Whatever Floats Your Boat

Seeing as how we had people involved with the Masterton Cultural exchange, Rooms 9 and 12 got together to get our 'technology groove' on. Our brief was to design and then build a boat that would hold an ever increasing weight. The materials included tinfoil, plastic straws, 1 piece of large paper, sellotape, small sticks and scissors. 10 minutes of planning and then 25 minutes of constructing before the test was done to see which boat would hold the most moro/crunchie bars. Congratulations to Blaise, Charlotte and Harriet who had both an aesthetically appealing as well as functional design and took out the title for todays challenge. A big congratulations to both classrooms who planned thoroughly before they started building. Your communication and sharing of ideas was robust and awesome to witness!  So are you ready for our next challenge?

Water, Water, Water

Art Learning

Week 3 Problem Solving - Maths

So, what was your attempt at solving this problem?

Week 3 Home-learning

Wow, wow and more wow! The quality of home learning tasks in Room 12 continues to rise each week. I was blown out of the water with the scrumptious fish dishes that were prepared in HNI students homes this week. Room 12, you are aspiring to great heights. Keep up the awesome effort.

WEEK 3 - SEAFOOD CELEBRITY CHEF

In NZ we have been actively encouraged to eat fish as a healthy source of protein. Find a simple fish recipe to share. For an extra challenge, arrange with your family to cook this dish for an evening meal or weekend lunch. Include feedback from your family on: The tastiness of the dish, your presentation skills, your tidying up skills.

Agyeiwaa's Fish, Chip and Salad meal prepared and served at home this week - restaurant quality by the looks of it!

Celebrating Achievements!

Congratulations to Hattie, Rm 12's super talented artist who has won The Lions 'Celebrating Peace' competition.  You will see in her artwork the thought, detail and vibrancy of colour that has gone into her creation. Hattie works artistically in many different mediums and this achievement is a true testament of her artistic ability. Have fun spending your $100 prize money Hattie!

Week 2's Home-learning

SPEECH MAKER

Sir Peter Blake once said Good water – good life, bad water — bad life, no water – no life. Prepare a 2 minute oral presentation about this statement. You can choose to agree or disagree with it. You need to give relevant and uptodate information. Include what you are learning in Wai Care if relevant. You can record yourself or present it to the class. You choose!

Wow, what a pressure test this was with only 2 nights to prepare. It was wonderful to hear the speeches presented on Wednesday morning. Room 12, you did yourselves very proud!

Abbie/Blaise 1:07 You spoke about the Havelock North example and the water in your body which was interesting to listen to. Well done!

Abe 1:59 It was engaging to hear at the beginning of your speech you disagreed with Sir Peter Blake's quote. The countries around the world and the quality of their water challenged your thinking and the content of your speech was spot on the mark. Well done!

Agyeiwaa 1:46 You agreed with Sir Peter Blake and your research justified your stance. Water related diseases and deaths around the world were statistics you researched thoroughly. Well done!

Bryn 2:30 'Be grateful for what we have!' was a captivating part of your speech. The 11 million people in Madagascar that don't have access to safe water made everyone sit up and listen to what you had to say. Well done!

Erin 3:59 Your presentation to accompany your speech took the quality of your home-learning into another stratosphere. The charities you spoke of and that were in your presentation were eye opening. Well done!

Charlotte 2:15 Your googled research was actively sought and the content you chose to include was engaging. The longevity of the Swiss people was not something I was aware of. Well done!

Manasseh 2:40 The You Tube song was very catchy and got everyone in Rm 12 singing along. It was a very fitting song to hear. You ditched your notes and spoke freely which is what many great public speakers do. Your water facts such as hot water being heavier than cold water and plastic expiring not the water in bottled water was intriguing for your audience. Well done!

Blake 1:28 Your content about Antarctic personnel was interesting to listen to Blake. You always engage with your audience with eye contact and a clear voice. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to what you had to say.

Alix 4:44 Where does the Earths water come from. Your technical and scientific descriptions that answer this questions were very impressive Alix. Be very proud of what you presented, it was top class!

Wai Care?

This terms inquiry is appropriately called 'Wa Care?' We are inquiring into water as a precious resource and how we ensure it is sustainable for all life force on planet earth. Photo credit goes to Manasseh for very cleverly capturing Room 12 who created this image with only themselves as a resource. 

We were extremely lucky to have Dr Stephen Swabey who is a water scientist at the Hawke's Bay Regional Council. As you can imagine, he is incredibly busy at the moment investigating what happened with the Havelock North water supply and the gastro outbreak. He was very detailed at drawing diagrams and sketches whilst describing to us; the Hawke's Bay water supply, aquifers, bottled water companies, how rocks filtrate, water treatment ponds and waste water destinations. We had formulated questions prior to his visit and practiced our note taking skills. He was a wealth of information and there is nothing like an expert visiting to share their knowledge and expertise. We were curious to unpack our two SHMACK water testing kits that arrived from Niwa this week. There are a lot of scientific and measuring tools that will assist us with learning how to carry out water monitoring tests.

This week we used the power of an 'analogy' to learn more about water as a resource for the worlds population. Here is Manasseh's google drawing explaining our 'bucket analogy.' 97% of all of the water on earth is salt water which represented our 10 litre bucket. We removed 250ml/one cup which reflected the fresh water that is available. However, only 1% of that water is easily accessible or in a liquid state. It is not as if we can drink a glacier! It was a powerful way to conceptualise the amount of water we really do have. So as the worlds population continues to rise, what is going to happen in generations to come with water as a sustainable resource? 

What a busy week of learning we have had with plenty more to come!

Sustainability Film for Kids

Sustainability explained through animation

Sustainability easily explained (explainity® explainer video)

Mr Box - A Short Film on Sustainability

What Is Sustainable Living?

We Rise

Home-learning Week 8

This weeks task: What would our country look like if everyone tried to help each other? Present this is an interesting and creative way.

Here are some examples from super organised learners in Room 12.

Advertising

If you are wanting people to support your action you are currently organising, you need to advertise this with outstanding impact. This Mercedes add was all about making the audience feel sorry or sad for the young boy in his quest to get yet another ride in the Mercedes car.



How do emotions play a part in advertising?



Does your advert make people feel like: they are getting a bargain, the offer is too good to refuse, if they buy something it will save them money in the long run, that they are supporting a great cause?

Te inoi whakamutunga – closing karakia

nickyob's Fotobabble: My Fotobabble



Closing Karakia

He Karakia

nickyob's Fotobabble: My Fotobabble



This term we have been been learning to correctly pronounce both an opening and closing karakia. Very soon we will all have a fotobabble inserted into our blog after a few weeks of practicing.

Whakataukī

Mā pango mā whero ka oti.

By black and red together it is done.

(The united effort of the leaders and the workers will get things done.)

Tikanga

Introduction aspects of tikanga Māori we have considered:

• We are responsible for looking after our classroom and showing respect for the people and the things in it.
• The concept of ako (learner/learning) is reciprocal. We learn different things from one another all the time. Teachers, students, parents, and whānau can all learn from each other.
• Beginning the school day with a karakia is an appropriate way for many to set the tone for the day. You don’t have to be religious to engage in Karakia.

Week 7 Home-learning

By only Tuesday night, Miss O'B had received home-learning from DJ Manaenae. Pretty impressive skills with the OT side of things and engaging lyrics to accompany it. You are a super star!!!!

http://www.smule.com/recording/makaihbeats-pray/736372949_611913243?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=web&utm_source=email

http://www.smule.com/recording/midi-mafia-turkey-burgers/736372949_611917835?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=web&utm_source=email

http://www.smule.com/recording/midi-mafia-turkey-burgers/736372949_611931242?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=web&utm_source=email

Riding For The Disabled

We have some outstanding students in Room 12 that are very kind and compassionate. As part of our Change Makers inquiry learning this term, students have been encouraged to take action for a cause or organisation of significance to them. Two girls both spent a big part of their weekend cooking, decorating and packaging the biscuits. Today Lily and Erin were selling their gingerbread biscuits outside the canteen. Funds raised will be presented to the Riding For The Disabled organisation very soon. They still have more biscuits to sell so bring $2 to school tomorrow if you would like to show your support.

Adopt A Kenel

SPCA Flyer

This week we had Amy, who is the Promotions Manager for the Hastings and District SPCA, come and visit Room 12. The purpose of the visit was to provide some feedback for Room 12 learners about the flyers they had created. Very shortly we will be delivering these around the village and within Hastings. In our quest to help raise the profile of the SPCA and the work they do, Room 12 thought a flyer would be an easy and fast way to achieve this. Congratulations to Charlotte, Kane and Hattie. Amy thought the quality of their flyers was that of a professional graphic artist that she pays a lot of money to do the work. Both the content and layout was matching the brief and all criteria included. Way to go people!

See Ya Simon - By Lily and Erin

Vegie Growing Competition

Analysing Song Lyrics - Digging Deeper

As part of our inquiry Change Makers learning, we have decided that creating a song could be a great fundraising campaign to generate some money for the SPCA. During reading time we have been analysing song lyrics, deconstructing them and analysing to find deeper meanings.  Here is an example of Hattie's analysis she completed this week.

Wake Me Up When September ends

link to the lyric video

What is it about?

• Coping with loss of a loved one. It is probably from when his father died in September, also for the victims and families from the 9/11 terrorist attacks in September. The title is basically saying about the

What message is the song trying to convey to the listener?

• To say that bad things come to an end, and tell them about losing or parting with a loved one.

What three poetic sound devices, (rhyming, alliteration, accent, onomatopoeia) can you find? Write the lines that you find each devices in and explain.

• Summer has come and passed, The innocent can never last
• Like my father's come to pass, Seven years has gone so fast
• And lots more rhyming
• And no alliteration, accent or onomatopoeia I think.

What two figurative devices (metaphor, simile, personification) can you find in the lyrics? Write the lines and explain each one.

• … Here comes the rain again, Falling from the stars, Drenched in my pain again… (metaphor)

Week 5 Home-learning

Here are a few samples of home-learning from Room 12 learners. This weeks task was to Make a collage of the community showing support for people or groups of people in need.