Sunday, July 31, 2011

Maths: To Infinity And Beyond

For the right type of student, this BBC documentary would be absolutely riveting! Includes fun snippets of very young students giving their thoughts on number.











Tuesday, July 26, 2011

ABS Spotlight

A fun activity to do with the class or even set for homework!

It would have fit in beautifully with our Identity unit but would be good for a Maths lesson on data and statistics.

You can enter your own personal details to learn more about yourself in relation to Australia, and the world.

http://spotlight.abs.gov.au/Flash/

Monday, July 25, 2011

Week 2 Reading Task - Modern China - City and Country


This week our reading task focuses on Mondern China - comparing and contrasting the Chinese city and country.

Of course some questions arose during class discussion, here are some links that may assist!

- Education in China - Facts and Figures
- School Life in China - a typical day in a Chinese School with extra links
- Rural School Life in China
- What exactly is a Water Buffalo?

A segment from the BBC Chinese Schools program:










Friday, July 22, 2011

Good Sportsmanship

Today it was the third day of rain in a row, so for the first time in 2.5 years I had to cancel school sport!

I wanted to find some good clips of what is good sportsmanship, so I can have them available for next time. Enjoy!





Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Text Type: Discussion

This term we will be focusing our writing unit on the text type of Discussion.

The Writing Fun website by Jenny Eather is an interactive writing help site that includes downloads to save for off-line use.

I will definitely be referring to it in class when explaining discussion to the class and undertaking some joint construction!

Here is a one page handout that could assist in a Text Types lesson:
Discussion Texts

I also found this rubric which is easily edited, making a good starting point for thoughts about marking:

Introduction to Symbol Systems

This term our class will focus our study on Symbol Systems and use it as a theme and basis for our classwork and assessment.

Our class will learn that symbols can be personal, cultural and global. We use symbols to communicate in many ways including in Visual Arts and public speaking. We will examine the cultural diversity of countries in the Asia Pacific Region (mainly China) and will compare it to Australia.

We will learn about symbol systems used in Visual Arts and will respond to them by creating artwork for our upcoming art show. We will create:
- An individual artwork that will be used in a calendar
- A class canvas for auction
- A grade art installation that will focus on the theme of recycling.

We will also focus on Poetry and Public Speaking, focusing on the use of simile and metaphor to enhance our writing and speaking. This will culminate in a school Public Speaking competition at the end of Term 3.