ecl310deakinre

Weekly reflection posts

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Picturebooks

Upon my search for #picturebooks, I was quite surprised how many illustrators used Tumblr to showcase their illustrations of picturebook front covers and pages, this was a pleasant surprise as many of the posts of illustrations had lots of positive feedback in the comments and many likes or reblogs. Using a public site like Tumblr allows individuals to post, promote and connect with the wide world through the click of a few buttons and keys.

Out of all the posts of illustrations, one of my favorite illustrators that fascinated me was Aleksandra Szmidt. As an illustrator, she hand draws/paints images that are eye-catching and appealing to children reading these picture books.

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THAI-RIFFIC! By Oliver Phommavanh ~ Blooms Taxonomy Questions

CREATE

> Propose a new name for the restaurant, still incorporating ‘Thai’.

> Design a new flyer for the restaurant.

> How would you change the visual aspects and design of the shop to be more appealing?

> Create a new front cover for the book.

EVALUATING

> What are the pros and cons of owning a Thai restaurant?

> What are the pros and cons of having a Chinese restaurant across the street from your Thai restaurant?

> What might it be like if Alberts parents didn't own the Thai restaurant?

ANALYSING

> What is the difference between Thai-Riffic and Wok N Roll?

> How do you think each family member feels about the Thai restaurant? Give examples from the text.

> What might the reasons be that Albert doesn’t like his Thai heritage?

APPLYING

> Write a detailed explanation of how nicknames can have a positive or negative impact, relate this to Albert and incorporate your own personal experiences if you can.

> Do you have a cultural heritage? Has this influenced your life experiences?

COMPREHENDING

> Who are the main characters in this text? Who are the supporting characters? How do you know this?

> Describe the atmosphere/decore of the Thai-Riffic restaurant. Compare this another restaurant you go to or have seen.

> What does Albert mean when he says he is ‘fake Aussie’?

KNOWLEDGE AND REMEMBERING

> Why did the Thai-Riffic restaurant change the look of the signs/flyers?

> What were the names Alberts family members?

> Who used to greet Albert with the traditional Thai greeting?

> What was the name of the restaurant across the road?

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Online Materials

The video ‘Aboriginal Desert Art’ (http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1436318/connecting-with-aboriginal-desert-art), shows how Aboriginal people express their connections to the land and animals through their artwork.

Before viewing the video, I would explain that Aboriginal artwork contains symbols, shapes, and patterns that represent things such as various land aspects or animals.

While watching I would get students to write dot points about what they find out or find interesting.

After watching the video I would ask students what they found out and if they have any ‘wonder’ questions related to Aboriginal artwork. This would set up an inquiry task students could further explore and then create their own Aboriginal artwork.

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Save the Children

Response one: With no food in my belly I feel hollow and without strength to survive this cold night, my body becomes transparent as the silence takes over as I died.

Respond two: I wait here wishing and craving what others take for granted.

Front-loading activity: Students will discuss things that are important to have a good life. This may include things such as; food, toys, shelter, technology, etc. Students will then use these to create a continuum from very important to not important. This will then lead into a discussion of poverty.

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Based on the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing, I believe this student would benefit from working on the ‘conventions’ trait. Conventions are the writers skill in using, punctuation, spelling, grammar, capitalization, and layout, to clarify and enhance meaning (Winch et al. 2014, p.396). This students writing is in one large chunk with no commas or full stops to break up the story and convey meaning. Use of punctuation at appropriate intervals would improve this student writing skills.

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During regular volunteering in a grade prep class, I was able to demonstrate and create a poster of numbers 1-10. This meant choosing a number from 1-10 (writing the number and decorating it big and centered) and drawing different ways to represent the number such as on the tens frame, dice number symbol, paddle sticks, beans etc. The students watched my demonstration of one number, then they were to create their own of numbers posters that were then made into a book for their own reference and also hung around the room.

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While I don’t have any distinctive memories of being read to throughout my schooling years by my teachers, I have some very fond memories of being read to by my dad. 

From a very young age my sister and I were read to from our parents, however our father had a better taste and idea of books that would appealed to us. One of the most successful books that dad read to my sister and I were the ‘chose your own adventure’ storybooks. These books sparked my love of reading as they contained such a different reading journey from traditional books, and allowed for different reading paths to reach different endings. This easily engaged my sister and I and we would regularly discuss which choice we would make and the path we would get dad to read. As I got older dad continued to introduce me to ‘chose your own adventure books’ even though he might not have read them to me anymore, this included the Goosebumps series, as well as the ‘chose your own nightmare’ storybooks. I engaged in these types of books because they provided me with the ‘pleasure and excitement of entering into the world of the book’ (Winch et al, 2014, p.114). These books were so interactive, vivid and enjoyable; I was continuously on the lookout at the local library to get a taste of more books like this. 

These types of books can suit a range of readers, as there were varying levels of chose your own adventure books for children, adolescences, and adults. I will definitely have some of these available in my classroom to read aloud as well as for my students to explore themselves.