What am I?

On Thursday, Team 8 had a go at descriptive writing.
We learned that we had to build a picture in our readers mind by using lots of describing words (adjectives.

Hare are some of our "descriptions". Can you guess what we are?

clue: They are 'olden day' things that we saw at the Howick Historical Village.

PLEASE WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS!

What am I?

I am brown and hairy.

I have 4 legs.

I have a carriage on the back of me.

I am used for taking people places.

What am I?

- By Lachie

What am I?

I am browny.

I am made of metal and wood.

I am a little bit hot.

I feel hard.

I look like a semi circle.

I am used for ironing clothes.

What am I?

- By Ryan

What am I?

I am green.

I have numbers.

I have a string.

I am hard.

I am made from plastic.

I am used for talking to people.

What am I?

- By Maddie

What am I?

I am brown and I am hard.

I am bumpy.

I am used for filling bedding.

I am hairy.

I was used in the olden days.

What am I?

- By Anastasia

What am I?

I am made of metal.

I am very hot.

I am brown.

I am hard.

I am used for ironing clothes.

What am I?

- By Anoji

Here are some pictures of our original pieces. Can you see how we used the success criteria to self assess our writing?

Tom and William Talk About Capacity

We are always trying new things in Team 8. Today our task was to talk about our learning. 

A special thanks to Lachie who was filming for the first time too. I think they all did a pretty stellar job, don't you?

Volume and Capacity in the Sandpit

Last Friday Team 8 went out to estimate, experiment and measure lots of different containers in the sandpit.

We used lots of different maths words like: more than, less than, full, half full, empty, nearly full, nearly empty.

Mrs Grant set us a challenge to try and estimate how many tablespoons different containers might hold. Team 8 had to work as teams to estimate and measure.

We are clever Mathematicians!

Next week we are going to make some Muffins!

It's a Wrap for Genius Time V1

Thanks to all the parents and families that supported us both in and out of the classroom with this experience. 

V1 was completed on Thursday 6th July at 1:30pm when Team 8 had the chance to present their learning to their class and families.

I am so proud of what our children achieved. Many new skills were learned including things like 'using a base to make something stand up on its own, or investigating the best way to stick two pieces of cardboard together, or how to sew in a straight line without running over our fingers so that Mrs Turner didn't have a heart attack'.

I was most proud of the reflections that the children made about their 'creations', and what they would do differently next time. I can't wait for V2!

Here are just some of the photos I took...

Genius Time Reflection - by Mrs Turner

Our 'passion led learning' projects are well underway in Team 8 so I thought I might share with you my personal thoughts and learning so far.... 

As a teacher, I remember feeling very overwhelmed with the whole concept to start with. I mean, I've done similar 'projects' in the senior school, but those kids can read! The question for me was "How do I get 22 brand new 5 year olds to really explore their learning and take the plunge into the unknown?"

My mentor, Donna (The teacher next door), told me that the big difference between genius time and other "project" learning is that "if it is 'ungoogleable', it's perfect". I decided then, that as result of genius time, I would like the children to be able to Make, do or teach. Can they make something, be able to do something new, or teach something to someone else?

Essentially I want the children to act upon their passion and learn something that THEY want to learn about. I want them to step outside their comfort zone and take a risk. 

As a teacher (and a parent) this part challenged me. The whole time so far I have wanted to 'swoop in' in ''help". I've had to take a step back. I've come to realise that I want the kids to get it wrong - this will help them to find their own solution. Life long learning and all that!

So.... after only two sessions - one generating ideas and forming a plan of attack, and one "construction" hour. I'd say there are quite a few of us in the 'learning pit'. (The pit is that place where your tummy feels a little sick. The place where you realise that you have no idea what you're doing, but keep trying anyway. The place where, when you find a solution, making it out is more rewarding than being told the answer.)  I'm there. I hope our kids are there too!

Yesterday, as I was explaining to Donna what chaos ensued after 'genius time' whilst tearing my hair out, she said to me "were all the kids on task? Was everyone happy and excited about their learning?"
And you know what? They were!      

So, lets take that as success!

There is still a heap more learning for Team 8 and I, so Genius Time will continue every Thursday afternoon for the next wee while. Feel free to talk to your children about their projects - this will help them to generate ideas (and climb out of the pit) for themselves. Thank you soooooo much to all my mummy helps so far. We couldn't have done it without you. Hope to see you back if you're around. 

Please feel free to come in and have a chat with me if you have any questions! 

x
Sarah


And to finish... some pictures of us from our last genius hour...

Writing Number Sentences

Wednesday 10th April

WALT: Write number sentences. 

Some children in the class have been working on writing a number sentence. A number sentence needs to have numbers and something to join it together.  It might have a + sign or a - sign and is usually has a = sign. 
Here we are having a go to write our own number sentences.

Stop, Drop and Draw...

Today we trialed a new way to increase our reading comprehension called Stop, Drop and Draw.

First we read until Mrs Turner said STOP. Then it was time to DROP (close) our books, and DRAW  about what we remembered so far.

Jarrett and Tom are very good at drawing and could remember everything that happened in the story.

The BEST part was getting to talk about our pictures with a buddy. Mrs Turner was extremely proud of all the oral language that came out of this task. Maddie and William especially showed how brave they were at sharing their ideas and took turns talking about their pictures.

What great comprehension this group had! I think we'll give it another go next week!
Great work Team 8!

W.A.L.T. Write Number Sentences

In Mathematics Team 8 are learning to write number sentences.  Like a sentence in writing they need to make sense.  

Team 8 had to share out 7 large buttons with a partner and then write the number sentence on our whiteboards.  

Team 8 were so clever at sharing and writing the numbers, we also helped each other when one of us found it difficult.

Maddie has two.  How many will Anastasia get to make 7?

Ella was an amazing helper.

Great sharing Ryan and Lachie

A perfect number sentence 2+5=7

Jarrett and William were great partners.

Wow Tom, you wrote lots of number sentences.