Holding Fire

You will have noticed that there have been no entries since December. This is because blogspot is currently blocked by our school internet safety precautions. The IT team are looking into this but meanwhile I have no choice but to lay low and wait it out. Hence, during the Summer term of 2012, we are going to focus on making a wikispace. (Hopefully that is not blocked too!) See if you can find us.  http://rendcombjuniors.wikispaces.com/

Learning with 'e's: Conversation as curriculum

Learning with 'e's: Conversation as curriculum

Scholastic Book Fair is in School

The book fair is in school for the week. There are 4 large bookshelf cases loaded with the latest books for 3-12 year olds. I opened up all the cases and told J5 to imagine that they could buy any book that they would like. Before I let them loose on the shelves, I asked them to be conscious about HOW they chose their book. What did they look at first? What were their criteria for choosing a book? I even role-played the process. I perused the shelves carefully, picking out book after book. I analysed the cover, read the blurb, opened each one up and read the opening lines finishing off my charade by flicking through some pages reading random excerpts.

 It was their turn. They raced, pushing unceremoniously past one another to grab the book that they had been eyeing whilst I had been doing my one-man-show. Although the instruction was to refrain from holding on to a book until the five minute choosing session had ended, they knew what they wanted. The Top Gear book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Titanic Diary and D-day were gripped by determined hands. Without letting go, they filled in their quiz sheets and started to read. The result surprised me. Very few children opened any of the books whilst choosing. They made up their minds quickly. Looking at the results, it is clear that they looked at the cover and read the title. If it was a series they knew and loved, that was enough to convince them. If it wasn’t, the cover picture was more important than anything else.

‘I have all the series and I treasure them.’ Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney

‘Because this one shouted at me.’ Titanic by Ellen Emerson White

‘I liked it because the puppy looked sad.’ Dog Lost by Ingrid Lee

My favourite : ‘This one was authorised by my favourite author.’ Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Cabin Fever Jeff Kinney  

So if you are taking your child shopping for a book, you may want to steer them past the front cover and ask them to read the first page. What questions does the opening paragraph bring to mind? Is it going to be worth reading the book to find out?

New 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' Book Beats Steve Jobs' Sales Record

http://www.michaelmorpurgo.com/books/an-elephant-in-the-garden/

Shape Poem by J3L boys

Footie Dream

Fabulous Fireworks at Rendcomb

From the Local TV of the Cotswolds

Thank you RCJPA for the Flip cameras

In ICT Club the children each had a turn to use the camera. We need to practise a little more but this was a good start. It made us smile!

The Titanic

Follow these links top find out more about the Titanic.

A message in a holy water bottle which was thrown overboard by a Titanic victim while the ship sank has now been donated to a heritage centre in Cork by his family.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15461033

A site full of Titanic information

http://titanic-titanic.com/

Original footage of the Titanic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFrDhpzigug&feature=related