Aberfoyle Park Campus Resource Centre

This was a bit of fun…I discovered that I was a faster reader than 60% of the population. Test your own speed!

Source: Staples eReader Department

Voice of the Thylacine

We never harmed them. All we did was take their sheep but they came along and started destroying our home. When we take their sheep so we can survive without OUR forests and OUR homes, they go “bang” and we fall down dead. It is not our fault. We didn’t do a thing and they just come and take over, destroying our habitat and killing us. All we wanted, all we ever wanted, once they invited themselves into our home, was for them to leave and never come back: to let us live our lives without losing our families, dying or going through pain that didn’t stop and eventually killed us. What misery did they have to put us through by killing us, putting us in tiny crammed cages and destroying our homes to put their stupid farms making us suffer for them to live? Why couldn’t they suffer themselves? We didn’t do anything. Why us?

Josh S

HELP! I’m stuck, I have nowhere to go. I keep circling myself. I try to escape. I’m hungry all I get is a hare that I’ve chewed to the bone. I’m tired because I’m up all night trying to escape. The walls are closing in on me……  I wake up from the sound of “here kitty kitty” and other teasing sounds. Someone sticks a bone through the fence. I go for it then STOP. Why am I bothering? They’re just here to laugh and tease me. Night comes again. I try to escape then I realize there’s no way out. So I doze off and never wake up.

Emma D

Thylacine

I ran through the forest trees dodging the rocks and bushes. I could see the fields of the farm and slowed to a stop. As I got closer and slid through a hole in the fence, I stepped onto the soft dirt and eyed the flock on the other side of the hill. I took off again racing toward the sheep.

I circled the flock looking each one in the eye trying to figure out which one was the weakest. I saw a young lamb staying close to her mother and lunged at her missing by a little. I heard the slam of the barn house door an angry farmer stepped out onto the porch with a shot gun.

I hit the ground in pain and only just heard the farmer shout “that’ll teach you!” I looked around trying to save every moment of being alive. I slowly closed my eyes hoping my pups and mate would be ok.

Sophie T

 I’m  trapped , locked up,  the walls are closing in around me. I am so hungry, and bored. I have no food. I keep on circling myself. The wire, the fence. It hurts. The people, they’re teasing me. I don’t bother. Finally, food: a rabbit. I haven’t been fed in ages. Why? Why? I am trying to escape, I can’t. The wire it hurts on my claws. The pain, the pain. I stop. I lay down and stay there. They have won: the people. It’s over.

Ella T

Thylacine

Step, step, step. I’m starving. I have to get something to eat. Step, step, step. Yep. I’ll get that one. Step, step, RUN! I race at one of the juvenile lambs. I grab it in my clutches and BANG! Oh great! The farmer’s got his gun out again. BANG! I have to run. I sprint and sprint and fast as my legs could carry me. Leap over the fence and into the bush.

“I’ll get you next time” yelled the farmer.

That was way too close. My stomach is jabbing me. I need to eat. Now! I’ll have to try and get a chicken.

I seek. I prowl. I will eat. I have to walk very slowly. There they are. Step, step, step. I will eat. Step, step, POUNCE! BANG! I hear the gun. I howl as the bullet hits me. I hit the ground with a groan. I won’t eat. I won’t live. Goodbye. 

Edward W

Sheep.

In the open paddock, nowhere to go.

Lonely

Worried

Fearful

My life flashing before my eyes. I can run but I can’t hide, even if I run I am done for.

Scared

Concerned

Pulsed

Rumbles in the bushes, growling in the air. Me wishing I was something, someone, ANYONE else!

Trapped

Stuck…..

Dead

Hoping it’s a dream I lie down, close my eyes, then open but no. Not turning back I give myself up.

No escape

My end has come….

Goodbye

I close my eyes, prepare for impact, stay warm in my woolly fur. As the teeth grip and sink in I scream out in pain and hope that someone will hear me.

Rip

Ouch!

BANG!

I am at my end I feel cold wet blood running down my neck. I open my eyes, take one last look and realise the Thylacine is dead.

By Liam G

Voice of the Farmer

One day I wake up go outside and another sheep has been killed in ten days. I look around and all I see are seven sheep left. Soon there will be none.

Two days later three more sheep have been killed which means there are only four left on the farm. So I decide to get my gun and get into the truck and see if I can find the thylacine. 

I am out looking around when I hear a movement. I slowly creep over and all it was, was a bird. I decide to call it a day and go home back to the farm. Call it a day and hope for the best.

The next day my luck didn’t work. Yet another one gone overnight. Three sheep left which means I’m going to be up all night guarding and making sure I stay with three sheep for a while.

Yet that night I fell asleep and they were all killed which means no sheep. That day I go and get my gun get into the truck. I go and find three thylacine. And that is payback.

By Sophie L

Tasmanian Tiger Story: Famer’s Point of View

About 80 years ago on an island called Tasmania, I started a farm. I got my sheep, cows and crops and put them where I wanted them. Then I put up a fence so the animals couldn’t escape and then day 1 was over.

The following day. I went outside to check out the other farms that were being built. But first I had to count my animals. “15 sheep and 16 cows. Good!” I thought. I went to a farm not far away and spoke to the farmer. The main thing he said was “Beware of the Thylacine, The pesky Thylacine that will kill your cows and sheep!!”

Later, after having a talk with the farmer, I went back to the farm to count my animals. “14 sheep and 16 cows…., what?!?!?! 14…. THYLACINE!!!!” I thought. I went back into my house feeling SO ANGRY! But this time I have a gun.

The next day, I wait for the Thylacine to come. A couple of hours later it came. I got my Shot Gun and seconds later BAM!! It’s dead no more Thylacine!

Later that year, I heard news about how all the Tasmanian Tigers became extinct! For the rest of my life I regretted killing that one Tasmanian tiger.   

Ethan G

The farmer’s perspective

One night I was half in my sheep skin covers when I heard my sheep going crazy.  I lit an oil lamp, loaded my shotgun and went to check on my flock. When I got out there, I saw a dead sheep and a wolf, no, a thylacine eating the dead sheep. I quickly aimed my shotgun but it was faster and tried to sprint away.  I shot but I missed its leg by an inch.

The next morning I went to the farming store and bought some barbed wire to put on the fence. 

That night I stayed on the verandah wanting to protect my sheep from slaughter.  I did that for a week but fatigue overtook me.  So I had to go to sleep.                       

 A few days later, I had regained my energy. I wanted to make sure it didn’t kill more of my sheep and I would get dinner in the process. 

That night I went out in the forest hunting. I had chased the thylacine all the way to the water edge and I almost hit it three times but it sprinted away.

We were at the edge of the cliff. He was backing up.  I pointed my gun at him.  He’s got no where to run this time. BANG!  Then I looked at it. It was as limp as a rag doll. I prayed for it to have a better afterlife. 

Now I regret that moment over and over.

By Josh Hall 

 Another Perspective: Tasmanian Tiger

I’m almost dead, my stomach is rumbling. That’s because I haven’t been eating in the last three days. What? They left the doors open! As fast as my legs can take me, I dash through the all the doors. I’M FREE!!! Finally, I’m free. As the wind blows through my fur, I feel as I haven’t felt in a very long time. When night falls I have to spend a night in under a rock. When the sun comes up it wakes me. The first thing that I think about is to get some food but then I realize that I have to look for my family. When I find them I’m going to never leave them again!

HAPPY

HUNGRY

FREE

Jonathan P

Thylacine

I was running after the rabbit, threading and weaving through the trees when something much more delicious caught my eye. I slowed down to a stop, eyeing the sheep the whole time. I started towards it when I heard a door slam. I turned and ran. I decided that I could try maybe another time. Halfway to the lake, something growled. It sounded very close so I froze. It growled again. When I suddenly realised that it was my stomach, I felt very stupid, rolled my eyes and ignored it. The further I went the more it growled until I was very annoyed. ‘That’s it!’ I thought heading back to the sheep. I decided it would be the best way.

When I got there, I heard people talking but I was too hungry and my stomach was growling so I went for it. I charged, grabbed a lamb by the neck and pulled. I bit in deeper and deeper until I was sure it was dead. Being able to bite into flesh and eat never felt so good. I was just like a vampire, except I eat meat. I was just starting to eat when a door slammed and a farmer came out. BANG!

The light was fading.  I was fading. Memories come into my head. Of when I was born. When I was loved and cared for. When there were more of us. When I wasn’t alone…

Lucy L 

Thylacine

It is dinner time. I don’t have anything to eat, so I’m going to have to hunt it down tonight. OK, here we go. I’m off. Down through the trees, looking for a meal to eat. I keep searching and searching until I find a meal.

It is getting cold and dark and I am getting

Hungry

Tired

Cold

Suddenly I see a white thing. He runs closer. Then I see lots of white things. Whatever it is, I charge at it and bite its leg. It is a sheep. It is delicious. Then suddenly a farmer shoots his gun and hits me. Down, down, down I go and there I lay

Still

Mute

Quiet

Josh H

  “BANG” went the tranquiliser gun as I rushed as fast as I could, trying to escape in every way that could. The wind was icy, like a storm of ice that was in the desert, every move I made, I would be closer and closer to my death. Then came the turn of fate: the turn that I regretted but thanked for saving my life.

My body started to shut down and get slower and slower as I tried to get as far away from the zookeeper as I could. “You can’t run and ya can’t hide, because where ever you go I’ll catch you!” he said. He was puffing so madly, I think he would have fainted if his job wasn’t at risk. The place I was running from was the biggest and best zoo in Tasmania.

The zookeeper looked very strong, like he had lifted about 20 elephants, which I have to admit is very strong for a human. “I’ll get you if it’s the last thing I do!” the zookeeper said. As I turned, I came across a dead end.  I saw the zookeeper coming and noticed something very strange. It was this badge that said a word…. ‘Timothy’ was inscribed on the badge in a particular golden bronze that shone in my eyes as I tried to think of what to do.

I had to think of something and fast because if I gave up my life (which would be a brave and noble thing to do) I wouldn’t be able to feed my family and provide them with the warmth that they need. So as I was saying, I had to do something and fast. So I ran, ran for my life and as I approached the zookeeper, Timothy, I thought that he would catch me. But as I opened my eyes it came as a shock that I had run right through his legs and was on the other side of Timothy. I ran as hard as I could and, as I got faster, the cold icy wind came back and tried to knock me over.  I was not afraid. I ran through the wind trying to forget it so that I couldn’t be distracted as I was trying to find a way to escape this trapping place.

I saw the exit right in front of me, I could see it getting clearer and clearer and clearer and as I approached the exit I stopped and looked at the keepers all coming for me but I knew that it that it wouldn’t be this time.

As I got home that night I had a delicious feast of raw rabbit and wombat. As we were stuffing our faces, I thought about the other animals and creatures that were in that zoo   and I hoped that someday that they would be free too.

Lilly M

Happy Mother’s Day on PhotoPeach

Di Wood has again added a few new displays to our Library space. The books she gathers no sooner appear on the shelves than they are out on loan.

The children are thoroughly enjoying being part of our “aquarium” with the Rainbow Fish. They are also coming in at lunch times to create Mother’s Day cards for a special day which is fast approaching! We wish all of the Campus mothers a wonderful family day on Sunday.

One of the Nativity classes is currently involved in a unit of work on deserts. Can you explain why there are banners of penguins and Arctic explorers in our Library classroom?

More displays on PhotoPeach

Our continued thanks must go to Di Wood, our wonderful volunteer, who no longer even has children on Campus. She enthusiastically and capably maintains our Library displays, regularly adding new themes to celebrate special events. Her eye-catching displays  motivate the students, inspiring them to read something new and different. Caroline Secker is also extremely talented as she creates free-hand drawings which she then takes home to paint and returns them to us to display. Thanks again, ladies!! Your assistance is invaluable. Our gratitude also goes to our newer volunteers, Wolf Norkowski, Suzanne Trentin and  Gerardine Imray as well as to the team who continue to come in year after year. This latter group includes Nancy Smith, Pam Forder and Lois Watson and we have also been visited by Liz Christie who gave some of her time, despite having returned to study in 2012. Massive thanks to you all.

Tiger Striped Skies Year 6 on PhotoPeach

Having now read a number of books about Australian bushfires, the students completed some art work to match the theme. A line from Glenda Millard’s Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle automatically sprang to mind. “One orange evening, tiper-striped with blackened trees,  a pig sat, reminiscing…” Whilst I should have spent longer providing further instruction on the art of drawing trees, at least the essence of the post bushfire landscape was present in the children’s work!

Celebrate the National Year of Reading 2012!                                 

Join in with the annual Premier’s Reading Challenge

According to the website, the aim is to:

• Encourage students to read more books and enjoy reading
• Improve literacy levels.
• Raise the profile of reading, libraries and literacy in schools
• Give students a focus on their reading
• Encourage students to read more books and enjoy reading more
• Encourage boys to participate by being ‘challenged’
• Offer incentives for reluctant readers
• Build self-esteem and pride, school unity, and a sense of achievement
• Increase the involvement of parents in their child’s reading
• Increase library borrowing
• Contribute to increased literacy levels.

The Challenge requires students to read 12 books between the beginning of the school year and early September. 

Key Dates:

From 30 January  2012

• 2012 Premier’s Reading Challenge starts
• Schools register online

7 September 2012

• Reading finishes for the 2012 challenge

2 July - 21 September 2012

• Student Reading Records collected
• Data entered in schools – this can begin in schools as of the end of term 2 / beginning of term 3.

November 2012

• By 2 November – awards arrive in schools
• Students awarded certificates and medals at individual school presentations
• Selected schools with students achieving outstanding results attend the Premier’s Reception.

Pilgrim, Thiele and Nativity School have now officially been enrolled in the Premier’s Reading Challenge for 2012. If your child would like to be involved, forms are easily downloaded from the website. http://www.premiersreadingchallenge.sa.edu.au/prc/

Whether or not you have visited the website, I would encourage both you and your child to do so. There is a section which allows students to rate their own favourite books and there is also the possibility that the child could win a prize by participating in this section. http://www.premiersreadingchallenge.sa.edu.au/prc/pages/books/ratearead/ The information provided on the site is broken down into each of the three groups, R-2, 3-5 and 6-9 and includes various genres, authors and series of books appropriate for each year level. We hope to see even more children involved in 2012.

As I’ve been planning new units of work around the new Australian Curriculum, I have re-visited the sets of books which we own in digital format. Despite the fact that I was responsible for purchasing these resources, even I’d forgotten what we own, so thought you may also appreciate a reminder! When we purchased them, the Library team made the decision to house all of the boxed sets which accompanied the digital collections in the one location. Over the course of last year, we decided they were being under-utilised. Hence, as part of our stocktake last year, Maureen changed the details in the catalouge to reflect the fact they’ve now been shifted back into the non-fiction collection, according to Dewey order. 

I am very impressed with these sets…although, I do admit that some are for the more capable readers. Their links to the National Curriculum are obvious. To assist you in your planning, we have also purchased some of the accompanying teacher resources. This week, I plan to use several of the digital sets with groups as they come in for RBL. Don’t forget…these resources are available to you within your schools, so you can have each child looking at the same “book” in the computer room or have it on your IWB to use for note-taking with your whole class. Teachers doing the First Fleet will find the Stories from Australia’s History sets particularly useful.

Listed below are the names of each series we have in digital format.

Animal Attack & Defence

Australian Animals

Australian Animals 2

Biodiversity

Biodiversity – Set 2

Climate Change

Disaster Watch

Energy Choices

Excellence in Scientific Enquiry – Ages 8-10 Disk 2

Excellence in Scientific Enquiry – Ages 8-10 Disk 1

Excellence in Scientific Enquiry – Ages 10+ Disk 1

Excellence in Scientific Enquiry – Ages 10+ Disk 2

First Peoples

Global Hot Spots

Global Issues 3

Living Green

Map Smart

Mineral Resources

Our Democracy

Reconciliation

Recycling

Significant People

Stories from Australia’s History

Stories from Australia’s History Set 2

Symbols of Australia

The A-Z of Health

The Science Behind

The Technology Behind

We Are Australian

Weather & Climate

What’s the Issue? – Set 2

World Heritage

Zoo Animals 2

Drought on PhotoPeach

Last week, we read four different stories based on drought conditions in Australia. The students seem to be thoroughly enjoying these lessons. I would love to have yet more time in which to share the other great literature around the theme of the harshness of the Australian climate. Great discussion has ensued each week. Tricia Oktober’s book Drought focuses on many Australian animals and the ways in which they capitalise on the rain and good times when they arrive. The stunning  illustrations in this title are brightly coloured and realistic. The students felt that the book was more suited to their own age level than to younger students. Here Comes the Rain by Clare Good and illustrated by David Cox was deemed to be suited to the Junior Primary classes. Raindance, written by Cathy Applegate and illustrated by Dee Huxley provided the inspiration for the students’ art works which were completed in cray pas.  Finally, we read John Heffernan’s Two Summers which is illustrated by Freya Blackwood.

Flood on PhotoPeach

The Year 6 class has now completed their art work based on Jackie French’s picture book Flood. This moving story was based on the floods which occurred in Queensland in 2011. It seems incredible that South East Queensland was again plagued by floods almost exactly a year later. Flood was illustrated by Bruce Whatley using his “other” (or non-dominant) hand, but none of the children were quite game enough to try and emulate his wonderful work using the same method. If you have not yet read this title, I would encourage you to do so as soon as possible.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-02/flood-picture-book-launched-in-bris/2820410