Last Wednesday and Thursday of Term 1

Today was all about finishing off. The morning up until lunch time was dedicated to Science Reports, the Storm Boy essay on film angles, the symmetry unit and the  Shape boards. I reiterated the fact that the camera angles discussed in the essays need to refer to specific examples in the film. I modelled the writing of a paragraph about the arc angle and how it was used effectively in the film referring especially to the mysterious and scary nature of Fingerbill's encampment.

After lunch students had quiet reading, music options. In pairs and small groups they  learned some new games for inside and out like hopscotch, King, SOS etc so they could teach their buddies how to play them tomorrow at 12-00 when we have a scheduled Buddies session.  Students also had access to a few new and intriguing nets to 3D shapes which they could add to their boards if they so wished.

I also might like to add, the class received a little reward from Mrs Sutton for being the best behaved group in library for the last fortnight...so I am so proud of them all.

Thursday was another finishing off day ending with a school music assembly. We also had an extended buddies session where the grade 2/3's showed my class all about a game of marbles and then my students ran various games such as hopscotch, skipping with chants, origami and logic games.  Well done to those 16 students who handed in their Science Report by the due date.

Where is 'Storm Boy' Greg Rowe now? Monday/Tuesday

Tomorrow we will watch this clip and then students will have the morning to write up the notes about the camera angles in their Storm Boy booklets  that we focused on so closely on Friday.

The Spelling words for this week are: ure and words with  tricky double consonants:

signature sufficient
temperature    territory
measure committee
treasure suffocate
moisture graffiti
manufacture assassin
culture curriculum
pressure apparatus
gesture colleague
literature appropriate

As it is a short week this final week of term one, the tests will be held on Thursday afternoon.

Today, Tuesday we did Spelling Bingo, spent the morning working on essays on the use of filming techniques in Storm Boy. We discussed what the introduction could look like and students then wrote a few more paragraphs focuses on the different angles used with specific reference to the film

Following recess and daily phys.ed we started on the next major unit which focuses on bilateral, rotational, planes of symmetry and their applications in the real world. The front cover of the booklet they have is the assessment and states clearly what is being assessed in this unit. We will also be doing some simple collage work to show bilateral symmetry.  Then it was off to library. The afternoon block was dedicated to Quiet Reading, symmetry work, science report writing, and more time on the Storm Boy essay.

Sample, KF and AW are working on another approach

The girls started on their reflective diaries.

More on Camera angles and Mr Percival

 Spelling Bingo, spelling tests, survey on spelling strategies, guess the     number (which we haven't played for a while) and then the main  emphasis of the day was on camera angles in relation to the film Storm  Boy.

 We looked again at the notes we had taken from this short  presentation done as a project by a high school student and clarified  what each type of shot was. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwbsYgZ7d-8

We then watched Storm Boy again pausing it from time to time to discuss the use of the angles to achieve different details and emotions. On Tuesday students will be using their notes to write up their mini "essay" on how angles were employed in the film.

 We also focused on what happened to Mr Percival (Gringo) after the filming of Storm Boy and read two very interesting news articles about the three pelicans who were used in the film. Gringo has passed on to Pelican heaven and the other two are still living at the Adelaide Zoo. We discussed the vocabulary and how such articles can be useful when writing about films. 

Students also had some time on their film summary pro formas in their Writers' Notebooks and did the desk change ready for the last week of term.

Here is a short excerpt from this classic film:
http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/storm-boy/clip2/#

Two students PS and KS had three lessons to work on publishing their Science reports whilst OF and BS were working on their 3D Explanatory texts.

Students who did not achieve full scores on their respective spelling tests have postcards with the one to five words they need to learn.

Canteen Roster...SRC, Naplan, Physical Education, 3D Shapes and Art

The second day of Naplan testing passed fairly quietly. The grade 6 students completed a reading test whilst the grade 5's did the Naplan reading component. After that students scored a Physical Education lesson much to their delight. 

After recess it was onto the final in class session on their 3D shapes boards. Students can now make their additional shapes at home and stick them on as they complete them.  Twelve students now have produced their A3 Explanatory posters focusing on their chosen two 3D shapes.

In the afternoon, some students had art (the ones who didn't have it  last week, half the class) and music options went ahead as usual. I also went through the persuasive texts with individual grade 6 students and dicussed their assessments and the  progress they have made individually. Some students really took on boardwhat they needed to do to achieve a higher result. This is a really important skill/realizaton to have, to  recognise what needs improving and to actively work on it.  Those students who didn't have art continued with their shapes boards and their Explanatory texts. I am really over the moon with the standard on this and students are achieving good results with a small amount of teacher guidance.

Most students have now handed in their Storm Boy covers or story boards and next Tuesday we will write up the information on the camera angles and filming techniques used in the film.

Canteen roster, I will put this up in the room on Tuesday when I return. I have only just managed to access my email as my connection at school is dodgy.  This Friday KF is on at recess and NS is on at lunch. I was pleased to see how responsibly these grade 5 students were doing their jobs today, as I have canteen duty on Wednesdays at lunch time. Their manners were impeccable. Well done girls.

SRC update, today at recess during our fortnightly SRC meeting, the students voted overwhelmingly in favour of Cystic Fibrosis for the local charity, and a team of five representing grade 2 to grade 6 students has been organised to paint over the graffiti on the climbing wall under the supervision of our wonderful groundsman Norm Hopwood.

Get well VL, because we miss you!

Exit Mould and Camera Angles

Today we shipped out the mould as it was starting to smell pretty bad and could become a safety issue.   I took a photo of the class behind the mould and later they will receive a photo each as a memento of the time mould invaded our classroom. Students have collected enough data to write up their reports. We looked at some possible ways of graphing the data and also at the online program Create A Graph which students might like to try to master.

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx 

Installation made by two of the girls: EXIT mould

Shapes boards are shaping up

Shapes Board

Shapes Board

After recess we continued on with Shapes Boards and naming the shapes and recording information about their faces, edges and vertices.  I gave out a few more interesting nets on card. Student might also look for a few of their own. Three more students completed their Explanatory texts using ICT.

After lunch we had Silent Reading and then looked at they way camera angles can be used in film. On Tuesday we will be looking in detail at the way they have been used in the film Storm Boy.

3D Shape Boards and the artistic side of the common old cube...

Today we spent the majority of the day on our 3D shape boards. Music options went on as usual. This morning only half the class headed off next door for their art lesson whilst I worked with the remaining twelve students on their 3D shapes and explanatory posters.  Next Wednesday they will swap over. This allows Mel to spend more time helping a smaller group with their string prints.  All students are drawing birds and then using string to give definition to the pictures which will be printed at a later date.

String print

The shapes boards will be pinned to the display boards when not in use so to keep them safe. Students should now have four shapes made from scratch using their own hand-drawn nets (cube, rectangular prism, tetrahedron and a square-based pyramid. They are receiving nets daily to construct and add to their boards.

3D shape boards

Working on their shapes

An outstanding effort by AK, very impressive!

A new improved rectangular prism, well done.

I also brought some of my son's award winning bunnies into the room which he made completely from scratch adapting nets to make bunnies. He made these in his first year at Hobart College. Here are three out of a series of fifteen. We discussed cardboard models, skeleton models and hybrids models in relation to these artworks. I really want students to see the connection of learning about 3D shapes to the real world and also the artistic world.

Model bunnies

Below is an example of an Explanatory poster produced using ICT skills by a capable grade 5 boy. 

Here is another outstanding effort

I found this by accident on the internet on Sunday. I made these artistic picture cubes with some Blackmans Bay students some nine years ago. Here is one I designed using Graeme Base illustrations as an inspiration. This is an exceedingly challenging activity and you have to think outside the square BUT it is on offer for those students ho feel they have the design and perseverance skills. This one is obviously produced with a printing aid. The ones below are hand-drawn.

The Lorax assignments came off the display wall today and are now in students' portfolios along with their individual assessments. Tomorrow, those students who finished their persuasive posters promoting picture books which have war as a theme, will be sharing them in the afternoon book buddy assembly. Here are three examples:

I might also add, I am currently marking this week's spelling which focused on "tion" words and the standard is very high. Three students have promised me they will have theirs in by tomorrow. Tonight's homework is to start a cover or storyboard panel (which I showed them how to do) on Storm Boy.

"tion" words, Storm Boy, 3D shapes and Softies

We started the morning with spelling bingo and then had a quick look at the "tion" words they will be working on as part of their literacy on Monday with Mrs Klonaris. I asked students to see if they could work out the base word for each of the nouns. It was then on to viewing Storm Boy. Nearly the whole class has now read this Australian classic. 

After the movie students were given the nets for some 3D shapes they will be making up for their Shapes Boards. They have now finished with the hand drawn nets of tetrahedrons, cubes, rectangular prisms and squared-based pyramids. The shapes included a truncated pyramid, a stepped pyramid and a double hexagonal pyramid. On Tuesday they each receive a piece of card on which to glue their shapes, name them and write about the attributes of each one under it,  such as its number of faces, edges and vertices. I told them about Euler's law too.  The number of faces plus vertices - 2 will give you the number of edges. 

This chart may assist some students when it comes to naming and writing up about their shapes.

After lunch we settled into making more of our softies.

.

Square Numbers, Emotive Language, and...Photo Story Instruction

This morning students did the normal spelling bingo game and then it was  time to do a quick survey with students writing about what they know about digital cameras, computers, programs and what skills they feel they have...as well as listing what they would like to learn about. 

It was then on to Monster Grid number 4.  The good news is that now 13 students are doing the hundred facts in under 10 minutes, which means at least they are now on the graph. Spare monster grids are available from the classroom for extra practice. 

We then moved on to a structured lesson on square numbers, starting with the basics and moving into some more demanding questions for a small group. To begin with we read out the different definitions of square numbers from four different maths dictionaries and watched two short film clips about them,  one in which there was glaring error. We discussed the fact that you have to be astute  and not blindingly accepting when using online materials as sometimes  they do contain errors. We then did a very hands on activity using grids and counters to model square numbers. Students have to complete their explanation of how square numbers work tonight for homework. Being able to reflect on a lesson and mathematically explain their thinking are higher order processes and a really great way to measure a student's understanding of a concept. Other areas of maths which this lesson focused on were arrays and area. Four students also have a Copy of Storm Boy to read over the next few weeks.

Making square numbers

Square numbers to a hundred

After their first daily physical education lesson, about 11-25 by the time all students were back in the room, we talked about the importance of personal organisation and discussed different way that tote trays could be organised as about a third of the class is experiencing problems with looking after and storing their gear. A little more time was given to complete the square numbers activity and then it was on to emotive language.

Students need to have a handle on this if they are to write convincing persuasive texts, which is our next port of call in literacy. (We have also been focusing on idioms). Each table had to write about an incident about a boy or a girl being bitten by a dog in a park, or wherever the group decided. Four viewpoints have to be represented with the writer trying to persuade the audience that their version is the most convincing. The viewpoints come from:

the dog
the child,
the parent of the child
the dog owner

Most students really tried hard with this and I have asked students to revisit and further refine their written pieces this Wednesday night for homework.  Some students have started publishing their pieces and are gaining experience in  inserting a relevant image. Students can either write the top copy up by hand or publish it.  They will be receiving a peer assessment on this task as well as from me.

After lunch students had extra time to revisit their emotive language piece, quiet reading and then a 40 minute lesson on making folders, finding a program, transfering images from a variety of sources, cropping photos and making a Photo Story. We are using the photos from our t-ball game. This lesson will be continued tomorrow.