Summer Learning Journey | Day 4 | Step it Up | Tānerore

Today, I completed the step it up level for the Summer Learning Journey activity called Tānerore. I created a unique kowhaiwhai pattern using the koru and kape.

Our kowhaiwhai pattern could represent either Tānerore or summer, and I chose to make it represent Tānerore because my previous kowhaiwhai pattern represented summer.

Tānerore is the son of Tama-nui te-ra. He performs the haka for his mother, Hine-raumati. A Maori myth states that when the weather is hot and sunny, you can see Tānerore performing the haka in the wiriwiri (faraway movements made by the heat of the sun).

The koru in the kowhaiwhai pattern that I made represents the wiriwiri movements in distant areas. The kape represents the ground or sky in which the wiriwiri movements take place. 

The colours I used for my kowhaiwhai pattern represent the heat which makes the wiriwiri and the uniform in which Tānerore was wearing when performing his haka.

This was a great opportunity to practice making more kowhaiwhai patterns. I think I could challenge myself by making a kowhaiwhai pattern that tells a Maori story, myth or legend.

LI: to investigate Maori history and create a kowhaiwhai patterns.

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Summer Learning Journey | Day 4 | Step it Up | Insect/Summer Art

Today, I decided to do the next level of the Summer Learning Journey insect art challenge and completing the step it up challenge.

The step it up challenge is to make a summer scene or another insect using only leaves, flower petals or sticks/twigs.

I decided to make a summer sunset with flower petals and sticks I found on the ground. I made the  gradience of the sky using the petals of roses that grow in my front yard. I also used pink flower petals for the ocean (pink because of the sun's light). I found dead sticks as the frame for the art.

To make sure I wasn't killing trees or flowers, I used petals that were on the ground and around the roots of the bushes. I found sticks that were on the ground. There were sticks that were long, short, thick and thin.

I really enjoyed taking the opportunity to be resourceful and creating insect art. I think I could challenge myself by creating a different and more detailed setting. I also drew a visual reference of what the picture represents to prevent confusion.

LI: to be resourceful and make insect/summer art.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 4 | Activity 3 | Summer Haiku

This Summer Learning Journey activity for day four (the third activity) is to learn about haikus and create your own revolving around summer.

The purpose of this Summer Learning Journey activity is to practice using your ability to use your knowledge and understanding of a topic and write about that. It also encourages you to use your understanding of syllables and rhyming.

A haiku is a short poem containing only three lines with a certain amount of syllables. The first line must have five syllables, the second line must have seven syllables and the last must have five syllables.

My haiku talked about the sound of the ocean waves, the feel of the sand on the beach and the many shells that lie on the sand and ocean floor. I also chose an image that related to summer to fit with the haiku.

I enjoyed creating my own summer haiku. It was also a great opportunity to use my creativity to write an original haiku using my knowledge and understanding of syllables and summer. Next time, I could challenge myself by writing more complex types of poems.

LI: to apply our understanding of syllables and summer to create a haiku.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 4 | Activity 2 | Which One Doesn't Belong?

For this Summer Learning Journey activity (day four, activity two), I observed four similar photos/images and selected the few that didn't belong with the rest.

The purpose of this Summer Learning Journey task is to encourage others to use their senses and compare the differences between similar things, as well as understand that there are no two things that are exactly the same.

First, I observed an image of four different Santa's and chose the two that were different. I did the same to images of ice creams, cookies/treats, spaceships, domino's numbers, clocks, car brand logos, playing cards and emojis.

There was an extra slide where I was able to create my own 'Which One Doesn't Belong?' challenge. I chose to do four different Christmas trees to maintain the 2020 Christmas spirit. I encourage you to try out this activity yourself using the challenge I created.

I really liked this activity because it was similar to spot the difference. I didn't quiet understand this activity or what they meant by 'Which One Doesn't Belong?', so I just decided to point out the differences of the images.

LI: to develop attention to detail.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 4 | Activity 1 | Rise Up

For this Summer Learning Journey activity (day four, activity one), I created and wrote my own text graphic chorus for a song.

The purpose of this activity is to be able to use your imagination to write about a topic or subject and think about how well those lyrics would go with a rhythm.

A chorus is the part of a song where the lyrics repeat. For example, in the song 'Rise Up' (which is the song we used as an example for this activity), the chorus is 'And we will rise (strong minds, strong heart), and we will rise (we all play a part), and we will rise, we'll never stop.

I created and wrote a chorus which is about 2020 and it's major events. There might have been other major events that happened in 2020, but I chose these specific events because of some kind of connection or relation they had to me.

In the chorus, I tried to maintain rhythm and rhyme. I repeated the first and last line because I thought it would go well with the rest of the chorus.

To make a chorus, a person should have ideas on what the topic will be for their song. They should also have ideas about the order of the lyrics and keeping it on topic. If they are making a rhyming chorus, they should think about the amount of syllables each word or sentence has so that it goes with the rhythm.

I really enjoyed taking the opportunity to create my own chorus for a unique topic. I could try challenging myself by creating a chorus on a certain topic chosen by a different person. I'd like you to try and make your own chorus!

LI: to create a chorus.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 3 | Activity 3 | Optical Illusions: Step It Up!

Today, I tried the Summer Learning Journey day three, activity three optical illusions activity. I tried to complete the step it up task.

I created my own optical illusion using only the thick, black outline of circles. Originally, I was going to make an illusion with black and white stripes. I observed the shapes I had available and began messing around with the placement of those shapes.

My optical illusion turned out to look like a tunnel. I made this tunnel by putting the thick, black outlines of circles close together and on an angle. Because of how they were placed, they formed the shape of a tunnel. I decided to call this illusion 'Tunnel Vision'.

To make your own optical illusion on paper, you can mess around with lines or shapes and change the angle, curve or form of those shapes. Shading can also help with how the optical illusion is seen by a person, and it can change that person's point of view.

I really enjoyed taking the opportunity to create my own optical illusion and experiment with shapes. I could improve my ability to be creative and original, and challenging myself with more complex and advanced shapes.

LI: to experiment with shapes.

Commenting Thread

A comment thread is a continuous conversation between two people. A comment thread has a minimum of four comments (two for each person).

There are five parts to a quality comment when starting a conversation. They are: a greeting, positive feedback which encourages the person, a connection (something you can relate to), helpful information or something that that person could improve and an open question.

It is important to ask open questions because they can expand the conversation and it requires more thinking to answer an open question.

There are usually three parts to a quality comment when replying to someone else. They are: a greeting, the answer to their question (it should be detailed and specific) and then another open question.

Purpose of a comment thread is to encourage others to engage with people that have given them feedback. Another purpose of a comment thread is to encourage others to share their opinion with others and let them know that they should improve or change.

Today, I comment threaded with Daniel, who is part of the Summer Learning Journey crew. Daniel commented on my blogpost called Fishing False Teeth where I captioned a comic strip.

First, Daniel asked if I had any stories that I had made, and if I'd like to share them. I replied and asked What some of his favourite stories were and why. Once he replied, he asked what some of my favourite stories were and if I knew any of the stories he mentioned. I replied and thanked him for starting the comment thread and giving me feedback.

I enjoyed comment threading with Daniel and talking about stories and book/movie series. I think I could work on my vocabulary and using bigger or more complex words in a conversation. It is important to know how to comment thread because it can help people improve their ability to socialize and inform others through a conversation.

LI: to improve our ability to socialize and comment thread with open questions.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 3 | Activity 3 | Optical Illusions

For this activity (day three, activity three of the Summer Learning Journey programme), we learnt about a certain optical illusion of our choice.

The first thing that we did was think of a certain optical illusion that we wanted to find out about. The optical illusion I chose was called the Hermann Grid Illusion.

After that, we explained how this illusion works and what it does. The Hermann Grid Illusion has many white dots on a black background. Whenever a person looks at a dot, the dots on the opposite side of the black background will turn grey or black.

This is because our brain can't compare the colors from a distance, so it automatically sees the other dots as black or grey.

I enjoyed this activity the most out of the Summer Learning Journey activities I have done so far. I think I could choose a more complicated and complex optical illusion to research and learn about.

LI: to learn about an optical illusion.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 3 | Activity 2 | Tānerore

For the day 3 activity 2 Summer Learning Journey Activity, I created a Maori kowhaiwhai pattern using the koru shape.

The first thing that we did was watch a video about Tānerore. Tānerore is the son of Tama-nui te-ra. He performs the haka for his mother, Hine-raumati. A Maori myth states that when the weather is hot and sunny, you can see Tānerore performing the haka in the sun.

The koru in the kowhaiwhai pattern that I made represents the ocean's waves in summer. Because the weather is so hot, people visit beaches to cool down. The colors I used for my kowhaiwhai pattern are blue (representing the water) and yellow (representing the sand and the sun).

The koru on the blue side of the draw represents the waves that are far out in the ocean. The koru on the yellow side of the draw represents the small waves that drift across the sand.

I really enjoyed taking the opportunity to create my own kowhaiwhai pattern. I liked listening to the story of Tānerore because I can expand my understanding of Maori history and culture.

LI: to investigate Maori history and create a kowhaiwhai patterns.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 3 | Activity 1 | What are you doing today? | Kick Start

The Summer Learning Journey crew came up with an activity that helps the participants expand their Maori vocabulary.

I completed this activity by listening to different audio recordings. Then, based on what I heard from the audio recordings, I then arranged different Maori words to fit into the sentences properly. I answered the question 'What are you doing today?' by saying 'I am going to ___' I filled in the blanks with Maori words.

I learnt how to say 'What are you doing today?' in Maori. To say 'What are you doing today?', it would be easier to start by slowly building an understanding of the words and then working on the pronounciation. 'What are you doing today?' in Maori is 'Kei te aha koe i tenei ra?'.

I found answering the question 'What are you doing today?' fun because I was able to expand my Maori vocabulary. I alse found listening to the audio and rearranging the words fun because I was able to build an understanding of where different Maori words go and why.

 Something I found hard was listening to the audio because it wasn't very clear or loud. I was still able to complete this activity and I had a lot of fun with it.

LI: to expand our Maori vocabulary.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 2 | Activity 2 | Insect Art

The Summer Learning Journey crew created an activity that encourages the participants to be resourceful and create art using things that they manage to find outside.

This activity is called 'Insect Art'. Items and objects like leaves, sticks and flowers can be used to make the certain features of an insect. LS1 searched around PBS to find bits of nature in order to make a certain insect of their choice.

I decided to make a butterfly using leaves and sticks. Instead of taking leaves off of trees, I searched around an area of the school where there are lots of trees and bushes. I found lots of dead leaves and gathered a few for the wings.

To make sure I wasn't killing trees or bushes, I found sticks around the roots of the trees and bushes. There were sticks that were long, short, thick and thin. I used the sticks for the antennas and the body.

I really enjoyed taking the opportunity to be resourceful and creating insect art. I think I could challenge myself by creating a more advanced insect like a dragonfly or a beetle.

LI: to be resourceful and make insect art.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 2 | Activity 1 | Kick Start Literacy | Fishing False Teeth

For this activity, we used our creativity and imagination to caption a comic strip.

The first thing we did for this task was view the steps of this activity to get a clear understanding and idea of what we have to do and when we have to do it.

We then read an article about an old man losing their set of fake teeth on a fishing trip (he dropped them in the water). Another man found a different pair of fake teeth and pretended that they were the old man's. The news started to spread but a taxi driver revealed to the world that the man was lying, and it was not in fact the old man's teeth. He talked about how fishermen are practical jokers, and they were actually his wife's teeth.

After reading the article, we filled out a template to help us understand the text more. There were four main characters and we wrote who they were, what part they played in the story and the outcome for those characters. The main characters were Cor Stoop (the man that lost his fake teeth), Hugo Slamat (the fraud), Roel Pool (the taxi driver) and Janet (Roel Pool's wife).

We eventually moved on to watching a video that didn't have any speaking parts to it. There were two old men on a fishing trip. One man lost his fake teeth in the water and was made fun of by the other man. Feeling sorry for the man, the other fisherman took out his own fake teeth and placed them in the mouth of a cod (which he had just caught). He acted as if he had just found the man's fake teeth and gave them to him. The man tried them on, but they didn't feel right. So he threw the fake teeth into the water.

On the next slide, there is a comic strip of images that were in the video. There are empty speech boxes where we can write what they say. We were able to come up with our own captions and use our imagination to create an interesting and unique story.

I really liked creating captions for a comic strip and using my imagination to create an interesting story. I enjoyed taking the opportunity to use my creativity. I think I could improve on thinking of more interesting and original ideas.

LI: to use our imagination and creativity to caption a comic strip.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 1 | Activity 2 | Your Comment Counts

This activity encourages students and Summer Learning Journey participants to engage with other people and act on feedback that has been given to them.

The first step to this task was to watch a video that shows the features of a quality comment. They are: a warm greeting, positive feedback/compliments on the work, a connection or relation, helpful information or advice and an open question.

The Summer Learning Journey participants in LS1 looked through the blogposts of LS2 and Room 5 students and chose which blogpost to comment on. They created a document to help them craft a quality comment.

They first came up with an interesting greeting and gave positive feedback or talked about something they liked about the students work. Then, they made a connection and gave advice on how that person could improve something. After that, we asked an open question (which is a question that keeps the conversation going).

I commented on Keira's blogpost from Room 5 which talked about completing her first Summer Learning Journey activity. She told the audience what the activity was and summarised the main points of the activity. She also used rhetoric, which is a good skill to develop as it can be used in the future.

I really enjoyed giving feedback to Keira and starting a comment thread. I look forward to her reply and I can't wait to expand the conversation. I think I could work on giving more specific feedback so that people can have a clear understanding on what they should improve.

LI: to engage with someone and act on feedback.

Summer Learning Journey | Day 1 | Activity 1 | Nanogirl | Scavanger Hunt:

The Nanogirl task/activity for this week was to search for the required items in order to be able to do different experiments over the Summer Learning Journey period.

In our companies for inquiry, we watched a video by Nanogirl explaining the materials we would need to find, where we could potentially find those materials and the purpose of those materials.

The materials that we needed were cardboard (a tube, thin and thick), a mixing tool, stone, items of different size, string, foil and an empty bottle. We managed to find six of these items, however the rest can be found at home.

We began searching for the items that Nanogirl listed and recorded videos and took images showing the scavenger hunt in action and the materials that we were able to find.

Scavenger hunting can help improve a persons ability to search and find things using their knowledge of where those items may be. I enjoyed scavanger hunting for certain objects and I look forward to experimenting with Nanogirl.

LI: to search for the required items.

Commenting Thread

A comment thread is a continuous 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 be answered with 'no' or 'yes', however an open question gives the other people more to think about.

I commented on Dayton's blogpost on making connections. He informed about the different connects the readers can make and he told how to make those connections.

LI: to make a dialogic conversation.

Inquiry | Persuasive Presentation

My class blogpost for the persuasive presentations can be found here:

Inquiry | Persuasive Presentation

Today, the companies presented their shelter design to bid for the building contract. We presented a slideshow that included information about the shelter design, materials and benefits.

Before presenting, our company focused on timing our presentation and practicing our lines so that it was within two and three minutes. We added onto and changed some parts of the script to make it longer.

We needed to persuade the representitives of Panmure Bridge School that our shelter is best for the certain natural disasters. We needed to include eye contact, clear presenting and the reasons why our shelter is best.

After that, our company presented our model and presentation to the class and representitives (Mr Wong and Mr Ogilvie). Our presentation also included diagrams to give a visual representation of the model.

The feedback we were given for our presentation was that in case of a lightning/thunder storm (which was one of the storm types our shelter could withstand), that it would not be best to use metal for the wall interior. We also did not have a clear enough understanding of New Zealand storms and what materials should be used for certain conditions.

What we did well in the presentation was delivering the right information and giving the audience a clear understanding of what we were saying. What we could improve on is having good reasoning and using our knowledge of certain topics to eliminate opponents that do not have benefits or advantages. We delivered enough information to our client and were able to persuade them into buying our shelter and won the building contract.

LI: to present our design and bid for the building contract.

Maths | Quiz Results

 My class blogpost for the quiz results in Mr Ogilvie's maths groups can be found here:

Commenting Thread

A comment 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 Farzana on my blog post about the quiz results for Maths.

First, She asked how hard I tried to make the quizzes. I replied and asked who her partner was and their results.

After that, She replied and asked what my results were. I gave an answer and thanked her for starting the comment thread.

I enjoyed comment threading with Farzana and I enjoyed talking to Farzana about the quiz results.

LI: to use open questions in a conversation.

LI: to expand a conversation.

Writing | Film Finalising

Today, I finished the finalising the editing for Hogwarts' movie which is a zombie chase.

The movie includes a suspenseful title screen and the movie introduces the main characters as it slowly begins to introduce the problem, events and solution. 

It also includes a cliffhanger and credits (which gives credits to the actors, the crew and the apps used to edit the movie.

I enjoyed making the final edits to the movie and I cannot wait to present our movie next week. One thing I think I could improve on is making it more interesting and get the audience hooked.

LI: to write a short story that can be made into a film.

Badge Bidding

Over the year, LS1 has been badge bidding for CARE (confidence, attitude, respect and excellence and innovation) awards.

There are three different badge levels that a person can be rewarded. The different badge levels are bronze, silver and gold.

Bronze is an average level where a person can just display a skill and explain why they deserve this badge. A person can be rewarded with bronze confidence, attitude, respect or excellence and innovaton by showcasing their abilities.

Silver is a higher level where a person should display a skill that is harder to develop and explain the reasons why they deserve this badge and why they think it is better than bronze. A person can be rewarded with silver confidence, attitude, respect or excellence and innovation by showcasing a talent.

Gold is the highest level, in which a person has to display a skill that others may not be able to achieve or will take longer to achive. They must also explain the many reasons why they think they deserve this badge and why it is better than silver.

To badge bid, each person in the group takes a turn in saying which CARE award they are bidding for and if it is bronze, silver or gold. That person should then move onto saying why they deserve this badge and why it is better than the previous value.

After everyone has said what they are bidding for, everybody in the group gets a chance to ask questions and potentially add to their presentation. Then, one person at a time votes for a person and explains why they voted for that person.

I earned bronze confidence, attitude, respect and excellence and innovation. I won these because I displayed a certain ability and proved to my group that I deserved this badge.

I enjoyed displaying different skills in order to gain a CARE award. One thing I think I could work on is working harder and displaying a skill that is difficult to develop. I think that I could've earned more badges this year.

LI: to display a skill and gain reward.

Summer Learning Journey | Teaser Week 1 | Elements of Art

The elements of art are lines, shapes, objects, space, colors, value and texture. These are what makes up an art piece. I have colored in a piece of art and observed the finished artwork to determine the elements of art.

Lines are a continuous mark made on a surface. Lines can be drawn or written in many different ways. The lines in this art are curves (which are used for the waves and the people), jagged lines (for the sky and waves as well) and straight lines (used for the textbox and the waves).

Shapes can be geometric or natural. Shapes can be two dimensional or three dimensional. The shapes in this art are crescents (used in the waves, the boats and the people), circles (used for the bubbles created by the waves and the people's heads) and rectangles (used for the blankets hanging off the boats and the textbox).

Objects with form are things that take up space or look like they do. This artwork looks like it takes up space (this is called 3 dimensional) because of the shading and where the different colors are used.

Space is the distance or area between, around, above or within things. Space can also be the area taken up by an object or the area taken up around an object. The space is being taken up in the picture by waves and boats with people.

Colors help show space. Colors are an important aspect of art. The colors in this art are very pale yellow, light and dark shades of blue, a grey shade, a peach color and a darker pale yellow.

Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. When the opposite values are near each other, it creates contrast. The lightness of the yellow makes it easy to display the color of the sky and the clouds.

Texture is how a surface feels. There are a variety of different textures. The texture of this art is hard and rough because it is a woodblock print which is art carved from a block of wood.

It is important to understand the elements of art because they are the features that make up a masterpiece. Without any one of these, art is not complete. By having an understanding of the elements of art, a person can apply their knowledge of the different elements to their art.

LI: to investigate the elements of art.

Colored:

Original:

Writing | Film Creation

My class blogpost for Mr Wong's writing groups who are completing their filming can be found here:

Reading | Cloze Comprehension

My class blogpost for Mr Wong's reading groups (who are doing cloze comprehension) can be found here:

Basic Facts Boxes | Addition and Subtraction | Speed Demon Challenge

 Basic Facts Boxes is a can-do activity that helps improve a persons maths skills and challenges the person to quickly solve basic maths facts of all operations.

Today, I completed all my Basic Facts Boxes for addition and subtration up to 100 in 2 minutes and 21 seconds. I got all of the questions right.

I enjoyed solving multiplication and division equations and challenging myself to solve maths problems quickly. One thing I think I could improve on is trying to solve harder equations and getting a faster time.

LI: to rapidly recall basic facts.

Inquiry | Presentation

My class blogpost for the creation of LS1's inquiry presentation can be found here:

Maths | Basic Facts Boxes | Speed Demon

Basic Facts Boxes is a can-do activity that helps improve a persons maths skills and challenges the person to quickly solve basic maths facts of all operations.

Today, I completed all my Basic Facts Boxes for addition and subtration up to 100 in 2 minutes and 21 seconds. I got all of the questions right.

I enjoyed solving multiplication and division equations and challenging myself to solve maths problems quickly. One thing I think I could improve on is trying to solve harder equations and getting a faster time.

LI: to rapidly recall basic facts.

Reading | SSR Selfie | The Wide Window

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 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' by Daniel Handler illustrated by by Brett Helquist. This is a fiction book about three orphaned children trying to find a new home, and discovering the mystery behind their parent's death. This task was not made easy because Count Olaf was trying to steal the children's fortune.

I really enjoyed reading the unpredictable events and the plottwists. I especially enjoyed reading the suspense.

LI: to summarise and retell a story.

Inquiry | Presentation

Our Inquiry task was to create a presentation of our shelter design to persuade the client (Panmure Bridge School represented by Mr Wong and Mr Ogilvie) into building our structure.

The requirements of this presentation were that all members of the company had to speak, maintain print design rules, include images and graphics, the material testing result, shape testing result and the model that our company has made. 

The first thing we worked on was thinking about what aspects of our shelter design we should present. Our company first talked about the shape of our design and why we chose that shape. We continued writing down information about what the shelter can resist, the benefits of our shelter, the shelter materials and why the purpose of those materials.

We also added graphics to give the audience a visual reference and then our company began writing the script. Each member of the company was assigned a two or three sentence part to speak in the presentation.

Our company enjoyed recalling the information of our shelter design and putting it into a presentation. One thing I think we could improve on is balancing out who was speaking and how much each member of the company was saying.

LI: to create a presentation of your design to bid for the building contract.

Summer Learning Journey | Teaser Week 1 | Kick Start Art

The Summer Learning Journey is a programme that sets activities for children and students to do during the holidays and stay active during the summer. The purpose of the Summer Learning Journey is to make sure the students maintain a balanced education and only improve during the holidays.

The activity that I completed for the teaser week was called Art Coloring Book. This activity tests the creativity and mindset of students.

To do the Art Coloring Book activity, there are a variety of famous landmarks and pictures to color in. Once a person chooses what they want to color in, the website provides a range of colors. There are eight colors that come from the original picture, and eight other colors that are bright and vivid.

The person is able to color in whatever part of the image they want using the outlines. The image has the same texture as the original picture, making it easier for a person to color in.

I really enjoyed trying out different pictures and coloring them in. One thing I think I could improve on is choosing a better color scheme and being more creative and original with the colors.

LI: to prepare for the Summer Learning Journey.

Colored:

Original:

Maths | Quiz Results

Our maths task was to test our knowledge on addition subtraction, fact families and strand knowledge by taking our partner's quiz.

For the first maths quiz (which contains 20 questions), there was a list of mathematical equations involving fact families, addition and subtraction. The results I got were 19 questions correct and my time was 1 minute and 23 seconds.

For the second maths quiz (which contains 15 questions), a person is given a list of mathematical equations involving measurement, fractions, time and more. The results I got were 15 questions correct and my time  was 39 seconds.

I enjoyed testing my knowledge of fact families and strand (measurement, fractions and more). One thing I think I could improve on is using place value, algorithm or repeated addition/multiplication to solve an equation.

LI: to use knowledge to test knowledge.

  

Maori | Nga Taone o Te Ika a Maui

The Maori task that Whaea Odie set for us was to expand our Maori vocabulary by using our prior knowledge of Maori language to translate more meanings Maori place names into english.

First, we completed the Maori routine and answered the questions 'He aha te apopo?' (What is the date tomorrow?), 'He aha te huarere?' (What is the weather?) and 'Koe wai o hoa?' (Who are your friends?).

We did the same task that we did last week (which was translating Maori place names). We searched up the meaning of the Maori place names and used our prior knowledge to select the best answer from the list of english place names.

One thing I enjoyed doing was trying to translate the Maori place names into english using only my prior knowledge (without google search or Maori dictionary). I think I could improve on my Maori pronounciations.

LI: to expand our Maori vocabulary and knowledge.

Reading | Cloze Comprehension

Comprehension strategies help the reader understand and learn more about what is happening in the text as well as improve their reading skills. The different reading strategies are activating prior knowledge, predicting, inferring, summarising, questioning, synthesising, making connections and self-monitoring.

Before reading, predicting, questioning, activating prior knowledge help the reader get an idea of what the text might be about. 

While reading, predicting, inferring, questioning, making connections, synthesising, self-monitoring and activating prior knowledge help the reader build an understanding of the text or topic.

After reading, questioning, summarising, synthesising can help the reader share their knowledge of the text or expand their knowledge of the book.

Having a good understanding of the different reading comprehension strategies is important because the reader can use the strategies to improve their reading skills. The reader can also gain a good understanding of the text.

LI: to practise comprehension skills.

LI: to test grammar knowledge.

Writing | Commanding Conversations

Commanding Conversations is a can-do activity that helps a person practise using their punctuation, descriptive language and grammar skills to write a brief conversation.

To do the commanding conversations can-do, a person looks at an image and comes up with a plotline to base their conversation off of. 

Once the main parts of the conversations are written, a person should check their grammar, spelling and punctuation to make sure that the conversation is easy to understand.

Today, I completed the commanding conversations task. I wrote two conversations based off an image of three people with motorbikes and an image of a seal and a penguin.

My first conversation was about a woman asking to race another person. A different person overhears the conversation and cuts the engine wires of a motorbike. My second conversation was about the seal telling the penguin that the penguin was a male.

I enjoyed writing conversations based off images. I think I could work on writing conversations that are more interesting, and coming up with an unpredictable plotline to base the conversation from.

LI: to write descriptive conversations.

Commenting Thread

A comment thread is a 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 Farzana's on her blog post about the kapa haka performance that she watched. She chose to talk about different Maori tools.

First, I asked her what changes if she knew any other Maori tools that were similar to the poi, ti rakau or taiaha and how that tool was used. Then, she replied and asked if I have played with the Whai string and if I enjoyed it. After that, I asked if were some shapes that she made using the Whai string. She gave an answer and thanked me for starting the comment thread.

I enjoyed comment threading with Farzana and I enjoyed talking to Farzana about the different traditional Maori tools.

LI: to use open questions in a conversation.

LI: to expand a conversation. 

Maths | Testing Knowledge

 My class blogpost for Mr Ogilvie's maths group's task can be found here:

Maths | Testing Knowledge

A maths quiz tests how quickly a person can recall basic facts as well as maths strategies to give an answer to an equation. There are two maths quizzes below. One includes fact families and addition and subtraction, and the second quiz includes strand knowledge (measurement, fractions and everything else).

Addition challenges a persons ability to use place value (or another simple strategy) to solve a problem. Subtraction tests a persons ability to look at the value of each number's digit and use that knowledge to subtract a certain amount. Fact families challenge a person to use bedmass/bodmass (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division) to find out what makes up a certain number.

Fractions help a person improve their ability to divide and multiply an amount. Measurement helps a person focus on the value of each unit and use multiplication and division to convert between the units. Mean, median and mode tests a persons ability to understand the value of a digit and add, subtract, divide or multiply. Time challenges a persons skill to convert between time units and multiply or divide units of time. Estimations help a person improve their ability to apply their knowledge of something and make an educated guess.

It is very important for people to have a good understanding of the different types of maths because they can apply that knowledge to their everyday lives and it can make things much easier to solve. One thing that a person can apply their knowledge of maths to is finding a fraction of something, and that person could use division to solve this.

LI: to use knowledge to test knowledge.

Maths | Basic Facts Boxes | Addition and Subtraction

 Basic Facts Boxes is a can-do activity that helps improve a persons maths skills and challenges the person to quickly solve basic maths facts of all operations.

Today, I completed all my Basic Facts Boxes for addition and subtration up to 100 in 2 minutes and 21 seconds. I got all of the questions right.

I enjoyed solving multiplication and division equations and challenging myself to solve maths problems quickly. One thing I think I could improve on is trying to solve harder equations and getting a faster time.

LI: to rapidly recall basic facts.

Reading | SSR Selfie | A Series of Unfortunate Events

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 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' by Daniel Handler illustrated by by Brett Helquist. This is a fiction book about three orphaned children trying to find a new home, and discovering the mystery behind their parent's death. This task was not made easy because Count Olaf was trying to steal the children's fortune.

I really enjoyed reading the unpredictable events and the plottwists. I especially enjoyed reading the suspense.

LI: to summarise and retell a story.

Inquiry | Model Making

 Our focus for inquiry was to create a net of our protection shelter, transfer that net onto cardboard and use those cardboard pieces to create a model of our structure.

First, our company sketched a 3D net with paper. While doing this, we thought of how to use the paper as efficiently as possible in order to save resources. We then measured the 3D net dimensions onto a bigger piece of paper. Our company decided to draw the parts of the net separately to make the process easier.

Next, we transferred the 3D net onto cardboard and cut out the separate pieces. We needed to use as least cardboard as we could so the other companies could use it. After that, we began using the cardboard pieces to create our shelter model.

We placed the cardboard walls onto the base of the shape and held it together using the popsicle sticks and hot glues to help keep a good foundation in order to keep the structure standing. We also used tape to hold the shape of the walls in place.

Our shelter was a hexagonal pyramid and we found it hard to make because it is a complex shape. Our company found it enjoyable to make and plan out the shelter.

LI: to build shelter models.                                                                                                                             

Kiwi Sport | Touch Rugby | Passing Drills | Attacking and Defending

Our focus for Kiwi Sport, touch rugby was to practice using three and two man settles.

First, we practiced passing drills in groups of two. Only two people out of the eight groups was given a rugby ball and they practiced passing the ball down the line with the first person in each line running in sync. 

Next, we played an attacking and defending game. The attacking team uses three or two man settles to force the defending team back and score a try. The defending team touches the person with the ball and then moves back until fifthem finals.

I really enjoyed practicing using three and two man settles in a game of attacking and defending. One thing I think I could work on is balancing the players commitment and getting them involved in the three and two man settles.

LI: to practice using three and two man settles.

Maori | Maori Place Names

Our session's focus with Whaea Odie was looking for words inside phrases to translate them into english properly. Another focus was to expand our Maori vocabulary.

First we revised our daily Maori routine and answered the questions: He aha te ra inanah? He aha te huarere inanahi? and kei te pehea koe?

The second part of our task was to look at the list of  Maori place names and observe the words/phrases to see if there were other words in them. The place names were not in the right place, so the Maori names and the english names were incorrect. We applied our knowledge of Maori vocabulary to translate the place names correctly without using the Maori Dictionary. 

I really enjoyed translating the Maori place names into english. I enjoyed this experience and worked hard to expand my Maori vocabulary. One thing I think I could work on is my Maori pronunciation.

LI: to understand the Maori letters and phonics to translate everday phrases and names.

Writing | Beginning Filming

Today, we began filming our story using our screenplays, narratives and storyboards to give the actors an idea of what they have to do.

First, the actors practised learning their lines off by heart and the other group members read through the screenplays, narratives and storyboards to organise the location that the characters will be in.

After that, we started filming the four scenes of the story.

I enjoyed directing and filming the story. We found it difficult to but fun to record because some of the scenes of our story were funny and the actors forgot their lines.

LI: to create a shooting schedule.

LI: to film the footage needed.

Reading | 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 Hydnora, which is a strange plant. I found some very interesting facts about Hydnora, one fact was: Hydnora are parasitic plants that produce fruit. 

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

 LI: to learn about something new.

Reading | Novel Study Understandings | Analysing Books

 My class blogost for the final week of Mr Wong's group's final novel study can be found here:

Reading | Sequence of Events | Evaluating Text Understandings

A novel study analyses information from a story to develop a persons literature skill and understanding of the text. This novel study is based around the story, 'Matilda'. Matilda is about a little girl who loves to read, and is incredibly smart. However her own family treats her unequally.

During the weekly test, Miss Trunchbull tested the students on how well they can recall their three times tables. A student had gotten the answer wrong, so Miss Trunchbull punished them. Out of anger, Matilda used her powers to write a message on the black-board. The message frightened Miss Trunchbull, causing her to faint. Later in the week, Miss Trunchbull disappeared, leaving her house and her money to Miss Honey.

Matilda returned from school and entered her house. She found that her family was packing clothes and items into a suitcase. Her parents inform her that they are moving to Spain, but Matilda refuses to go with them. She runs out of the house and goes back to Miss Honey to inform her of what her family is doing. Miss Honey decides to adopt Matilda because of many reasons. One of which is that Matilda's family neglects her. Miss Honey becomes Matilda's legal guardian and they live a peaceful life.

It is important to understand that novel studies can help the reader and audience to analyse the text and evaluate their understanding of a book.

LI: to study a novel.