Arts Week

As Mrs Turner's blog post said...Sunnyhills took part in Arts Week last week. 

Here are some photos to show us making our Dream-catchers and also blending from dark blue to light blue.

We were clever Artists!

Liam Shares his Knowledge

WoW! Team 8 were treated to a VERY special screening on Friday...

Look at Liam! 

He confidently got up in front of the WHOLE class to share his knowledge about golf! 

Liam, I am very proud of the way you first let us watch the movie (that you and your dad had made) first, and then calmly broke down the instructions for us to practice in class. Look at how focused all the children were on trying to get their swing perfect! 

Cairo was especially interested in all you had to say, perhaps you may now have a new golfing buddy???

so,

Wherever the road may lead you Liam, whether it be golfing super star, you-tube 'how-to' sensation or something else just as amazing, know that Team 8 already think you are extraordinary and thank you for sharing your 'cool-ness' with us! (also - remember us when you are rich and famous ha ha x)

Days of the Week

For Maths, Team 8 are learning about Time. We have been practising the days of the week. It is important we know these and can put them in order. On Friday we made chains that had the days of the week in order. Here we are showing them off and singing "The Days of the Week" song.

Please help us to practise them at home too. :-)

Arts Week Fun

Team 8 had a ball during Arts week. 

• We finished our Dream Catchers - Thank you soooo much to those lovely Mummy's who came in to help and to everyone who sent in ribbon, feathers and beads- they look absolutely amazing and we are super proud of how hard the kids worked on them.
• We learned to blend colours with Mrs Grant - start with one colour and just keep adding white.
• We did magic crayon pictures with Mrs Turner - see us shaving crayons and melting them with the iron.
• We learned to draw a person - Thanks Mrs Grant for the instructions!

Take a look at the pictures...

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...

New Wall Displays

If you haven't already, come in and have a look around at our walls to see products of our learning!

In Maths we have been learning about "positional language".  All of us can now use words like up, down, beside, on, under etc. Some of us can even tell the difference between left and right! Test our knowledge out at home.

In this display we have drawn a picture of our bedrooms. Then we put Hairy Maclary in there somewhere. Can you tell what position Hairy Maclary is?

In this display we rounded up our learning about "How our actions effect the environment". Team 8 came up with many different ways we can help our Earth to stay healthy for many more years to come. 

Our door is always open to friends and family so if you're in the area please feel free to come in and check out what we are doing and creating.

Buddha Temple.

Last week Team 8 went with the other Junior classes to visit the Buddhist temple.

The people there taught us about the 3G's and 4G's.

It was a beautiful calm place to visit. Team 8 loved making lotus flowers, making wishes on petals and most of all eating brownie!

We are such lucky children at Sunnyhills School.

A huge thank you to Maddie's mum, Ashton's mum, Tom's mum and Lachie's dad, who came and helped us out on the day!  We couldn't have done it without you!

Check out the recording to see what the 3G's are!