How to be an explorer of the world!

Before felt pens and crayons, colour was made with things around us in the natural world.
Here is an example of a landscape made entirely from natural colour.
Awesome work Sesi! Who's next??

The Ultimate Insect

Hi team,

Here is the brief to get going. Looking forward to some more of your amazing work! Set the standards high. Good luck:-)

Geography of NZ

Hi team,

As part of our knowledge building we are going to look at the geography of NZ again and make sure we can accurately label towns and cities on a map of NZ.

Here is a list of towns and cities that we are going to learn the location of:
- Kaitaia                   
- Russell                     
- Dargaville
- Piha
- Whangarei
- Auckland
- Thames
- Hamilton
- Tauranga
- Rotorua
- Taupo
- New Plymouth
- Gisborne
- Napier
- Hastings
- Wellington
- Nelson
- Kaikoura
- Westport
- Christchurch
- Milford Sound
- Dunedin
- Invercargill

Let's get our geography on!!

Precious

Hi team,

Here is an example of writing for you to look at and take ideas from if you wish:

Precious 

The burning rays of the sun beat down on the tiring shoulders of the men. No words were spoken but each member of the group knew their role. Some dug while others washed. It was all about the rocks. Not the rocks themselves, but what could be hiding within. The goal. The reason they were all there. 

The sound of steel on rock was met with splashing water from heavy buckets. Their clothes were drenched with a combination of water and sweat. Nobody wanted to be there. But they had no choice. It was all for their families. The discovery of even the smallest speck of a shiny substance would make work cease and all would gather around ‘the one’ who had possibly made the discovery. 

Time was of no importance. The quest started when the sun rose and ended when it set. The completion of a hard days work only meant that it would be the same the next day, and the next. On route to the conveyor belt one of the worker’s legs buckled under the weight of the bucket and he cried out in pain. But his cries of pain fell on deaf ears. Everyone felt his pain but showing pain was a sign of weakness and weakness was a sign that the world had won. 

As people go off to work, take a long lunch break, update their Facebook status while enjoying a warm cup of coffee and look forward to the weekend, not many people spare a thought for men like these. Men working hard under the burning rays of the sun. Men who are mining in search of the elusive substance. The valuable and precious substance known as gold.

Keeping on top of my learning..

Hey team,

Hope you're enjoying your day off school today?! Movies, shopping at the mall or playing on your Playstation or Xbox...

I don't see you again until Tuesday... So during that time you could not think about school, you think about it a little or you could think about it a lot.

What you need to so is get your writing reading for publishing. Again you could leave it how it is now, you could edit it a little or you could edit it a lot and be very happy with the final result. Up to you. You're in charge!

Also capital cities.... We have been looking at these for a while now and yet some people have been trying to learn them all and some people are just hoping the check tests have the ones they know.

Hmmmm what can you do to learn more?

Finally, the grammar and parts of speech assessment. Have you been revising regularly? I know some of you have however some of you will still think that an adjective is a 'doing word.' The power is in your hands! 

I'm not going to get angry at you for not doing anything but you will be angry at yourself for not doing the best you can.

As I have said, speed boat getting faster, some of you are firmly strapped in and some are nearly over the side...

Do the 'RIGHT' thing:-)

Maths Website

Hi team,

Here is a useful site for practicing Maths. Have a look through the site and see what you can find!

http://www.math-play.com/Angles-Jeopardy/Angles-Jeopardy.html

The more you play, the more you learn!!

Digital Storytelling!!

Hi team,

It's time to kick digital storytelling into action!! I have created you all an account so will share with you this week!

Here is the website to have a sneak peak in the time being:

www.storybird.com

Bring it on!

Fractions!!

Hey team,

Here is a useful website with some videos on working with fractions that you might wanna check out. Recommended!!

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/fractions/Equivalent_fractions/v/equivalent-fractions

Enjoy:-)

Happy Holidays!

Hey team,

Hope you have all been recharging over the break and are looking forward to Term 2!

A reminder that your 3rd Rich Challenge is due on Monday. Looking forward to seeing what you have all done.

Term 2 is going to be very busy and we will be working hard and learning lots so make sure you are on board the 4.75 speedboat and holding tight or you will be chucked overboard.

See you all on Monday!

Matt.

End of Term Maths Assessment

Hi team,

Next Wednesday 16th April we will have an End of Term Maths Assessment where you will get to see how much you have learned so far.

The areas that will be covered will be Basics, Fractions/Decimals/Percentages and Measurement (Perimeter/Area and Unit Conversion)

Things you need to remember are to always SHOW YOUR WORKING when necessary and also READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY.

Do your best and you will be fine!

R Rated movies and songs with inappropriate content......What's the big deal?

Hi Team,

So what is the big deal? We are gonna be old enough to watch and listen to them eventually so why does it matter when.... Censorship.
Often in the media you hear about people who behave in a certain way based on what they see at the movies or on TV and what they hear through lyrics of songs. Mainly it is a result of excessive violence and bad language. But if it doesn't affect you does it matter how it affects others?

Post a thoughtful comment about your views on this issue. If you don't care too much and think you're cool for doing these things all the time that is fine but think about the bigger picture...

"Let's Learn Capital Cities"

Hi team,

As part of our general knowledge building in geography we are going to learn some capital cities. We will start with some of the more common ones and then move onto a wider range. Here are a few to kick us off:

(Capital City in BOLD)

New Zealand - WELLINGTON
Australia - CANBERRA
United States of America - WASHINGTON D.C.
Mexico - MEXICO CITY
Canada - OTTAWA
England - LONDON
Wales - CARDIFF
Scotland - EDINBURGH
Ireland - DUBLIN
France - PARIS
Germany - BERLIN
Italy - ROME
Norway - OSLO
Denmark - COPENHAGEN
Finland - HELSINKI
China - BEIJING
Japan - TOKYO
South Korea - SEOUL
Taiwan - TAIPEI
Thailand - BANGKOK
Malaysia - KUALA LUMPUR
Indonesia - JAKARTA
Philippines - MANILA
India - NEW DEHLI
Fiji - SUVA
Samoa - APIA
Tonga - NUKU'ALOFA
Jamaica - KINGSTON
Austria - VIENNA
Argentina - BUENOS AIRES
Brazil - BRAZILIA
Cambodia - PHNOM PENH
Costa Rica - SAN JOSE
Egypt - CAIRO
Greece - ATHENS
Ghana - ACCRA
Czech Republic - PRAGUE
Chile - SANTIAGO
Hungary - BUDAPEST
Kenya -NAIROBI
Peru - LIMA
Romania - BUCHAREST
Russia - MOSCOW
Sweden - STOCKHOLM
Turkey - ANKARA
Sri Lanka - COLOMBO
Vietnam - HANOI
Solomon Islands - HONIARA
Portugal - LISBON
Libya - TRIPOLI
Bangladesh - DHAKA

May the force be with you!"