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6 MAY 2015
Literature Circles
I love literature circles. The Grade 7s are divided into groups and each group is
allowed to choose the book they want to read. This usually involves much
discussion and negotiation! What makes literature circles so brilliant is that the
children get to play different roles and contribute to group discussions in
different ways. The one disadvantage of a single set work is that everyone has
to read it. This does not help instil a love of reading and books in the
disinterested child. The children appreciate being given a choice in literature
circles and the resultant buy-in is very obvious. The theme of the reading this
term is growth and change, a very appropriate theme for the age group.
IN THIS ISSUE
Literature Circles
page 1-3
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World Book Day
page 4
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Business Breakfast
page 5
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The roles are:
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Discussion director – develops a list of questions that the group might
like to discuss. Directs the weekly discussion.
Vocabulary enricher/wordsmith – the words that an author chooses are
an important part of his craft. The wordsmith looks for words that have
special meaning, words that stand out, and puzzling or unfamiliar words.
Connector – connects the book to his/her own life
Illustrator – draws a picture related to the weeks reading. It can be a
sketch, cartoon, diagram or stick figure scene.
Literary luminary – locates special sections in the text – sections that are
interesting, powerful, funny – sections that are worth discussion.
Summariser – Summarises the weeks reading and highlights important
events and character changes.
Weekly Planner
page 7
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The children are expected to fill out a role sheet every week to prepare for the
weekly discussion. They take charge of their own reading. The adult is there to
facilitate if the group gets stuck, but this rarely happens. At the end of five
weeks, the children write a challenging essay for which they have been well
prepared.
Grade 3 Outing
page 9
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I asked Graham Sayer, Academic Director at the Senior school to come down
and see literature circles in action. This is what he had to say:
Stars
page 6
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Sport News
Page 8
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Parents’ Association
page 10
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SOMERSET COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL Telephone: +27 (0)21 842 8000 Facsimile: +27 (0)21 842 0052
Email: [email protected] www.somersetcollege.org
“This seems a great system for getting students to take ownership of their own understanding, to
explore and make meaning, and to negotiate meaning with peers. Higher order skills like evaluation
and synthesis develop authentically from more basic skills like recall and definition, and substantiation
proliferates. It's so important that the teacher knows the text very well so that she can challenge
students to go deeper in their thinking and provide more detail in their substantiation. It was great to
see this in operation. The additional monitoring that happens through task marking provides an
excellent measure of consolidation and reinforcement and opens up opportunities for extension and
remediation on an individuated basis. This really does look like exemplary co-operative learning.”
I was assisted this term by three outstanding facilitators - Rose Humphries, Library manager from the
Senior school, Kim Bacon, a Prep mother and avid reader, and Kerry Dunkley, our Junior Preparatory
librarian. Rose is a prolific reader and has been tasked with encouraging reading in the Senior school.
She has brought up two girls who are very keen readers. Kim has the ability to make even the most
reticent boy talk about the book, and Kerry is passionate about children’s literature.
I believe that literature circles help children prepare for what will be required of them in the Senior
school. The Preparatory library is committed to a one school – one library approach and literature
circles provide yet another way in which the two schools can work together.
Dianne de Villiers (Preparatory Librarian)
Alex Brody, Jonathan van Druten, Bryce Gibson and
Luke Fitzgerald discussing Louis Sacher’s There’s a boy in
the girls’ bathroom. This book has won 19 awards.
Kim Bacon and her group of boys. These boys can talk!
Their discussions have been mature and insightful.
Jo-Anne Saul, Geordie Barrie, Scarlett Schultz and
Amber Barnett-Rodenhurst. Jo-Anne and Scarlett had
to leave the safety of flying horses in their fantasy
novels and try something new…
Somerset College Preparatory Newsletter 6 May 2015
Page 2
Kerry Dunkley, Emma Toth, Matthew Beattie, Chad
Marock and Hanna Williams. This was the only group
willing to have boys and girls together. They have had to
cope with gender stereotypes in Terence Blacker’s Boy 2
Girl.
This is what some Grade 7s had to say:
(Left) Nina Bruggemans. There is more time to talk in
small groups.
(Right) Nicole Putzier. I like hearing other people’s
point of view. This helps me understand the book and it
will help me in my test.
Chad Marock - I enjoy discussing the book in a group because
we all get to express our own opinions. Literature circles help
me keep up with my reading because I don’t want to let my
group down.
Kieran Bacon - You can choose the book you want to read.
Everyone gets a chance to talk about the book.
Sophia Wessels – The discussions every week help me go deeper into the book.
Lauren Schoeman – Literature circles help me understand the parts of the book that are confusing.
Emma Toth – This is a good way of getting the work done and not letting my group down.
Alex Brody – Everyone gets a chance to express their feelings about the book.
Somerset College Preparatory Newsletter 6 May 2015
Page 3
WORLD BOOK DAY
BOOK FAIR
THANK YOU!
I would like to thank all those parents who supported our book
fair so generously. With the kickback, I was able to buy 27 new
books for the library.
It was so lovely seeing parents looking at the books with their
children. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Dianne in the Library
HELP YOUR FAVOURITE CHARITY WIN R70 000 WITH MYSCHOOL
You can help your favourite MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet charity win R70 000 cash (plus YOU also stand a
chance to win a R10 000 Woolworths gift card simply for voting). The polls close on 22 May 2015.
Visit http://www.vote4charity.co.za
WIN R200 000 in prizes for your favourite charity plus WIN a
R10 000 Woolworths Gift Card for yourself simply for voting.
Somerset College Preparatory Newsletter 6 May 2015
Page 4
BUSINESS BREAKFAST
26 May 2015
We are delighted to confirm that our speaker for our annual Business Breakfast is the Honourable
Mmusi Maimane, a dynamic young South African politician and current leader of the Opposition Party
in the National Assembly.
The event will once again be held in the Boonzaier Hall and will start at 07h15. Tickets to this event are
R350 per person, or R3200 per table of 10. Complimentary coffees will be available from two Häzz
coffee stations and delicious breads, charcuterie and cheese platters will be served. All monies raised
from this event will go towards the refurbishment of the Chapel.
To reserve your seat/s or table/s at this event, please click on the following link: Business Breakfast
Bookings
Considerable interest has been expressed in this event, so please book early to avoid disappointment.
If you have any queries, please contact me at [email protected]
Kind regards
Nicky Whall
Marketing Manager
Somerset College Preparatory Newsletter 6 May 2015
Page 5
STARS
Grade 1 – Stars
Megan Hutton, Emma Bresler and Jacqui Dippenaar
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Michael van Schalkwyk for his fantastic general knowledge contribution in the class.
Ilayda Faziloglu for an excellent improvement in work and always trying her absolute best.
Samuel Longmore for working diligently and staying on task.
Emma Langguth, Jan Boonzaaier, Saili Venketas and Corne Bruwer for excellence in Mathematics.
Taryn Coenraad and Jamie Roux for well-presented prepared orals.
Miss Dippenaars’ whole class for their amazing 'My Pet' orals and for being such superstars with
Miss Currin.
 Connor Nelson for excellence in spellling.
 James Nortje for working so diligently this term.
 Sofia Crabbia for her conscientious approach to all her work.
Grade 2 – Stars
Jade Davies, Megan Stander and Michelle Bosch
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Saskia Welge for explaining verbs and nouns so clearly and with great understanding.
Leah Swart for reading with such expression and enjoyment!
Zaria Naidoo for achieving full marks in her Maths Assessment!
Zac Clulow for achieving full marks in his Maths Assessment!
James Austen for good listening skills and responsible behaviour.
Harrison Gibson for being a great number cruncher.
Shayna McNamara for being a very kind, helpful little girl.
Tristan Corry for being such a Maths whizz.
Nina Furness for always being so helpful and kind.
Noah Johnson-Allen for choosing interesting words in his stories.
Cara Herbst, Siana Beckman and Mark Hegland for getting 100% for their Maths Assessment.
Amelia Lawrenson, Jacques Ferreira and Sam Hatch for obtaining full marks for the Maths
challenge.
Grade 3 - Stars
Tarryn Frost, Riana Boonzaier and Nabila Abdulla
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Lara Bombal for excellent grammar skills.
William Hendry for always trying his very best.
Carlu Miranda for improved comprehension skills.
Hayden Eaglestone for improved cursive handwriting.
Tassius Chigriro for excellent listening skills.
Joshua Human for improved handwriting.
Jakov Strauss for outstanding behaviour while on our class outing.
Ayden Weinrich for outstanding behaviour while on our class outing.
Alyssa Pretorius and Luke Limbert for significant improvement in Mathematics.
Nabeel Braaf and Hughan Crouse for significant improvement in their reading.
Matthew Scholtz for significant improvement in his cursive handwriting.
Alexia Kontopirakis for good effort in her Spelling assessment.
Nelia Swanepoel for obtaining full marks in her Spelling assessment.
Aidan Downie for good effort in his Handwriting book.
Somerset College Preparatory Newsletter 6 May 2015
Page 6
WEEKLY PLANNER
Somerset College Preparatory Newsletter 6 May 2015
Page 7
Sports News
Alwyn Brink (Sports Director) - [email protected]
General enquiries and sick notes for sport - [email protected]
Kirsty de Kock (Netball enquiries) - [email protected]
Hilton Toro (Rugby enquiries) - [email protected]
Quentin du Toit (Hockey) - [email protected]
Kirsty de Kock (Physical Education for girls) enquiries and sick notes for girls
[email protected]
Hilton Toro (Physical Education for boys) enquiries and sick notes for boys - [email protected]
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Derby Day vs Reddam – Saturday, 9 May 2015
The programme for the Derby day is on the communicator and website and team lists will go up by 17:00 today.
Please check the team lists and the programme carefully. This will give you an indication of the time your
children need to be at a specific venue and where they will move to after their first matches. Please try to assist
us in getting the children to the correct venue in time for their warm ups.
We would like to wish all the teams the best of luck and look forward to seeing as much support as possible.
Tea, drinks and snacks will be available throughout the morning.
Somerset College Preparatory Newsletter 6 May 2015
Page 8
GRADE 3 OUTING
The Grade 3NA learners visited the Stellenbosch Village Museum last week Wednesday. They had a
wonderful and productive day learning about what it would have been like to have lived without
plumbing and electricity!
Somerset College Preparatory Newsletter 6 May 2015
Page 9
PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION
Somerset College Preparatory Newsletter 6 May 2015
Page 10