clear water

Hi, today was the day we got to do boat safety as part of swimming week. I enjoyed it even thought we have done the same thing for the last two years. The best part in my opinion was going under the boat because I did not enjoy jumping of the boat into the cold water or making the huddle.  The rest of the lesson was fun but it was not exciting or different.  Would you like doing water safety?

strange history

Hi and welcome back to my blog.  This week we where working on biographies.  I was really exited about this topic because I got to do my biography on Queen Elizabeth I, and as you probably already know I love learning about Queen Elizabeth I and her family history, because I think they are exciting and interesting. At first, I mostly copied the information that was on my elevator pitch and my place mat.   Then when I ran out of  information, I started looking at different websites. This was and is a fun task, and I love learning more about her. But I can"t wait until it is finished so I can get onto the next task. 
Do you like biographies? 

Greatness in history.

The rays of the sun were beating down on the concrete and the leaves on the trees were completely still due to no wind.  It was a beautiful day but I was stuck in a class room learning about "Greatness".

Our first task was to choose four people from a greatness list that the teachers made for us. I chose the only four people I knew on the list.  At first I was not excited about this task, and thought it was boring, but the more I did the more I wanted to learn about these people.  In the end I had changed my mind about the greatness task being boring and could not wait to get started on the next task.

Here is my placemat.

 Which one of these four people do you think is the greatest?

A big SPLASH!

Hi, on Friday we went to swimming sports.  I was excited as I was racing against my friends in 2 races.  When we got to the pool there was a lot of noise, excitement and nerves.  I mostly felt nervous.  The first races were the freestyle races and I was in the 25m freestyle.  When I got into the pool for my race I had butterflies doing summersoults in my tummy.  As soon as I heard the whistle go I was off, powering myself through the water.  Once my hand touched the wall at the end I looked up and was excited to see I had come third.  When I got out of the pool my friend Hannah was there with my towel and my friends and I all celebrated our successes.  The second race I was in was the 25m backstroke.  I came second in this and was really proud of myself.

When my friend Hannahs race was on my friends and I screamed as loudly as we could and were soooooo excited when she won her freestyle race.

The bus trip back was noisy and we were pleased it was all over.

Do you like swwimming?

Buy them all now before they all run out or spinout

By them all now before they all run out or spinout


 This term our Project Based Learning (PBL) has been about design and the big question was;
 How can we use a Steam approach to make a marketable product?

 First we learned what STEAM stood for.
S for Science
 T for Technology
 E for Engineering
 A for the Arts and
M for Maths

 Then we were given challenges. The first to make a chair using newspaper, string and straws that was able to hold a figure made out of multi-link blocks. Then; make a table that was able to balance MnMs for the team. We were much better at the second challenge because we knew what we were doing and we fixed the mistakes that we did in the first challenge.

In Literacy we learned to write up science experiments and to write a technology report using the design process of ask, imagine, plan, create, improve and share. Our next step was to form teams and ask ourselves the big question again.
 How can we use a Steam approach to make a marketable product? Our aim was to create enough products or experiences and sell it to raise money for charity.

 My team made a colour spinner it was easy to make once we had found out what materials were best for making the spiner spin.

 The hardest part was colouring it in because it took a long time and my hands keep getting sore. Here's a picture of what we made and sold at the market.
 Reflection My highlight from this PBL was making them and selling them.

Next time I would make more because they sold out really fast.

My Big Show

This term our Project Based Learning (PBL) has been about cultural stories and the big question was:
What is the significance in the 21st Century of our Cultural stories?

First we brainstormed what culture is and came up with lots of ideas. Culture is where you are from, food, clothes and religions. 
Then we thought about our own culture and talked to our parents about our traditions and heritage. I wrote a post about my family and things we like to do.
In Literacy we read and discussed myths and legends from around the world then we concentrated on Maori legends. I read The Battle of the Mountains and Maui and the Sun I have written my own legend called The legend of Water and Fire.

We made a performance about the story Battle of the Mountains. Some students wrote the script, some students took on the job of making all the artwork, some worked hard on organising the music and others took on the role of bringing the story alive with dance and drama.

For our production I contributed by helping to choreograph all of the dances I was in.

I think the show might impact on others by teaching them what The Battle of the Mountains.

What I learned about working with others was that everyone can do a variety of dances.

The importance of story telling

In my reading workshop we have been learning about maori cultural stories here is a google drawing I did about sharing cultural stories hope you enjoy.

That was my google drawing what can you do to tell maori stories?