Friday Fun

Here I am, trying again to keep the Friday Fun posts happening. I think the trick is to write it as we work through the week. A little each night is much more manageable than a big chunk at the end of the week when I would really prefer to be relaxing with my husband, enjoying take-away Indian food and a glass of Shiraz!

Our Inquiry

As well as continuing our work on reconciliation this week, we have jumped further back in time to learn about Indigenous Australian lifestyle prior to European settlement.

On Monday and Tuesday I worked with each group on their reconciliation plan and helped them to do some fine-tuning. One great thing about using the Explain Everything app, was that it was fairly easy to edit and make adjustments - changing pictures which perhaps weren't as effective, re-wording phrases where inaccurate information was being shared.

Through the students' work I was able to see some common misunderstandings and correct these during class discussion. Some things that needed clarifying were: that the stolen generations were taken long ago and are now parents and grandparents, and that Indigenous Australians don't want our pity - but rather our acknowledgement of the past and a commitment to an improved future together. On the weekend I had found out about an Aboriginal health service in our local area, so we have tailored our fundraising proposal to that end.

In the afternoons we watched the "before time" episodes of My Place Series 2. Students took notes on the first day, recording facts and questions under the headings - "The video showed" and "It made me wonder". Part way through viewing, we paused the video for students to discuss what they had seen and wondered so far. We encouraged students to think about Aboriginal lifestyle prior to European settlement (food, clothing, shelter, customs, environment) rather than focus on the plot of the story. Students then worked in teams of four to create a mind map with the Inspiration iPad app. The My Place Website is a great follow on from the videos.

Here is a picture of my mind map:

As part of our 30 Days of Drawing project (not consecutive days for us - more like one a week!) students took the statements about the connection to the land from Idjhil by Helen Bell and illustrated what one of the statements meant to them. The quality of student images was very impressive.

We also discussed the central idea of our inquiry unit: Indigenous cultures change over time. We thought of other words that could be used in place of the words in this idea. Students then used Socrative on the iPads to log how they would phrase the inquiry in their own words.
This was a quick and easy way to compile our ideas in one document, print and display. It was my second time with Socrative after a miserable failure last time. This time we ensured we were all connected to the internet before starting the app.

Maths

In our Maths lessons at the start of the week, we worked on the four times tables. We looked at the strategy "double, double again" and students practised applying this method. We practised with the Tables Toons on Mathletics along with a dice rolling game and a card game.

For the dice game, students simply rolled the dice and multiplied by 4 (doubling, doubling again if they couldn't recall the answer immediately).

For the card game, they played in pairs with a standard deck of cards (K, Q, J = 10, A=1, Jokers removed). The first student shuffled the cards and fanned them out for the second student to select one. The second student multiplied the number by 4 and gave the answer. The first student then tried to work out the card number by dividing by 4. This game helps students to see the connection between multiplication and division and assists with recall of facts.

I encouraged students to use these games at home to practise their tables.

Students also explored fractions using resources on Scootle, as well as iPads. In one of our sessions they used Notability to compare fraction sizes. In another session they worked with fractions of a group and used Explain Everything to record their thinking. These lessons will be explained in greater detail for Tech Tips in upcoming weeks.

Literacy

Students have been working on stories that they planned and began writing earlier in the term. We are trying to see these through to publication as books to put on our shelves. It is taking quite some time for students to complete the whole process, and we have had many interruptions.

We also read some Dreaming stories and students used post-it notes to jot down their thoughts on the following questions:

What are Dreaming stories?

What are their features and purpose?

Who is the audience?

We discussed these ideas and they were compiled into one document.


We've had another great week, full of new learning and challenges. Next week we head off on our school camp - hoping for warm weather and no rain!

Friday Fun - 24/7/09

It was the first week back, but already the holidays are a distant memory. This week I began my 4-week role as an acting School Leader C. What does this mean? Well, as a beginner, it meant dressing up and sorting Mathletics for everyone across the school whilst also trying to start a new term with my class. I don't feel that I juggled it all particularly well this week but, for a beginner, I think I'm doing okay. I'm enjoying the opportunity and hope to learn and grow through it during the next few weeks. In the classroom we had a great start to the fresh term.

Fun This Week

Reciprocal Reading and Cooperative Reading
Mr Tucker's class is using a new series of Reciprocal Reading Texts this term and groups are focused on using the roles as they read.
My class is trying a version of Cooperative Reading where students take responsibility for planning the reading and writing they will work through during the term and meet together in small groups to discuss and support each other. This week students chose groups and books and then planned the reading and writing tasks they will complete each week. Two groups have an author study focus - Andy Griffiths and Jackie French. Three groups have a book focus - "Hating Alison Ashley" by Robin Klein, "The Red King" by Victor Kelleher, and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" by J.K.Rowling. And two groups have a genre focus - horror and action. I look forward to seeing how the process continues next week as we begin the routines.

Don't Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus
Our writing focus for the beginning of this term is on expositions and persuasive writing. To kick this off, I read "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" by Mo Willems. We discussed some arguments for why pigeons shouldn't drive buses and then students wrote an exposition on the topic. Some decided that they actually wanted to write in support of pigeons driving buses. I am trying to encourage students to choose a few key points as their paragraph starters and then add supporting details. I am also encouraging students to include stronger vocabulary and linking phrases. Hopefully this will flow more naturally with continued practice this term.

Dancing
Mr Tucker taught two dancing lessons for our students who don't do Fife and Drum. We will be preparing dances for our end of term performance. This week's theme was "flight" and it was really great to see all the students moving creatively and developing their own choreographed dances in small groups. I am really impressed by how well students are collaborating on tasks these days.

Mathletics
This week we got Mathletics up and running in the school. We launched it in Year 4 and it has been exciting to see how quickly students have taken to the site. Mr Tucker's class was listed in the top classes around the world and most students have achieved their Bronze certificate for this week. Mathletics will make up the maths part of our homework this term and Mr Tucker and I will be setting tasks for students to complete.

Minister's Fitness Challenge
Mr Tucker introduced the Minister's Fitness Challenge and showed students the website where they can add the activities that they do each week. This Challenge is an initiative to encourage children to engage in physical activity for at least 60 minutes each day.

NAIDOC Week Festivities
This week we celebrated NAIDOC week (even though it was officially July 5-12). Each grade did their own NAIDOC Week activity which they shared with the school at the special assembly on Thursday. The Funky Fours practiced the song Down River and also learnt about the symbols used in Aboriginal artworks. They created their own designs using oil pastels on black paper. On Wednesday students enjoyed a musical performance with an Indigenous performer. He shared about Indigenous culture and involved students in bopping along to some great music.

Athletics Carnival
Today we had our athletics carnival. Despite the frosty morning and a few early slips, the day was a huge success. We have lots of great little runners and had great participation rates across the school. Mr Tucker did a great job of organising the day.

Friday Fun - 22/5/09

Wow! What a whirlwind week! This week was jam packed with all sorts of fun learning and not much in the way of sitting in the classroom.

Camp
On Tuesday and Wednesday we had our Year 4 camp which was a lot of fun. I even had a go at the archery and took on the instructor. Students picked who they wanted to back. (I won!) You can watch the video below. On their return to school, students used Debono's Six Thinking Hats to reflect on their experiences.



Time Travel in Australia's History
On Monday we had the first in a series of visits from "Captain Lister" who is taking us back in time to learn about Australia's history from colonisation through to 1900. Students powered the time machine, with static electricity, by rubbing their heads. The multimedia presentation showed us going back in time... before High School Musical...before iPods...before computers...before telephones...etcThis week Captain Lister took us back to 1770, when Captain James Cook explored and mapped much of the eastern coast of Australia. Students got dressed up in costumes as Captain Cook, botanist Joseph Banks and William Hicks. They learnt about this journey and life aboard a ship.
Joseph Banks had a go at drawing a kangaroo and we saw a copy of the original picture he drew. We then hopped back into the time machine and returned to the current day.

Lucky Phewa - Zulu Celebration
Lucky Phewa, a performer from Durban in South Africa engaged students with his "Zulu Celebration". Students really enjoyed the music he shared with them and had the music bug for the rest of the day. They really got a great feel for the rhythm.

A New Song
Mr Tucker taught us all a new song called Down River by the Wilcannia Mob. This Australian hip hop song was created and recorded by five boys aged 8-12 in 2002. The boys share their own story through rap and the backing sounds of the digeridoo. You can find out more about their project at Down River.

Australian History Projects
Students have been continuing with their work on the culture and lifestyle of different Aboriginal clans prior to colonisation. We had some more time to work on the computers for research and publication. Many students are creating PowerPoint presentations...
Some are creating Museum Boxes...And others are recording audio files with the Snowball...We are trying to get as many opportunities to use the computers as possible in order to complete these projects. Students are learning a lot about ICT as they use it for real purposes in connection with their classroom learning.

Friday Fun - 15/5/09

It has been a great week - productive with a sprinkle of fun. I've been feeling good as I've been getting back into my morning run which seems to do wonders for managing stress! Miss Eschauzier and I did a lot of team teaching throughout the week which meant we could do more targeted teaching.

Story Writing
This week students in my literacy group worked with Miss Eschauzier to determine features of quality writing. In small groups, they read books that have been nominated for awards over the years and considered elements of characterisation, plot, and language. As a class, they then put together a Kidspiration mind map to organise their ideas. Students then did a self-evaluation of their own writing and considered areas to work on further.Miss Eschauzier introduced a planning tool we developed for writing stories. Students used this for planning new stories.
Indigenous Australians Project Groups
On Monday students decided who they would like to share a cabin with at camp. We rearranged the desks in the classrooms so that they could sit in these groups during our Integrated Inquiry lessons to work on a project together. The task is for students to research the history, culture and traditions of Aboriginal Australians from a particular region and present the information digitally (audio, video, PowerPoint Presentation, Museum Box or other as negotiated). These digital products will then be stored on our My Classes page so that students can explore the work of their peers and reflect on the similarities and differences between the regions.

As a group we created a rubric that will be used to grade students. I provided some books that I borrowed from the local library and we arranged for some extra sessions in the computer lab. Students have made a great start to the task and are learning a lot about how to research in the process. We taught students where and how to look for information that is useful and relevant. We also explained about the copyright licensing surrounding online images and showed students how to find pictures they can use and how to give appropriate attribution.

Fractions and Decimals
In Maths this week we explored Fractions and Decimals using a video and one of the manipulatives on Math Playground. Students completed drills adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator using worksheets from Math Drills. We also used MAB blocks to represent decimals and played with a range of fractions games and activities.

Peer Support
Our Year 5/6 students have been leading mixed-aged groups through activities to explore issues around bullying. These lessons are supplemented by lessons in home classes in alternate weeks. This week we discussed issues around bullying and students made this Y chart about how bullying looks, sounds and feels:
For more Friday Fun, click here.

Tech Tips Tuesday

How can you fit a Museum in a box?

Thomas Clarkson did it, and so can you... with Museum Box. I have been itching to use this ever since I found it, but wanted a REAL reason. Finally, I've found it, and Museum Box seems to be the best tool for the task. No need to cart home projects written on big sheets of cardboard - this one can have text, pictures, videos, audio files and links, and it sits on the web ready for viewing whenever.

This is an online tool for collating information in categories and sharing it with others. My students have the option of using it for presenting information about Indigenous People Groups from around Australia. Students are researching these groups with books from the local library and relevant websites we've found online. In small groups they will pull together the information they've found and create cubes in their museum boxes.

I'm going to give them the option again later in the term when students investigate individuals who had a significant impact on Australia's history prior to 1900. I'm looking forward to seeing how they play with this tool creatively to present the information that they find.

Have you tried Museum Box?

What's the Deal with Australia Day?

We all have a bit of a laugh when we see this ad on television, but there is an element of confusion, and even a little embarrassment when it comes to Australia Day.
The 26th January 1788 marked the arrival of The First Fleet of British convicts to the shores of Australia and the beginning of European settlement. Prior to this day, Australian Indigenous people lived in 250 communities or nations each with their own language. For many Indigenous Australians, Australia Day is more rightly described as "Invasion Day". Australia has had a less than admirable history in terms of the treatment of Australian indigenous peoples. On the 12th February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Indigenous Australians on behalf of the Federal Government.

So what has Australia Day come to represent?

Australia Day is a public holiday in Australia. Around the country many new Australians are welcomed in at Citizenship Ceremonies. Notable Australians are recognised for their efforts and achievements with Australian of the Year awards. Special events are held in the capital cities including fireworks, concerts, fun runs/walks, and parades. For full details and a cool video about what Australia Day is about go to the official Australia Day website. And of course, as mentioned in the ad, it's a day for watching the cricket or tennis!

UPDATE: 2009 Australian of the Year, Professor Mick Dodson, has requested a national debate about a change of date for Australia Day. Read more here.

Raising the Flags

Today we had a special flag raising ceremony with our new flags and flagpoles. We all met at the front of the school, sang the anthem and watched as the flags were raised. It was a windy day - perfect for seeing the flags flying.

At our school's 50th Birthday Celebration, earlier in the year, Matilda House (Aunty Matilda) a local Aboriginal elder gave a speech. As part of this, she said that she hoped one day to see the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags hanging side by side with the Australian flag at the front of the school.

Today we saw that happen.