Shave for A Cure...and it is gone!!

Our Sports Day team. Well done everyone!

Golfing Superstars

One of the games we tried was golf. 

Believe it or not, we have some excellent golfers in rooms 9&10.

We learned how to hold the club, how to stand, how to swing the club, then we had a go with some really cool big headed clubs.

There were 3 targets set up and we tried to hit the ball to the target.  Some of did manage to hit the target but others of us (like me) weren't even close.  I think I need a bit more practice.

Having a go at Speedball

One of the new sports that we played was speedball.  It seems to be a mix between netball, handball, football, and volleyball.  There are 2 goals at the ends of the field, but you can choose which goal you want to score in.  There is no goalie, but you do have shooters and defenders.

It's a really fast game and great for developing passing and teamwork.

3...2...1...Dodgeball!

Team briefing

Where did that big kid come from?

Does one of these kids look a little bit bigger than the others?

Playing Dodgeball

  

We learned some of the basic rules of dodgeball, the real game, not the way Mr. Pampalone Plays.  It was great fun and I'm pretty sure the scores were tied in the end.  Each team won 1, lost 1, and we tied 1.

Learning some dodgeball basics

Before we actually played the game, we had to learn some of the basics of the game.

Visual Language - Interpretation

We have been learning to use interpretation skills to create meaning and understand the message.

When we interpret something we are:

• Using clues to figure out the meaning.
• Translating what is going on.

Our task is to choose 2 or 3 photos from the slides and answer these questions for each one:

1. What can you see in the background of the photo?

2. Who are the people?

3. What might have happened before this photo?

4. What might happen after this photo?

5. What emotions are being felt or shown?

6. What do you think is just outside the frame of this photo?

7. Could there be an audience? Who are they?

8. What message could you take from this photo?

We did it together using this photo:

What do you notice?

Wonder Pg. 60-75 - The Value of Kindness

When have you just not wanted to talk about things, when someone is asking you lots of questions about something that may have happened?

August’s dad asked ‘Was it really an ok day?’ Trying to dig deeper. ‘You’ve been so quiet all night long’... ‘But it was really ok?’

Even though August didn’t feel like talking, his dad’s questions ended with an honest open conversation.

August’s mum was trying to comfort and encourage him. Then August said ‘Words can’t change my face’.

No one has been hassling him about his face. So what made Auggy feel this way at this time?

• other’s actions are speaking louder than words. People noticed and reacted even when they were trying not to.

Why could Jack ask straight up questions about his face and make jokes without it making August upset?

• They are friends - you can laugh with your friends
• Perhaps this is the moment they have become close friends
• It’s sometimes harder to cope with people who are pretending they aren’t noticing when you know they are.  
• Maybe honesty and openness comes after kindness and trust has been developed.

Precept - ‘Your deeds are your monuments’

August’s definition: ‘The things we do are more important than what we say or what we look like… Your deeds are like monuments, built with memories instead of stone’

‘The photograper looked like he just sucked on a lemon when he saw me’.

Activity:

We had a debate around the question: Is it better to be right or be kind?

What do you think? If you had the choice between being right and being kind, which would you chose?

Reflections

Mr. McC and Mr. Pampalone have been doing lots of reflection about our classroom programme and how it is working.

As a class we all reflected together to see if we could make our programme better and meet everyone's learning needs better.

We used the headings: Keep, Change, Start & Stop and here are our ideas.

Today we sent out our forms to help collect information

I'm always amazed at the amount of interaction that computers can create in the classroom.  Today we sent out our Google Forms to each other and took some time to answer them.  The kids had a great time reading each others questions and answering them.  

Our next step is going to be to look at the data that we have gathered and create a report to give back to the class.  Hopefully all the groups will have some great ideas on how we can make our class spaces and the school a better place to be in.

Oral story telling

This afternoon we've been working on our 'Oral Story Telling'. In groups we chose a book, read the book then we decided what types of gestures we would use to help us tell the story.

Eventually, we will be having our 'Story Telling Competition' where each of us will choose our own favourite story and tell it to the class, using our awesome story telling voices, our gestures, our facial features and our characterisation. 

Visual Language - Conveying a Message

Visual language often has a message or a meaning. Sometimes those message a unclear or hidden.

Things in the background can give us clues about what might be happening.

What can we ask to help us understand the message of an image?

• Why is she wearing a mask?
• Why is she carrying a lamb?
• How come there are no other animals around?
• What is she looking at?
• Is she running away from something? What is it?
• What is just outside the frame? What can’t we see?

What might be outside the frame?

• There could be a house
• Maybe there are other animals
• Maybe there has been a fire - Is the sky full of grey clouds or is it smokey?

What is our eye drawn to first?

• The girl - She is wearing bright red, she is close to the front and is the biggest thing in the picture, it is unusual to see someone carrying a lamb and wearing a mask.

What message can we take from the photo?

• Never leave anyone behind.
• Be selfless.
• Even when you are protecting others make sure you protect yourself.

Wonder Pg. 31-44 - Embarrassing Moments

“Okay, so is he the kind of kid who’s  one way in front of grown-ups and another way in front of kids?”

• This is August’s mum asking about Julian.
• We talked about the word integrity, or being honest about who you are.

“what I really wanted was to just slide under the desk” - August in class.

When have you ever felt awkward or embarrassed and you wanted to ‘slide under the desk’?

• Calling a stranger mum in a shop.
• Someone pulling down your pants in front of other people.
• Not wanting other people see you crying.
• Accidentally saying the wrong thing in front of your family.
• Doing something silly in front of a big group of people.
• Trying to scare a friend but finding out it was a stranger!
• Hugging a stranger when you think they are your dad!

Wonder Pg. 15-30 - First Impressions

August goes to his new school for the first time. There are 3 other students who show him around the school.

When we meet people for the first time we get an impression or an idea about what the person is like. Sometimes our impressions can be true and sometimes they can be assumptions we make.

What do you think the other characters’ (Julian, Mr. Tushman, Miss Garcia, Charlotte or Jack) first impressions of August were?

Wonder - Pg. 1-14 New Beginnings

We are reading Wonder by R. J. Palacino. We will be recording our thoughts and discsussion as we go.

We learnt that August’s mum and dad are thinking about sending August to a new school.

Can you think of a time that you had started something new. What happened? How did you feel? Why?

We talked about the phrase: like a lamb to the slaughter.

• Something you say about someone who calmly goes into a situation without knowing something bad is going to happen.

Think about a time that you did something for the first time. Share that with you group and imagine you have taken a photo of the moment (freezeframe).

Visual Language - What’s the purpose?

We are learning about visual language on Friday's with Mr Collingwood. We thought about the purpose of visual language.

All visual language is communication.

Some purposes are:

• to warn
• to entertain
• advertising
• to tell something
• to persuade

Look at each image and discuss these 2 questions:

• What is the message each image is communicating?
• What is the main purpose of each image?

What is the message the image is communicating?

Don’t go further. It’s a travel warning.

What is the main purpose of this image?

The purpose is to warn.

What is the message the image is communicating?

The factory shop is here - Even though it only says the name it’s telling us to come in and enjoy the delicious chocolate.

What is the main purpose of this image?

It’s advertising Cadbury chocolate.

Companies keep logos the same so that people recognise them and they know what the product is even without reading it properly.

What is the message the image is communicating?

It might be about loving your family or family is important.

What is the main purpose of this image?

Creating a memory or reminding us of a memory.

What is the message the image is communicating?

This person is dangerous and there is a reward available if you find them.

What is the main purpose of this image?

Mostly warning but it could be advertising as well.

What is the message the image is communicating?

No dogs allowed.

What is the main purpose of this image?

Telling or informing.

What is the message the image is communicating?

Animals can have and show love as well.

What is the main purpose of this image?

To entertain and to get other people to post and share it.

Literacy Group 2 - Whirligigs

Literacy Group 2 have been reading about how helicopters work and we had a go at making whirligigs (or straw helicopters) using these instructions:

The instructions weren't very clear and none of our whirligigs worked! So, we skyped Drew who is training to be a pilot in the Air force. He told us a bit more about how flying and helicopters work and gave us some tips to improve our whirligigs:

1. Make the rotor blades shorter. This is because most of the lift happens at the tips of the rotor blades and if they are too long they won't create enough lift.
2. Angle the rotor blades slightly. This helps because the rotor blades then push some of the air downwards which creates the lift.
3. Spin them faster!

Using Drew's advice, we had another go at making the whirligigs and this time some of them worked!