Friday Fun - 12/6/09

With a public holiday on Monday and weather so cold you can barely think, the past week seems to have whooshed past on a gust of wind. We've had VERY cold weather - unless it warms up overnight, today will be the coldest June day in 43 years! It turns out that I get particularly grumpy when I'm cold - and it doesn't help that I'm feeling a bit stressed by the deadlines I have over the next week. My motivation is low. That said, this week was fairly ordinary, and we tried to catch up on work that had been started but not completed.

Captain Lister
This week Captain Lister visited to teach us about life in the new colony - looking more into the lives of convicts, officers, governors and free settlers. Lots of students got the chance to dress up in costumes and we all sang along to a song about Moreton Bay. Some students were very excited to learn about the Rum Rebellion, so Captain Lister included a special addition just for them.

Timeline
Students brainstormed events in Australia's history that we've learnt about so far this term. We wrote the dates next to the events and then discussed how to create a timeline to scale. This was a tricky concept that students struggled with a bit, despite having seen timelines on a number of occassions. It is something we will need to work on further.

Digital Projects
As the deadline for completion of digital projects was last week, I uploaded the completed ones to our My Classes page. While students ate their lunches we assessed the projects by group vote. We viewed/listened to the projects on the interactive whiteboard and then flicked over to the rubric we agreed on at the beginning of the project. Students voted with their hands as I slid my finger along the rubric continuum. After we've graded them all, I'd like students to have an opportunity to comment on why they chose the mode (PowerPoint presentation, audio file, Museum Box) they did and their reflections on its effectiveness. I'll also give them an opportunity to challenge the grade they were given by the group.

Maths
In Maths this week my group worked with flipping, sliding and turning 2D shapes. Students really enjoyed the activities with cutting and pasting shapes to demonstrate flip, slide, turn and also drawing and colouring the alternate versions of different shapes. One thing they need to learn this term is how to define flip, slide and turn, so I made up a little hand action with sayings for them to learn to help them remember. You can see the video of it below:


Exploring Resources with My Classes
I have been uploading resources to our My Classes "Australian History" page. There are a couple of great resources available to us through The Learning Federation, that allow students to experience life on the goldfields through a similation. They got hooked quite quickly and I imagine there will be a few who will check it out again over the weekend.

Skipping (or Jumping Rope)
In a few weeks time we will be having a "Jump Off" to raise money for the Heart Foundation. Students have been able to purchase individual or long ropes from the Heart Foundation so that they can practise skipping. Apart from all the accidental whipping students have copped from walking too close to a swinging rope, it has been a great way for students to keep warm during their recess and lunch break. I even bought one for myself today as I had playground duty and needed a way to keep warm! Students were astonished to see me skipping across the playground while I did my duty.

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