Kererū having BBQ and elderly snails ...

This morning we were very lucky at Yaldhurst to have a true, blue author come and visit us. Her name is Karyn and she has written a couple of stories that are based on NZ birds, bats and insects.

Her first book is called Kereru's BBQ. She wrote this after being inspired by her time at her bach in Le Bons Bay. She read her new book Peka and Koro, which is a story about a young bat who gets lost but she finds a friend in Koro, an elderly snail.

Karyn then spent some time sharing her writing process. She actually never thought she would be a writer but it was time spent in Le Bons Bay reading stories to her daughter that made her think that she could write her own story.

Here are a couple of facts that we learnt about her:

1. She went to South Hornby Primary School

2. She spent most of her childhood in Hornby

3. She has a daughter

4. She now lives in Tai Tapu

5. Her second book comes out next week.

6. Her great, great grandfather built the first-ever bach in Le Bons Bay.

7. She didn't enjoy English at high school but she still wrote a book!

We all found it really interesting learning about the writing process. It made us realise we don't have to think we are good at something when we are younger because we might realise we are good at it when we are adults. 

It was a great visit and we really enjoyed it. Maybe your class could have a visit from an author. If you could, who would you want to come?

Austin's Butterfly is taking flight in Rimu

During our writing session yesterday Mrs Taylor, our kaiako/teacher, talked to us about feedback and how we give it. We started by talking about what we do at the moment to give feedback to each other and from the teachers.

Mrs Taylor then showed us this video.

We were amazed at what Austin was able to achieve based on the feedback that the tamariki were giving him. The fact he was only rima/five and still able to make all these changes showed us that we could give each other SPECIFIC feedback to help each other's learning. We were excited and motivated by the thought that we could be kaiako/teachers too. We headed off with our writing buddy to be kaiako with each other's long write.

The room was soon buzzing with the low hum of tamariki who were fully engaged in their learning. Akonga/students had their heads together, reading and sharing their thoughts with each other. Because we are a digital class, the comments were written as comments on their documents.

Here are some examples of what they shared.

We were very impressed with the high quality of feedback that the akonga were giving to each other. What do you think about the feedback? Are they specific enough?

Our next step is to see if the feedback they are giving each other is improving their writing. Watch this space closely.