Saturday 30 April 2011

Maths is fun

Who wants to be a mathionaire?
http://www.mathsisfun.com/games/mathionaire-addition-quiz.html

Subtraction games:
Bowling fun
http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/games/game8.htm
Duck Von Fly
http://www.toonuniversity.com/flash.asp?err=513&engine=12

Time game:
Stop the clock!
http://www.teachingtime.co.uk/draggames/sthec1.html

Measure it- centimetres! :
http://www.funbrain.com/measure/index.html

Best Buddies' Idea



We couldn't wait to click the flower pot at http://www.poissonrouge.com/ to help our prep buddies with their mouse control. We found out that many of our buddies didn't need much help at all!

We love hanging out making stuff and playing with our buddies but today was one of our best times ever! You can see their lovely teacher Miss Woods in one of the photos but Miss Maggie seems to have hidden away...









Do you like our brightly coloured 'house' t-shirts?

Wednesday 27 April 2011

All the way from Dubai


LED Text Scroller

Show and Share (thanks Mrs Stevens for the SOSE idea)

Dear 2A Parents

In their studies of society and the environment (SOSE), 2A students have been engaging with the history of the Wilston /Grange area and are considering how people, events, facilities and artefacts from the past relate to their lives today.

Students will be required during week 3 to present a short (2 minute) formal talk about a person, facility or artefact from the past that has some significance to their family e.g. They may be living in a house on land where there was once a market garden or a little corner shop etc. Their great grandfather or mother might have served an interesting role in the community. There might be a landmark in the area with particular significance. You might have access to an artefact that demonstrates how people dealt with some aspect of living in the past.

There are all sorts of possibilities, but they will not necessarily be immediately obvious to your child. Your input through directing your child to an appropriate subject and talking to them about its significance will therefore greatly contribute to the success of this exercise.


Year 2 CHECKLIST FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Organisation:
Ready for presentation on day
Evidence of planning and practise
Effective introduction
Smooth flow of ideas
Strong conclusion

Delivery:
Eye contact with audience
Clear, loud voice
Good pace (not too fast)
Varied interesting language
Use of expression/ animation
Control of body (no fidgeting)
Smooth incorporation of any support materials
Confident responses to questions from the audience.


Show and Share: Term 2


Week 2 - My Favourite Place
Week 3- SOSE presentation (idea from my colleague Mrs Stevens)
Week 4- What am I? (Clues to an animal)
Week 5- Famous Australian
Week 6- Poem http://www.poetry4kids.com/poems
Week 7- Community Worker (What they do)
Week 8- News and weather

Friday 15 April 2011

Workers of the Week

Glitter Text Graphics - http://www.sparklee.com

Look at the determination!

We had 18 cross country champions yesterday but a special congratulations go to Miss M.Y for 4th place!



I asked Mark to send us a few pics and look how great they are!

Thursday 14 April 2011

Easter Bonnet Parade



More amazing photos from Roxanne!

Junior School looked spectacular as they paraded their hats to parents, family and friends. The hats were adorned with Easter eggs, chickens, glitter and feathers.

We had a lovely Easter church service at St Columbas. Nellie, Ashley and Yeju lead us in a beautiful prayer. Well done girls!

Wednesday 13 April 2011

How creative are my boys!

The 2A boys know how to put a new spin on traditional Easter cards...

-Patrick

-Tyson
-Aidan
-William


P.S. I'm currently canvassing for creative and crafty volunteers to work with 2A on Christmas activities at the end of the year...

Perfect Pooches






Tuesday 12 April 2011

Pop- up Easter eggs

Pop-up Eggs
Pop-up Easter eggs

Look what we made!


New family heirlooms for you to add to your collection. You know you want them...

Pictographs and Pie Charts

I visited Smartie Challenge and found chocolatey Easter activities...

Pictographs


Pie Graphs





A warm welcome to Miss M

Miss M, from All Hallows' School, joins us for the next three days  on her Year 12 work experience.


As Amber said: "We love having her in the classroom!".

Vivid portraits

Poetry is a wonderful way to connect with children and their lives. These vignettes form such  vivid portraits I feel as if I now personally know the 'characters' who my students love!


My Grandma
I see my Grandma jumping into a tree and coming back down again.
I hear amazing singing
I smell beautiful lipstick
I feel soft blankets wrapping around me.
I taste lemonade with ice.
My grandma makes me laugh!
-Georgia K



My Dad  (there were lovely lines written about Mum and Louis too!)

I see the wheels moving on my Powerwing
I hear the stones on the concrete rattling
I smell the dust fling behind me
I feel happy and contented.
I like jogging with Dad.
-Lauren



My Monopoly Champion Dad
I see him fixing the car
I hear the engine burning
I smell the gasful fumes
I feel the hot car
I love fixing the car with Dad.
-Jake


My Cousin
I see her running to me
I hear her heart when I put my ear to her chest
I smell hot cookies when I cook with her
I feel happy when she picks me up and spins me around.
I love my cousin.
-Georgia S


My Dad
I see my Dad on his DS ixl
I hear my Dad fishing
I feel my Dad giving me a hug
I taste the dinner made by Dad.
My Dad is fun to play with.
-Jordie


My Dad
I see my dad swimming
I hear my Dad cooking
I smell my Dad making cookies
I feel happy.
I like to play games with him!
-Aidan


My Dad
I see a hermit crab
I hear the waves
I smell fish and chips
I feel the wind
I taste lobster.
I love going to the beach with Dad.
-Patrick



My Pa

I wonder if this beautiful poem will stir up your emotions as it did mine?

My Pa
I see trawlers coming in over the dieselly sea
I hear the sound of pawn nets clipping on the trawlers
I smell delicious fish from the shop
I feel the sharp rocks.
I love going to Morgans' with Pa.
-Luke

Friday 8 April 2011

Loving Comic Life

 

We've done it!

W.S.S has bought this amazing program and we were the first class into the lab  to experiment and have a play.
The program is very intuitive, working via a simple drag and drop interface. We practised adding and modify all of the important elements of comics including using comic templates, images, balloons and lettering. Even students who find writing challenging were able to experience almost instant success.

BFF- Best Friends Forever!

Team 2A's  favourite school activity—other than lunch— is Show and Share!

We had a wonderful week full of surprises such as a creeping caterpillar, a gentle giraffe, a brave brother with a cheeky grin, 4 delightful dogs, 4 gorgeous guinea-pigs, a well- travelled fighting fish and photos of cuddly (and not so cuddly) cats.

I’ll take a few more photos next week and  if parents e-mail me attachments of photos of the precious pets that didn't make a classroom visit, I can include them too!

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Philosophy and Team 2A

This wonderful book by Philip Cam et al  was recommended by my colleague Mrs Stevens. This book suggests great story books and provides sets of activities to explore philosophical themes. The book has helped us to develop our reasoning and collaborative inquiry skills which basically means we've been having heaps of fun and engaging in loads of discussions.



This book is a must read!



Here are two of our favourite pages:




We investigated what constitutes stealing. These are a couple of the questions we explored:
Is it all right to steal something from someone if they wouldn't mind that you stole it?
Is it all right to steal from people who have more than you?



We also explored the theme of 'uncovering assumptions' and we found reasons why the Potoroo changed her mind about Miss Lily the crocodile.

2A had multiple opportunities to present arguments and justify their decisions.

Interesting fact according to Wikipedia: Gilbert's Potoroo is Australia's most endangered animal.