifications later in life. How much a child reads is linked to four main factors:
To address these four key factors effectively we have committed, over the next few years, to establishing class libraries in every classroom. In 2019 we are establishing independent classroom libraries in 9 rooms. These are specific, age appropriate libraries that operate entirely independently from our main school library and their presence will ensure that students are constantly surrounded by books and have instant access to fiction and non-fiction texts. The selection of books in class libraries will grow over the years as students actively participate in selecting more titles for the collection and teachers encourage reading and to make the use of the collection an integral part of the classroom. Classroom libraries will not replace the school library, which contains a wider range of titles, but they will encourage children to more easily borrow, read and share popular books. Students that have access to classroom libraries become more confident readers and actually borrow more from their school library as well. The classroom libraries are an exciting addition to our school literacy program and will help to continue to build on Ardtornish Primary School’s successful reading outcomes. |
AuthorI am the teacher librarian at Ardtornish Primary School. I have been teaching in South Australia for many years and have a passion for children's literature. Archives
March 2024
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