Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Video footage supports poetic writing


New Zealand’s mountains while majestic, pose dangers to skiers and climbers. A group of ESOL students from Year 3 documented what they knew about avalanches.  A number of the group had never heard the term. After watching the following Utube video, they recorded again what they knew. 

These were the results:


·      It’s like a river of snow
·      Steam is coming off the mountain
·      The snow has cracked in a long line
·      The snow moves down the mountain very quickly
·      The snow pounds its way to the bottom and buries everything in its way
     *Each idea was then developed using descriptive vocabulary.


·      The aim of this unit was to use video footage to promote discussion and higher levels of thinking and understanding in students.

Oral language development:  (Listening and Speaking Stage 2)
·      Questions were used to ignite discussion (e.g Why did a layer of snow and ice crack off the mountain? What did you see? ).  SOLO Taxonomy provided the teacher with pretest and post- test information.

Reading Comprehension + vocabulary extension (Stage 2)
·      Students were scaffolded through the learning process. Key vocabulary and actions were discussed with the group. Questions were directed at students to confirm understanding. 


Writing: Describing an event.  (Stage 2) using free verse 
Students explored the structure of free verse poetry 
Students began to identify some of the superfluous language they included in their writing
Students were introduced to imagery and similes  
St

These are the results:

Avalanche

A terrifying shock to my body
I was frozen
What a noise!
Kaboom! Crack! Boom!
Tumbling down the hill
Like waves smashing onto the sand
It was going to smash down on me
It would damage everything in its way.
(Aakifah)


That Avalanche

Crack! Bang!
I hear noise cracking from the sky like thunder
The snow, coming down like a waterfall
Fog like powder, hanging to the ground
All the trees I see are covered in snow
 (Vianca)


 Avalanche

The crack terrifies me
I’m frozen with fear
I hear a rumble across the mountain
Rumble! Crack!
The edge shears off the mountain
creating a flood of ice and snow.
Forcing the flow forward
The noise is as strong as a lion's roar
It demolishes everything in its path.
Trees demolished, pieces of wood buried
People have been buried by this demon
No warning!
 (Swali)


Watch Out!

Crack! The ski field breaks up into pieces
right before my eyes.
No time to look.
 Just move out of the path of the avalanche
Thunderous noise behind me sounding like a tornado
Snow rushing down like waves over my head
Something has happened
I’m powerless to move
Stuck!
Everything around me is demolished.
Smashed by the avalanches path.
(Avi)

An Avalanche!

Smashing white snow
Crash!
Moving like a hydro-slide
swooshing to the bottom of the mountain.
A huge amount of snow
forcing stones, trees, huts and humans to fall.

(Hasini)




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