Showcasing outstanding teaching and learning
Year 6 has enjoyed several special event math mornings where students have worked in teams. Last September, students were challenged to build the longest free standing bridge that could support a 500 gram weight using only newspaper, tape and a little card. The winning bridge length was a massive 85cm.
Mathematical Challenges
Dear Brenda,
We are delighted to confirm receipt your Presentation Proposal ‘"Banana split Phonics" making the teaching of phonics fun and meaningful’ at our forthcoming EYE SPI event.
Next steps:
We will now begin collating the individual requirements of our workshop facilitators and will be in contact with you to confirm your workshop location, available resources and address any specific needs you have. We hope to be able to share event logistics with you by Monday 12 December.
Until then, should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact.
Thank you for taking the time to submit your proposal. We look forward to working with you.
Kind regards,
Emma
on behalf of EYE SPI Team
Students have also participated in Math Olympiad competitions. Our first Math Olympiads were within the classrooms and then a whole year 6 competition took place for house points. Well done to the Pandas for finishing on top!
In comics, there is educational value
“Well-meaning adults can easily destroy a child’s love of reading: stop them reading what they enjoy, or give them worthy-but-dull books that you like, the 21st-century equivalents of Victorian “improving” literature. You’ll wind up with a generation convinced that reading is uncool and worse, unpleasant.”
Neil Gaiman, author
If you were to walk into our library during Primary School recess or lunch, I guarantee you would see at least five students with their heads delightedly buried in a comic, otherwise referred to as a graphic novel. In fact, I could also guarantee you would see this in most other schools throughout the world. Many students – even boys – love to read this literary art form that finds its roots in Egyptian hieroglyphics.
I strongly urge teachers and parents to nurture this love of reading, rather than view it as waste of time. It’s not a new concept, but I would like to remind everyone: there are significant educational benefits for students in reading comics.
First and foremost, reading with pictures often attracts reluctant readers. Comics aren’t for everyone, but they’re definitely FOR students who don’t feel all that comfortable with books that contain large sums of text. And, that’s OK. Do we really want to punish our kids by forcing them to read something they’re afraid of? Comics contain text, and students will still be reading, but, hopefully, they will be enjoying the act of reading. I really think that’s too important to dismiss.
Not only can reluctant readers and English Language Learners benefit from reading comics, but teachers can, too. For over a decade teachers have been using nonfiction and fictitious comics to support units of study. Thousands of titles have been published on a wide variety of topics.