29 March 2013

The Swimming song

Well, Summer is over but we don't have to stop swimming - or learning to swim - or dreaming of swimming.

Sarah Deasey reminded me of this wonderful song about our recent topic of swimming.

Listen first without reading the words and then you can follow the words of the song - the song 'lyrics' as you listen.



Lyrics for the Swimming Song

 

This summer I went swimming,
This summer I might have drowned
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
And I moved my arms around, I moved my arms around.

This summer I swam in the ocean,
And I swam in a swimming pool,
Salt my wounds, chlorine my eyes,
I'm a self-destructive fool, I'm a self-destructive fool.

This summer I did the backstroke
And you know that's not all
I did the breast stroke and the butterfly
And the old Australian crawl, the old Australian crawl.

This summer I swam in a public place
And a reservoir, to boot,
At the latter I was informal,
At the former I wore my suit, I wore my swimming suit.

This summer I did swan dives
And jackknifes for you all
And once when you weren't looking
I did a cannonball, I did a cannonball.

This summer I went swimming,
This summer I might have drowned
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
And I moved my arms around, I moved my arms around.

Can you do the Australian Crawl? What's another name for it?


26 March 2013

Week 8 - Write a Discussion: Do as I do NOT Do as I say


Last week we looked at people's personal stories of learning to swim or not having the opportunity to learn to swim before arriving in Australia.

But should parents make every effort to learn to swim and learn water safety so that they can be role models for their children when visiting the pool or the beach?


Most primary and secondary schools in Australia have Learn to swim programs available for all their students. But is that enough? Or should we encourage our kids to learn by our example?

Some students talked about the benefits of being able to swim alongside our children: we can enjoy the water in hot weather together with our kids, and it's good to know how to save someone if they get into difficulty in the water.

Perhaps there are still some barriers for us in learning to swim. Indeed, it's a lot harder to learn as an adult: you mightn't have enough time or money to pay for your lessons. So what do you think?

Looking for more ideas? Have you viewed the videos in our Week 7 post?

Plan your Discussion: Should parents learn to swim and learn water safety so that they are role models for their kids? using this document.

Write your first draft, check your work and the teacher's comments and re-write your Discussion (after the holidays).

Independent learning over the holidays


Are you stuck for ideas?

Here is the link to our Independent Learning Record so you can check out what other students are writing about.

OR - view the video: Australia's First Afghani Lifesaver in the Blog post in Week 7 and write about him.


Grammar corner - extend yourself

 

Try some of these exercises over the holidays:

19 March 2013

Let's manage our files

Last week we downloaded some photos from an email and saved them into our folders. Then we created a new sub-folder called My Pictures and moved the pictures into it by cutting them from our folder and pasting them into the new folder.

Some students asked for a handout describing all the steps. So here is a similar set of instructions - this time we are going to create a New sub-folder for last year's work and move all our work from 2012 into it. You can stop the slideshow any time to review any step. Watch the slideshow in Full screen View so you can see it properly.



Using the Right click on your mouse: here's a tip!


Use your Right click only when you want to see the full list of available tasks, eg. when looking for your copy, cut and paste commands. At any other time, continue using your Left click.

Worksheet: Type text, format and save your document


Here is the link to the worksheet and Skills checklist.



Week 7: Everyone can become a lifesaver

In the week that we celebrate Harmony Day, we look at the story of Kofi, who has worked hard to become a life saver. Kofi was excited and proud on his first day as a lifesaver. In order to wear the lifesavers' uniform and take on the responsibility of being on patrol, he had completed training that gave him the skills and confidence for this role.

Lifesavers - Warrnambool Beach


Here is the poster with the Key to listen to Kofi's story. If you have downloaded the Harmony Day stories app onto your iphone or ipad, you can listen to Kofi by scanning the poster.

05 March 2013

Week 6 - Learning goals and Independent learning record

Individual Learning Plans (ILPs)


This document is an important planning tool for you so keep it handy in the Learning section of your folder. Bring all your Learning notes to class on Wednesdays and Fridays so you can look at them and maybe add to or revise the contents.

Learning Goals, Barriers to learning and Strategies to overcome them

Here is the Presentation with our work on goals, possible barriers to learning and strategies you can use to overcome your barriers.





Here is the link to our Independent Learning Record: I'll try to keep it up to date. The purpose of this record is to share ideas about the types of activities you can write about in your Journal as a record of your Independent Learning.

Don't forget to add examples of different types of independent learning to your Green front page in the Journal with the DATE of the activity.

Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Of course you can! (I love this picture.) Any time is the best time to learn something new....