Paula's Place Teaching Resources

Chinese New Year is almost here

These packs are all about creating an understanding of a Chinese New Year - the traditions, the symbols and the zodiac.

Chinese New Year - Interactive Note Pages

Chinese New Year Posters and make a dragon

This Chinese New Year pack is huge! There are posters and pages for Interactive Note Pages. Explore the zodiacs and understand what the traditions are that surround the Chinese New Year.

This pack includes
• An introductory page for each section complete with detailed instructions.
• Options to print for sheep or goat at the end of the pack. The Chinese refer to goats and sheep. In English, it is based on a horned animal. In Vietnam, it is goat. In Japan - sheep; in Korea and Mongolia the sign can be sheep or ram.

Tasks include -
• KWHL – what do you know, want to know and what is your new learning?
• Our Class Word Wall – add to this while you are learning about the Chinese New Year.
• Posters for Chinese Zodiac Animals – information on each one.
• Interactive Journal pages – to discover new information and record what you know.
• Fact sheets on all the zodiac animals.
• Venn Diagram – compare our New Year to a Chinese New Year
• Can-are/is-have/has on traditions that are significant to Chinese New Year.
• Graphic Organizers to help record learning.

This is great for younger students....

Click here to see it in our store

Chinese New Year

146 pages

This Chinese New Year pack supports you to graph the year that your grade were born into according to the Chinese Zodiac. Build a dragon and match the animals on the zodiac to their name and number.

Ram is used in some parts of the world as one of the zodiacs. There are options to print for sheep or goat at the end of the pack as some countries use these instead.

The Chinese refer to goats and sheep. In English it is based on a horned animal. In Vietnam it is goat. In Japan - sheep; in Korea and Mongolia the sign can be sheep or ram.

This pack contains -

• Printing options for full color, save your ink and some tasks have black/white versions.

• There are a series of posters to display. These provide information for discussion.

• Matching task – match the ordinal, name and the picture of the animal from the zodiac.

• Graphing task – use a sample group across your school as your grade will be only two or four animals on the Chinese New Year Zodiac.

• Craft task - Make your own dragon, photos provided to show you what to do.

Read to Self - Day 2

My grade, our grade this year are AMAZING!!!!!

Read to Self on our second day was 25 minutes.

The day before Stacey (my teaching team buddy) and I explained that they had a job tomorrow to impress us with READ to SELF

DID they ever!

They came in - sorted their bags, organised their book box and just got down to business.

We have Year 3/4 an the Year 3 kids were part of my Year Preps and they have had 3 years of Daily 5 d they got on with it.

The investment we made as a staff has paid off.

It was like - do not wake a sleeping baby - we got to 25 minutes and stamina was gold.

Tomorrow we map out our anchor chart......I think we will be seasoned pros at this.

Love my room this year

I have put off posting pictures of my new space as I have been waiting for our new whiteboard to be installed.

This week will be our first full week back after summer break.

I am team teaching with Stacey this year and we have Year 3/4.

Her and I have come from the 5/6 team and will miss our 2014 team, but change is okay.

Still a little messy - but my teacher space with Six Traits posters behind my desk.

This is a close up of my posters....

Here is the start of my Word Wall and Learning Intention area. There are my interactive notebooks on the shelf

Anecdote Books waiting for notes......

Daily Plans and Interactive Books ready to go

Clocks are ready to discuss the school routine

Daily 5 prompts ready to have anchor charts attached

The all important Cafe posters for the Cafe Menu are up. These kids will have had Daily 5 and Cafe for the past 3 or 4 years already. I taught so many of them in the first year of school (Prep or Foundation)

Classroom jobs are organised too

Mailboxes and conferencing cubbies

Word Work wall ready for lists

Writing prompts and story wheel

I will post more this week as we settle into the space.

Australia Day - planning done for you

Most Australian schools will have returned to school by the week of Australia Day from our summer break. To save you some planning, this pack is ready to go for Year 4/5/6.

Click here or the images below to go to the product.

This pack gives you 58 pages of tasks that are so much more than just Australia Day tasks!

This unit provides opportunities to address outcomes for the Australian Curriculum as listed below.

There are recording pages that rely on research completed through reading books/websites or interviewing people.

The Word Wall template assists in building a vocabulary list to use in tasks.

The interactive pages enable kids to cut, glue and record information underneath.

KWHL – a colour and a b/w version

Interactive Notebook pages will help to manage information on these aspects of our history

a) Name the state/territory and give five facts for each

b) Cartographic Conventions – define

c) Facts, Celebrations, Traditions, words to describe

d) Impact of Europeans on Indigenous Australians

e) Impact of Europeans on the environment

f) Impact of Macassans on the environment

g) Impact of Convicts on Indigenous Australians

h) Impact of Convicts on the environment

Mapping tasks - Use an atlas or do some internet research and record some mapping details about Australia. Include scale, north, a key, grid references and some distances between capital cities.

Geography details on each State of Territory – name the capital city, research and find the grid reference for the capital city, name the next closest capital city, record the distance between the two capital cities, print a satellite map of the state and name the characteristics you find.

Venn Diagrams – Indigenous Australians/Europeans, Aboriginal/ Torres Strait Islander

Writing Planners

a) Recount – How do I acknowledge Australia Day

b) Explanation – Why do we acknowledge Australia Day?

c) Exposition - Should we acknowledge Australia Day?

d) Food we eat on this day – recipes

e) Australian Slang

Famous Indigenous Australian – Graphic organiser and an Interactive Notebook page

Australian Curriculum - History

Year 4 - The nature of contact between Aboriginal people and/or Torres Strait Islanders and others, for example, the Macassans and the Europeans, and the effects of these interactions on, for example families and the environment (ACHHK080)

Year 5 - The nature of convict or colonial presence, including the factors that influenced patterns of development, aspects of the daily life of the inhabitants (including Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples) and how the environment changed (ACHHK094)

Year 6 - The contribution of individuals and groups, including Aboriginal people and/or Torres Strait Islanders and migrants, to the development of Australian society, for example in areas such as the economy, education, science, the arts, sport.(ACHHK116)

Australian Curriculum - Geography

Year 4 - Represent the location of places and their features by constructing large-scale maps that conform to cartographic conventions including scale, legend, title and north point, and describe their location using simple grid references, compass direction and distance (ACHGS029)

Year 5 - Interpret geographical data and other information, using digital and spatial technologies as appropriate, and identify spatial distributions, patterns and trends, and infer relationships to draw conclusions (ACHGS037)

Year 6 - Collect and record relevant geographical data and information, using ethical protocols, from primary and secondary sources, for example, people, maps, plans, photographs, satellite images, statistical sources and reports (ACHGS041)

Aussie e-book for back to school

Julie from OzCurriculum HQ has put together some resources from some Aussie bloggers

The book is

a gift for Australian teachers heading back to school.

Our USA readers will also enjoy the freebies and tips too.

A selection of generous TpT sellers have got together to highlight free and paid products to help you get 2015 off to a great start. There are many references to the Australian Curriculum to help make matching resources that little bit easier.

Each page has tips to help you get back in the swing of classrooms life. Be sure to look for the link to a free item on each page, and to check out the other great resources by that seller.

Happy clicking and finding the resources.

What's the story behind my logo?

What's the story for me?

I searched some sites that would help me build my blog.

I saw these owls and just knew this was me.

I loved the big owl and little owls in a nest and the message for me is learners. The learners in the nest are on a limb - so risk takers, but in a nest that provides support to learn.

Go and link up with

Art with Jenny K

A little blog tracker pack

It has been raining here today and not a nice day outside - so I have just put the finishing touches on this little thing I am using.

My new Blog Planner and Tracker contains 28 pages and keeps me on track.

There is an example provided within the pack to show how I use this tracker included in the package.

It is designed to just have brief notes next to each icon.

At a glance I can see if I have ‘missed’ a chunk of time blogging, posting on Instagram or Facebook or adding pinterest pins.

It is only to take notes on posts made – not a tracker for finances.

It will be updated each year, so once purchased you will be able to upload the file each year.

Homophones or Homonyms?

Homophones or Homonyms? Just for two days it is on sale!

Click on the images or here to check it out

This pack will assist in choosing the correct spelling of a word when needed in writing. It will extend vocabulary and a love of language and how to use it correctly.

This pack contains 106 pages

Make a List – print and go. Find out the difference between homophones and homonyms.

Posters for display or sorting tasks for homophones and homonyms. There are two versions – one is color and ready for display. The second set is print and go, your students could color them before they display them. They could be used to sort into homophones or homonyms.

Interactive Note pages – On the top of the flap draw an illustration. Under each flap write the correct meaning. There is a spare for your own words if you wish to add more.

Jigsaw Task - Each page contains four sets of words. Each set includes two pictures and the word or words needed to match them up. Copy and then cut them up. You may choose to laminate for long term use. Students match them up as an individual task or with a partner. There is a spare page to add your own or let students add to the task.

Homonym Booklet – This is for words that are spelt the same and mean different things. Copy the booklets and staple on the staple marks. Then cut in half to make two books. You can use this to motivate students to write their own Homophone Book for words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings. For students to use a reader or motivation to make your own for Homophones.

Word tasks – Print and go. Focus on words – give definitions, choose the correct word and write your own sentences.

Ahh summer break

I just love summer.

Here in Australia we are in the middle of our summer break and it would be great if it lasted forever!

I have had a great Christmas with family on the Gold Coast and now I am back home in Victoria and doing a little bit of TPT, doing a little bit for my classroom, doing lots with my family and friends.