Inquiry Update

Kia Ora Koutou Katoa,

We've finished working our way through our whale inquiry immersion questions. The students are now either going back and finishing tasks they didn't get completed the first time around and getting them signed off on our sticker chart or, once they've done that, they're starting to make up their own whale questions to research further. They'll choose a method of presentation once they've done some research so keep and eye out for more amazing whale information coming your way very soon. Here's a some pictures of some of the boys in full whale research flight.

Also, here's Scarlett's whale video that she and Carmyn finished off this week.

Rock On, 

Mr M

The Week 8 Update of Greatness

Kia Ora Koutou Katoa,

We had a huge week last week with triathlon training, general reading writing and maths learning and also cracking on with our inquiry. Speaking of which, the students made some videos of themselves talking about what we learnt about whales this week. The idea was to put together a little sketch with one student pretending to be a reporter and the other pretending to be a whale expert. We used an app called Screencastify on the Chromebooks, which was new to most of the class. We'll be doing more of these as the year progresses. Feel free to leave a comment talking about what you enjoyed about the videos and a suggestion about how we could make them BTB (better than before) next time.

In other news:

• I'm on the lookout for dress ups that the students can use for plays, making videos etc. Anything you have that you could donate to a class dress up box would be much appreciated.
• I'm also on the lookout for old t-shirts that we could cut up. I've got a project in mind that requires t-shirts that are ready to be repurposed, but clean (i.e., not rag-grade). Any donations gratefully received. 
• Triathlon on Friday!

Rock On,

Mr M

Week 7 Update

Kia Ora Koutou Katoa,

We've been burning through our World of Whales inquiry. Here's a pic of the students beside our inquiry wall. In the background you can see some lift-the-flap toothed whale fact files shaped like orcas. You can also see some colourful fact files about baleen whales on the right hand side.

Here are some whale art pictures we did on Friday. The concept was to cut out a picture of a whale and use it as the basis for an art work with the rest being filled in with paint. The technique we worked on was creating a composition with a foreground, midground and background. 

 --- Also of Interest ---

• Swimming sports is coming up on Wednesday. 
• Training for the triathlon will also be kicking into gear this week to build confidence and endurance in running, biking and swimming. 
• Class camp will be going ahead in Term 2 at this point. I'm looking at a trip to Nelson for a few days to do some activities that enhance next term's inquiry topic.

Rock On,

Mr M