Hi all, welcome to room 13's learning log. This site has been established to provide a log of the learning experiences that occur in the classroom and as another communication tool between home and school.
This year Primary Science Week is focussed on things Astronomical. In room 13 the students are all busy completing their own mini inquiries into the astronomical area of their choice. The choices are varied and exciting; black holes, exoplanets, rockets, pluto, dwarf planets, star systems and constellations to name just a few.
·Central
Zone soccer: Training for Y5/6 boys – At lunchtime today, Y5/6 Girls –
At lunchtime on Thursday
·Water
polo: Competition begins next week (Wednesday’s after school).If you are still interested in playing there are
a few spaces left, see Mr. Chadwick.
'Howie Value awards’
Room 16: Curiosity award – Kai Ferrier
Room 15: Excellence award – William Miller
Room 14: Excellence award – Bennett Parker & Ryan Swift
Room 13: Excellence award – Zoe
Inskeep & Dan Walker
Science of Sound
This week we have been looking at how we create sound. Our voice boxes are a remarkable machine. Some of this weeks new learning includes:
Our voice originates in our voice box. The vocal folds, mouth and nasal spaces, tongue and mouth/lip movements all control what we say and how we say it.
We only have one voice box
The vocal folds open up to let air through
The vocal folds vibrate when you speak
Our voice is like a fingerprint...unique
We have also been exploring the different sounds that we could make to create a music piece. We explored the popular video "Cups" that showed the use of common items (cups, spoons, clapping, clicking etc.) that could be used to set a beat. We also looked at an a capella video that showed how vocal sounds could be looped together to create a piece of music.Room 13 is now in the process of creating their own musical pieces...can't wait to see the results
Speeches
With speech writing and research now underway it is important that students are managing their time effectively to meet the following deadlines:
Weeks
1 Start thinking
about a speech topic. Weeks
2 Introduction
completed in class. Research and gather information and check they have enough material to help them write a quality speech.
Weeks 3 and 4 Students
add content and start to work on delivery/presentation of speech. Students hand in their body of their speech
for feedback. Students rework content to
make their speech better. If props are
being used, students need to get these sorted and ready for use. Final
preparation. Speeches on cue cards if
necessary. Students to practice in front
of a mirror and in front of their family.
All students should have practiced their speech at least 10 times out
loud. Week 5 and 6 Class speeches presented
Today we started the second round ofSyndicate Sparks. In ICT the students are learning how to make stop motion videos. We first watched Gulp (click here) and then we watched a selection of last rounds videos. (See below). We are now in the process of making our own stop motion stories using whiteboards, whiteboard markers and our creative talents.
In order to produce a good speech you have to know what mistakes people can make when presenting it to other people. Today room 13 created a video that explored the common mistakes that are made when speaking.
This term we are inquiring into The Science of Sound. We explored what sound is, what it would look like and how the ear works.
Sound is...
...a sort of waves of air and a sort of vibration
...noises. All sounds are different. Sound is a vibration.
...something that comes from most things in the universe. It can be heard by most creatures in the animal kingdom.
Sound comes in sound waves. You make sound waves by playing instruments, tapping things with pencils and billions of other ways. Sound is a reaction.
Sound comes from sound waves which go into your ears and hit your ear drum that creates sound.
If sound was a picture it would look like...
This is what an ear looks like:
This week the spelling is also based around our inquiring into..
Spelling Words
science
sound waves
vibrate
pattern
hearing
auditory
pinna (pinnae is plural)
ear canal
ear drum
ossicles
cochlea
After a little bit of historical content regarding the early gold finds in the Otago region and discussion about the early mining techniques the students of Room 13 tried out their own prospecting skills. The students staked their claims and mined for the rich gold coloured resource.
The students endured the hard, physical labour that mining required, had to aggressively maintain their claims boundaries and punished those who encroached on their territory. After the dust settled the students then brought their "gold" back to class to claim their reward.
