Tuesday 12 May 2015

The ANZACS-From 'I Wonder' to 'Find Out'.

In the I Wonder stage there were 3 main questions we always need to answer.

  1. What can we Observe
  2. What do we already Know
  3. How might people view this in different ways
Answer all of these questions (and some of the possible questions) for one of the 'Hooks'. Do this on this blog and copy that and put it on yours. 

Once you have done that you can move to the Find Out stage. In this stage you need to use what you've seen and your 'inklings' from the I Wonder stage to begin to develop QUALITY questions. 

You need to seek and share information that helps you and others make sense of what you are exploring. You need to;
  • record facts and ideas, 
  • ask each other questions (and record these. This could be a blog post of a comment on a doc.)
  • Can you also challenge each other’s assumptions.
YOUR GOAL AT THIS STAGE IS TO FORM A RICH QUESTION TO GUIDE YOU INQUIRY DEEPER. This means beyond simple fact finding to develop and answer.This RICH QUESTION may need to be broken down into further parts.

Below are links to more hooks. As you use these, you must as yourself and document the 3 main key questions. DON'T RUSH


Resources

Hook 1 Henry Nicholas
Hook 2  Rikihana Carkeek
Hook 3 Recruitment
Hook 4 Tunneling at Arras
Hook 5 White Feather
Hook 6 Dental Hygiene

Our Links Add any things you find that others might like to use. Make sure you name what it is.

Sunday 10 May 2015

The ANZACS-White Feather


Context

In 1915, “V.C.’s White Feather” was published in newspapers around the world. The story contrasts
two symbolic offerings: a white feather, used to accuse someone of cowardice, and a Victoria Cross medal, awarded for “acts of valour”. Giving someone a white feather was a form of social bullying.
The feathers were handed or mailed to men who didn’t wear uniforms; the intention was to shame them into signing up for duty. In comparison, the Victoria Cross is the highest military award possible and receiving one was a rare distinction.

The practice of giving someone a white feather was less common in New Zealand than in some other countries. People here recognised that there were many reasons why a young man might not be in uniform. Even so, sometimes unusual people were targeted; for example, a 98-year-old man in Gisborne received a feather in the mail.

As a symbol, a white feather can have different interpretations. For example, for some iwi, a white feather symbolises peace rather than cowardice.

Key questions


  • What can we observe?
  • What do we already know?
  • How might people view this story in different ways?

Possible discussion questions

  • What did you think was going to happen when one of the women walked over to the young man?
  • Why did she give him a white feather? What did it mean?
  • Was the woman showing bravery or cowardice by giving the young man the feather?
  • What is a Victoria Cross? Why was it awarded?
  • Can you think of other symbols that might seem insignificant to someone unfamiliar with them but that hold a lot of meaning?
  • What are some ways that people try to apply social pressure today?

Differentiated Learning

  • What the VC is amd what it is for?
  • What is a white feather given for?
  • Compare and contrast on blog. 

Resources

Conscription, conscientious objection, and pacifism:

New Zealand soldiers awarded a Victoria Cross:

Explains how Te Raukura is an important symbol to the tribes who affiliate to the Taranaki rohe. This symbol is captured in the form of a white feather, or a plume of white feather.


Learning areas

Social sciences (level 4):

Understand how formal and informal groups make decisions that impact on communities.


English (level 4):

Listening, reading, and viewing:Purposes and audiences

Show an understanding of how texts are shaped for different audiences. (Indicators: identifies particular points of view within texts and recognises that texts can position a reader.)


Health and physical education(level 3):

Personal health and physical development:Personal identity:

Describe how their own feelings, beliefs, and actions, and those of other people, contribute to their sense of self-worth.

Relationships with other people:Identity, sensitivity, and respect

Identify ways in which people discriminate and ways to act responsibly to support themselves and other people.


Interpersonal skills:

Identify the pressures that can influence interactions with other people and demonstrate basic assertiveness strategies to manage these.

Friday 8 May 2015

The ANZACS-Tunneling at Arras


An imagined text message conversation between a soldier in the New Zealand Tunnelling Company and an army captain, both in France, 1916. Unidentified soldier (on left) by Herman John Schmidt, 1910s. Sir George Grey Special Collection. Auckland Libraries. 31-WPSCH18. Unidentified soldier (on right) by Allan Alexander Penman Mackenzie, 1916–1918. Masterton District Library and Archive. 541013.

Context

The men in the New Zealand Tunnelling Company were recruited in 1915 and arrived in France in March 1916. Most were quarrymen, goldminers from Waihi and Karangahake, labourers, or coalminers from the West Coast of the South Island. The tunnellers joined underground quarries together quarries together to create a complex underground network that included kitchens, headquarters, and hospitals, along with facilities to house 20 000 men. Many locations in the tunnels were given New Zealand place names, with Russell at one end and Bluff at the other. In 1917, the tunnellers were given the dangerous job of digging tunnels beyond German lines in order to lay mines. The underground tunnel system was of major strategic importance to the Allies during the German offensive of 1918. The Tunnelling Company left Arras in July 1918. In the two years they spent in France, at least 41 tunnellers died and more than 150 were wounded.

Key questions

  • What can we observe?
  • What do we already know?
  • How might people view this conversation in different ways?

 Possible discussion questions 

  • What is this conversation about?
  • What is the tone of the conversation? 
  • How might these messages have been communicated in 1916?
  • Why was the New Zealand Tunnelling Company sent to Arras?
  • What challenges do you think the men in the New Zealand Tunnelling Company faced while they were in France? 
  • Who were the Pioneers?
  • How would you feel if you were the soldier in this conversation? 
  • Would you rather be the soldier or the captain? Why?

Reading

Underground Soldiers by Mark Derby 

Resourses

Thursday 7 May 2015

Wednesday 6 May 2015

RMQs-

To day our RMQ begins with a little background info.


We begin by looking at Line, Rectangle and Square numbers.

RMQ

Which list is going to be the biggest?
What have you noticed? Can you blog about it

Resources

Graph paper link
Prime and Composite interactive
Maths buddy numbers #1624 #3112 #4652


Tuesday 5 May 2015

Geohazards-Inquiry

When you watched the videos and decided on a possible area for inquiry. Make time to see me and make a plan about where you are going to go, what your going to do and how it fits with the NZC in science

Nature of Science
Planet Earth and Beyond

Have a look at the video below that is one possible model you could make to demonstrate your learning.


Monday 4 May 2015

Home Learning Wk3

To keep up with the workload, this week it's pretty simple.

  1. Go to the videos page of last week's VFT and watch them again (first time for some?). 
  2. Use the title of the video as the title for a post on your blog, and answer the questions that go with each (there are 3 questions). 
  3. Blog a quick summary of what you found out and add any maps, photos, etc...

By the end of this week, you should have an idea about your 'way in' and what you'd like to investigate more, and the type of model you'd like to make or experiment you'd like to do to show your learning. 

The ANZACs-Recruitment



Context

 In December 1915, this drawing appeared in The New Zealand Observer, a popular illustrated weekly newspaper. Its purpose was to encourage Māori to enlist in the army. When recruitment started in earnest in 1914, many Māori men signed up. Some Māori leaders believed that Māori participation in the war would strengthen Māori claims for equal status with Pākehā. Others were opposed to going to war and to fighting for the British Empire. This was because of the harm that the British Crown had done to Māori communities by activities such as confiscating Māori land and other violations of the Treaty of Waitangi during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The Māori Contingent had a reputation for fighting strongly and were famous for their haka, but many of these soldiers died on the battlefields. By the end of the war, 2227 Māori and 458 Pacific Islanders had served in what became known as the Māori Pioneer Battalion. Of these, 336 died on active service and 734 were wounded. Other Māori enlisted (and died) in other battalions as well.
from NZHistory.net.nz

Key questions

  • What can we observe? 
  • What do we already know? 
  • How might people view this poster in different ways? 

Possible discussion questions

  • What can you see in this image? 
  • How are the different figures in the image portrayed? 
  • Who is the target audience? How do you know? 
  • What is the purpose of the image? 
  • How effective is it?
  • Why were recruiters at the time specifically targeting Māori?
  • Why did Māori have conflicting views about joining the war? 

Reading

King and Country by André Ngāpō.

Thursday 30 April 2015

Assembly!


Welcome to Rm 14s assembly item. This term we’ve been flat stick already. We’ve been to Dixon Park, Gallipoli, we’ve spied on the weird Neighbour next door and we've even been to Nelson and Kaikoura exploring earthquakes, tsunami and landslides.

If you look over to where we arent in the hall you will see some of the art we made to commemorate ANZAC day. The artwork uses positive and negative space. Behind the poppies are the beach and hills of ANZAC cove. Here are some more.

At the start of our investigation of ANZAC day and what it means, we investigated a letter that was sent by Ethel Martin to her boyfriend Henry Nicholas. Henry received the Victoria cross for bravery. He never got Ethels letter and he died 19 days before the end of the war.If you would like to read more about him go to the blog. We used this and a poem by Ashleigh Young to inspire us to write.

Ra's, Skye, Lukes

This week we’ve been on a virtual field trip to Kaikoura, Nelson and Seddon, investigating earthquake, tsunami and landslides. Yesterday we participated in an audioconference. Here is the first few minutes. If you’d like to hear more, go to our blog

Questions
Audio conference

And finally we’ve spied on the weird neighbour next door. No not really! What’s he building in there? Mr wood played us a music video by an American singer/songwriter called Tom Waiits. Its a bit weird. We had a go at making our own. Here's Finns

We hoped to enjoyed our assembly. See you soon.


Geohazards Field Trip Day 3

Hi everyone. This morning we have an Audio conference with Shelly and Rob form Learnz.
Click the link to see who is asking which question. Make a copy  so that you can add to it-use this to take notes.

Questions
Videos

As we watch the videos type any questions, puzzles or even things that squeal your wheels below

Video questions


  1. What is a tsunami?
  2. What causes tsunami?
  3. Why is there a risk of tsunami in Kaikōura?




Wednesday 29 April 2015

Geohazards Field Trip Day 2

Hi everyone,

Here is the diary for day 2 of the trip

Day 2 diary
Videos


Tuesday 28 April 2015

Gallipoli War Diary-Rikihana Carkeek


Learning areas 

Social sciences (level 4): Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community challenges. 
English (level 4): Listening, reading, and viewing Language features: • Show a developing understanding of how language features are used for effect within and across texts. (Indicator: knows that authors have different voices and styles and can identify some of these differences.)



Rikihana Carkeek was a prominent Ngāti Raukawa leader who was in the Māori Contingent and the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion. He fought in many battles during the First World War and kept a diary throughout. Rikihana returned home an officer and died, much later, at age 72. His memoirs were published after his death.

 Key questions

• What can we observe?
• What do we already know? 
• How might people view these diary entries in different ways? 

Possible discussion questions 

• What impressions do you have of Rikihana after reading his diary excerpts? 
• How do the events Rikihana describes in these excerpts fit in with other First World War events you know about? 
• How do you think Rikihana Carkeek felt during the different events he describes? 
• Have you read any other diaries? 
• Why might it have been challenging to write/keep a diary during the war? 
• What differences might there be between the way a soldier or a nurse described their experiences in their diaries compared with their descriptions in a letter home? 
• Why do people keep diaries? 
• If someone 100 years from now were to read a diary you had written, what might be of interest to them?

Geohazards Virtual Field Trip

We're off again! This time we are travelling to Seddon

Here are the Main Learning Areas!


Science Curriculum online

Click on the links below to find the 'Success Criteria' for each strand
Science: Planet Earth and Beyond Levels 2-8, Nature of Science Levels 2-8,
Social Studies: Place and Environment Levels 2-5.


Website
Day 1 Diary

During this field trip we will:


  • travel to Seddon to investigate New Zealand's most recent substantial earthquake
  • see the effect of the Seddon events on the landscape and find out how it affected people
  • visit a place in Marlborough where a tsunami could land and assess the risks
  • go to locations in Marlborough where landslips have caused significant problems
  • discover the impacts of landslides and how these can be reduced
  • meet engineers, scientists and people involved in trying to understand natural hazards and how we cope with them
  • learn about instruments and processes used to detect and monitor New Zealand's geohazards



Where we are going

The South Island's Alpine Fault is a very distinct feature along most of its length. This is because the Southern Alps have been uplifted along their eastern side, making the fault clearly visible from space. The northern end of the Alpine Fault however splits into several parallel faults that spread out across the Marlborough region. There have been several recorded earthquakes in the region including in 1848 and 2013, and a tsunami in 1855. The Marlborough region is, not surprisingly one of the most seismically active in New Zealand and a very good place to explore the nature of geohazards!

After the field trip, challenge yourself to:


  • investigate the risks of earthquakes, tsunami and landslides and other geohazards in your local area
  • bookmark the GeoNet website so you can go there whenever you feel an earthquake tremor or hear about one

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Dawn Service by Ashleigh Young


Letter to Henry Nicholas





This envelope contained a letter for Henry Nicholas, a new Zealander soldier fighting in France, written by his girlfriend, Ethel Martin. Shortly before Ethel wrote the letter, Henry had been awarded a Victoria Cross medal for bravery. The Victoria Cross is the highest military award possible and receiving one was a rare distinction. Of the 100 000 New Zealand soldiers who fought in the First World War, only 11 were awarded the Victoria Cross. Henry Nicholas died before reading Ethel's letter, just 19 days before the armistice. (an armistice is an agreement to stop fighting. The armistice that marked the end of the First World War was signed by England, France and Germany on the 11 November 1918)

The story of Ethel's letter is told through an interactive comic strip. This comic strip contrasts the different experiences of a woman left at home and a man at the front, each with their sorrows


Key Questions:

  • What can we observe?
  • What do we already know?
  • How might people view this envelope in different ways?
Possible questions for further investigation:

  • What can you see on this envelope?
  • Where was its intended destination?
  • Why do you think it looks so tattered?
  • At what stage of the war was it sent?
  • How do you think Ethel Martin felt when the letter was returned to her?
  • Why did she decide to keep the envelope and the letter inside it/
  • Why was this letter in the Canterbury Museum? What is the VC collection?
  • What do you think life was like for Ethel Martin, and other women in New Zealand, during the war?
  • Henry Nicholas won a Victoria Cross for his bravery. In what ways were Ethel Martin and other New Zealand women brave during the war? How was this bravery recognized?


Home Learning WK 1

Welcome back to term 2!

Next week we are going on another Virtual Field Trip. This time to Blenheim to study the fault-line. This VFT focuses on Earthquakes, Tsunami and landslides. This begins next Tuesday. If any parents would like to come along they are more than welcome to join. 

We are a speaking class this time for the audio conference. We need to ask questions about landslides. Take time this week to read these background readings and activities. We need to send our questions away on Friday. You can post them here are a comment if you like.

Monday 23 March 2015

Home Learning Links Wk8

Here are your Home Learning Links...enjoy!

Spelling


Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4

Spelling Response Form

Maths


This weeks task is easy...complete a mathsbuddy task (what you're currently working on in class is fine), and post the results on your blog. Once you finish your task, you'll need to save the report as a PDF, then open that up in Paint.net and save it. Once you have an image file (.jpg) you can then put it on your blog-me or others for help to do this task. Don't forget to write a sentence or two about your learning.


Literacy

This week you have a simple cloze reading activity. Its the sort of one that has the most points in the STAR test...so its worth practicing



Monday 16 March 2015

Home Learning Links

Here are this weeks Home Learning Links


Spelling

Group1
Group2
Group3
Group4

Spelling Response Form

Maths

Complete a comprehensive test in a new area of study. Save the PDF to your drive.

Science

Following on from last weeks field trip, this weeks science looks at things in or near a waterway, and how they affect one another. You may want to cut the activity up or cut and paste the sentences that match. Cutting and pasting would be easier...make a table with 2 columns and just cut each sentence into it. Please make a copy of the science first!


Each sentence is linked to another. You just need to match the right ones together. Begin by reading the sentence in italics, then find the answer that matches. You then get another italic sentence underneath, which you'll need to match...and so on. If you've done it right, the last sentence should bring you back to your first 'card'. 

Sunday 15 March 2015

Friday 13 March 2015

Monday 9 March 2015

Virtual Field Trip

Heres a map of where we are off to tomorrow...virtually!

Week 6

Here are the links for this weeks Home Learning

Spelling


Maths

Continue on with the strand you chose last time and keep any evidence in your Drive. Does everyone know how to create a PDF of the assessment sheet? If not ask. Don't forget to take a comprehensive test at the end to show your improvement.

Science

This week we are going on a Virtual Field Trip. One of the activities we'll be doing is trapping pests. Here is a activity that identifies pests and who is responsible for controlling them. TAKE A COPY and put it in your TOPIC folder in your Drive.

Are we there yet!

This week we are going on a Virtual Field Trip to the Ashburton Lakes district. Here's what we are doing;
  • ride a jet boat up the spectacular Rangitata River
  • get to know DOC rangers
  • see how rivers connect places and people: how the surrounding land affects the river and how the river affects fish, birds and people
  • discover the secret world of salmon
  • climb into your waders to search for freshwater fish and invertebrates in the braided rivers
  • investigate wetland recreation such as sport fishing
  • explore inter-montane basins of inland South Canterbury
  • discover the plants and animals that threaten our wetlands
  • trap pests using a motion-sensor camera
  • gather people's different points of view about this wetland
  • see how special plants and animals within this ecosystem are interconnected and how they have adapted to survive in this harsh alpine environment
  • catch skinks and geckos in a fall trap
  • monitor the black fronted tern population that lives on Canterbury's braided rivers and discover what is being done to counter threats to these species and their surroundings
  • get your feet wet to learn how wetland plants affect water quality
  • take water quality measurements
  • gain an appreciation of the special value of Ō Tū Wharekai to Māori
We are going to be tired after all of that!!! Don't forget to check out our blogs to see where we are and what we're doing.

Click here for a link that introduces where we are going and what we'll be doing. You'll need the login and password.

Login; greymain14
Password; mrwood14


Friday 6 March 2015

Assembly Wk5

This week we are presenting in assembly!!!. If you missed it here are all the links. ENJOY! If anyone has a device here today and would like to comment on any work...we would appreciate it!

Jake's Cricket Video.

Jake made a short video of himself playing cricket and posted this. He's playing 4 way cricket. Jake starts the video by saying hello and introducing himself. Great work Jake!

Science

We are currently investigating 'Kitchen Science'. We are completing simple experiments with things that we can find in our cupboards at home. This week we've begun an investigation on our taste buds

What are taste buds? What do they do? 

Our tongues have four basic types of taste buds: bitter, sour, salty, and sweet. Our taste buds are located in specific areas on our tongues. Our experiment was to find out where these particular places are.

Heres a short video of our first run through.




Our next experiment will be to repeat the same test but to find out what happens if you block your nose, if your tongue is completely dry. We'll keep you posted. Come back and find out!

Last week we completed some investigations into some science ideas that we'd like to find out about

Newtonian Fluids
Taste Buds

Literacy

Here is a snapshot of some of the writing we've written so far this term.

Rules of Summer
Rules of Summer Heres a link to the writing blog,

Utter Nonsense
Writing without worrying too much about content means that you sometimes get some fantastic dream-like gems of writing.
Lukes Absolute Nonsense

Lies
Shemira's 10 Lies

PowerWriting
Most days, we warmup to writing by writing 2 rounds of 3 minutes of PowerWriting. 

Saxons 'I don't know'

Monday 2 March 2015

Week 5

Halfway though the term already!!!

This week we are testing and these results will be available at the end and the beginning of the next (I'll have the weekend to mark!).

Well done everyone who used their time wisely and put enthusiasm into their little science investigation. I am looking forward to the presentations! Please make sure you put the evidence of your hard work on your blog.

Here's a link to the terms Key Coms if anybody has missed it. Put the evidence on your blog.

Here are this weeks HomeLearning links

Spelling

Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4

Spelling Response form

Maths

Complete a comprehensive test in a new area of maths and identify your strengths and weaknesses. Set yourself tasks to improve. Resit the test and bring me the evidence. Save the tests as PDFs (when you print, you can change it to PDF there. Save to Drive. Put on your blog)

Science

Here is a nice little identifying and clasifiying tasks on cute cuddly wetas. Make sure you save a copy to your Topic Folder.



Wednesday 25 February 2015

RMQ-Cartouche Puzzles

Today's Rich Math Puzzle is a called a Cartouche puzzle. This begins a little like Sudoku but uses BEDMAS or Order of Operations.

The MathsBuddy year 7 lesson number for BEDMAS (they call it BIDMAS) is '1594' and the Year 8 is 1608. Extension learning is 1610, 1612 and 3163!

Cartouche Simple This is a google drawing that YOU NEED TO COPY and PUT IN YOUR MATHS FOLDER FIRST. Its editable. If a box disappears, copy one that there.

Cartouche Worksheets HEAPS of the little critters!ENJOY!!!


Monday 23 February 2015

I'm Gone!

Hi everyone

I'm off to Hagley Oval today to take Mr B (oops I mean!) the cricket team to England v Scotland. Ms Lagan will be teaching you. I am always Tuesday also. A link to my planner can be found here. You'll need this to find your learning links. Please make sure you log into chrome and I can help out if you need me.

Your writing to is A Memory and the marking guides are here also. Don't forget to put your work up on your blog if you have had it reviewed by 2 others.

This afternoon we will begin our science topic. I would like you to create a 'genius hour' presentation of what 'Squeals your Wheels' about science? You can work in pairs. What would you like to find out more about. Germs? Rockets? Research something to find a little more about it.find a simple experiment the demonstrates your area.  These presentations will be presented to the class Thursday. This is also your home learning this week!

See you Wednesday

P.S-Ella...you can sit that test when i get back!



Monday 16 February 2015

Home learning Wk3

Below are the links to this week's home learning.. Hopefully I have all of the teething problems sorted.

Spelling
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Spelling Response form

Science
Science- Hot Cawfee anyone? Activity sheet
Science-Hot Cawfee anyone? Responses

Maths
Your maths homework this week is simple...please share your login details in mathsbuddy with your parents/caregivers. Simple!

Friday 13 February 2015

Jake playing cricket

Here is a video of Jake playing 4-way non-stop cricket. Jake starts the video by saying hello and introducing himself. Great work Jake!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back!