The G.C. .... Myross Bush School style!

These are some photos taken of our school garden area. We are planning to have a garden club(G.C) and combining our efforts with Miro, to achieve an edible garden, worm farm, compost and reflective garden area. We are excited to be discussing what we need to do to plan, prepare and care for a garden in a sustainable way. The children have linked their living earth/inquiry learning to living in a more sustainable, eco-friendly way. They have shared that by learning these skills of planning and maintaining a garden now, they can carry them throughout their lives as a life skill as well.

Our Endemic Species

This is one of the endemic

species we hope you enjoy learning more about our special and unique creatures of NZ!

The rest of the classes writing will be on their own personal blogs. Please check them out.

Bottle Bivy - continued

Here's the next installment of our Bottle Bivy creation. We've used over 400 bottles (we think) and have about 6 layers of the roof to go. Here's the video of our timelapse footage so far!



If you are able to join us for the final Bottle Bivy party next Friday we would love to see you - 1pm, Friday 6th July. Bring your stash of bottles collected over the next week and we'll 'hopefully' finish the project.

We hope we'll see you there!

Film Festival!

It was so great to see so many parents at school this afternoon for our mini film festival! We wanted to share with everyone the learning steps that go into making our mini docos - based on our inquiry into team work.

Here is a slideshow of what we shared - there were stations set up in our class on animation, green screening, storyboarding, our lapbooks and the finished product on our big screen. We hope that for those who were able to come along, and for you seeing these photos, you are able to see the technical skills, creativity, team work and perseverance that goes into making our films!

You can see our final docos online during the holidays - once they have been uploaded. Stay tuned for that!

The Bottle Bivy Beginnings!

Today we started out bottle bivy project! Here's a sneak preview of the 'gawker' (timelapse video) we're planning to make once the making is over.



We're also asking for each student to bring a gold coin donation to help with the costs of the glue gun sticks - the build take over 60 to get the job done. Thanks to everyone who's brought bottles into school. We couldn't have started without your help and team work!

Tangata whenua now?

So what does being Tangata Whenua mean for today?

Here's a snapshot of our discussion yesterday, plus a link to a video of an example - mutton birding in the Bay of Islands.

Maths Knowledge Board

Someone had the bright idea of having our knowledge board up on the blog so they could finish it as part of their homework!  So here's this weeks board.  Great to see some people keen to work on the can dos later in the week.

'Film on the Move'- challenge!

This week I have another homework challenge for you. It was great to see so many of us getting our cameras out for the last two challenges that I thought we'd continue in that vein.

Most of us have cameras that can take video as well. Your challenge is to take 30 seconds of video with the theme of moving - that means the camera has to be moving and it has be going forward! It could be like the video below. You might be on a horse, or a bike, or maybe even a camera attached to a pet, walking around the house?

 Be creative, take your time and most important of all - be safe and kind. (masking tape and cats do not go well together!) Bring your short 30 second clip to school and we'll make one longer combined movie. Also, the most creative clip will win $200 snidges (as judged by Andy Mosse, our BBC Producer mentor!). 

 Happy filming!

Jibboo rolls along

Today's Jibboo was another showcase of creativity, teamwork and entrepreneurship.  Here are some photos of the ingenuity that has risen out of our 'you must free-to-you materials' in your businesses.

This business is selling rocks that the customer paints and designs their own 'Pet Rock.'

Nicole's brought along some home grown apples for apple bobbing. Katie is getting stuck in as a willing customer.

 Mac and Cameron's business, a long running and popular entertainment option during Jibboo, involves hitting targets with a Nerf gun (1 of them has an awesome magazine that shoots multiple Nerf bullets) and the winning total for the day wins $20 Snidges.

I am no longer surprised at the ideas that you all come up with, and the way you are all negotiating and working so well with others! Keep it up, everybody.

Bottle Bivy progress!

We're up to 240 bottles on our quest to make a bottle bivy for the class.  We're hoping to make it before the holidays but it's going to take a MAMMOTH effort to get all the bottles we need.

You can see our progress, and the efforts of other classes in the project, here at the bottle bivy site.  We're a bit behind the bottle count of a class at St Marys in Mosgiel.  Let's pick up the pace team!

We need your cleaned bottles with their lids!  Share this around with your friends and family and bring your bottles to Kauri in Room 8.

Homework Photo Challenge 2

Update - Congratulations to Mac for the winning photo.  His entry received 27 votes!  Nice work.


Here are the entries to this week's homework challenge.  Voting for this week has started, you can vote for your favourite photo using the poll at the top right (where last week's poll was).


Good luck to all those entered in this week's challenge, some good photography learning came out of this little session on macro shots. 

Remember you're looking for what you think is the best close up/macro shot. Some key things to look for: Sharp focused areas up close (with blurry/out of focus foreground and background) and just how close up they've managed to get to their subject without blurring their shot.

 Photo 1: "Stick 'em up" - By Jack 

Photo 2: "Sword Fish" - By Aiden

Photo 3: "Jewellery" - By Nicole

Photo 4: "Plants up close, at night" - By Hannah F

Photo 5: "Purple Durple" - By Emily

Photo 6: "Chains" - By Gabby

Photo 7: "Clockworm" - By Sophie S

Photo 8: "Branching out" - By Jaidene

Photo 9: "Toy close for comfort" - By Mac

Photo 10: "Hot Photo" - By Katie H

Photo 11: "Pink Rose" - By Robert

Can dos - Week 8

Piktochart
Here's an infographic I made from our Parent Survey in Term 1.  What can you make?

Solo charts for this can-do are on the blue table!

Mini Doco Rubric

We're going to use this rubric to help us create some amazing docos.  Where is your group's doco placed for each of these categories?  Now work out what your next steps are.

Homework Photo Challenge 2

Firstly, a big well done to both Ben and Sophie W. It turns out there was a little confusion with the closing time for the photo challenge, and by the actual closing time, Ben and Sophie were both at 41 votes each. So after discussing it with Mr. Herring, we decided they both came in first equal. Well done to both of you! 

Since the photo challenge was so popular with the class, I've decided to hold another challenge. This time we're doing close ups! Photographers call these special types of photos macro shots, and when done properly you can catch some really cool close up photos. Below is a piece of jewellery taken up close with a macro setting. To take the same sort of photo with your digital camera switch the wee dial to the flower icon. If you can't see this on your camera, ask a parent if they can help you find it. Once you have your camera set to macro mode, half-pressing the shutter button (pressing it softly) will focus the lens on where you're aiming.

You'll have until Wednesday 7pm to email your photo to me. I'll post them up and start a poll for voting, which will run until Monday. $100 snidges will be up for grabs for the best close up/macro shot.

Some ideas for close up photos:

• Jewellery
• Flowers
• Plants
• Bugs (but not squashed, yuck!)

Email your photos to Mr. Murray at

mattmurraynz@gmail.com

Good luck everyone!

Mini Doco Progress

This week we've started producing our mini docos.  Here are some photos that show what's involved in putting them together.  There are three weeks to go!

Bruce and Benjamin are green screening some commentary in the Library.

Ben and Jack are well underway making an animation using lego that will help them describe how the treaty was signed.

 Nichole, Aleisha, Gabby and Logan are making some cardboard cutouts that they'll use in their doco as puppets.

A visit from an expert - film producer

Today we had a visit from Andy Mosse who is a producer with the BBC.  He showed us some of the films and documentaries he has produced.

 Here's a series of 'how tos' that he made called, 'Wu How Ninjas."



Then he showed us all of the roles that people play to make a film.  There are camera people, a sound person, a 'clapper', a co-producer' and lots more.  It was amazing to hear that there were more than 17 people who worked on the documentary about WW2 he produced.

Some of us had a go at taking a role to shoot a scene.  Each person had something to do before the camera started shooting.  It was a massive team effort!

It was great to be able to ask Andy questions about all the equipment he uses and how he became a producer - starting as a runner and working his way up from there.

I wonder if there will be some students from our school who will become producers when they grow up?  I'm sure that we're all pretty motivated to make our mini-documentaries over the next three weeks!

Homework Photo Challenge - perfect timing!

Here are the entries to this week's homework challenge.  Remember to send them to me by 9am Friday morning to be in with a chance to win $100 snidges - the votes will be cast over the weekend and the winner revealed on Monday.

Thomas - "Rugby Dog"

Sophie - "Jumper"

Sophie S - "Gemma going really fast."

Aleisha - "Bindi the jungle girl."

Rebbeca - "Digging for Gold (in the snow)"

Ben W - "Cat Yawn"

Per(uuuuur)fect Timing

Do you like this photo?  It was taken by Ben W on his ipad at home and he emailed it to me this morning.  This is his cat taking some time out on their couch.

It got me thinking - are you great at taking pictures?  The secret to this photo (I think) by Ben is that the head is in focus and the timing is fantastic.

Let's have a photo challenge for the week!  The best photo, emailed to me by Friday, 9am and posted on our blog, as voted by us, will win $100 snidges!  The theme will be perfect timing (you don't have to have a cat theme...I think the internet has plenty of cat photos) and you'll do well if it captures people's attention in some way.

So - get snapping and have fun!

Young Leaders Reflections

Have you read what we've written about the Young Leaders Trip?  There are some great reflections on our kidblogs and here are some links to two that showed the impact it has had.

It's great to see parents commenting our posts, too.  What a great way to join in the learning that's happening with your student!

Is learning cool?

Today we used a stem chart to dig into what learning means for us.  We started by using a word association game for the word 'tree'.  We had to write three words that came to mind, and then words about those words and so on.

Once we had the 'knack' we did the same with the word, 'learning.'  Then we associated words with those words until our stems were quite chock-a-block.  Here are some of our stem charts...

Next we looked at our stem charts and made a summary statement starting with, 'Learning to me means...'  It was really interesting to hear the different responses and how differently we all see learning.  Some of us really liked learning and achieved great success while a few others had quite negative things to say about learning.

Then we talked about why some liked it and some didn't - why are there happy learners and unhappy learners.  It all came down to us!  This chart we made below showed us that our attitude and choices determine how much we achieve and succeed at school - no matter how smart we are.

 The last discussion we had, which got quite philosophical, was about whether we thought the happy learner was 'cool' or not and many of us thought that they were not!  It's interesting that for a lot of our class (mostly boys), the coolest person was the unhappy learner.  "It's cool to not like school."  "I don;t want to be a geek!"  I thought this was pretty sad that some of us thought that way and we'll be looking at ways we can change this thinking over the next few weeks.

I finished the session with something to think about.  I shared with everyone that when we leave school this perception of who is cool changes.  People who learn and try their best are the ones who have the most opportunities and can do what they want in life.  They get to achieve their goals and live their passion.  This gives them opportunities and life long learners have the world at their finger tips - now THAT'S cool!

What do you think?  This would make a GREAT discussion at the dinner table...  Please comment below or on our recorded message service on the right hand side of the blog.

Why did Maori and the British sign a treaty?

We're going to watch this series from the TVNZ about how Te Tiriti came about over the next few days.  Watch closely and use your 'synthesizing' skills to pice together answers to our questions;

 - why did the British create a treaty?
 - why did the Maori sign it?
 - what did it mean for maori?
 - what did it mean for the British and everyone else?

Synthesizing!

We're still learning how to 'synthesize' when we read - this helps us make conclusions about what we're learning about NZ history and the different cultures we have here.

This poster gives us a visual reminder of how we synthesize.  We'll use this link to dig a little deeper and even further in our small groups.

Ta Moko

The Year 5s made these amazing Ta Moko while the rest of us were at the Young Leaders Conference.  Ms Duncan helped them understand what the Moko represent and the significance of them for Maori, both in the past and today.  Great job, Year 5s!

BYOD Trial - so far so great!

Our BYOD trial for the term has ended for the first week. Below you can see the 'stem chart' of some issues as potential solutions we came up with on Wednesday. Two new ideas came from our discussion -

1.  It will be important for every family bringing a device to ensure that their contents insurance covers the protection of that device at school.  Most insurance policies do but it is worth noting.

2.  We discussed what 'personal use' means.  Does this include having another student helping me on my device count?  We thought it would as it's hard to work collaboratively and not share a device.  This will ONLY be under supervision by the owner, though.

Some other reflections by the class have been frustrations with the wireless connection - it's been very slow this week (due to a number of factors) and we're looking at solutions to speed things up.  We also think it's great having a device there, ready to use when ever we need one - even if you don't have your own.  The ratio of students to devices in our class today was 1:2 (compared with 1:4).  It made is super easy to get access to our blogs!

If you have any thoughts, suggestions or questions that may come up over the next few weeks, please talk, email or comment on this post.  This trial is our chance to discover the 'tweaks' and work ons.  We'll keep you posted over the next few weeks!

Bulletin!

What happened to the land?

The land ownership in NZ changed dramatically when Europeans started arriving.  Watch this video and see the changes over the years.

Create a skit, drama, poster, oral story of the main points from this video.

Dunedin - Young Leaders!

On Monday and Tuesday of this week our Year 6s went to Dunedin for the Young Leaders Conference. We also had a visit to the Art Gallery, Moana Pools and stayed overnight in the Museum!

 You can read our reflections on our kidblogs soon but here are some photos from the trip. Parents - ask your child to describe what's happening in each photo - you'll get a great idea of what we did from their stories!

 

Earthquake Video - Young Leaders

One of the speakers from the Young Leaders Conference spoke about making a difference in what ever way we can.  He decided to make a music video of a song her wrote to cheer up the people of Christchurch. - Here is the video (I've had 3 seperate requests to post this video since getting to school!)

Hand Art

Our learning word of the week is 'acceptance.' We wanted to practise our teamwork skills, create some art and show how our differences can be a good thing when working together.

To create this hand art we had to trace and cut out our hands while having strengths and weaknesses from the rest of our team. Some had no eyes, some had no hands, ears or voice. It was quite a challenge!

House Hippos!

Should we believe everything we see on the internet or on tv? Watch this amazing video and use clues to see if it's real or not.

   

 - did you think the hippo was a real creature? 

- what gave you a clue before the ending?

Now have a look at these websites about the 'Tree Crab.' 

Tree Crab

Coconut Crab

  - is the Tree Crab real?  

  - how could you tell?

  - Make a list of things to look for when searching online to tell if information is credible or not.

Are you excited about the Year 6 Trip?

You should be amped!

Weekly Roundup

This week we revamped our Tree of Fame!  Have you seen how many of us have reached the top of the success ladder already?  We're all impressed with the improvement they have made this year - who will make it next?

One of our maths objectives this week was to learn how to measure the volume of a 3d shape.  Here are some photos that show the steps some of our maths groups went through to measure the height and width- and then multiply it by the depth.  Ask your child to explain each photo and what we are doing in each one!  Don't forget to add the little '3' at the end to show you are measuring 3 dimensions! eg. 22 cm3.

 

Lastly - we have been working teams this week and we've practised being leaders, being helpers, sharing and listening to our team members and also making sure that everyone pulls their weight.  This week our goal was to make some 'people pyramids'.  What do you think of our pile ups?