The Adventures of Roald Dahl

Last term, the Grade Six learners discovered the world of blogging. After learning what a blog is and how to write a post for a blog, they set off to research a topic for a blog post from a list of options. Their finished blog articles were amazing and a few of them will be shared here on Birdie Bookworms over the next few weeks. 

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This post was written by Kim, Paige and Rebekah in Grade Six Suter. They choose the "Favourite Author" topic and found out some interesting things about Roald Dahl's life.

Have you ever wondered about Roald Dahl’s life? His favourite things and his best books? This blog post will give you all the information you need to know. 

Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Wales in 1996. Roald Dahl’s first school was Llandaff Cathedral School, St Peters, Repton. For his first job, he was a representative in East Africa for the Shell Oil Company. He was also a RAF fighter pilot in the Second World War in the 1940, he had a bad plane crash so he ended up retiring and became an author. His Norwegian parents had five children, he was the only boy. His youngest sister died at the age of seven, and his father died two months after from heart pain. He was three when his father died.

His first piece of writing was about his adventures in war, which was bought by the Saturday Evening Post. Surprisingly he received terrible marks in English. He had five children, one died at the age of seven from measles.

Roald Dahl's first book was The Gremlins. Then, he wrote Some One Like You. Roald Dahl has been writing children’s stories since 1960. Roald Dahl’s books are enjoyable because they are funny, interesting, exciting and magical. They teach good life lessons. Some of his best children's books are The BFG, Matilda, The Witches, Boy, The Twits, Going Solo and Esio Trot.

His motto was: "My candle burns at both ends, it will not last the night, but oh my foes and oh my friends, it gives a lovely life."  Roald Dahl sadly died in 1990 at the age of 74.

Hopefully you now know all you need to know about Roald Dahl, the greatest author who ever lived. He was so amazing he managed to write both children and adult books.

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And the winners are......

Every term we have a class library competition. Classes are awarded points for bringing their bags and for their overall behaviour. The class that collected the most points in term three is Grade 5 Ross! Well done, boys and girls! You can expect some cupcakes to be delivered to your classroom when you are back from camp.

Here are the top five scoring classes for Term Three:

1. Grade 5 Ross           2355
2. Grade 3 Laufs          1915
3. Grade 5 De Meillon 1650
4. Grade 4 Herman      1615
5. Grade 2 Wiley          1600

We have cleared the boards and started a new competition for Term Four. So bring those bags and remember to switch on those library voices!

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Once Upon A Time....

Our school has Cinderella and Rockefeller fever right now. Watching the Foundation Phase put on a pantomime version of Cinderella last night was such a treat! Cast 1 did an excellent job and they were so funny.

Did you know there are many different versions of Cinderella? According to Wikipedia, the oldest tale of a story that had a similar plot to Cinderella was written in the 1st century BC! It was about a rosy-cheeked girl called Rhodophis who lived in Ancient Egypt. We have many different adaptations of Cinderella in our library. Here is a list of them in case you'd like to read one....

1. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

2. Prince Cinders by Babette Cole

3. Cinderella by Nick Sharratt

4. Cinderella by Walt Disney

5. Ella's Big Chance by Shirley Hughes

Book Reviews #10

The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

Reviewed by Safiya in Grade 3

Carter and Sadie Kane have a big mission to complete. They have to save the world by destroying Apophis (The God of Chaos). They face many difficult challenges, like fighting demons and monsters. Luckily the gods help them on their way. They have a crazy plan and only 2 days to find out his secret name and use his shadow to kill him. Setne, the ghost magician is helpful but also betrays the Kanes. 

Safiya says: "This was the last in the trilogy based on Egyptian myths. I loved all the characters, especially Felix. There's a lot to learn from this book and Rick Riordan writes in a very humorous way. I recommend the book but beware, your parents will never get you for dinner on time!

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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Reviewed by Josi in Grade 4

This story takes place around 200 years in the future when there is holographic technology. With the press of a button people can create something which didn't exist before. There are 12 districts with poor people who can not afford food. The rich people of the capital city of Panem, hold an event called The Hunger Games. A boy and a girl, between the ages of 12 and 18, from each district compete in a fight to the death in these games. 

Josi says: "I loved it! It's way more dramatic than the movie. I was so absorbed in it."

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The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

Reviewed by Hannah in Grade 5

Maria Merryweather came to Moonacre Manor. She met the delightful Sir Benjamin and his big dog who immediately made friend with Maria's dog, Wiggins. Maria soon finds out that she has a wonderful room and own horse, Periwinke. She then goes on many adventures with Periwinkle. 

Hannah says: "I loved the book so, so much. It is my favourite book in the whole world. It's magical."

Spring had Sprung

The gloomy, winter weather has gone back into hiding for another year and the sun is (mostly) here to stay! The wonderful change in the weather has inspired a change on the library's display wall. The wall is in bloom with Aunty M's beautiful creations...

The holidays are almost upon us and Interchange has come to an end for Term 3. If you need a good book to read during the break, feel free to pop into the library at lunchtime or after school. If you're stuck for a good book to read, click on this link to check out Scholastic's 100 Greatest Books for Kids.

Storytime: The Cat in The Hat

Today's post is definitely for the girls! Here we have Justin Bieber reading The Cat in the Hat by Dr Suess. This was made for America's Biggest Storytime, an initiative that is run by Pizza Hut to promote the tradition of story time at home. Bedtime stories can be really great fun (even if it's only mom or dad reading to you and not a major celebrity!)

The Dewey Decimal Rap

The Grade Threes are learning how to use the non-fiction section of our library, which means they are being introduced to the Dewey Decimal System. This can be quite a boring topic but with the help of the Dewey Decimal Rap it's been transformed into a really fun lesson. Much laughter can be heard emanating from the library when the zany Dewey is on screen, rapping about how a to figure out the library shelves.