Fact Find

The Fact Find activity finds information and facts about a famous person, important historical person, visual art, performance art, literary art, sport, athlete, machine, animal, plant, enviroment, place around the world, space or chemical.

This week, I did the Fact Find activity on the colour red. I found some very interesting facts about the colour read, one fact was: bulls don't get angry because of the colour red, because they can't see the colour red.

I enjoyed researching and finding facts about the colour red. One thing I think I could work on is finding information about a subject that challenges me.

LI: to learn about something new.

Maori

 My class blogpost for Maori can be found here:

Kiwi Sport | Touch Rugby

This week in our lesson of Touch Rugby with Mark, we practised planting the ball.

First, we split into four groups and practiced planting the ball and passing behind us.

Next, we played Scoocp Tag where you have to tag someone with a ball, they place the ball down and you pick up the ball. The player with the most balls at the end of a round wins.

After that, we practised defending and attacking. The defenders had to try tag the person with the ball on the attacking team. Two people from the attacking team had to work together and pass it to each other to score a try.

I enjoyed this weeks session of Kiwi Sport. I especially enjoyed scoring tries and practising passing. One thing I could work on is focusing on my enviroment and not just the person with the ball.

LI: to practise the skills needed for touch rugby.

Commenting Thread

Commenting Thread is an expanded conversation between two people that consists of a greeting, positive feedback and an open question. The different between an open question and a closed question is that an open question requires more thinking to give an answer and it expands the conversation. A closed question only needs a few words for an answer, and it does not expand the conversation.

This week I comment threaded with Leon on his blog post about persuasive speeches. The topic he chose for his speech was that children should have more gaming time because some games teach children life skills.

First, I asked him what games teach children life skills and what life skills they teach. Then he replied and asked if I had learnt any life skills in gaming and where I would use them. I gave an answer to his question and asked if he was familiar with the life skills I mentioned and if he had used those life skills before. He then gave an answer to my questions.

I enjoyed comment threading with Leon and I enjoyed learning about the different life skills children can learn from games.

 LI: to use open questions to expand a conversation.

Inquiry | Emergency Shelters

Emergency shelters are facilities that protect against incidents and natural disasters such as tornados, floods, volcano eruptions and wildfires.

Fire shelters protect against high temperatures and wildfires. The most modern emergency fire shelter is an alimunium foil bag that a person wraps themselves in to avoid burning. Fire shelters protect against high temperatures (2,000 degrees maximum) due to the material it is made of. They are fire and heat resistant.

Shelters against water protect against disasters like floods and typhoons. Flood shelters are made of thick layers of concrete to withstand impact. They have metal shutters to prevent water from coming in, and have a secure entrance. Flood shelters protect against floods due to the thick and stable conrete that stops the water from coming in.

Emergency wind shelters are designed to protect against aggressive wind and is made from PE-cotated fabric and steel to hold in space. The limit to this emergency wind shelter is 300kph (wind rating). Wind shelters protect against strong winds due to the material it uses.

Storm shelters are resistant to aggressive wind as well. Storm shelters are like underground vaults and are made from iron and steel. They are resistant to storms because tornados, hurricanes and strong wind cannot reach underground. 

The different emergency shelters have different limits. Each shelter is made to resist a certain feature of a natural disaster. For example, fire shelters are made to resist extreme heat. Different emergency shelters can withstand different temperatures and impacts.

LI: to read and understand a design brief.

LI: to research emergency shelters.

Basic Facts Boxes

 Basic Facts Boxes is an activity that challenges others to solve maths problems of all operations quickly. There are two challenges within the Basic Facts Boxes: Speed Demon Challenge and Brain Box.

I completed the speed demon challenge up to 100 for addition and subtraction. I answered five rows  for addition and five rows for subtraction. I got a few of the questions wrong under time pressure. I did this in three minutes and seven seconds.

LI: to remember basic maths facts.

SSR Selfie

SSR Selfie is a can-do activity that encourages readers to retell a story that they have read, and using detail in their summaries so that the audience can understand and find interest in that certain book.

This week, I have done my SSR Selfie activity on a book called 'As you like it' by Shakespeare rewritten by Anthony Matthews. This is a non-fiction book about what happened in Rosalind's search for Orlando.

LI: to summarise and retell a story.

Māori | Word Translations

This week, our lesson with Whaea Odie was based around knowing that some words are based off of their features.

First, we looked at the meanings of roto, waho, runga, raro, mua and muri. Roto means in, waho means out. Runga means above, raro means below. Mua means forward, muri means backward.

Next, we were given a list of words in Te Reo Māori to translate back to english. There were 17 words to translate in total.

After that, we did one more list that included the names of places in Te Reo Māori and words relating to sea or ocean. We translated all of these.

I enjoyed this lesson with Whaea Odie and I especially enjoyed looking at the meanings of roto, waho, runga, raro, mua and muri. One thing I think I could work on is expanding my Māori vocabulary.

 LI: to revise and translate words from Te Reo Māori.

Reading | Novel Study

A novel study finds out information about a novel or a story, and evaluates that information. 

This novel study is based around the story, 'Matilda'. This story is about a little girl who loves to read, and is incredibly smart, however her own family treats her unequally. This novel study has been done on the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters of the story. 

The fifth chapter tells the reader about what Mr Wormwood does to trick his customers into buying his cars, and how much he gets paid for lying to his customers. 

The sixth chapter is about Matilda's revenge on Mr Wormwood for yelling at her for being smart. She puts blonde dye in his hair oil and it turns his hair blonde.

The seventh chapter talks about Matilda's first day at school, and how Miss Honey (her school teacher) is brilliant and smart and unlike any other grown up Matilda knows.

Novel studies help the reader evaluate their understanding of a book.

LI: to study a novel.

Maths | Jobs

The teaching profession requires helping students to develop their understanding of different skills by sharing knowledge of a subject.

By knowing a lot of the skills used in maths, it gives the teachers more opportunity to teach the students about different skills and the usage of those skills.

Being good at maths is important for teaching because the teachers may need to give demonstrations, to tell time and manage the school schedule or curriculum, and calculating the costs of trips. These are a few of the things that maths is used for in the teaching profession.

It is important to be good at maths for this profession so that teachers can ensure that the next generation of people will know how to use their skills for their every day lives and in their jobs.

 LI: to identify the maths used in jobs.

Writing | Narrative

Narratives are fictional stories. Narratives usually use past tense and third person. The structure of a narrative is TOPES, which stands for Title, Orientation, Problem, Events and Solution.

To plan a narrative, people often start with identifying the main characters will be, the problem and how the characters will solve that problem.

The next step in planning a narrative is to think about how to introduce the characters and let the reader know what is happening, why it is happened, when it is happening, where it takes place and sometimes how it is happening. This is called the orientation or the introduction.

After that comes the problem.  A problem is something that goes wrong in the story. To plan the problem, people can brainstorm and list their ideas and then choose the one that is most suitable.

Then comes the events. The events are what the characters do to solve the problem. To plan the events, come up with brief ideas for events and add onto those ideas to then come up with events. People could also make changes to those ideas to then finalise the events.

The final part to planning a narrative is to come up with a solution. The solution is the last few things the characters do to solve the problem. The solution could also include a new normal. To plan the solution, people start by writing down rough ideas and then changing those ideas to then create a new normal.

It is important for a person to know how to plan a narrative because having certain skills within writing can impact a persons life, and can give that person knew opportunities which can then expand their knowledge.

LI: to write a short narrative.

Commenting Thread

A comment thread is conversation that consists of a greeting, positive feedback and an open question. Open questions can expand the length of the conversation, and give the readers more to think about when answering.

This comment thread was done on a blogpost about measuring time using non-standard tools. We used proper mathermatical terminoligy for this task.

By comment threading, people can practise using open questions in a conversation. It also gives people an understanding of the activity, and the person that did the task.

LI: To create a comment thread using the correct mathematical terminology.

Kiwi Sport | Touch Rugby

This week, we practised and revised the skills we learned last week for touch rygby.

First, we practised tapping the ball. To tap the ball, we put the ball on the ground and tapped it with our foot. We then picked it back up and repeated until we did tapped the ball 6 times.

Next, we practised scoring a try. We did this by tapping the cones or the ground with the ball. We repeated this process. We made sure the ball actually touched the ground.

After that, we practised throwing and catching the ball. If we found this easy, we were able to throw the ball, clap and then catch the ball. Then we practised tapping, scoring and throwing and catching all at once.

Then, we got into groups and spread out along a line. We did this to practise sideways and backwards passing. We did right passes for one minute, and then switched to left passes for one minute. We only dropped the ball 4 times in total.

Finally, we split into two groups: the defending team and the scoring team. For the scoring team, two people went up at a time. One person on the scoring team started with the ball and then passed it to the other person so they could score a try. Only one person on the defending team went up and had to try touch the person with the ball. We did this to practice collaborating to score tries.

I enjoyed this weeks session of Kiwi Sport. I especially enjoyed scoring tries and practising passing. One thing I could work on is focusing on my enviroment and not just the person with the ball.

LI: to practise the skills needed for touch rugby.

Maths | Commenting Thread

A comment thread is conversation that consists of a greeting, positive feedback and an open question. Open questions can expand the length of the conversation, and give the readers more to think about when answering.

This comment thread was done on a blogpost about measuring time using non-standard tools. We used proper mathermatical terminoligy for this task.

By comment threading, people can practise using open questions in a conversation. It also gives people an understanding of the activity, and the person that did the task.

LI: To create a comment thread using the correct mathematical terminology.

Inquiry | Insulation

There are many different materials, some are designed to capture heat, and some designed to capture cold. This experiment was done to test out which materials can hold heat or cold best, and to determine the insulation of different materials. An insulator is something that keeps heat from leaving.

Plastic is good for keeping things warm, and is not very good for keeping things cold at room temperature. Plastic has a good insulator for holding warm temperatures.

Metal is good for keeping things cold, especially if the metal containment is airtight. It isn't very good for keeping things warm. Metal has a good insulator for keeping certain things cold.

Glass is good for keeping things cold, but can also be used for keeping things warm. However, because glass is transparent, it allows the heat to escape therefore having a bad insulator for keeping things warm. Glass has a good insulator for keeping things cold.

Paper cups are good for keeping things cold. Paper cups have a good insulator for keeping things cold, but have a bad insulator for keeping things warm.

Polystyrene is good for keeping things warm. Polystyrene also has a good insulator for holding warm temperatures.

It is important to know the insulation of different materials so that the certain items can be stored in the correct material containment. It is also important so that people can determine whether the insulation is good or bad for that person's situation.

LI: to determine the insulative properties of materials.

LI: to to learn and practise experimental methods.

Maori | Translations

This week, our session with Whaea Odie was based around revising and practicing different Maori words.

First, we answered the questions 'He aha te ra?', 'He aha te huarere?' and 'Kei te pehea koe?'.

Next, we were given a list of Māori words to translate. Once we checked the answers, we highlighted them to show that we got them right.

I enjoyed this task, and found this task easy to complete. I should increase my knowledge on Māori vocabulary. 

LI: to understand the meaning of different Te Reo Maori words.

Basic Facts Boxes

Basic Facts Boxes is a can-do activity that encourages people to solve maths equations of all operations quickly, and improve on their basic facts knowledge.

This week, I completed Basic Facts Boxes for multiplication and division up to 100. I completed 5 boxes for both operations in 4 minutes 13 seconds.

LI: to remember basic maths facts.

SSR Selfie

 SSR Selfie is a can-do activity that encourages readers to retell a story that they have read, and using detail in their summaries so that the audience can understand and find interest in that certain book.

This week, I have done my SSR Selfie activity on a book called 'Measly Middle Age' by Terry Deary. This is a non-fiction book about what happened in the middle ages.

To find more about the middle ages, you can find this book in our school library under 900 because they are the history books in the dewey decimal system.

LI: to summarise and retell a story.

Writing | Narrative Planning

This week, we have been learning about planning narratives. Narrative plans are the brief ideas of a story.

First, we revised the structure of a narrative, which is TOPES. TOPES stands for Title, Orientation, Problem, Events and Solution. The orientation answers the 'who?', 'when?', 'what?', and 'why?'. The problem is something that goes wrong in the story, the events are what the characters do in order to solve that problem, and the solution is the last things the characters do to solve the problem.

Next, we watched 2 different videos to know how to identify where the title, the orientation, the problem, the events and the solution start and stop.

After that, we came up and brainstormed our own ideas of short narratives. We then eliminated the ones we could not do, and chose one idea to build up.

Once we chose an idea, we thought about how we could turn that idea into a short narrative, that would only be one A4 page long if it was written, and 30s - 2m long if it was filmed. We planned our narrative and wrote our ideas into brief sentences.

I enjoyed brainstorming ideas for the narratives. I especially enjoyed planning out the narrative. One thing I think I could work on is adding onto ideas to make the narrative more interesting.

LI: to write a short narrative. 

Reading | Novel Studies

A novel study finds out information about a novel or a story, and evaluates that information. 

This novel study is based around the story, 'Matilda'. This story is about a little girl who loves to read, and is incredibly smart, however her own family treats her unequally. This novel study has been done on the third and fourth chapters of the story. 

The third chapter tells the audience about Matilda's revenge on Mr Wormwood. She puts superglue in his hat so that it sticks to his head.

The fourth chapter talks about how Matilda borrows her friends parrot who knows how to say a few words. She hides the parrot in the chimney and when the parrot talks, the voice will echo but her family won't know where it is coming from.

Novel studies help the reader evaluate their understanding of a book.

LI: to study a novel.

 

 

Improving Skills

 My class blogpost for Mr Ogilvie's Maths on improving skills can be found here:

Kiwi Sport | Touch

This week, our Kiwi Sport is touch rugby. We practiced the basic skills needed to play touch.

First, we practiced getting familiar with the ball by throwing and catching it in the air. We also practiced moving while throwing and catching the ball.

Next, we chose a partner and passed the ball to each other. We used the 'W' to catch the ball. We couldn't forward pass the ball, so the partner who was catching the ball had to be slightly behind the person with the ball.

Then, we played an activity to practice our skills. There were coloured hoops on the ground, and when the teacher called out a colour, we needed to put the ball into a hoop of that colour. The person with the ball had to put the ball down for their partner to pick up, and their partner could only pass the ball (they were not allowed to move with it).

I enjoyed this session of touch rugby and learning the basic skills. I especially enjoyed passing the ball and placing it in the hoops. One thing I think I could work on is collaborating to score points.

LI: to practice the basic skills of touch rugby.

Commenting Thread

Commenting Threads is an ongoing conversation that consists of a greeting, positive feedback and an open question. The difference between an open question and a closed question is that a closed question can just be answered with 'yes' or 'no'. An open question requires a more detailed answer, which gives the reader more to think about.

Today, I comment threaded with Te Raumati on her Reading task. I asked 'If Roald Dahl was alive, what would you ask him? Why would you ask those questions?'.

Commenting Threads help the reader think about their answer, and with each comment thread, the reader can learn more. Whether it is about the current topic or the person that they have started a comment thread with.

LI: to use open questions in a comment thread.

Inquiry | Conducting Experiments

This week, we conducted experiments to identify how absorbent different materials are.

First, we talked about what quality experiments require; consistency, percision, careful measurement, repitition, and comparisons.

After that, we were given a set of instructions on how to test our materials. As a class, we talked about how to make the set of instructions more detailed so that results of the experiment were quality.

Next, we chose a material to do the experiment on. The materials we could choose were stone, sand, paper towels, nappy brand 1, nappy brand 2 and cotton.

For the first part of the experiment, we measured 50g of our chosen material, and measured 100ml of water in a beaker, and added 5 drops of food colouring. We put our material into an empty tray to prevent water from being spilt. 

We poured all of the water over our materials, and collected the unabsorbed water to put back into the beaker. We then measured how much water had not been absorbed, and recorded our results. (Our results were 36ml not absorbed, 64 ml absorbed).

For stone, the results were similar and almost none of the water had been absorbed. For sand, group one had 82ml not absorbed and group two had 88ml not absorbed. For paper towels, both groups absorbed all of the water. For the nappies, all groups had absorbed all of the water. For cotton, the results were 4ml not absorbed, 2ml not absorbed and 36ml not absorbed.

I enjoyed taking part in this experiment and comparing the absorbency of different materials. One thing I think I could work on is getting similar results to another person who has tested the same material.

LI: to learn and practise experimental methods.

LI: to determine the absorbency of different materials using experimental methods.

Basic Facts Boxes

 Basic Facts Boxes is a can-do activity that encourages people to solve maths equations of all operations quickly, and improve on their basic facts knowledge.

This week, I completed Basic Facts Boxes for multiplication and division up to 100. I completed 5 boxes for both operations in 4 minutes 13 seconds.

LI: to remember basic maths facts.

SSR Selfie

SSR Selfie is a can-do activity that encourages readers to retell a story that they have read, and using detail in their summaries so that the audience can understand and find interest in that certain book.

This week, I have done my SSR Selfie activity on a book called 'Esio Trot' by Roald Dahl. It is about a man named Mr Hoppy who wants to win the heart of Mrs Silver. Mrs Silver wants her tortoise to grow bigger, and that gives Mr Hoppy an idea.

To find out what happens next in this book, you can find it in our school library under DAH because they are the first three letters of the authors last name.

 LI: to summarise and retell a story.

Te Reo Māori | Revising Body Parts

This week, our session with Whaea Odie was based around learning the different body parts in Māori.

First, we answered the questions 'He aha te ra?', 'He aha te huarere?' and 'Kei te pehea koe?'.

After that, we watched a video of the story of 'Rona and the Moon'. We answered the question 'What is the message behind the story?'.

Next, we were given a list of body parts and Māori translations. We matched the Māori translations to the correct body parts, and highlighted the ones we already knew. We used a Māori dictionary to match the words we didn't know.

I enjoyed this task, and found this task easy to complete. I should increase my knowledge on Māori vocabulary.

 LI: to learn the body parts in Māori.

Maths | Written Algorithm

Written Algorithm is a problem-solving strategy in maths, it is the step-by-step process of adding, subtraction, multiplying or dividing. Place Value looks at the value of each digit in a number and uses that knowledge to solve an equation.

To use written algorithm for addition, the biggest number in the equation is at the top, and the smallest number is under the bigger number. The numbers are lined up, similar to the numbers in a place value house. A problem like 1278+2611 can be solved with written algorithm by adding the ones first: 1+8=9. Then the tens: 70+10=80. After that, the hundreds are added: 200+600+800, and then the thousands: 1000+2000. 2000+800+80+9= 2889.

To use place value for addition, each digit in the numbers are sorted into ones, tens, hundreds, thousands etc. Add the ones, 2+7+9. Then, the tens: 40+70=110. However, there can’t be 11 tens in the tens column, so the hundred moves to the next column. Next, the hundreds are added, 600+800+100=1500. There can’t be 15 hundreds in the hundreds column, so the thousand moves to the thousands column. After that, add the thousands. 7000+3000+1000=11000. There can’t be 11 thousands in the thousands column, so the ten thousand moves to the ten thousands column.

To use written algorithm for subtraction, the biggest number in the equation is at the top, and the smallest number is under the bigger number. The numbers are lined up, similar to the numbers in a place value house. First, subtract 1000 from the 7000 to make 6000, and convert that thousand to the 600 to make 1600. After that, subtract 100 from 1600 to make 1500, and convert that hundred to 40 which becomes 140. Next, take away 800 from 1500 to make 700. Subtract a ten from 140 to make 130, and give that ten to the 2, which becomes 12. Finally, 12-7=5.

Written algorithm is a good strategy to use when solving complex equations, or simple problems. When understood, solving equations with algorithm can become easy. Place Value is a good strategy to use when adding and subtracting, it can also be used to multiply and divide. Place Value looks at the digits within a number to solve problems.

LI: to improve on a skill within math.

Writing | Formal and Informal | Language and Situations

Formality is the need to follow rules and regulations or there are things in an orderly form. Formal is when there are rules and regulations that should be and are needed to be followed. Formal can also mean things that are in an orderly form. Informal is when there are no rules or regulations that are needed to be followed, and things are not in a proper form.

Formal language uses words that would usually sound strange in an informal situation or conversation. Formal situations such as conferences and business interview. Formal language uses words such as want to, going to, thank you and more. 

Informal language uses words that would sound strange in a formal situation or conversation. Informal situations such as breakfast with family and playing at the park. Informal language uses words such as wanna, gonna, sup and more.

By developing an understanding of formality, people can apply that knowledge to their everyday lives, and identify what level of formality is necessary for the certain situations speak appropriatly. By using the correct formality, people have the possibility of being given new opportunities such as jobs and licenses.

LI: to identify formal and informal language.

Reading | Novel Study

 A novel study finds out information about a novel or a story, and evaluates that information. 

This novel study is based around the story, 'Matilda'. This story is about a little girl who loves to read, and is incredibly smart, however she is disrespected and treated unequally. This novel study has been done on the two first chapters of the story. 

The first chapter introduces the main characters to the reader, and informs the reader about Matilda's extraordinary intelligence and love of books.

The second chapter tells the audience about how Matilda's family is neglective and selfish. The story also talks about how Matilda would like to get revenge on her self-centered family.

LI: to study a novel.