4R 2010 CLASS BOOK

Posted by  on Monday, November 15th 2010     

We have had a wonderful year this year and I thought I would do something special for all of you. I have created a professionally published book called ‘4R 2010′ and filled it with photos and text of activities we have done this year. The book size is 18cm x 18cm square. A copy of last years book is available in the classroom if you would like to see size and quality. The book uploaded to Blurb is the final copy and there will be no further updates.

The book costs AUD $17.95 (premium paper) plus postage of AUD $9.99 (for up to 3 books).

[Update]: I have just received another promotion code (FESTIVE4) that will cover shipping costs of AUD$9.99 for up to 3 books. Free shipping code needs to be used by December 10th.

To get the book before Christmas you will need to order by the 12th December.

23 Books have been purchased so far

I receive no money from the sale of these books

Link to all 3 Class Books

category: Parents
tags: 

2010

Posted by  on Saturday, December 11th 2010     

mrreescom-clustermap2010-smallThe original purpose of this blog was to remove the walls and open up the classroom to the world. It was hopeful that this would provide validation for all the effort and work that my students have done. I believe it has been a great success and I hope that I will be able to continue doing this, though perhaps in a more communal way rather than teacher led.

We have had many fantastic learning experiences and am grateful to my students for motivating me to continue the blog from it’s early days in 2008 and to all the visitors that have stopped by over the years.

Since the beginning of this year ClusterMaps and Google Analytics have been keeping track of the visitors to our class blog. We have had 30 000+ visitors from 141 countries and over 90 000 page views. Our most popular post was the web quest work for the Science unit Light Fantastic with 2713 views. Other popular posts include:

Maths

Language

Art

Science

HSIE

category: Other, Parents
tags: 

Narrative: Who is Ialocin Seer?

Posted by  on Wednesday, December 1st 2010     

Online Art CreatorIalocin Seer was a young hunter from a lost tribe, in a lost time and on a distant world he new nothing about. His only companion was a computer generated autobot that would pop out from his wristpod every time he mentioned the words Icolainay Eesray. Ialocin was tall, balding and starting to develop a large belly from all the junk food that he managed to hunt down at the local Regrub Gink. Ialocin was about to begin another hunt when ………

Who is Ialocin Seer?

Task 1:

  • Write a narrative about a character who’s name is the same as yours, except BACKWARDS.
  • You also need to include a Pig Latin version of your name in the narrative.
    Pig Latin-  take the first letter of your name and put it at the end and then add ay. Do the same again to your last and even your middle name.
  • You can backwardify (not a word) places and objects.
  • You can, with permission, use your friends name as long as they are written in the same style.

Brainstorm – Write – Self Edit – PeerEdit – MrRees – Publish

Task 2:

  • Create a picture of your alternative self using ‘Build Your Wild Self ‘ website. Print it out and stick it in your publishing book when you have finished writing your story.
category: Language
tags: , , ,

Antique Autograph Book

Posted by  on Tuesday, November 30th 2010     

Today in class we started making our Autograph Books. The purpose of these books is to create a memory of your friends/family in 2010 and to create the opportunity to practise your poetry skills. Our books are based on this autograph book that was written for Augusta Sticht from 1879 to 1914.

Important Features:

  • Writing has elements of poetry
  • Writing is almost like art
  • One autograph per page (whole page taken up)

Task 1:

  1. Create a autograph book of at least 10 pages with a simple border template on each page. Each page should be 1/4 of an A4 page.
  2. Create a fancy cover for your book.
  3. Swap books with a friend and write a positive poetic message.
  4. Read the messages your friends have written.

    Click the image to go to the Antique Autograph Book

    “Augusta said with smiling look, Lizzie write something in my book. I will, comply to your request, and thus by me you are addressed. I wish you happiness and peace, as years roll on, and months increase. And when you reach the shore, may you be blessed forever more. Lizzie P. Buckman — Brooklyn, Feb. 24, 1881.”

    category: Class Work, Fun Stuff
    tags: , , , ,

    Taking class pets home for the Christmas holidays

    Posted by  on Friday, November 26th 2010     

    For these coming holidays some students will be selected to look after the Snails, Fiddler Beetles, Millipedes/Pill Millipedes and Stick Insects at home.  If you are going away for longer than 3/4 days then it is advisable that you either have someone look after them or you will not be allowed to take them home. Leave a comment with what pet you would like to look after and that you have permission from your parents.

    All pets must be kept out of direct sunlight and should not be anywhere that gets too hot or too cold.

    Stick Insects

    For the Stick Insects I will provide the small plastic or mesh terrariums, container for the leaves and a spray bottle. Euycalyptus leaves will need to be replaced every 4 to 5 days, so you will need to have a local supply. You will also need to spray the enclosure once per day, more if it is hot. Mum or Dad will need to come and help take this terrarium home.

    1. Ewan - Crown, Violet and Spiny Stick Insects with hexagonal mesh terrarium/ spray bottle.
    2. Taylah - Childrenii and Goliath Stick Insects with hexagonal mesh terrarium/ spray bottle.

    Giant Panda Snails/Fraser’s Land Snails

    The Giant Panda Snails/Fraser’s Land Snails will be provided in a heavy glass terrarium that has a lot of peat moss with a thick layer of leaf litter on top of one side. You will need to feed them mushrooms, cucumber, rock melon, sweet potato, carrot and cabbage.  Feed every 2 days and make sure any uneaten food is removed the following day. The cuttle bone also needs to be replaced once they have finished eating it. They like high humidty so the terrarium needs to be moist but not wet or mouldy, spray when necessary (every 5 or 6 days).  Mum or Dad will need to come and help take this terrarium home.

    1. Mr. Rees - Giant Panda Snails with glass terrarium and spray bottle.

    Millipedes

    The millipedes and pill millipedes will be provided in a plastic terrarium that has a little cocopeat with a thick layer of leaf litter on top. They feed on the decaying leaf litter, though you can occasionally (Once per week) feed them cucumber, paw-paw, carrot, etc (Wash them first).  Make sure any uneaten food is removed the following day. They like medium humidty so the terrarium needs to be moist but not wet or mouldy, spray when necessary (every day during summer).  Mum or Dad only need to help take this terrarium home if you normally go home by bus.

    1. Lily - Pill/Millipedes with plastic terrarium and spray bottle.

    Beetles

    The beetles will be provided in a plastic terrarium that is mostly filled with cocopeat. Every second day feed them ripe banana, paw-paw or mango (Wash them first).  Make sure any uneaten food is removed the following day. They like low humidty so the terrarium needs to be moist but not wet or mouldy, spray when necessary (every day during summer).  Mum or Dad may need to help as this is a little heavy.

    1. Sean - Fiddler beetles with plastic terrarium and spray bottle.

    category: Class Pets
    tags: ,

    Egyptian Ceramic Tile Art

    Posted by  on Tuesday, November 23rd 2010     

    On Egypt Day we will be using ceramic tiles to create an Egypt style artwork. The tiles will be incorporated in to a huge mural to help beautify the school.

    We have discussed in class some basic designs we could use for the tile. To help you a little further, I have selected a few outline templates at varying difficultly levels. You do not have to do any of these, though make sure I know what you are planning.

    We will be using cotton buds and water to apply the gold, blue and black glaze on our 15cmx15cm tiles.

    Task

    1. Create a very light pencil outline of your chosen design.
    2. Use a cotton bud and place it the container of water. Then squeeze the bud until most of the water has dripped out.
    3. Run the cotton bud over a small area that you want to paint so it leaves a small trace of water.
    4. Use another cotton bud and add the glaze to the moistened area. Repeat until design is complete.

    Other Ideas: Hieroglyphic Alphabet, Map of Egypt, Name in Hieroglyphs, Sign on Tomb of King Tut, Pursuit Curves. Geometric Portraits, Egypt Motifs used for your headdress.

    Click on any of the below images to see them full size

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    more pictures here

    category: Creative Arts
    tags: , ,

    Poetry: Cinquain – The Giving Tree

    Posted by  on Saturday, November 20th 2010     

    Cinq is the French word for “five” so a Cinquain is a five-lined poem. There are two types of cinquains. The first type of cinquain is a word cinquain. This form is arranged in five lines with a specific word count. The second form is a syllable cinquain and also is five lines long with a specific syllable count. Neither of the two styles use rhyme.

    .

    Word Cinquain

    title (one word)
    words that describe the title (two words)
    actions by the title (three words)
    feeling words that describe the title (four words)
    synonym for the title (one word)

    Syllable Cinquain

    title (two syllables)
    words that describe the title (four syllables)
    actions by the title (six syllables)
    feeling words that describe the title (eight syllables)
    synonym for the title (two syllables)

    The following cinquain brainstorm is taken from The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. You may remember the author from our work on Pointilisim/Wordlism.

    Brainstorm

    I am going to write a cinquain about the boy in The Giving Tree. My cinquain should describe the boy (I could have chosen the tree instead). So, my first line will be Boy.

    Now my second line is words that describe the boy. Let me brainstorm – he was selfish, he was young, he was old, he was friendly in the beginning. Now which two should I pick – I think friendly and selfish. These two words describe how he was in the beginning, middle, and end of the book.

    Now my third line has to be actions that describe the boy. Let me brainstorm a list of actions – carved his initials in the tree, he climbed the tree, he cut down the tree, he sat on the stump, he hugged the tree, he built things with the tree. I think I will pick: hugged, built, cut.

    Now I need four feeling words that describe the boy. I will brainstorm another list and then choose four– love, happy, ungrateful, and lonely.

    Now my last line is one word that is a synonym or similar word for the boy. Let me see – Old Man, since at the end of the story he had become an Old Man. Now, I have to write my poem in the cinquain pattern:

    Boy – The Giving Tree

    Boy

    friendly, selfish

    hugged, built, cut

    love, happy, ungrateful, lonely

    OLD MAN

    TASK

    Create two cinquains, a word cinquain and syllable cinquain, using a character from any of our radio plays as inspiration. You can use the same or different characters for each cinquain.

    Important to Remember: This is a different way to think about a character. Some of the things that we write are never said in the text, they are inferred (see our work on inferential questions), you were able to describe the character by applying information from what you read.


    RADIO PLAYS
    (Click the title for the script)

    BFG – Roahl Dahl

    The True Story of the Three Little Pigs – Jon Scieszka

    Thursday – Douglas Adams

    The Legend of Slappy Hooper – Aaron Shepard

    Double Trouble in Walla Walla – Andrew Clements

    The Principals New Clothes – Stephanie Calmenson

    category: Class Work, Language
    tags: , ,

    Radio Play: Inferential Questions

    Posted by  on Tuesday, November 16th 2010     

    Have you ever dreamed about being a teacher? Getting someone to answer a whole bunch of nonsensical comprehension questions about some boring old piece of writing.  Well, now it is your chance to write the questions.

    How to write Inferential Questions

    To ask an inferential question, you have to think outside the text, so that the answer has to be based on an inference and not on fact directly from what is already known. So, you could ask… what comes next, or what happened before this story?

    You could ask, what would happen if this one part of the story were changed?

    You could ask about the author’s views.

    Anything that isn’t there, staring at you in the face from the text… you could even ask what is the main idea, or what a word means, although those might not be very inferential, depending on what the title already is, or what word you ask about.

    Try picking out a character and asking something about the character’s childhood… as long as the childhood isn’t covered in the story. The whole point is to get people thinking outside the text.

    Click here to see Order for Demolition of House
    Click here to see Order for Demolition of Earth

    Task

    1. Listen to the radio play or read the script of BFG or Thursday.
    2. Try and write 3 of your own inferential questions about BFG or Thurday and post them in the comments.

    Scripts : BFG by Roahl Dahl , Thursday by Douglas Adams

    Radio plays:

    BFG by Roahl Dahl

    .
    Thursday by Douglas Adams
    category: Class Work, Language
    tags: , , , ,

    Flying Saucers: Probability and Graphing Results

    Posted by  on Monday, November 15th 2010     

    In my younger years, during school vacation, my parents would give my brothers and I a small old pickle jar filled with change. We’d all walk, seemingly back in time, to an old mom and pop grocery store with a one cent sweet counter. The ancient man behind the counter would open small brown paper bags and let us choose how many sweets we wanted of each type. It was really an excellent maths lesson. Educational and delicious. A staple (regularly) in the brown paper bag were Flying Saucers.

    I had many different ways of eating them:

    • Pop them in my mouth and let the wafers melt releasing a sea of sweet sprinkles in my mouth.
    • Nibble off the edges, crack the saucer open, eat one wafer, eat the sweet, and then devour the remaining wafer.
    • Using my little kid fingers, pop the saucer open, down the sweet, and then melt the wafer in my mouth.

    Oh the many different ways to enjoy Flying Saucers, YUM!!

    Probability and Graphing Results

    For our maths lesson on probability we will use the randomness of colour that can occur on the Flying Saucers. We will experiment with all the possible outcomes and then tally and graph our data. We also need to make sure we choose an appropriate graph with appropriate labels to ensure the data is correct.

    Step 1

    Work out all the possible colour combinations. Each Flying Saucer has two sides and therefore two colour possibilities.

    Step 2

    Choose student to select a flying saucer at random from the container and record colour information. Repeat until enough data has been collected.

    Step 3

    Discuss appropriate graph and labels and then create it in our books. Convert data to percentages so that it will be easier to compare experiments.

    Step 4

    Choose one well behaved table to repeat the experiment to see if they get the same or different results.

    Step 5

    Answer the following questions:

    1. How many students on your table selected a Flying Saucer with the same colour combination as you?
    2. How many students on your table selected a Flying Saucer with at least one colour the same as you?
    3. What was the most common colour combination in the class? Why do you think it was the most common?
    4. The second experiment had the same/different results, why?
    5. If you had the same variety of colours, but the sweets had three sides, what are all the possible combinations?
    6. If you had the same variety of colours, but the sweets had four sides, what are all the possible combinations?

    category: Class Work, Maths
    tags: ,

    Public Speaking – Ancient Egypt

    Posted by  on Friday, November 12th 2010     

    Egyptian Costume IMG_0461You are stepping back in time to Ancient Egypt. Will you be a:

    • Pharaoh
    • God/goddess
    • worker
    • soldier
    • other (ask me first)

    Choose 1 of the above and write a speech about ‘a day in your life‘ to present to the class. You will need to include:

    • Your name
    • Job
    • Describe where you live and your beliefs

    Make sure to research the appropriate information.

    You can dress up and act as your chosen character.

    DUE: Week 5 (Monday)

    Good Luck and have fun! :)

    ___________________________

    [Update:] Here a some completed speeches from our class.  You can also find them in our Podcast. More will be added next week. Well done Everyone!!!

    Egyptian Costume IMG_0452

    Jasmine
    Emily
    James
    Olivia
    Sophie
    Tara
    Zoe
    .
    category: Class Work, HSIE
    tags: , ,
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