Book Battle Quiz 2017

Keeping within the promotion of the library and reading I was able to take 2 teams of 4 to the West Auckland Book Battle held at Hobsonville Point Secondary School. 

I had amazing support from four parents who were able to come and support their children (and more importantly provide transport!)

I was so impressed with the students' general knowledge of books and literature. 

The students had a lot of fun participating in this event.

Team B placed 2nd! They won a box of books for the school library and a Westfield voucher for themselves. 

These students came back to school totally buzzing from the experience, and were proud to stand at Whanau Time to share about it later on in the week. 

Community Engagement Through Poetry

My class spent a lot of time perfecting their haiku poems. The focus was Word Choice, which was especially imperative with the limited syllable count in the haiku structure. 

We published them on a Poem in my Pocket template, and presented them to members of our community at the local shops.

It was awesome to see my class wanting to engage with members of the community, and being brave talking to new people. 

They read their poems to people before letting them keep their original poems. 

It was a pretty delightful experience for us all. Lovely to see all the smiles from both my students and adults. 

Math/Fraction PD

Fractions with Linda and with Bryony from Waitakere College

Discussed common misconceptions in students understanding of fractions and how to teach.

Eg. 2/5 + 4/5 = 6/10

1/2 = 0.2

1/4 is bigger than 1/2. 

Bryony reminds us that teaching that fractions are equal parts is so important for students to understand from the very beginning.

Idea:
Fold a piece of paper in half. Cut out a border from a blank piece of paper. Cut strips from the middle bit. Use to show and visualise halves, quarters etc. Can put equipment in the sets so they can see 3/4 of a set of 12 etc.

For teaching and introducing decimals go to NZ Maths and download the decimats.
NZ Maths Decimats

Bryony introduced the double number line for teaching ratios. Possibly stay away from the 1:2 ratio as students just think it's half.

Looked at Mixing Colours - Pink Book Number 7, Pg 50. Ratio's and colours.

Science PD with Ian Milne

Modelling in Room 14 - May 24 2017

"Today we are going to work scientifically as we explore and test our ideas/thinking about solid, liquids and gas."

Broke done goal to explain what’s happening. What are the most important ideas?  

Scientifically - the way we work

Plastic bag- what are we going to do with it?  He filled it with air and told them “ there’s air (gas) in here, can you feel the air in there?” (get children to feel the bag)

Hot water and plastic bottle experiment:

Energy in hot water is going to get transferred into the bottle.

Modelled with children, stand up in a group and he got them to move and spread as he ‘heated’ them up.  This is the air particles getting more energy.

If we give something more energy, we make it bigger.

Plastic bottle with a balloon on top. Place the bottle in boiling hot water - balloon blows up as the air tries to escape. As it cools down, it loses some of it’s energy.

Pouring hot water into a bottle, then tip out, then put balloon on top - it will suck in.

Rocket Experiment:

Does it feel smooth? All of these people tested it. It is smooth.  Talked about property of materials (would write these down to use as vocab later on).

-made up of matter (plastic, card, paper, paint)

- What’s inside? Air

“Air is all around us, it gets into everything”

Put plastic bag over rocket.  “What is going to happen?”

If I pull it a certain way (towards me)  the plastic bag gets sucked inside the rocket.  If I push the rocket, the bag will fly off.

Today we are going to use some “stuff” to blow up some balloons.

Experiment:

Balloon

Baking soda, flour, citric acid

water

Bottle

Drew diagram.  We are going to put the white powder in the balloon and we are going to put the balloon on the bottle and when the powder and water mix, they will have a chemical reaction.

It will create a new gas.  

Can you help me figure out what powders will help get the right reaction.  We are going to work scientifically to figure it out.  

Hands on activity for children:

Equipment:

• Children in buddies
• They label the little cups with a, b, c
• Fill the larger cup half way with water.
• Use the eye dropper, practise one drop on the back of your hand.
• Put three different powders in the different little containers
• Take a little sample of power from each container and put it on the pallet
• Put a drop of water in each powder and see which one reacts.

Bring kids back to the mat and talk about which one reacts

Then tell them to mix the powder in the same amounts to see if you get a better reaction when you have two powders mixed together.

Decided on using a and b powder.  They place this into a balloon and then place balloon on top of bottle that has water in it.

Observe what happens.

Bring children together on the mat and let them discuss the experiment.

Conclude lesson by telling children about how baking soda and citric acid mixed together creates a reaction (gas).  This meant the balloon inflated.  

Library Walk Through Reflection

Developing library services: school libraries supporting learning- primary

Week 3: Developing services that support your school’s priorities

Activity: School library walk-through checklist

Take paper and pen with you to jot down a few points as you go. You might also want to take a camera.

Starting at the main entrance gate of the school, look for signposting for the different parts of the school: ·     Is the library included? ·     How easy is it to find?	No signs for the library. It is in the heart of the school though.
Is the library signposted: ·      From the entrance used by students (either externally or in the main building, depending on your school's layout)? ·      From the main entrance used by staff and visitors?	No sign posts at all.
Stop outside the library main entrance: ·      What messages does its appearance suggest? ·      How welcoming and enticing does it look to students? ·      How well does the library visually reflect the different cultures and ethnicities in your school?	Not very well at all. You can’t even really tell it is a library from outside it. We must get a sign made. Including some more culture in the library would be a good idea.
As you walk inside the library are there any visual clues that show you: ·      The library provides a variety of leisure reading options (e.g. magazines, graphic novels, series fiction, browsing books, eBooks)? ·      Help is available?	We have boxes of certain popular books – Geronimo Stilton, Choose your own Adventure, Daisy Meadows, Graphic Novels, Roald Dahl, Horrible Histories. We have a listening station that could be better promoted. We don’t have any magazines. Could look into, but not sure how many are appropriate for school age chn. We have a big library desk and librarians who wear leis if help is needed.
How much face-out display is there around your library? Not just in the actual 'displays', but around the shelves?	Top shelves for both fiction and picture books. We don’t have displays for non-fiction. We have sophisticated picture books on display, new books, and just general books. Also a listening station for books with CD’s.
Is there somewhere comfortable to relax and enjoy reading?	We have 2 couches and 2 window seats which children enjoy. Julie has made lots of big cushions. There are 4 tables for working at, and 6 high desks. I would love to add some bean bags and a few more cushions.
Does the library promote and share online what students are reading; e.g. social media and book sharing sites like Goodreads	No we don’t.
Any other comments that have come up in conversations within your group?	We could spice up our walls a bit more. One wall is blank and there is still art up from last year that needs to be replaced.