Science Fair Recount - Trey and Aonghus

Yesterday was the mind blowingly fantastic Motupipi Science Fair!!

The science fair is when everybody makes an experiment and a stunning display. The science fair is also a time for kids to show their parents and grandparents what they have worked on. Everybody loved the breathtaking day.

Our favorite experiment was Room Four’s UV Light experiment. I ran in. I was so excited to see this experiment. When it started I had to be super quiet.  The glow was incredible.  Everyone that had a white T-shirt on glowed.  They tried to confuse us with the tonic water and the normal water.  They switched the bottles around.  But I already knew!  

The whole science fair was astounding.  We are looking forward to trying one of the other experiments next year.

By Trey and Aonghus

Science Fair Recount - Jack and Teru

Yesterday was the fantastically legit Motupipi science fair. The science fair is a stunning place to show off your best and greatest science experiments. We invite families to come and see our marvellous science experiments.

Our favourite experiments were Ooblek and the vortex. The Ooblek was squishy, but when you put force into it, like punching it, it feels really hard. The vortex span like a tornado in a bottle!

Our stalls were the Balloon of Greatness and Super Duper Hoopers. The Balloon of Greatness is where you put white vinegar in a bottle and baking soda in a balloon. Then you put the balloon on the bottle and the force of the baking soda and vinegar creates stunning carbon dioxide which creates the champagne like fizz. We felt like we had just won the America’s Cup.

The super duper hoopers are a little hoop stuck on a straw that flies through the air. They have a small hoop on the front of the straw to stop it turning off track and a big hoop on the back of the straw to create the drag to make it fly.

It was an incredibly breathtaking day.

Science Fair Recounts - Kiyo and Brody

Yesterday was the marvellous mind-blowing Motupipi School Science Fair. The science fair is when the school gathers around and shows cool science projects like Brody's balloon inflater and Kiyo’s balloon rocket! The science fair is a perfect opportunity to show off how good we really are at science.

My balloon inflater was incredibly fun. I learnt that when vinegar and baking soda mix it creates carbon dioxide. Jack, Rian and I mixed them both in a sprite bottle with a balloon as the lid instead of a cap. It started to blow up the balloon with the force! - Brody

Lochie and I did the balloon rocket. We were going to try to make a balloon on string go 4.5 meters. So how does it work? It’s all about the air and thrust. The air rushes out of the balloon and creates a forward motion called thrust. This makes the balloon float across the room!

My favorite project was the vortex in a bottle!! Brody’s favorite experiment was blobs in a bottle!

By Kiyo + Brody

Aliana and Auroras awesome science recount!!!!!!!!

Aliana and Auroras awesome science recount!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was the outstanding science fair of the incredible Motupipi School. The science fair is when kids put together awesome science projects to show off to other kids how fantastic they really are. Parents and grandparents can come, mainly anyone can come, to watch your kid’s phenomenal science. It is very mind-blowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My name is Aliana and my favorite was the lava lamp in room 5 that was run by Aurora, Louis, Trey and Mav. It looked like an awesome rediscovery of life. It was so mind- blowing!!!!

My name is Aurora and my favorite was the lava in a cup in room 5 run by Aliana, Sonny and Gabriel. It looked like real lava to me. All the oil and food colouring bubbled round and was really extraordinary.

Here is a pick of a science experiment

Again the motupipi kids are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Science Fair Recount - Louis Kahu

Yesterday was the flabbergasting science fair. The science fair is when all the classes break into separate groups and do different experiments. Then we invite adults and outside people into our school for a thrillingly mind-blowing science fair day.The science fair is a thrilling opportunity to learn about science experiments that the other kids have been doing for the past week.  

Our favourite experiment was the phenomenal lava in a cup. Lava in a cup was when a group got orange food colouring, water and mixed it up in a cup. Then they put palm oil on top of the water. Then they poured salt into the and it looked like breathtaking blobs in a bottle.

By Louis and Kahu

Motupipi Anthem Lyric Writing Competition.

Last weekend I booked some time in Glenview Road Studios and recorded a backing track for a school anthem. I recorded myself singing an idea of some lyrics, but I think it would be much better if the lyrics were written by you guys so I'm going to run the Motupipi Anthem Lyric Writing Competition.

The Rules Are Simple

1. The lyrics must be about Motupipi School and reflect the positive nature of the school and unique environment here. 
2. The lyrics must include the school values: Believe in yourself, be caring, take the challenge, succeed. 
3. The lyrics should include other things such as our motto: Making A Difference Together and generally paint a picture about how awesome this school is.
4. You may have to be prepared for suggestions about to make your lyrics BTB (Better Than Before) before we record if you win. 
5. We will take the best bits of your submitted lyrics and make them into a final superlative school anthem of greatness. 
6. Lyrics must be submitted to me by Friday the 29th of September 2017 by 2.48pm - in a digital format. 

Mr M's Tips For Songwriters

1. Check out my lyrics. You are welcome to keep any parts that you really like if you wish. Personally I can't see how you can make the chorus do a better job of making it clear that the song is about Motupipi School, so personally I would consider keeping this in your version. It's up to you though. 
2. Sing along with the backing track as you write your lyrics. Your lyrics must fit in with the melody of the song. See me if you don't understand what I mean by that.
3. Have fun, music is awesome

What's It For?

What will we do with your lyrics you may ask? Well, I plan to record some of the talented singers at Motupipi singing the final song and we'll put their vocals with the backing track. In term four we'll make a music video that includes the whole school and share it with the world!

Motupipi Anthem Demo with Mr M's Sample Lyrics

Motupipi Anthem Backing Track with Melody

Rock On,

Mr M

Week 8 Update

Kia Ora All,

We're plowing through the term at a phenomenal rate! Here is a heads up as to what to look out for this week.

• On Monday R5 will be heading down to the golf course for a coaching session. We'll leave by bus at 10.30 and return at 11.30.
• The school science fair will be upon us in a couple of weeks. If you have any nifty science experiments that you know of, feel free to pass that knowledge on to your child. I'll have plenty of experiments for them to wow you with, but new science experiments always make life a bit interesting. 

Rock On,

Mr M

Week 7 Update

Kia Ora All,

Welcome to week 7!

We're currently in the thick of a persuasive writing unit. A couple of parents have talked to me recently about wanting to do more writing at home as part of their child's home learning. Persuasive writing is a fun genre, so here are some ideas to help you out at home. You could even submit your argument to the Golden Bay Weekly! 

The basic structure of an argument is:

• Tell us what you are arguing about e.g., Dear So and So, I think we should ban...
• Firstly, a paragraph backing up your argument with some ideas / facts.
• Secondly, a paragraph backing up your argument with some ideas / facts.
• Lastly, a paragraph backing up your argument with some ideas / facts.
• A conclusion summing up what you want to happen - this should basically be your introduction e..g, For the above reasons, I think we should ban...

To make it even harder / more interesting, here is the paragraph format we've been looking at: 

Statement - open your paragraph with one sentence statement which has the key idea/the point of what this paragraph is about.

Explain - you need to explain and expand on the statement in detail using specific …...

Examples - from your source of information, e.g. quotes, names, date, events, statistics (often this can be within/built into your Explain part of the paragraph)

Conclude - finish your paragraph by saying how this paragraph answers the question.

Here is an example

In the school holidays I went to the Tahuna Hydroslide. A hydroslide is a long and twisting pipe that has water flowing through it. You sit on a mat and slide down, landing in a pool at the bottom. I went on it with my daughter. At first she was scared, but once she got going we went again and again. The hydroslide was sick.

Here are some possible topics:

• Should we wear school uniform?
• Should there be a compulsory bedtime for primary aged students?
• Should Homework be made compulsory?
• Should schools bring back the strap?
• Should we have a ban on all junk food at Motupipi School?
• Should the police be armed?
• Should we have KFC or McDonalds for school lunches?
• Should we ban 1080?
• Should the Takaka Grandstand be kept?
• Hats should not be compulsory at schools.
• Life is easier today than in the past.
• Dogs are a better pet than cats.
• Cats are a better pet than dogs.
• Every child should have a pet.
• School uniform should be compulsory.
• All children should have to play sport.
• Boys and girls should not be allowed to eat sugar.
• Lollies- should they be banned at school?
• Recycling is the most important thing we can do as a family.
• Computer games - are they a waste of time?
• What is more important - friends or family?
• Caged or free - should animals be kept in zoos?
• Reading books is better than watching TV.
• Everyday people waste power, we should save electricity when possible.
• It is better to live in the city than the country.
• It is better to live in the country than the city.
• School should run seven days a week.
• Sharing - we should share everything with everyone.
• Fresh air - every child should spend half their day outside.
• Rest is important - every student should go to bed at 8pm.
• Stop school break time - we should have more time studying.

Rock On,

Mr M

Class Speech Video 2017

Kia Ora Koutou Katoa,

Here is a video that includes a small part of many speeches from the recent in-class speech competition. Everyone worked hard on their speech, and for many it was a real challenge getting up in front of the class to present it. Well done to all those future orators from the mighty Ruma Rima!

Rock On,

Mr M

Week 6 Update

Kia Ora All,

Welcome to a new week. As usual, here is a heads up:

• Daffodil day was awesome, the students had a blast. Thanks so much to all those who donated ingredients, baked with their children, lent kitchen appliances, and came in to help out - we couldn't have done it without you. 
• Hockey was a ton of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed coaching a year 5/6 mixed team on the day. Again, thanks to all who came along to help out. My favourite part of the tournament was seeing many students start from humble beginnings on the hockey field and improve at an astronomical rate to be playing with enjoyment and confidence by the end of the day. 

• Please make sure spelling notebooks come to school on Monday.

Maths - Probability

• This week in maths we will be making predictions about "what’s in the bag?" by drawing cubes of two different colours from a bag (and then returning them). The more turns you take, the more you know about the cubes in the bag. You can then use this knowledge to make a prediction about how many of each colour there are in the bag. We'll be linking this in with the work we've recently been doing around fractions.  

Instructions for: What’s in the bag?

Put a total of six buttons (or counters) of two colours in a paper bag or container that you can’t see into. Ask your child to try to work out what colours the six buttons are by drawing out the buttons one at a time. It is important that the button is put back into the bag each time. Let your child do this as many times as they want until they are ready to predict the colours (drawing a diagram is an excellent way of keeping track). Ask them to explain their prediction and then let them look in the bag. Next time let your child make up a bag for you to work out. Enjoy making your predictions and seeing if you are right!

Rock On,

Mr M

Bottle Rockets

I think it's safe to say that the bottle rockets were an epic success. The students designed and built their rockets in pairs or groups of three. We then busted out the hot glue guns and glued the designs together as best as we could - there was plenty of opportunity to adjust our plans and problem solve along the way. I enjoyed watching the students working together and figuring out how to build a rocket that they were all happy with. Here is a short video and some pictures of the launch. Thanks to Kiyo for some super camera work.

Rock On,

Mr M

Welcome To Week 5

Kia Ora Koutou Katoa,

This week looks like it's going to be a big one.

• On Tuesday the Y4's head to Nelson for hockey and on Thursday the Y5's head over. If you're able to come along and provide transport, please let Mark or myself know. 
• Picasso art is in full swing. Most students have finished one portrait using pastels and are moving into using the same compositional technique again, but on a larger scale using paint. I'll get some pics up soon.
• Friday is the Daffodil Day Gala. The students in Room 5 have been working on their stalls. They've had to fill out an application form designed to help them think about what they need to do to run their stall. I'm looking forward to seeing it all come to fruition. Hopefully momentum continues and they don't stall. Here are some images of the students beavering away in preparation. 

• In science, we're designing and building our own bottle rockets this week. This involves measuring our bottles and drawing a plan of our rockets, then constructing our amazing designs using state of the art materials such as ice cream containers and cutting edge tools such as scissors. It should be a blast (off). Here are some photos of the design process thus far. 

Rock On,

Mr M

Welcome to Week 4

Kia Ora Koutou Katoa,

• As part of science, we'll be doing some experiments that involve plastic bottles - soft drink bottles such as 700ml - 1.5 litre Coke bottles are ideal. I'm sure you could convince your child to take one for the team and drink some Coke this week. Sorry parents, beer and wine bottles aren't needed! If you have any to spare, please send them along to school. 
• We've going to be hitting a persuasive writing unit hard from this week onwards. If you are looking for a home learning task, you could get your child to put together a short speech to share at oral language convincing us of something they are passionate about e.g., ban homework, why should everyone own lego, skateboarding should be banned etc.
• The year 4 speech finalists will be heading off to the competition on Monday, the year 5's on Tuesday. Good luck guys, you've worked hard!
• Last week the students continued to beaver away making DLO's about compound sentences, which we've been touching on periodically since last term. If you want a home learning idea that fits in with our writing programme, you could see if your child is able to explain a compound sentence to you. You're hoping to hear things such as: two sentences joined together, conjunction, subject and verb. Here are a some DLO's.

Week 3 Update

Kia Ora Koutou Katoa,

Welcome to Week 3, a.k.a the week that the fledgling speech writers get to unfurl their wings and leap into the great unknown - wish them luck.

• Speaking of luck, some of the students need a little more just than luck: a few of them still need a finished speech... If your child is amongst this group of optimistic procrastinationers, could I respectfully suggest that you give them a gentle nudge this arvo if you get a chance. They may be able to access their speech via their google account if they typed it last week, if not, I know that quite a few students did take their writing books home on Friday. 
• The final flurry of speech preparation happens tomorrow. Then all names will go into a hat and the order they come out will decide the order in which students deliver their speeches. I'm aiming to film them and hopefully put some of them up on the blog if the sound quality turns out good enough.
• The sports that we're playing at school presently are hockey and miniball in preparation for some tournaments coming up. 
• The fractions juggernaut continues to roll along. This tends to be the most confusing area of numeracy for students. Any cooking / cutting up of fruit etc you can do with your student is beneficial. 
• Here is a short video that suggests another fraction activity for home learning.

Rock On,

Mr M

Welcome to Week 2

Kia Ora Koutou Katoa,

Week one fairly flew by, here is a heads up about the coming week.

• Speeches are on the go. Feel free to work on them at home as part of home learning. In order for you to link in with what we're doing in class, here is my example introduction and success criteria. It isn't going to work for every speech topic, and of course is possible to improve upon, but it does provide a decent framework for getting a workable introduction going.

My Example: 

Are you ready to rock? Hi I’m Mr M and I’m here to tell you all about the greatest musical instrument in the world: the electric guitar! Why would you listen to my speech you might ask? Well you like music, right? Right! So I’m going to give you lots of information about the coolest instrument in the world - that’s pretty neat. I started playing the guitar when I was about 7. That gives me 27 years experience playing the instrument. I’ve played in tons of bands and even recorded several albums, and I enjoyed every minute of it! I’m going to tell you what an electric guitar is, how to get started playing the guitar and what you can do if you get really good.

Success Criteria: 

• You have a greeting / attention getter
• You have a one sentence summary talking about what your speech is about.
• Talk about the benefit for the audience of hearing your speech.
• Establish your credibility.
• Give a brief overview of the things you’re going to cover.

In other news:

• Maths Buddy tasks are set for this week.
• Spelling notebooks back tomorrow please.
• Below is a video on fractions which will give you an idea of what we've started the term with in maths. Let me know if it's of use to you...

Rock On,
Mr M

Rainbow Jelly DLO's

As Promised, here are some photos and videos of the measurement unit we did at the end of last term making rainbow jellies. We're slowly making progress around learning how to talk about our learning and explain it in a DLO (Digital Learning Object - otherwise known as a video). Here are three DLOs that a lot of effort went into. If you have any feedback about what students did well and how they could make their DLOs BTB (Better Than Before, our class motto), please leave a comment. I liked the enthusiasm and planning that went into them all. I found the ones that used full screen video easer to understand and the ones that use humorous backgrounds and a small window showing themselves speaking harder to tell what was going on. What do you reckon?

Rock On,

Mr M

Welcome Back to Term Toru!

Kia Ora Koutou Katoa,

I hope everyone had an excellent holiday and are ready to hit it hard for another term. I had a really good break and I'm excited about getting into this term; it looks like it's going to be a cracker. Here's the start of term update:

• Speeches are in week 4 or thereabouts. That gives us very little time to get them sorted, but if we work hard it will be just enough. One thing you can do at home, which will really help, is discuss with your child what they would like to do their speech about. It needs to be something they are passionate about that really sparks their interest. If they come to school with a topic ready to go, it makes the whole process much smoother.
• I've changed my spelling / homework programme slightly and now test the spelling words on Monday. They write them into their spelling notebooks (which they've been doing all year), and can take them home to practice (if you include spelling in your home learning). Once the students have their spelling words written into their notebooks and checked off, I get them to write 5 sentences that include one or more of the words in them. After they get that sorted, I've started giving them some free writing time, which the students generally really value.
• Maths Buddy is go, and as per usual I have tasks set. 
• We're covering fractions in maths this term. Doing some baking with your child can be an excellent way of working with fractions in a fun and tasty way. Try to choose recipes that use measuring cups e.g., 1/3 of a cup of flour etc. It's also a good way of reinforcing the measurement unit we did last term.
• This term we'll be doing some science experiments and I'm hoping to get out for some other fun and practical activities to link in with our writing. 
• As always, please make contact if you have any questions, concerns or similar. Popping in to see me is fine. Email is a really good way of flicking me a quick note or setting up a time to come in.
• I have a bunch of videos and pictures from last term showing some of the things we got up to in our maths measurement unit. I'll endeavour to sort out a blog post for them in the next little while. 

Rock On,

Mr M

Final Week Update

Kia Ora All,

Just a couple of things to update everyone about this week:

• As part of measurement in maths, we'll be designing and making rainbow jellies this week. We've practiced measuring and designing using a normal shaped cup. On Tuesday, I've told the students to bring in an interesting shaped glass if possible. Nothing too special just in case it gets dropped or broken! They'll find out how much liquid it'll hold and design a jelly that will be built in that cup.
• Also, the BTB points auction will be on Friday. I'll be letting the students know about bringing stuff in to donate to the auction. Just like last time, nothing expensive or overly big. Old toys, unwanted clothes, small stationary items or similar are always popular. The more donated items we have, the more fun the auction will be.

Rock On,

Mr M

Welcome to Week 6

We're churning through the term and will be half way through the year before we know it! Here is a heads up for what's on this coming week.

• This week we're going to start character description in writing. A character description is a piece about a person that the author knows really well and means a lot to them. We'll be describing what they look like, the sorts of things they say, the sorts of things they do and any funny or interesting anecdotes about them. Please have a chat to your child about a person of significance to them that they may like to write about. If you have a photo, I can photocopy it for them so that they have it there while they write. It can also be a good idea to jot some ideas down with them so that they come to school prepared to write.
• We'll also be writing letters thanking the helpers at the Marae last week. It was an awesome day and the students had a wicked time. 

Rock On,

Mr M

A Slice Of (Mid-Term!) Life From Room 5

Last week some members of the Motupipi School Rock 'n' Roll Choir sang at the Playhouse as part of an evening put on by the Golden Bay Choir. It was an awesome evening. Great job Gabriel, Chloe, Carmyn, Max, Aliana and Aurora!




We've also been leaning about cyber safety. This week we did some online readings and one from the School Journal about what a digital footprint is and what you should and shouldn't share online. Here are some DLO's created by the students talking about how to keep yourself safe online. We're all still in the process of learning how to make our videos look really slick, so enjoy the effort these guys have put into preparing and presenting their information.



Rock On,
Mr M