Willy's Movie Trailer for the Manaiakalani Film Festival 2015

Here is a snippet of Willy's movie Trailer for the Manaiakalani Film Festival this year.

B.B.H Trailer from Tamaki Primary on Vimeo.

Here are the bloopers for his movie. Willy worked very hard with some Year 8 students to put his movie together.  We will post his movie after the Manaiakalani film festival on Wednesday 11th November. 

'Be Big Bloopers' from Tamaki Primary on Vimeo.

Activating Prior Knowledge in Room 6

Term 4 has started with a rush and a roar, or rather a countdown and a blast off! This term for Inquiry we are investigating the Earth and Beyond, the Final Frontier, and began the unit by activating our prior knowledge. It's always a good idea to start with what you know. By discussing ideas and concepts (and misconceptions) that we already know about Space, we can identify areas we need to investigate further and make connections with new knowledge.

Mrs Manuyag did an awesome art lesson on the first day back as part of the Inquiry Unit's big reveal. The students created representations of our solar system, with planets, the Sun, and an asteroid belt using inspiration from the Mandala art technique.

A common way that we get the students talking and thinking about a new topic is by completing a bus stop activity. Miss Aireen and I came up with questions that related to the topic, eg. What words do we know that are associated with Space? 

Students are organised into small groups and start off at one of the bus stop questions. Before the activity started we had a rousing whole class discussion to get the brain juices flowing before setting off for quick fire stops. Students had around 2mins at each question to jot down their ideas.

Once all the groups had answered each of the questions we had a feedback session where groups identified the top 5 answers on their sheet. I recorded these ideas on a class presentation for the students to refer to and add to as a follow up activity. The feedback session generated some more interesting discussion and I can already tell this Inquiry topic is really going to generate some great questioning and debate amongst the students.

Onwards and Upwards - To Infinity and Beyond!

Oh and yes we have already had lots of giggles when mentioning the 7th planet in our Solar System, whoever named Uranus has a lot to answer for!

NZ Shakeout Day - Reported by Willy

"Everyone, everywhere should know the right action to take before, during and after an earthquake."

Hi, there, again! Finally on track for blogging now!

Room 10, and probably Tamaki Primary, have today learnt a little about the upcoming national (meaning over New Zealand as it is out nation) event that is...New Zealand Shake Out Day! Tamaki Primary is going to participate, along with almost probably ALL of New Zealand, participating in this annual and national event, where we all practise the earthquake drill:

DROP, COVER, HOLD

And little known (or not really little known) fact, the whole world is participating also, not just New Zealand. Over 40 million are also participating. So, yes, this day is PRETTY important. Important for you, me, EVERYBODY!

It will happen tomorrow. October the 15th. 2015. Remember that, reader! It may be important!Also, the drill occurs at a specific time, too. Yes, it does, believe it or not! The whole drill starts at 9:15am and we will, again I say it: DROP COVER and HOLD. Specifically, and as the site says:

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DROP down onto your hands and knees (before the earthquake knocks you down). This position protects you from falling but allows you to still move if necessary.

COVER your head and neck (and your entire body if possible) under a sturdy table. If there is no shelter nearby, get down near an interior wall (or next to lowlying furniture that won’t fall on you), and cover your head and neck with your arms and hands.

HOLD on to your shelter (or your position to protect your head and neck) until the shaking stops. Be prepared to move with your shelter if the shaking shifts it around.

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We're going to practise this drill tomorrow because it is a chance for everyone in New Zealand to practise what to do if an earthquake happens - because literally, it can come anytime! And so that if an earthquake happens, and we know what to do, we can DROP, COVER, and HOLD

As of now, there have been 1.2 MILLION New Zealanders signed up and prepared for the national drill, and it's going to be great! The main aim for the amount of participants is 1.5 million, so let's hope more people sign up!

Remember:

09:15am.

October 15th.

Room 10's Water Bottle Rocket Experiment

This week we were introduced to our inquiry topic through a water bottle rocket experiment. We used the scientific method to document this experiment. Some students in our class also put a video together so that you can see this experiment in action.

Water Bottle Rocket from Tamaki Primary on Vimeo.

Tic by Cypress

Tic

On the sideline scouting for teammates that are open.

Fourth quarter and there is only seven seconds left on the clock,

I’m stuck in place.

Mad gorillas surrounding me calling for the ball.

Audience is cheering, going seriously crazy

I’ve stopped breathing,

staring into an imaginary distance.

Thinking about last play,

should I cut through the d?

or let my team do the job for me?

I am like an owl at night scavenging around my surroundings.

So much plays to use but only I think of one.

Time to do this.

Passing the ball to my teammate,

Quickly running into the court like a madman,

Cutting through to the back waiting for a pass,

I take a call,

3 seconds now left,

I get the ball and waste the clock a little,

BOOF!

In the air back down into slow motion again many thoughts in my head like,

“Will I miss, will I get it or do I look epic?”

The sight of victory is in my eyes as I release now its time to see the truth.

The ball takes lift off and makes its way towards the rim,

Everyone freezes.

Tic toc tic,

0.4 seconds on the clock, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1.

ERRRRRRRR!

Crank, Plank, Shih.

“MISS!”

Tuakana/Teina by Lavinia

Sorry guys but here is another delayed post from yesterday. So yesterday our whole school had Tuakana Teina Day! Our buddies for Tuakana Teina was Room 1, my buddy was Htoo Say Wah! It was a really good day yesterday because we did fun activities with our buddies but the best thing me and my buddy enjoyed about yesterday was that in the first block before the bell went we got to make healthy sandwiches it was really YUM! And our other favorite part of the day was when when at the last block the little kids got to do bike riding around our bike track and the year 8's got to play touch on the field. I enjoyed every single hour, minute and second of yesterday! 

Home Run by Mehi

For writing our classes writing focus was Poems. We had to write about a sport and I chose to do softball. So as you can see below is my Descriptive Poem that I have written about Peaceful Play. Hope you enjoy my poem!

Home Run

It’s a Summer morning and the game is about to begin,

The final group chat before the game.

Sitting silently still,

Feeling the grass tickling my legs as I anxiously try to think of different ways to reach home base.

  I step up to the plate, take a deep breathe and look straight into the pitcher's demanding eyes,

my stomach soon develops butterflies.

I start to question myself, “Will I hit the ball?.......

Will I even make it to the first base?”

I could see a slight smirk on the pitcher’s face while she launches the ball into mid air making it head straight to my bat  as fast as lightning then

WOOSH!

The ball goes zooming across the field while the bat flew right behind me.

I started to sprint towards the first base as fast as a cheetah while trying to not let the helmet fall off since it didn’t grip tightly on my head.

At the corner of my eye I see my team cheering me on from the sideline.

I passed the first base and start running towards the second base.

I see my opponents running towards me with the ball in their hands.

I up my game and start running even faster as if I’m running for my life.

I could see them getting closer and closer.

The suspense shocks straight through my whole body.

I pass the second base and onto the third.

The adrenaline all around my body makes me excited yet so determined to get to home base.

I pass the third base and start running for home base.

I feel anxious to get there.

I see the other team throw the ball to the backstop.

Pressure kicks in while I’m running.

I get closer and closer just like the ball in the air.

Three more steps and

KSHHHH!

I slide in just seconds before the backstop catches the ball.

I stand up with joy while trying to keep the victory in and just walk right to the back of the line.