Distance Learning Friday, August 28th

 Happy Daffodil Day!!

Today is our last day of Distance Learning. I am sooooo looking forward to seeing you face-to-face again! We are expecting everyone to return, however, if you are not returning, please ensure you have completed the Level 2 Return Form sent out by Ms Driver and let the school office know.

It is time to dust off your school uniform - shine those scuffed school shoes and dig out your knee-high socks, ready for a great start on Monday. Please charge your devices and have your SSR book ready, as well as your drink bottle, pencil case and yummy energetic food. 

We welcome Ms Li back with us for her final four-week practicum. It will be great to have her as part of our Room 15 team.

Have a fantastic day - your final Spoken Word performance is due TODAY - record your presentation on the Flipgrid link that you received last night (email and Google Classroom). The time limit is cut off at 3:30 seconds, as it must not be longer than that. Keep learning your poem for face-to-face presentations. We may share our memorised ones with the other classes!

Here is our Daffodil Day Sharing of Learning

Distance Learning Thursday, August 27th

 As we near the end of the week and our time in Distance Learning - take time to reflect on how you have used your GEMS in your learning and life in your Lockdown Bubble. What areas have you noticed you have grown in? What areas did you struggle the most with? What do you think your new goals will be for the rest of Term 3?

Take time to reflect, think carefully and write a reflection on a Slide to share with me - I won't post them on our Blog, however, I will print them for your publishing folder.

As an artist, I encourage you to try and draw your daffodils with a 3-D effect. Daffodils are magnificent flowers with the bright yellow or orange trumpet protruding like a megaphone wanting to announce Spring - the end of Winter! Give it a go and share your pictures. Let's make an extra special slide deck for tomorrow...Daffodil Day!

Today we have a Google Meet (optional) at 11:00 am - please email me by 10:30 am if you would like to join. I will send you an invitation via email at 10:59 am. Come with your imagination! I hope you will all join in.

All the best for finishing off your Spoken Word and our other challenges for this week.

Distance Learning Wednesday, August 26th

Welcome back to Wednesday - halfway through our last week of Distance Learning! Keep up the great work and communication with me about your Spoken Word Poems and your other learning activities. Continue to share those great things you are doing, they are inspiring us!

As we are working so hard on those final drafts to get them to the final finished product, I have extended the deadline from today until Friday, August 28th. There are many of you still working on your Poems and I know you are wanting to do a great job! If you CAN memorise it, we would love that. Like the examples we have seen on our slide decks - the poem presentation is a performance, using your voice AND your hands.

There is no video today as I have been busy supporting many of you in your learning. Thank you for keeping in contact.

Google Meets today at 10:00 and 11:00 am - check the slide deck below for your time. If you would like to join our THURSDAY Google Meet (optional) at 11:00 am - please email me and I will send you an invitation just before 11:00 am.

Have a fantastic day - keep our challenges going! (Check out Monday's blog post) Get outside for some time in the fresh air - what amazing Spring things do you see?

Distance Learning Tuesday, August 25th

 Hi, Room 15...today we continue our Google Meets Part II with the three groups listed below:

10:00 am Isabelle, Milana, Sophia, Bella, Olivia and Chloe

11:00 am Donnie, Ethan, Matt L, Ryan and Brandon

12:00 pm Natasha, Jessica, Samantha, Caleb, Liam and Isaac

Tomorrow: Wednesday, August 26th

10:00 am Shreya, Poppy, Cimone, Madison, Amelia, Jacob and Alex

11:00 am Max, Yi Fan, Jimmy, James, Matthew J and Aayush

Thursday 11:00 am - let me know if you want to join an extra catch-up (optional)

I looked forward to seeing you ready to go (make sure you are dressed and have your paper and pencil ready too).

We'll look at the picture of the 'old man' and see how we can re-craft our descriptive sentences as part of preparing for 'character descriptions'. Then we will move on to look at some really interesting 'settings' and see how they could be the backdrop for interesting narratives.

We welcome back Ms Li to Room 15 and hope that she can join us on Monday - IF we get to go back to school for face-to-face learning. She'll join us for as many Google Meets as she can.

Have you checked your emails for your feedback on your Spoken Word? They were sent out on Monday morning so that you had plenty of time to polish off your Version 2 by Wednesday (due date). Put in your very best high standard work. Good luck!

Our Sharing of Learning Slides for today...keep the creative work and challenges coming in! Remember to check Monday's blog post for this week's challenges.

Today we feature some lovely Daffodil Art and the first set of things we are grateful for in our Gratitude Corner, as well as showcase some amazing artistic sketching talent. Thank you, Milana, Bella and Natasha!

Distance Learning Monday, August 24th

Happy Monday and the start of Week 6!

Our Team 5 Distance Learning slide is designed to continue this week. Make sure you check it out and select something new to try. It can be found on our 'Learning At Home' page of this Blog. 

This week we have a chance to put the finishing touches on your Spoken Word Poems based on the feedback you will receive from me. The deadline for your final finished version is Wednesday, August 26th.

Before you start working on your final version, please make a copy of your Spoken Word Poem in your Writing Folder. Name it: Spoken Word V2 xxx (xxx = your name). Also, write a reflection on how you have found the learning journey - how you have used your GEMS on that learning pathway and what you will do next.

The Still Life challenge continues this week. Try grouping the objects you choose together and treat it like a piece of art posed for you to draw! This will be more challenging (but attractive) than just sketching individual items - use a nice cloth or plate mat to put the objects on as part of your sketch.

There are challenges this week:

1. Write a reflection about your Spoken Word feedback and what you need to do to finish it off. Include how you plan to work with that feedback.
2. Create and share a photo of your creative Daffodil for the Cancer Society 'Daffodil Day'. (Make one rather than 'colour in')
3. Send in a decorated slide listing THREE things you are grateful for. 
4. Send in a photo of your Still Life sketches - keep perfecting your observation skills and re-crafting to refine the detail of your drawing.

Here is the slide deck that featured on the video - check out the detail and Google Meet dates. Also, enjoy the Sharing Of Learning slides. We look forward to seeing more of your work coming through to be shared.

Thank you for your energy and engagement! You are amazing, Room 15!

Distance Learning Friday, August 21st

 Friday! We are nearly there, Room 15. 

I hope that you have enjoyed your week of engaging with your learning from home. Next week we will put the finishing touches on the Spoken Word Poems that you will submit for feedback today. 

Our final performance will be recorded on Flipgrid on Wednesday, August 26th. Keep practising and make sure that when you make your recordings in Flipgrid that you use great lighting (don't have a window behind you) and that you are dressed (not in your PJs!) after all - we are at school. Remember this for our Google Meets too!

Many of you have asked if you have to memorise this poem for your performance. It is one of the guidelines to memorise your poem and not use cues cards. See how you go with that. This project has lots of different skills you are developing and growing in. Believe you can do it!

Our Google Meets next week are on the schedule below. We'll recraft our 'old man' sentences (make sure you have sent your work in from the last Google Meet) and we'll also look at using visualising when we describe a setting. These Google Meets are workshops to help you now with your Spoken Word but also when we begin our next project of writing narratives, so it is important that you don't miss out.

Here is the video explaining our upcoming activities and expectations.

  

Here is the slide deck from the video so that you can see the work you have shared from yesterday. Have a fantastic weekend and see you on Monday!

Distance Learning Thursday, August 20th

 As we come to the end of the week, make sure you are engaged with the activities that have deadlines coming up. I would like all the polished and edited Drafts of your Spoken Word by 3:00 pm on Friday. This is so that I have the weekend to have a look and send you feedback on Monday. (These were originally due on Wednesday, August 19th) Check the slides below for the rest of the due dates.

Remember: your Spoken Word is your original and independently written poem that tells a story linking the theme of wisdom to your message. If you use quotes, you need to clearly cite (refer to) the source. I look forward to receiving them earlier if you are finished - send me a confirmation email so I know you are ready. Thank you!

Here is our Sharing of Learning slide deck with our Learning Focus at the beginning. We have less to share this week, as we have been focused on our Spoken Word poetry projects. Well done, everyone for putting so much effort into your poems and making sure you are doing your very best work. You can feel proud of how you have dug deep, been resourceful, and showed resilience through your frustrations. Especially in Lockdown. That is how we stretch our Growth and Self-belief GEMS, as well as Shine with Mana when we are successful!

Distance Learning Wednesday August 19th

 Good morning on this wet and blustery day! I hope you have a fabulous day working on your Spoken Word and getting those to a really high standard. Remember it MUST be your OWN work, not a copy of anything off the internet unless you are using a short quote. If you use a quote, you must tell us where it comes from. While you may read it to your family - your piece of writing must be an independently crafted piece. 

Today, think about trying some Still Life drawings. You can sketch in black and white or use colour - your choice. The purpose of drawing still life objects (a collection of fruit, flowers, vegetables, jars) is to be a disciplined observer. It is a drawing of study - you study the objects really carefully, looking at the shades and play of light, the textures, the colours and the hues of colour, the lines and proportions of what you are drawing. It may take several goes - a great artist draws, reflects on what can be done better, and adds more detail. I really look forward to what you will share with us. (Create the Term 3 Lockdown Learning Slide Deck in your Reflections folder to share your work)

Today I catch-up with two groups: 

Google Meet 10:00 am Shreya, Poppy, Cimone, Madison, Amelia, Jacob, Alex (and Sophia)

Google Meet 11:00 am Max, Yi Fan, Jimmy, James, Matthew, Aayush (and Matt, Brandon)

Have a great day!

 

Tuesday August 18 Distance Learning

 Happy Tuesday, Room 15! 

I am really looking forward to catching up with my Google Meet groups scheduled for today. The invitation will come by school email JUST BEFORE the Meet so that we can join at the same time.

We'll catch-up on how you are going with your Spoken Word poems. We'll do some activities to help with your reading and writing (visualising). If we have time, we'll do some maths fun too.

10:00 am Isabella, Milana, Sophia, Bella, Olivia and Chloe

11:00 am  Donnie, Ethan, Matt, Ryan and Brandon

12:00 pm Natasha, Jessica, Samantha, Caleb, Liam and Isaac

 

Re-posting: Intro to Distance Learning slide deck

 Sorry, Room 15! I accidentally deleted the 'Intro to Distance Learning' blog post so here it is again.

The video is a bit longer than usual so that you can see the different features of the slide deck. 

The focus this week in on polishing and recrafting your Spoken Word poem. It needs to be written in poetic style and have the layout of a poem - line by line. You are welcome to use rhyming as a language feature, however, it does not need to rhyme. We can talk more about how you are going in our Google Meets this week. While we would like the Spoken Word to be three minutes in length (you performing it), please don't feel this as pressure. I would rather listen to a really well crafted, engaging poem that is shorter than one that loses the audience.

Keep in touch by email if you need any help.

Google Meet Timetable for Week 5

Hi, Room 15!

We are kicking off our Google Meet catch-ups this week...starting tomorrow - Tuesday. Check out the schedule below and see when your catch-up is planned. Have your things ready for the meet so that we can start on time. I will send the invitation by school email JUST BEFORE the Google Meet. Please don't join early - wait for the correct time.

Bring your questions and wonderings from our slide deck learning. 

Looking forward to seeing you!

Sharing our Learning and Joy from Thursday

 Thank you for sharing your learning and the joy you have at being back in your safe bubble! Lovely to see some faces on Flipgrid!

Here as some of the things you connected with on Thursday.

Have a fantastic Friday - keep connecting and stay safe, Room 15!

Learning Slides for Week 4 Maths Week

 Hi Room 15!

We are continuing to work on our Spoken Word as a priority, however, here are some learning activities that you may like to explore as we finish off Week 4, Maths Week. We can roll these over to next week - either in class or at home - depending on the decision by the government on our Alert Level announcements.

Thank you for your energy and engagement in driving your learning since our new Level 3 Lockdown was announced!

Well done - you are superstars. 💖🌟

Term 3 Week 4 Thursday

Welcome to Thursday, August 13th!

Here are some things that you may like to get busy with. Our Spoken Word Poems are the most important...remember to do the writing and editing by yourself - it needs to be your independent work!

Email if you need help!

      

Distance Learning for the rest of Week 4

 Welcome back to our Level 3 Distance Learning.

This week we want you to focus on Maths Week by engaging in activities on the website: mathsweek.co.nz, as well as the activities on Mathletics, Prodigy, or Prototec.

If you are able to access your Spoken Word in your Google Writing Folder, please continue to write, recraft, and edit your work. Make sure you are reading it out loud so that it makes sense and the ideas flow. Go back to your planning and ideas so that you can expand your thinking. Remember to make sure your writing yours - not edited by anyone else. I want to see how you apply your skills of creative writing, proofreading, and editing - independently.

If you have your writing in your Writing Book and not on a Google Doc, let me know and I will see how I can send you a copy of your pages...I'll at least try!

Take care and be kind - get some exercise, use your mindfulness and GEMS. Look after each other.

Enjoy your bubble again!