Thursday 28 March 2013

African Storybook Project

What is the African Storybook Project?
The African Storybook Project (ASP) is a project that will create and encourage the use of a digital library of stories for the first few years of reading in digital formats, openly licensed, with a process and tools for translating and versioning stories for local African languages and contexts. These will be shared on a website which is in the process of being created. This will enable users to upload and share versions of the stories in their local languages, providing numbers of stories in a range of languages way beyond the scope of conventional publishing.
In this way we aim to provide African children with sufficient familiar language stories for enjoyable reading practice to create a firm basis for literacy development.  The initial pilot will take place in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda.


 We are also inviting all interested parties to submit stories to us. If you are interested in helping us by donating a story, here are the guidelines:
  • Our main interest is stories that children can read themselves when they're in the first stages of reading - a few words or a sentence a page, with an accompanying illustration - although there is place for more difficult read-aloud stories as well.
  • We're looking for African stories in languages spoken in Africa that will appeal to African children up to the age of 9 or 10.
  • You can send us typed up stories with or without illustrations, or scanned PDF stories with illustrations, or recordings of stories, songs and games.
  • When you send us a story, please also send the information about the story as per the attached form.
  • Send the stories to: tessaw@saide.org.za and jennyl@saide.org.za.
  • If your stories are too large to email, let us know and we'll invite you to our Dropbox folder where you can upload large files free of charge.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Hello Kitty email??

Did you know that you can create a hello kitty email address? 
So you could create claire_tylersmith@hellokitty.com!
Follow the instruction at: http://sanriotown.com/

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Easter Baskets

 We are making Easter baskets in anticipation of the Easter Bunny's visit! We have used Miss Tyler-Smith's very special doily paper punch.


PS: If you are South African you can but the above Martha Stewart Paper Punch at "Cape Arts and Crafts" in Canal Walk Telephone: (021) 555 3699



It's nearly Easter!

 Here are some fantastic ideas for Easter, found on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/misstylersmith/easter/



What will YOU do this Easter to celebrate?

Monday 25 March 2013

We are going on an outing today!

The Planetarium, which is housed in the South African Museum building in Cape Town, is a celestial theatre in the round, utilising the complex Minolta star machine and multiple projectors to transport the audience through the wonders of the universe. The ultimate in armchair travel.

Inside the domed auditorium, we can recreate the night sky, so whatever the weather outside, the Planetarium sky is always clear, an extraordinary audio-visual experience for old and young.
Here is their website:  http://www.iziko.org.za/
We are going to see a show called:  Journey to the Stars
This programme examines the different kinds of stars within our galaxy, the Milky Way. We look at the Sun, Alpha Centauri which is a multiple star system, Sirius the double star and Betelgeuse, a red giant. The life cycle of a star is shown, as well as the constellations of the Southern Cross, False Cross and Orion. There is also some discussion on galaxies.

Then we will be walking around the South African National Museum

The South African Museum houses more than one and a half million specimens of scientific importance. The collections now range from fossils almost 700-million years old to insects and fish caught last week. There are also stone tools made by people 120 000 years ago, traditional clothes from the last century, and T-shirts printed yesterday.

The South African Museum was founded in 1825. In 1897 the Museum moved to its present building in the historic Company's Garden. Since then millions of visitors have wandered its halls and corridors to be stimulated and inspired by its collections and exhibitions. They have left the Museum with a better understanding of the earth and its biological and cultural diversity, past and present.






 Zoe, Skye, Jessica Khaya and Imogen in the jaws of a shark!
 Jawad
 Whale skelaton
 Jessica
 Best friends: Skye and Kiona
 Rizwaan posing in front of the South Africa Museum

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Did You Know?


Battleships - paper game

In our class we enjoy playing Battleships.

Here are the rules:
Battleship is a guessing game for two players. It is known worldwide as a pencil and paper game which dates from World War I. It was published by various companies as a pad-and-pencil game in the 1930s.


Matthew enjoying a game of Battleships

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Monday 18 March 2013

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Tomas looking very swish in his sparkly St Patty's hat
Rizwaan with a shamrock on his cheek
A sparkly shamrock
 Kiona's final badge
 Zoe adding sequins
 Kiona's concentration
 Jarryd
 Adin
Neo
 Tomas
Montessori 9-12 all in GREEN! "Top of the mornin to ya!!"
 Our Green lunch
The MOST delicious CHOCOLATE CAKE ever made - made for me by Jawad in Grade 4.
Thank you Jawad!!!

Our Local History Projects

Finally our posters are finally finished. We put a lot of effort into making them look great, planning the layout of our posters and chosing our colours.
Here is a Link to our Tips for Creating a Great Looking Poster:  http://m9-12.blogspot.com/2013/03/tips-on-creating-great-project-by-m9-12.html
Here is a Link to this project's brief: http://m9-12.blogspot.com/2013/02/my-suburb.html