HANDS ON MATHS-MAKING MOCKTAILS!

Thanks to a great post on Bearwood blog in the UK (last year), we also experienced the meaning of RATIO in real life by making mocktails in Maths!!! It's great to be able to share ideas across the world!

Maths Mocktails from Marg Yore on Vimeo.

GUEST POST - LEAH and JESS- VILLANELLE

At school we have been teaching each other different types of poetry. We taught everyone a Villanelle. A villanelle is a French poem that has 19 lines arranged in six stanzas.
The first five stanzas contain three lines and rhyme in the pattern ABA. This rhyme stays the same throughout the whole poem.
The sixth stanza consists of four lines with a rhyming pattern of ABAA.
In the sixth stanzas, the first and third line in the first stanzas are repeated in the last two lines in the sixth stanzas.

This is our Villanelle.

The ferns covered the descending trees
Disguising all the plains
Blowing in the soft, supple breeze

A wind’s hazy wheeze
Appears naturally
Harshly blowing all the leaves

The wind starts to ease
As powerful as it was
It calms down the leaves

I bend down on my knees
Pluck some flowers
As I hear the bees

As the sun sinks down it sees
The beautiful nature
The place that holds the keys

So now it is time for us to freeze
And for one last time
The ferns covered the descending trees
Blowing in the soft, supple breeze

Our reflection about students teaching one another!

Leah: I thought that it worked well because we could understand it more easily because it was at our  own level.

Jessica: I think it worked well because everyone was able to give it a go. I enjoyed being the the teacher because it provides some variation in the way I work and also, because I had to teach it, I understood the poem better.

Mrs Yore reflects: I am simply blown away by the poetry the seniors primaries are writing. Empowering them with the role of imparting the knowledge to their peers, has certainly raised the bar both in terms of student engagement and in the standard of learning that has taken place.

QUANTUM AWARD FOR MINECRAFT

Congratulations were the order of the day today when a surprise Skype call from Quantum Victoria (a centre of excellence and innovation in Science and Mathematics) informed the Senior Students that one of our students had been awarded the first ever

Minecraft Moderator of the Month Award 

as a student player on Quantum Victoria's Massively Minecraft Server.
This was awarded as Simon had shown wonderful leadership qualities in the online world - helping newcomers, mending damaged areas and having a positive influence on the 'World'.  
Events like this highlight how on-line gaming can allow students to develop their inter-personal skills and demonstrate leadership qualities.  We highly value the support of the Quantum staff in moderating the Minecraft server as it provides a wonderful opportunity for our students to play and learn in a safe and supported environment.

The Quantum team presenting our student with his 'Hammer' and certificate.  

GUEST POST from James and Caitie

In the past few weeks we have worked in pairs to learn about a different type of poem. We have researched the Tanka poem.  James and Caitie

What is a Tanka poem?

A Tanka poem is a classic form of Japanese poetry.

It has been used since 1300, the the oldest form of Japanese poetry.

When they wrote them it was often for special occasions.

The Tanka poem has 31 syllables.

After our lesson some of the students wrote a beautiful Tanka.

Jia-Yi wrote:

Cherry blossom trees

Baby pink, white appear

This means spring has come

Adding beautiful texture

To the sunshine coated land

Jessica S wrote:

A radiant beam

Shines across our God's splendors

Vast fields of flowers

A creation of wonder

And a creation of peace

Reflection: We worked well together. Collaborating was fun on this activity. We really enjoyed teaching people about this wonderful type of poem. It was amazing what our class produced from this lesson.

GUEST POST - JIA-YI-from Senior Primary MY

At the moment, we are learning about different forms of poetry.  Each group researched and practised  a different form of poetry.  Zak and I learnt about free verse poems.

We found out that, Free Verse poems were written in the early 20th century.  A free Verse poem has no rhythym, very few distinct rules or boundaries.  They tend to flow in an uneven pattern, it also has no neccessary structure.  This allows the writer to break from formulas and rigidity.

It has been thought that, every poet that writes Free Verse, makes up the rule for their poem.  Free Verse poems are harder to write simply because you have to make more decisions, whereas in other poems there is a strict number  of lines or stanzas.

This was my first go at writing a Free Verse poem

Yellow

Yellow is the sun.

Sunbeam shining

brightly.

Yellow is a happy colour

a sign of a good day ahead,

a sign of a

escape from the

dark.

Yellow the inside of

the delicious passion

fruit.

Chloe: Listening to new people/students teach was very inspiring and kept everyone attentive, as we all had something to teach. This is my free verse poem, written after Jia-Yi and Zac presented:

Blossoms may bloom,

Roses may open,

Lions will hunt,

Coyotes will bite,

Words are written,

Songs are sung,

Blood drips,

Bones grind,

Yet butterflies still glide,

Kittens will cuddle,

Leaves still wither,

Bark still peels,

Seeds are sowed,

While saplings mature.

Blossoms may bloom,

Roses may open,

Flesh will tear,

Guns will fire,

Birds still soar,

Lords of the sky,

The wind's gentle wheeze,

Scatters Autumn leaves,

Smoke smothers,

 And flames devour,

Thorns prick,

And flowers sweeten air.

Blossoms may bloom,

Roses may open,

Earth will shake,

Volcanos will erupt,

Sky is sliced by wings,

Waves lap shores,

There are last breaths,

And tears of grief,

Puppies are bouncing,

Pigs are snorting,

Murder is commited,

Music is played,

A comforting breeze,

Makes pine cones fall.

This is paradise.

Reflection from Mrs Y: What a wonderful experience having Jia-Yi and Zak prepare and deliver the learning about free verse. I loved that, in the end, they knew more about the topic than me! And what amazing writing they inspired. More guest posts, soon.

Middle Matters

LEARNING FROM OTHERS-VAN GOGH FIELDS

Inspired by our study of Van Gogh and the wonderful blog, "For the Love of Art," we have created Van Gogh fields.

HOW AVERAGE ARE YOU?

We are learning about the MODE, MEDIAN and MEAN of a set of numbers! Firstly, we collected data on how many push ups each student could do in 30 seconds. There was a wide range  of scores! From the scores, we calculated the mode, median and mean...but, we would like to hear of some more situations that would help us practise our calculations.

                      Now it's your turn to help us!

Challenge our math-a-magical class with some great ideas to see how average we can really be!!! What scenarios could we use to practise our skills?

Our definitions:
mode: in a set of scores the mode is the score that occurs the most
median:a type of average-the middle value of an ordered set of values
mean:average of a number of different amounts

FERMI PROBLEMS

Fermi Problems-Enrico Fermi studied physics and Maths. He liked to pose seemingly impossible questions. “Fermi Problems” celebrate his ability to estimate and play around with problem-solving! NOW...see if you can think like Fermi...help us learn like Fermi by posing a Fermi Problem for our Mathematically crazy class!!! An example we used today was, "How many cans of dog-food do our neighbourhood dogs consume in one night?" Another Fermi Problem I remember is my uncle asking my dairy farmer Dad how many milk shakes his cows could provide in one year!

Sunflowers

Inspiring students' involvement in producing artworks is the most satisfying thing I do! Let van Gogh take charge!

Camp Rumbug...the perfect place!

Charlotte asks,"Ever want to be completely saturated in mud....walking on tight ropes...canoeing,abseiling, flying through the air...well Camp Rumbug is the place for you!

Remembering on Anzac Day...Response to Text-"Lone Pine."

 Reading the moving story of "Lone Pine," inspired our writing today. The authors are Susie Brown and Margaret Warner and the illustrator Sebastian Ciaffaglione.

Leah wrote: Based on a true story, "Lone Pine" really moved my soul! In a battlefield in Turkey, two brothers far away from home have to suffer losing their youngest brother in battle. They send a pine cone to their mother...not knowing it would turn into a symbol of remembrance! Lest we forget!

Jia-Yi wrote:  "Lone Pine" is a moving and powerful true story. The authors use short, sharp and powerful sentences to get straight to the point...the story appealed to me because of the dramatic and dynamic vocabulary, for example, "solitary" and "memorial." I also realised that many things resembled the three brothers who fought in the war. For example, the three seeds grew into three saplings, two of them stood tall, while the third withered away. This story reached out to touch my heart. Lest we forget!

Harry wrote: The weather is foul. I can see a storm coming. It is nearly time. The real fight is about to begin. I can sense it. Many will be lost. I'll be lucky to survive...my one wish is to survive this terrible war along with my brothers......the war has finally come to an end. Somehow I survived but, I have yet to find my little brother, and I fear that I might never see him again...
These might have been some of the soldiers'  thoughts. The battle of Lone Pine is a truly moving story that shows us the pain and sadness of war and how it can affect us all. But the lives lost were not soon forgotten, and every year, all around Australia, we remind ourselves of the lives lost!  Lest we forget!

Chloe O wrote: This story is sad, with the classic Anzac Day message, lest we forget. The short powerful sentences harden the story and catch our attention. I thought the pine saplings used as symbols worked well. It is sad to think this is a true story. The illustrations were very striking, especially the two dawn scenes, one with the young pines them the lone old pine tree.

 Jess K wrote: This book is very powerful. I loved the strong language and powerful illustrations that really painted the picture! I loved how one little pine seed could make a big difference in someone's life... Lest we forget!

CARITAS CHAMPIONS!

Today the Social Justice Team had a baking sale for Caritas, at the same time celebrating (a little late) St Patrick's Day! We made many cakes, cookies, jelly, cordial and treats-everything was GREEN! We hope that everyone had a great time. In total, we raised $730.00!! Also...a great job everyone for wearing green!
By Hannah, Hailey and Vanessa

Raising Funds on St Patrick's Day! on PhotoPeach

LOVING ART

Here's our great summer sunsets to match the summer mood as we start the first week of Seniors classes.

HOW'S THE WEATHER TODAY?

CAN YOU HELP US LEARN ABOUT THE WEATHER and TEMPERATURE IN PARTICULAR?

Welcome to all  "friends of the Middle Matters!" We are back to school here in Australia on Monday 6th February. Most of us will have had quite a few trips to the beach during the summer break-our long holiday! We have had temperatures of 30C on many days. Wonderful!

What's it like where you are in the world today? Can you tell us the temperature (day and night) and how it feels and looks outside. What are you wearing? Looking forward to another year in the "global classroom!"

CHRISTMAS STORMS AND HOLIDAYS AND THANKS

To all our commentators!

Thanks for your interest and encouragement throughout 2011. The students from The Middle Matters have loved having you on board- me too!!!

We now have our 6 week Summer break-much anticipated and deserved!!! Christmas has been hot and stormy- we await hot, dry beach days ahead!

Thanks,

The Middle Matters and Marg Yore