2R 2008

LookyBook is a great website that will let you look at and read K-2 type books, great for your younger brother or sister. They are also great books to help you with your writing, like Bad Kitty, look for words you can add to your Word Bank.

Task

Read a few books then choose one and write in the comments:

• Book Title
• List some of the interesting words that you could add to your word bank.

The School Swimming Scheme has had a fantastic start with everyone tested and put into appropriate groups (Gold Fish, Sea Horses, Dolphins and Marlin). We are enjoying being out of the classroom and in the pool, especially with the perfect weather conditions.

Could I just remind everyone to make sure that they are wearing sunscreen and to make sure you keep all your belongings in your bag. The bus leaves at 8:45am so make sure you are sitting in the Amphitheatre ready to have your name marked off before we leave.

Everyone one has been terrific with their gear as we have only lost a pair of goggles and one sock.

more photos in the Gallery

Some students have asked if I could post instructions for creating ‘Ocean in a Bottle’, a simple display representing a ocean biome.

What You’ll Need:

• Funnel
• Clear plastic bottle
• Water
• baby oil (clear) or cooking oil (yellow)
• Blue food colouring
• Glitter (optional)

Step 1: Using a funnel, pour the water so that it fills about half the bottle and then fill the rest of the bottle with oil. Fill the bottle as close to the top as possible.

Step 2: Add a few drops of food colouring and some glitter, and watch what the food colouring does.

Step 3: Put the top back on tightly, and gently tilt the bottle back and forth to create an ocean wave effect.

You can also add objects like little plastic fish or sea shells to your bottle.

Facts to remember:

Oil is Hydrophobic, it fears water. Food Colouring is Hydrophilic, it loves water.

Hydro = Water

Phobic = Fear

Philic = Love

Congratulations to all students that are putting a great deal of effort into Mathletics. The trial is going as strong as ever and many students are achieving remarkable goals at their own level.

This week a special congratulations goes to Sophie and James who are the first to receive the Silver Certificates. Both Sophie and James have been working hard earning tens of thousands of points since the second week of the school holidays. James is currently working on the Year 5 curriculum with extremely pleasing results, mostly between 85% and 100%. Sophie, who is soon to move up to the Year 4 curriculum, has been achieving perfect scores in almost every area. Well done! …….. Well done everyone!

We started playing the recorder early in Term 3 and everyone seems to have thoroughly enjoyed it. This Term we have continued with the introduction of music folders with music of varying difficulty. This has provided those who are struggling or flourishing to practice at their own level.

We have now spent 2 weeks learning The Lion Sleeps Tonight, originally by the Tokens, and everyone has picked it up very quickly. We have 3 recorder parts, the melody and two rhythm/harmony parts. Parts 2 and 3 have been simplified to make it easier to play.

You can listen to our progress so far:

2R’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight

You can also listen to:

Ode To Joy

Marry Had A Little Lamb

Today was the Year 6 Fete. They were raising money for their farewell gift to the school. They had spent all morning setting up and were ready to open at ten o’clock.

It seemed that everyone had a fun time, except perhaps for the school prefects. They had the unlucky task of having cream pies, slime and water bombs thrown at them from some very eager younger students.

Several students in 2R stuck their hands, voluntarily, in some green sticky goo, YUCK! The haunted house had many students waiting in line, though the 2R boys came back saying it wasn’t very scary.

Face painting and hairspray seemed the most popular a long with the sweets. Emily had all the luck and won a raffle prize.

When we went back to class and had recess, most students must have scoffed down too many sweets as they were not interested in eating. Maddisson was feeling quite sick.

What did you do at the Fete?

More photos are in the Gallery.

In week 4 and 5 we are going to do speeches about a particular biome (You may choose the biome you would like to do).

Your speech will be marked out of 20 and I will be looking at 4 different areas, each area is worth 5 marks.

The four areas are:

• Eye Contact – To be able to look at the audience and not just read.
• Clarity – How clearly you speak.
• Topic - How well you have researched your topic.
• Structure –
  *  Introduction – Usually a welcome message followed by a brief definition.
  *  Description – Detailed facts about your topic.
  *  Conclusion – Your personal opinion about the topic.

 Websites to use for your speech on BIOMES:

• Blue Planet Biomes
• Missouri Botanical Gardens
• Enchanted Learning: Biomes
• Mission: Biomes
• Google (please make sure you are supervised)

This term we are learning about Wet and Dry Environments and their characteristics. Deserts, Wetlands and Rainforests are some examples of biomes. Biomes are defined areas of similar ecological and climatic conditions, they are often referred to as ecosystems.

Task
Using the link below, click on Rainforests or any other biome and find some interesting facts. Once you have a few facts then go into comments and write:

• Title:
• List some of the interesting facts

Click here to start

A tessellation is created when a shape is repeated over and over again without any gaps or overlaps.

Escher was a very famous artist who loved to make tessellations. You can visit his tessellation gallery here. 

Can you put the pieces together for the bird tessellation? You can also try many other tessellations at the bottom of the page when you are done. Click here to start

You can also visit Polygon Playground (below) and try create your own tessellations using regular shapes.

Click the pictures below to have a closer look at a couple of M.C. Escher’s most famous art works (not tessellations). Is it possible to build a building like these?

Here is a great website that will help you learn about creatures and the biomes they live in. You will be able to watch videos, listen to sounds and go on a treasure hunt.

Join by creating your own account (no real names please). Then click on the magnifying glass to search for the different biomes and the creatures that inhabit them.

Treasure Hunt
Click on the button that has been devided into six equal parts to find the clues you need to complete the hunt.

Click Here