Maths Relay, Magic Words Performance, One Hundred & Softies

This morning basically went, Spelling Bongo, Spelling Test, Quiet Reading and Maths Relay. The relay was extremely close. It was won by a team of boys. All but one group finished the 20 questions.

                              

After recess we all attended a performance called Magical Words starring Sarah and Jan by Brainstorn Productions. Here is a bit about it:

"The Magic Words looks at values, respect and general rude aggressive behaviour. It’s about not pushing in, waiting your turn, saying please and thankyou, and saying sorry if you do something wrong.

Rolf is constantly on detention, has no friends and although Mum and Dad give him everything he wants, he is extremely unhappy. When he has to co-operate with a classmate, Rhiannon, to finish a project they are rude and aggressive.

Their bad feelings begin to radiate through the universe creating havoc on other planets. An alien spacecraft crashes to Earth and Rolf meets Zanna, who is on a special mission to find the secret to happiness.

When he pursues some-one he knows will be able to provide the secret to happiness, Rolf begins to see the direct result of his selfish, obnoxious behaviour. Mrs McKay is appalled at his lack of manners, he bullies the library monitor and insults the cricket coach.
When he smiles, waits his turn, says “excuse me”, “please”, and “thank-you”, tells the truth and considers other people feelings, a whole new world opens up to him. Through one painful lesson after another Rolf and Zanna discover the secret to happiness is giving and receiving respect, feeling proud of your actions, and cooperating to reach a goal.

A spectacular finale with singing and dancing from around the world reinforces the message that wherever you are, using the magic words changes people lives."

After this we managed to do Monster Grid 7. Following the lunch break, I modelled how to play the One Hundred Game with a grade 5 boy as my worthy opponent. Students seemed to enjoy this and played in pairs with the winner being the one who did the best over three games

Then finally, much to everyone's delight, we had forty minutes to do some of our Softies Unit. Rhetorical questions will have to wait until later next week. Many students are up to the pattern design stage and are starting to cut out the shapes they need and think about the order of sewing. They did a marvellous job of cleaning up after themselves and Mr Hopwood who is cleaning our room at the moment is happy with the way we leave the classroom.

                             

Grade 5 students took their tote trays down to Mr Stafford's classroom as they will be working in that room on Monday whilst I  am at camp with the grade 6 students. They will need to go directly to his classroom upon arriving at school. I will return Tuesday morning to teach Mr Stafford's class and mine on Tuesday in our classroom. Now, this means I have to get out of bed at 6 in order to drive back from camp. Hmmm, could be interesting. Good luck to all those students participating in the Huon and Channel Swimming Carnival on Monday.

Maths Relay

Okay, another day done and dusted.  The usual Spelling Bingo followed by the spelling testing of the two groups. The words causing the most issues were receipt and reindeer. Students should have added any corrections to their ISL cards. Silent reading is usually done Monday mornings for 20 minutes whilst I mark the tests and give students their individual feedback.

The Maths Relay really went extremely well with students competing to answer fifteen maths problems at the basic and intermediate level. I must say I have never seen them all working so hard! The teams of four  were of mixed ability and the range between the top team and the "bottom" team was a mere 7 points, so the teams are very competitive. They all finished within seven minutes of each other as well. The average score was 71.3, and the mode was 71. The winning team scored 76 points. On Tuesday we will run another relay using intermediate and advanced questions. 

After recess, we revisited the self evaluations  paragraphs on the cubes as some were a little light on in content. Three students shared some really good examples and we discussed the use of  full sentences answers, how to write a logical paragraph pinpointing problem areas, and areas of success. I then modelled making a cube from cardboard from scratch, and students had their second attempt, all being issued with an A4 piece of cardboard. I only saw one lip drop this time. Most were  much better but we agreed we need to get some PVC glue which is easier to work with than glue sticks, as this batch are of  dubious strength.  I will get my hands on some over the next few days. 

After lunch we cleaned up Australia for twenty five minutes with our book buddies and then returned to class to complete any unfinished work for the week. I will use the photos I took of this momentous occasion to demonstrate how to make a PhotoStory next week.  Five students have extension on The Pinballs because of absenteeism for one reason or another. One student shared her PowerPoint on The Pinballs and she did a fabulous job. One student has finished his jigsaw of a hydra and it is amazing. He should feel very proud of himself. I worked with three students who learnt how to make a folded box which will contain their completed jigsaws. 

Thankyou Rachel for sending along some measuring cups.

REMEMBER Tuesday is the swimming carnival and students need to pack the appropriate clothes for the day. I suggest a couple of plastic bags also for all those soggy towels.

And now...sigh, I better go do a week's housework.
Enjoy the long weekend.