Discourse in the Classroom

We are reflecting in our learning groups and are talking about our narrative story writing. 

Our discourse focus this week: 

• have quiet thumbs (no hands up so we don’t distract others from their thinking)  
• showing respect for each others ideas because mistakes are a learning opportunity 
• moving our head and body to look at the speaker.

Tigerlily: This week I have listened really well. I have listened to my learning group when we were doing Positive Purpose groups and thinking of new ideas. 

Stella: This week I have been focussed on our goals. I have been looking at the person talking. An example of a time that I did that was in Neil's Science rotation. We were learning about fair tests.

Zac: This week I have been focused on sitting down and looking at the person talking. An example of when I have listened well is when Neil was talking about planning the day.

Luca: An example of my good listening this week was in a helping circle. We were discussing our story writing.

Olivia: This week I was super focused when Hayley was talking about Positive Purpose Groups. My goal was to turn my body to the person talking.

Kura: I used my quiet thumb and tried to be patient.

Kei te Aha Koe? What are you doing?

These are some posters we have made to help us remember how to say what we are doing in Māori.

 I am singing, I am fishing, I am falling.  What other actions can you see in the poster?

She is winning!

I am growing

Kei te pai Koutou! He tino pai rawa atu o mahi!

Binary digits: Bits!

How do computers work?  We have been exploring this question.

By using a base 2 system in which only 2 digits are used, the 1 and the 0, we have discovered that any number can be represented.  The numbers then can be used as code to capture other ideas.  This is what is known as an abstraction.

These students are the first 4 bits. The 1, the 2, the 4 and the 8.  They are representing the number 12 with the first 2 bits off and the next 2 on.  In binary code this is represented as 1100.  

Or, Off Off On On.

We are going to be using binary code to make our own puzzles. 

Magma Experiment: Learning to Record our Observations Like a Scientist

A pan bubbling with water.  Play dough, shaped into a pizza dropped into it.  Watch it begin to warp; now it is cracking, pushing upwards, creating islands, steam escaping, odd bubbles swelling and bursting, vents suddenly splitting open.  Is this what the primitive Earth looked like with volcanoes bursting upward, spilled lava across the landscape?  Is this same thing not happening today?
The recent earthquakes remind us that we sit upon tectonics plates shifting on magma!  The Earth is constantly changing, the land constantly forming.
We recorded our observations and tried to capture these ideas in the diagrams below.

 

Savouring Wall

Welcome to our 'Savouring Wall'! This wall is dedicated to savouring positive feelings and emotions.

Research by Dr Rick Hanson looked in to this idea of 'absorbing' positive emotions to 'hardwire happiness'. In his TED talk he takes the audience through an example of savouring - worth a watch! Dr Hanson found that when we practice savouring regularly (overtime) we are more optimistic and are able to have more inner strength when faced with challenges. We are really interested in building this resilience in Māhutonga Matariki.

This week we are learning more about Psychology and their tendency to focus on negatives (Negativity Bias). We are learning we can train our brains by savouring these feelings - what better way than to make something beautiful in our classroom!

We will be adding to this at school this week, but you can also join in at home! Add something you'd like to savour onto seesaw and we'll add it to our wall

Talofa Lafa! Samoan Language Week

Teuila preparing to grate the coconut

Last week was Samoan language week. 

We are grateful to Teuila for teaching us about the different uses of the coconut. She also taught us some greetings in Samoan. 

Teuila showed us how to crack and grate coconuts. 

The coconut tree is believed to be the "Tree of Life" in Samoa. 

We enjoyed watching how someone climbs a coconut tree: 

Digital Technology: Who, What, When, Why, How?

Computers are all around us but how much do we understand them?  How much do we notice the work they do?  And, do we understand how they work?

An early computer the ENIAC.
We have been posing some of these questions, exploring some of the history and thinking behind those amazing machines we call computers.
We discovered that the Ada Lovelace was the first computer programmer in history.  That was well over a hundred years ago!

These are some of the ideas one group came up with.  Thanks Nye and team!

We had a lot of unanswered questions about binary code and how this connects to computers.

Watch this space as we explore binary numbers this week!