World Literacy Day Monday September 8, 2014

Robertson Road School celebrated World Literacy day on Monday September 8. We have four authors visit - Tim Tipene, David Riley, Maria Gill and John Carr. Most classes were lucky to hear 3 authors. We have their books in the library.

Tim Tipene has written Warrior Kids, Haere Ra, Taming the Taniwha amongst others. David Riley, who is a teacher at Tangaroa College, is known for his biographies on Sonny Bill Williams and Benji Marshall, as well as a book on Niuean role-models called We are the Rock.  Maria Gill has written a lot of non-fiction books including Eruption, New Zealand Hall of Fame, Running the Country, Rangitoto, New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, Save our Seas. 

All the authors were hugely inspirational and I promise that I will buy more copies of David Riley's books next year. Come to the library and borrow their books.           

An adventure in a "52 Storey Treehouse"

Look what has arrived. Andy Griffith's new treehouse adventure. We have five copies in the library (the extra one was for my own family). You will need to add your name to the wait list for the book. Please try to read it as fast as you can (and enjoy it on the way - each page is a work of art with so much detail), so your school mates can receive a copy quicker. This will be popular for months.

We have many other books by Andy, so come and have a look (under "G" along the fiction wall).

Head over to Andy's website too -  there is a lot of cool stuff here. I do need to buy another copy or two of his "Bad Book" and "The Very Bad Book".

Vi and Siale in Room 29 were the first two lucky students to get a copy - Vi has been waiting for months and months for this book. And he has another year to go to wait for the next one - The 63 Storey Treehouse (due September 2015).

So many lucky children in Australia are meeting Andy as he travels around Australia signing copies for them of this new book.

Poetry by Room 28

Room 28 have written some wonderful poems, which I have e-mailed into the Upstart magazine to see if they will publish them.

YOU can bring poems, stories, letters into the library and we can e-mail the items into Upstart - the magazine comes out bi-monthly.  They have very cool prizes for items published. Come and see the magazine in the library.

Stars
They light up the way
And help me sleep
They go away in the day
But it's night time they seek
They shine all the time.                                                                     (by Tayla)

Matariki
She gives a great new year
And shines very bright
She gives a shining morning
And keeps me up early
She goes places where she is not seen.                                             (by Kaia)

Moon
He helps the tides change
he helps cast mystical light
And helps make our night
he swipes everyone away with his lonely face.                                 (by Corrin)

The Moon
He gives me light during the night
And sometimes it's bright
He watches over me
The moon is like a rock
And makes me fall asleep.                                                                  (by Ingatu)

Earth
She helps me live
And keeps me clean
She's like my mother
And is very keen
She makes me happy.                                                                         (by Tusipepa)

Stars
They look over me
And also look nice
They are like friends
And also light the sky
They sometimes fade away.                                                               (by John)

Rugby League Reads

The library has a few new rugby league books -

Footy Fables - 16 fun Rugby league fables, tales and legends to tackle. A story for every one of your favourite league team - Warriors, Rabbitohs, Panthers, broncos, Bulldogs etc.
Good short stories. We have two copies of this and it is very popular, so ask Mrs Atkinson to put your name down on the reserve list if you want to read it.

There is an amazing new Legends of League series of 5 books - Stories of Community, Stories of Cultural Diversity, Stories of Health and Wellbeing, Stories of Family and Stories of Education.
Meet 3 rugby league players in each book who have overcome various challenges in education; have had support and encouragement from their family to get where they are today ; who value the importance of a healthy lifestyle and have faced physical and mental challenges; who have diverse cultural backgrounds and share their experiences of growing up in their communities.

Your teachers are able to issue class sets of Rugby League magazines - there are 2013 and 2014 issues. These magazines are literacy based with an emphasis on kicking off your reading via league players and their stories. Presented in a high glossy format, with each club represented in each issue, these are a fun way to get you engaged in your classwork. Each article covers such genres as procedural (recipes), responses (interviews with players and book reviews), recounts (players talking about hobbies), information reports (what does a physiotherapist do?), narratives etc.
There are multiple issues of these, so get together with your mates to discuss your reading, players, games, league game rules... a fabulous magazine.

See Mrs Atkinson if you wish to borrow any of these - they are proving to be very, very popular.

New Zealand Book Month - March 2013

March every year is New Zealand Book Month.
Mrs Atkinson is handing out $5 book vouchers to every student.
These can be used at shops like Whitcoulls, Take Note, Paper Plus,The Warehouse on a book that costs $10 or more. You then get $5 off the price of one book.

We have a NZ book display down the back of the library too - read a NZ author for a change!
Mrs Atkinson has also made up some NZ author cards with biographical information and these are popped into a few books written by a particular author.

Another new display is on our term topic "Healthy Living". These books are flying out of the library fast! We have lots too. Ask your classroom teacher if they have ordered a box of books from the National Library too - they will send out topic boxes to also help you read on the term topic in your classroom.

Don't forget I will order particular books for you too (within reason!)
Vi of Room 3 is waiting for new "Dragon Breath" books to arrive and Olaloa and Losaline of Room 28 are waiting for new "Frankly Frannie" titles to come.
Charlotte and Simran are always waiting for the latest Geronimo/Thea Stilton titles!

happy reading! Mrs Atkinson

Zayphoir, Cleo and Javan of Room 29 get their poems published!

Zayphoir, Cleo and Javan have had their ANZAC Day poems published in the June/July 2012 issue of the Upstart magazine!

What fantastic work. They received prizes in the post too.

You can give your school work, stories, poems , letters, jokes to Mrs Atkinson and she can e-mail them into Upstart. Upstart is a NZ children's magazine with contributions from children just like you all around NZ. It comes out every 2 months (so bi-monthly). It has competitions, games, book reviews, articles, recipes, the latest toys and movies - all sorts of fun things. We have 3 copies of every issue in the library. Come and haev a read today!

Book Review - Disgusting Dave and the Bucketful of Vomit

Book Review by Nawaz, Shaeez, Tayla, Minna and Frankie of Room 2

Title - Disgusting Dave and the Bucketful of Vomit
Author - Jim Eldridge

Dave went to school. Banger Batts is a bully who annoys Dave. On this day, Banger Batts tried to play a prank which involved the whole school. He vomits and blames the school dinner (lunch) for it. His dad is a lawyer who then decides to sue the school. Detective Kevin (a cousin of Dave) comes to investigate. The mystery is solved with the  help of  Dave's farting dog and Kevin.

Read this book! Room 2 loved it and they laughed and laughed! They are now reading "Disgusting Dave and the Farting Dog."