Week 2, Term 3 2015

Kia Ora! Welcome back to Term 3!  We have certainly hit the ground running this term and next week (Week 3) the children are going to be moving into the project phase.  

Immersion Leading to Projects

This week we have been looking at how NZ has changed.  We have made timelines, looked at extinct birds, learnt some Te Reo and much more.  One thing the children are certain about is that NZ has most definitely changed and is continuing to change.  On Thursday and Friday we conferenced with the children and they have all expressed interests that they want to follow for their projects.  A small number of children will be working with guidance from a key teacher and will be following their own inquiry.  Other children are in Teacher Led Inquiry groups based on their interests.  

Working together to draw Moa birds

Creating a timeline with images of New Zealand

Our Project Groups are as follows:

Bodies - Blood, Bones and Guts

Babies - How to look after a baby, baby animals and life cycles

Pollution 

NZ Buildings, People and Places - How are they changing?

NZ Birds and Extinction 

Next week we will begin workshops and project meetings with our groups and those working more independently.  

Maths Concept - Number Patterns

This term we have been looking at number patterns.  Some of us have been learning about number before and after to 10 and others have been focussing on odd and even numbers and other number patterns.  A great game to support at home for odd and even is: 

http://www.doorwayonline.org.uk/oddandeven-fullscreen.html 

Dance with Emma

This term LC1 are having Dance workshops with Emma (an amazing Dance teacher!) in the gym on Friday afternoons.  So far we have been working on balance, arm positions and simple dance routines.  Photos to come next week!

Writing To Inform

Some of the children have been continuing in workshops learning how to write to give information to others.  This links with all of the immersion learning we have done so far.  In workshops the children have been learning about the features of this writing purpose e.g. a title, labels, picture and facts.  Some have gone on to add 'why' to their facts e.g. 'A Moa bird was easy to hunt because it could not fly.'  

Learning Advisory Time

This week we focussed on the disposition: 'Do I work with new or different people to enhance my learning?'  On Friday we set the children a challenge.  They had to build a ramp for a car that would make the car travel the furthest but... they had to work with people they don't normally work or play with. We put them into quite specific groups.  I was very surprised how they managed this and was anticipating many more problems!  That's not saying the children did not encounter any, but perhaps not as many as we had thought!  It was interesting to see how the groups all approached this differently.  We could see how important fair leaders were to help steer the group.  We had some powerful reflections at the end of the experience:  

'I worked better because I wasn't distracted.  Sometimes if I am working with my friends I get distracted' - Nathan

'I felt uncomfortable.  It was hard to talk but I kept on trying and then I felt better' - Ashley