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.

Cute, Cute And Even More Cute!

Free Writing

Free Writing

Yesterday we were posting on our blogs and after 10 minutes, some of us had only written 2 sentences. Miss O'B thought a bit of a pressure boiler learning task, might see a BIG improvement with our writing fluency. Today was our very first attempt at 'Free Writing.' You only have 10 minutes. What ideas pop into your brain? Does the topic make you think about something else? Do you intend on being informative, entertaining or persuasive?

Purpose - Hopefully over time, you will see that your writing is becoming more succinct whilst still having impact. You can choose to showcase these on your blog or keep them personal. It is entirely up to you! Choose from one of the topics or simply come up with your own. Include the date for each entry.

This is Emily's 'Free Writing' from today. She chose the topic of writing an INFOMERCIAL SCRIPT, (an un-edited version).

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The Learning Pit

If our learning was super easy, would we be learning? When we embark upon new areas of learning, it should be a new challenge to us. It shouldn't make sense straight away. We should take time to process things, make connections and ask questions. This picture is called the Learning Pit. This week we have started daily problem solving during our maths learning time. Problem solving takes persistence, it requires us to realise we are not going to reach an answer straight away and we need to consider which strategy might best be used depending on the type of problem. Adrien congratulations for not giving up and figuring out the muddled medals problem we had this week. Some strategies we can use for problem solving include:  Draw a picture, make a list/chart, trial and error or guess and check, look for a pattern, work backwards, logic and reasoning, write a number sentence.

Problem:  Medals Count

Given the following clues, can you work out the number of gold, silver and bronze medals that France, Italy and Japan got in this international sports competition?

• Japan has 1 more gold medal, but 3 fewer silver medals, than Italy.
• France has the most bronze medals (18), but fewest gold medals (7).
• Each country has at least 6 medals of each type.
• Italy has 27 medals in total.
• Italy has 2 more bronze medals than gold medals.
• The three countries have 38 bronze medals in total.
• France has twice as many silver medals as Italy has gold medals

HOW WOULD YOU START THIS PROBLEM?

Garth McVicar - Sensible Sentencing Trust

Yesterday, we were very lucky to have Garth come and talk to everyone in Sheppard House. He talked briefly about growing up in NZ, the influence his parents and community had in shaping him to become the person he is today and what he loved to do. Since becoming a father to four daughters, he was concerned about the homocides that were continuing to increase in NZ. After deciding enough was enough, the Sensible Sentencing Trust was formed and Garth has never looked back. Crime rates for physical assaults, homocides and murder have continued to decline since the SST inception. He is still concerned about the children in NZ that are losing their lives at a drastic rate. We were an interactive audience having to take a turn at being a judge and deciding on an appropriate sentence for some different crimes. We concluded with some very thoughtful questions and responses from Garth. Consider carefully what he thinks are important skills and attributes for any Change Maker, (or Change Agent as he refers to it).

HNI Science Fair 2016

Congratulations to Hattie and Lily who investigated Gums, Sugar and Acids. Also to Frankie and Abbie who discovered more about the non-newtonian fluid called Oobleck. This opportunity required learners to take charge very early on about a scientific concept they were wondering about and could investigate further. The Judges were looking to see that the scientific process of investigating had been followed as well as an authentic context/problem within our scientific and technological world we live in was considered. Well done ladies for managing your learning timeframe so well and collaborating with all that was involved in submitting an entry into the fair.

Fly Away Home Official Trailer

Algebra Learning

Algebra is not an easy area of mathematical learning to engage in, but some learners in Room 12 have made accelerated progress when thinking algebraically. We have been building patterns, identifying patterns, formulating rules, talking about relationships, learning new vocabulary such as terms, linear, spatial and geometric patterns.  It has been a very busy and focussed 3 weeks to make the very most of our learning time. In these photos you can see Abbie, Frankie, Connor and Blake identifying a rule for a spatial pattern. Most of us have made the connection that the rule will save us time in the long run rather than building a pattern forever. We are now moving onto a new area of maths learning for the remainder of the term - statistics investigations and probability. Have you been Pokemon hunting? Why is this a world-wide phenomena at the moment? What world stories in the news have you heard of accidents happening while people have been hunting? Where in New Zealand are Pokemon found the most, according to Statistics New Zealand?  Watch this space for updates with how our investigations are progressing.

Home-learning Week 3

Once again, it was a week with some very detailed and high quality research mini-projects submitted by some learners in Rm 12. The task was to choose one person from the previous weeks list of 25 renowned 'Change Makers' and research in more detail why they are regarded as a 'Change Maker. A special mention goes out to Erin who decided Walt Disney was her person of choice to find out more information about. Also Blake with Muhammed Ali, Agyeiwaa with Mother Teressa, Emily with Jazz Jennings and Hattie with Amelia Earhart. Be proud people!

Attributes Of A Change Maker

Thank you Jazz for creating our Rm 12 movie of what attributes we deem to be important for a Change Maker. Inspiring, motivational, uplifting, honest, helpful, resilient, persistent were some of our ideas. Yesterday we got to see Rm 12B's ideas of how to further develop being a persistent person. We are almost ready to plan exactly how we plan to create change for the SPCA, (Room 12's successful vote). How can we raise their profile? How can we further support staff and volunteers? How can we fundraise? How can we support animals that need fostering/adopting? There are some big questions that we are currently pulling apart into more detail to identify our actions we are going to take. Watch the space!

Room 12 Are About To Become Change Makers!

The business of 'doing good' (and the cost of doing nothing) - “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” - Edmund Burke.  

What are our responsibilities as citizens to pay it forward?
What motivates me to be a change maker?

What decisions and actions can I take to “pay it forward”?

How can I motivate others to “pay it forward’?

As we start 'researching' our inquiry, the above questions are paramount to be at the forefront of our thinking.

Starting small last week with our 'Random Act of Kindness' was the beginning of something bigger. Consider our Paddlet with our ideas about where to start as a class. If time permits, we will also be individual Change Makers! View the You Tube clips below. They will act as inspiration and also the process they went through of creating social change.

It started with an idea and a dish towel: Sarah Kladar at TEDxSpokane

How To Change The World (a work in progress) | Kid President

Joshua Iosefa's Inspiring Speech - Brown Brother

William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind

Why We #Choose2Matter, by Bettendorf Middle School Students

Watch Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

Senior Monitor Jake Bailey's Speech

Girl makes speech at United Nations

Home-Learning Week 2

Last weeks task was to compile a list of 25 famous people who are renowned as 'Change Makers.' There were a lot of similarities amongst Room 12's lists and some variances as well. Congratulations to Abe and Erin who stretched the boat out with their lists and completed this task to an exemplary level. This weeks task is about choosing one person from the list and researching even more attributes about this person which contributed to them making social change or change for the betterment of people and/or communities.

Sheppard House Chant - X-country Preparation

This afternoon we refreshed ourselves with our Sheppard House Chant that was written in term 1. I found out today Erin and Frankie were the creative talent behind the chant we have. Our battle this afternoon was girls vs boys. So view the Youtube clips below. Who do you think was victorious today?

Turn on the radio what do you hear?

Sheppard, Sheppard, that's our cheer!

If you can't hear us we'll be louder.

But don't worry we're already prouder.

Sliding down a waterfall, landing on a cactus.

All of the other teams really need to practice!

Gooooooooooooo Sheppard!

Boys house chant

Girls house chant

Home-learning Week 1

Last weeks task was to create a certificate/award for someone who is a Change Maker. Hopefully we get to use these awards in the very near future. Some people got arty crafty with scrap booking skills and created actual awards. Some people got techie on google drawing and created electronic versions. One person even made a real life replica of a trophy. The creative skills in Room 12 are very strong. Congratulations to those who made the Friday 9am deadline. We are all getting better at being organised with our time. Can't wait to see what is submitted in week 2!