Keizo & Aaron rocking it out for their inquiry into reducing electronics

If the captions on this video don't work please click on cc to make them pop up.

Taking Action - Presenting to the community

Yesterday lunchtime we had a number of parents come to visit us in Karaka. All the students presented their learning, research and a creative way to show their inquiry topic.
Examples of this were buying fair trade, reducing the discarding of electronics, more bike lanes,  reducing the bad products used in make up, stopping animal cruelty and not using animals for testing.

They were all very engaged in this process. It was a great motivator having an audience to view our learning and discuss some of the issues we had researched.

After lunch we also had a visit from our buddy classes so we could share this with them as well.

Link to making your own found poetry

We have begun to learn about the technique of Found Poetry.
Here is a link to a poetry resource that allows you to have a go online.
Check it out :-)

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/Word_Mover/

Student experts as teachers

In maths this week we have begun to revisit our addition and subtraction strategies.
Students in the class have volunteered to teach others strategies they know to help them build on their maths knowledge. This will happen twice a week.
It was great to see the engagement of students and eagerness to take on the responsibilities of teacher and learner.

Freya and Tara's Inquiry Response

Check out the advert created by Tara and Freya using Wideo.

CLICK ON THIS LINK to view it.

Getting ready for inquiry sharing next week

Here are some sneak previews of what we have been working on.  Come and see the finished products next Thursday from 12.30 - 1pm

Visit from Stacey Gregg

Karaka was visited by author Stacey Gregg today.  She shared with us her writing process and told us about her new book "The Diamond Horse."

She shared three great tips with us:

1. Do your research.  Stacey travels all around the world to find out about the history of different places so she can include them in her books.

2. You must plan.  If you don't plan your work, you might not know where it's going, and so your story might go nowhere!

3. Get somebody else to have a look at your work, help you edit and give you suggestions.  Stacey said she sometimes rewrites her books ten times or more until she's happy with them!

She awarded Rosettes to Lola M, Lola F, Elliott and Immanuel for their awesome contributions during her talk!

Links to World War 1 Videos and Websites

MARK BRIGGS - Great War story (objector)

Conscientious Objectors of WW1 - BBC News

Animated Maps of the Western Front - BBC History

Illness and Injury - BBC Schools

Weapons and Technology - BBC Bitesize