Camp Experiences and Stories
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After an amazing camp students were excited to tell their stories. They wanted everyone to know what they did, the accomplishments they achieved and the funny incidents that happened. My mentor and I decided to build on this positive momentum and as part of their literacy unit students would be able to tell their stories. Together my mentor and I set planned and implemented a unit of literacy work where students would be able to write their favourite stories. We would then create a grade 5H camp stories book for all grade 5’s to read. Also they would combine an incident that happened at camp with a nursery rhyme and complete cubes which explained how the felt during, before and after camp.
I began by having students tell their stories to the whole class so that it might sparks memories of other events that happened while on camp. Students would then go back and write a draft and have a conference with other students before having their final conference with teachers. They were encouraged to write as many stories as possible and use descriptive words and dialogue to help the reader visualise what really happened at camp.
I took a similar approach when implementing the nursery rhyme activity. As a class we named all their favourite nursery rhymes and used examples on how they could connect they stories and nursery rhymes together. This was a challenging task for students but I was able to assist students individually who were having difficulties. Some amazing work was produced. I gathered all the stories and nursery rhymes and create ‘CAMP RUMBUG STORIES 2012 5H BOOK.’
This was an activity students really enjoyed doing as they were very interested in the topic and excited to tell their stories. A fellow grade 5 class was creating a camp newspaper and a few of the stories and nursery rhymes were put into the newspaper for the whole school and parents to read.
Finally, as fun as the camp was it was very challenging for students. The weather was cold and rainy and the activities were freezing and muddy. Despite all of this students completed all the activities with minimal fuss. This experience changed many students as their attitude and demeanour changed. I wanted to know how they felt before, after and during camp. We had a class discussion about what they found scary and challenging and how they overcame those fears. Once they had a few ideas students completed a cube. On this cube students explained the their feelings and fears, their challenges at camp and the ways they feel they have changed after camp. I placed them around the room as a reminder that they should be proud of their achievements and that they can accomplish anything if they set their mind to it.
I began by having students tell their stories to the whole class so that it might sparks memories of other events that happened while on camp. Students would then go back and write a draft and have a conference with other students before having their final conference with teachers. They were encouraged to write as many stories as possible and use descriptive words and dialogue to help the reader visualise what really happened at camp.
I took a similar approach when implementing the nursery rhyme activity. As a class we named all their favourite nursery rhymes and used examples on how they could connect they stories and nursery rhymes together. This was a challenging task for students but I was able to assist students individually who were having difficulties. Some amazing work was produced. I gathered all the stories and nursery rhymes and create ‘CAMP RUMBUG STORIES 2012 5H BOOK.’
This was an activity students really enjoyed doing as they were very interested in the topic and excited to tell their stories. A fellow grade 5 class was creating a camp newspaper and a few of the stories and nursery rhymes were put into the newspaper for the whole school and parents to read.
Finally, as fun as the camp was it was very challenging for students. The weather was cold and rainy and the activities were freezing and muddy. Despite all of this students completed all the activities with minimal fuss. This experience changed many students as their attitude and demeanour changed. I wanted to know how they felt before, after and during camp. We had a class discussion about what they found scary and challenging and how they overcame those fears. Once they had a few ideas students completed a cube. On this cube students explained the their feelings and fears, their challenges at camp and the ways they feel they have changed after camp. I placed them around the room as a reminder that they should be proud of their achievements and that they can accomplish anything if they set their mind to it.