Ronald MacDonald's Visit

This morning the Year 0-3's met in the hall for a visit by Ronald MacDonald.  He came to Torbay to remind students about road safety including crossing the road safely, wearing your seat belt in the car and your helmet on your bike and scooter.

The students laughed, sang and answered questions and had a great time watching his show before morning tea.

 

Future Manolo Blahnik's!

Today the students arrived with an amazing variety of materials to begin making their shoes - thank you!

After morning tea we went into Room 21 and reminded the students about being able to modify their designs if what they were trying to do wasn't working.  We also reminded students that they were meant to build the shoe they had designed and not get distracted and make something totally different!

Once their designs were finalised we put them up in the class so they could refer to them but have more space to actually create.

Soon the room was a hive of cutting, sticking, gluing, material swapping and trading, and problem solving as the trickier aspects of making a shoe came to light.

 

 
 

It didn't take long before the shoes started to take shape - from jandals to sandals, high heels to boots.

Well done Room 20, you've done a fantastic job!

 

Dotty about Maths

This morning in our maths time we learnt to play a new game called Dotty 6.

First of all the students watched a short video which showed someone playing the game.  The challenge for the students was to work out, from watching the game being played, what the rules were.  We watched the video twice to help us understand how to play and then I went over the rules and played a game on the board with Julia as my opponent.  

Many students observed that it was a little bit like Naughts and Crosses.  The object of the game is to get three boxes in a row filled with 6 dots.  It is played in pairs and each player takes turns at rolling a dice.  The number you roll is the number of dots you are able to draw in each box up to a maximum of 6 dots.  If you roll for example a 5 you have to put all 5 dots into 1 box, you cannot put 3 dots in one box and 2 in another.  The winner is the person who completes a line of 3 boxes full of 6 dots.

I paired the students up and they sat down and began to play.  I had suggested they keep a score of how many games each player had won so they drew a chart to keep track.

Before the lesson ended everyone came and sat back down and we discussed whether it was a game of luck or skill, whether there was a number that was rolled more than others (5!) and whether that made the game harder or easier.

All the students agreed it was a really fun game to play and we will add it in to our maths tumble as an activity for groups to play.

If you would like to have a go at home this link takes you to the video the students watched and the rules. Dotty 6 video and rules

Self Portrait Update

I am very pleased to be able to say that our first self portraits are now brightening up our classroom wall and they look AMAZING!

This afternoon the students worked hard finishing the dot painting and the blocks of colour for clothes and hair.  The next task is using vivids to outline features such as eyes and noses, before finally cutting around the heads and sticking them to brightly coloured card.

Here are Hazel, Tessa, Julia's and Nicolo's portraits in pride of place on the back wall.  I can't wait to see everyone's completed portrait.  Ka pai everyone!

The dots looks really effective when combined with the block colour of clothing and hair.  I think Roy Lichenstein would be really impressed.

These boots are made for walking...

Today the whole class had a special Inquiry session with Mrs Northover.  We gathered in the new Inquiry area next to the library and were introduced to our topic of shoes.

 First Mrs Northover showed us all a video of shoes through the ages - including Greek and Roman sandals, clogs, cowboy boots, platforms and Crocs.  Then she told the students what their task was - to design a pair of shoes that had a purpose, for example to be worn to a dance or going to the beach, and that were unique to New Zealand.

To provide some further inspiration we watched another video showing some fantastically creative shoes - including some worn by Lady Gaga.  Then the students got into pairs and had to come up with a name for their design, decide how it was going to fit the set criteria and start drawing their design.  They had to make sure that it would fit an actual foot and they had to think carefully about the materials it would be made out of.

 

 

The students were really engaged in the task and were quickly coming up with ideas.  Soon everyone was busy drawing and creating and as I walked around the room I discovered lots of amazingly creative ideas.

The challenge on Friday is to make one shoe following their design.  I can't wait to see the results.

Super Sleepover

Wow, we had a fantastic time last night at our sleepover!

First of all the children had lots of fun taking part in the activities provided by Kelly Sports.  The bouncy castle was a big hit, the parachutes, throwing games and team games were also eagerly approached.  The blind obstacle course and the water challenge were real lessons in team work. Sleepover - Kelly Sports Fun on PhotoPeach

 

 



Then it was time to set up beds and have dinner. The hamburgers and chips were very tasty with lots of children going back for seconds.  The fruit and marshmallows were enjoyed immensely.

After dinner, it was time to get into pyjamas, clean teeth and settle down to watch a movie in the hall.  Finally it was bedtime.  Many students fell asleep straight away, while others took a little while longer!  But as you can see (sort of!) soon there was darkness and silence.

This morning the children began to wake around 6am and soon everyone was awake and ready to start the day.  We started with some Jump Jam in the hall while breakfast was being prepared.  Then when we had built up an appetite we were ready for cereal and fruit.

Finally it was time to go home.  Well done to all the children and parents who came along and made our sleepover such a success, and a huge thank you to all our parent helpers, we couldn't have held this fantastic event without you.

Egg Challenge

On Wednesday afternoon the Year 3 students from Rooms 19, 20 and 21 got together for another science and technology challenge.

Once again the students were put into groups and told their task.  They had to design and make a way of protecting an egg from cracking when being dropped from just over a metre height.  Each group was given 4 paper napkins, 4 straws, some string and some sellotape.  They had to decide upon and draw their design first, then they were given their materials to begin building, before finally being given the egg to finish off their "protection".

Some groups decide they would wrap the napkins around the eggs and put lots of sellotape on to help keep it safe.  Other groups attempted to make frames/holders for egg using the straws before wrapping those in the napkins.  Some groups even attempted parachutes to slow the egg down when falling as well as wrapping the egg up.

Soon it was time to test out each groups designs.  One at a time each group climbed the steps outside Room 19 and dropped their eggs on the ground.  Mrs Buchanan was in charge of checking whether the eggs had survived or cracked/smashed.  Two groups managed to drop their eggs without them breaking.

The students had a lot of fun making and testing their designs.  The task involved some critical thinking, fine motor and team work skills and the students did a great job.