Visiting Queensland

For our Integrated Inquiry in Year 1, we have been taking an imaginary journey around Australia with the characters in the book "Are We There Yet?" by Alison Lester.
This week we moved into QLD. After reading the relevant pages in "Are We There Yet?" we watched a promotional video about the Australian Royal Flying Doctors service and then left a comment on their website. Students contributed their ideas and we linked them together to create a great comment.

We then watched this video about how to crack a whip. The second time through we stood up and pretended to be cracking whips of our own. I realise that this probably seems pointless to many people, but studies have shown that when we imagine/visualise doing something and simulate the situation, our brains process the experience much the same as if we were doing the actual thing. Part of this 'journey' is helping students to link up the activities and places in their minds so that they will remember it all for longer.

We are in the process of creating Great Barrier Reef artworks and later in the week will learn more about the Daintree Rainforest as we read "Where The Forest Meets the Sea" by Jeannie Baker.

Travelling the Top End of NT

For our Integrated Inquiry in Year 1, we have been taking an imaginary journey around Australia with the characters in the book "Are We There Yet?" by Alison Lester.
When we 'travelled' through NT we visited Darwin, Kakadu and Katherine Gorge. In Darwin, we 'went shopping' using local grocery store catalogues. I told students that as we had been travelling for quite some time, our food supplies were running low. Once we reached Darwin, it was a perfect time to do some shopping. Students worked in pairs as they looked through the grocery catalogues and selected items they wanted to buy. They wrote a list of items and costs using $0.00 format. They then used calculators to add up their list and determine the total cost.
We used Flickr photos in slideshow mode as we pretended to go on a 'billabong cruise' in Kakadu. Students snapped photos with their pretend cameras and drew the snapshots into their travel journals. The following day we watched a YouTube video of a Kakadu Billabong Cruise

and also a couple of men fishing for Barramundi in the East Alligator River (just as they do in the book "Are We There Yet?" by Alison Lester). Students pretended to catch the fish and reel it in as they watched the video.

Next we head across to Queensland...

Tech Tips Tuesday

I know I said that Tuesday was going to be for tips for parents and teachers about something I am covering with my class, but I've changed my mind! It's going to be too hard to maintain that during the holidays, so instead, I present Tech Tips Tuesday. On Tuesday you can find tips for integrating technology into the class or home.

This week's tip:
If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, consider the free "Easy Relax" application. This application has theme 'soundtracks' that you can play in the background of your class. Themes include 'Into the West', 'Hawaii Vacation', 'Jungle' and a number of pre-programed soundtracks. Alternatively, you can create your own themes with background music and up to three extra sounds with self-selected intervals.
As an award to groups who are focused on their work, I have been allowing them to select a pre-programmed soundtrack or create a team soundtrack. It has been fun, a good behaviour reward and an easy way for students to program their own soundtrack. The soundtrack also adds to the flavour of the class and some students work more quietly just to hear the sound of the rain, thunder, croaking frog, or whatever else!
To amplify it across the classroom, I plug the audio cord that leads to the Smart Board into the audio socket on my iPhone - easy.
As a sidenote, I found it quite nice to fall asleep to one day as well!

Bugs!

Aussie kids seem to love bugs and creepy creatures. A couple of weeks ago, we visited the blog of 2M Gems, to see the class pet praying mantid. We borrowed some books from our library on bugs and insects, and ever since, seem to be finding them in our classroom and playground! Here are a couple that we found lately.

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.