Walking the Length of NZ

How Many Steps?

We have been very fortunate to be involved in a some cool learning experiences that have been designed by School Kit. Earlier in the year it was Get NZ Writing and in Term 3, we participated in a Mystery Hangout with Pitt Island School.  

Towards the end of Term 3, we began another kit called, Walking the Length of New Zealand.  This kit has a health and mathematics component which has encouraged us to think about how we can use different types of activity to increase our daily steps.  Now that we have measured our step, tested different step apps, recorded steps around areas of our school and calculated the average kilometer walked on a day; we are ready to invite our family community to 'step out' with us on Friday of week 3 to 'Walk the Length of New Zealand'.

Click on the link below to check out our learning,

link to learning

Fitness Rotations

Every Monday and Friday the year 6’s and the year 5’s do fitness rotation for 15 minutes. They work hard to complete a series of activities. 

They do:

• Chest expansions  
• Half jacks
• Jumping T’s 
• Flutter kicks 
• High knees

These series of workouts are completed with music for motivation. Some of the exercises are hard for some - like the flutter kicks. 

🠛 Here are some photos of our fitness time 🠛 

Reporter: Alex
Photographer: Alex

Brain Talk

This afternoon, Dr Barr (Mr Mac's wife) visited Sunnyhills School to share some really interesting facts about the brain with us.

The brain is... 

• about the size of a small cauliflower and floats in liquid, within the skull
• approximately the same weight as 3 blocks of butter - about 1.5kg
• bigger than the brain of animals which are the same body size, e.g. chimpanzee

Different parts of the brain have different roles, e.g. the frontal lobe tells you when to move, while the hippocampus keeps memory (it backs up when we're asleep - just like a computer!). Other areas help with planning, senses and hearing.

While your body feels pain, your brain doesn't. So if you had brain surgery you would only need anesthetic while the surgeon cuts through the skin.  This is really useful so the surgeon doesn't damage a part of the brain that is being used. Dr Barr showed us a video of a man playing the guitar while he was undergoing brain surgery because they didn't want to damage that part of the brain that he needed for playing the guitar.  Amazing!

This is one of the videos that Dr Barr shared with us to help understand the brain's functions:

https://youtu.be/4Dcj6nYcbLI

Dr Barr shared some awesome words, e.g. neuroplasticity, electroencephalography, and neurons  These will certainly help to improve our scores next time we play Scrabble :)

There is so much to learn about the brain.  Maybe in the future, one of the 5Stars will be a neurologist or neurosurgeon. Watch this space!

#OneWord

Have you ever tried to describe your personal goal with one word?  The 5Stars have, and they found out that it's not as easy as it seems.

In the beginning of Term 3, the 5Stars used a hyperdoc to support learning around developing their #OneWord.  After watching several videos and listening to motivating music, they each came up with one word that defined their personal goal and how they wish to be.  Once they had this word, they then used Google Drawings to create a graphic which could be uploaded to Flipgrid with a video. 

Image of the #OneWord hyperdoc

It might be just #OneWord, but a whole lot of learning happened between thinking, designing and creating.  What do you think of our Flipgrid videos?

   

Click here to view our Flipgrid videos    

OR

Scan this QR code

ANZAC Stories

The 5Stars have been learning about the meaning of  ANZAC and why it is important that we continue to reflect and remember. Here are a few stories created by some of the learners as a response to their ANZAC inquiry.

   

                    Link to eBook                    or                    Scan the QR code   

     

                    Link to eBook                          or                    Scan the QR code

ANZAC Art & Haiku Poems

We have been learning about WW1 and the tragic results of the landing in ANZAC Cove.  Click on the link or scan the QR code below to view our artwork and haiku poetry that we created in response to this learning.

https://spark.adobe.com/page/XUetHK8ePjw1l/

Check our Amazing Pop Art Jandals

These are Room 5's amazing jandal pop art that we did with Mrs Willmoth. We used colouring pencils, soft pastels and sharpies to produce our creative patterns. After designing our jandals, we then wrote a verse about 'walking in my shoes'. 

We're really proud of our art and writing. What do you think?

Written by Samantha & Stella (with a little bit extra by Mrs Croll)

Telling Our Own Story

Over the past three weeks, the 5Stars have been learning about words, and how to choose the best ones to help describe a small item. This amazing learning adventure was courtesy of School Kit and Warehouse Stationery.

With a partner, the 5Stars had to complete a thinking sheet about their small item.  It might have been a small teddy bear, dinosaur, chess piece or even a small ship in a bottle!  Along the learning journey, we learned how useful a thesaurus is to provide us with more words when we have exhausted our own word list.  We also learned that not every word in the thesaurus is suitable for the way that we wish to use it!  The 5Stars also learned that an 'anagram' is what happens if they jumble up the letters in a word. This resulted in some very interesting words.

Scan this QR code

or Click on the image below, then once it has loaded, just scroll down to read our class collaborative poem and many of the postcards that we sent away to Oaklands School in Christchurch.

Be Sustainable with Vector

Learning about sources of energy with Esther, from Vector. What's renewable? What's fossil fuel? How can we 'be sustainable'?

I wonder what curiosities are sparked as a result from this learning?

Mathematical Mindsets

Maths Problem Solving

The words, 'growth mindset' feature regularly in our daily conversations at Sunnyhills School. We talk about using a 'growth mindset' when we are learning - especially when we are in the 'learning pit'. With a 'growth mindset', we don't give up. Instead, we say, "I'm challenged and am having trouble understanding this new learning, but I won't give up."  In maths, the 5Stars will be referring to this way of thinking as 'Mathematical Mindsets'.  Jo Boaler - Stanford researcher, professor of math education, and expert on maths learning - has studied how students learn maths. then developed practical strategies to help all students enjoy and succeed in maths.

The 5Stars will be developing their 'mathematical mindset' thinking during group problem solving sessions. It is here that they will need to collaborate and share their thinking with one another, so that everyone in the group understands the process. There will often be often be more than just one way to solve a problem - written, visual and with materials. I can't wait to see how they all develop as mathematicians throughout the year.

Here are some photos of the 5Stars developing their 'mathematical mindset' capabilities while designing a graph (more about that later):

Adding Labels