Nov
27
3P have received letters and emails from their Korean Grade 4 friends from Shingi Primary School. The Korean students’ had sent pictures of the Pumpkin Festival and their classroom with 3P’s letters displayed on the wall. 3P students love the paper their Korean friends select to write their letters!
Nov
3
Australian and Korean schools are connecting digitally in order to develop cultural exchange while fostering understanding between Australian and Korean students and teachers. Through video conferencing and online discussions, they see each other, talk to each other, and learn about each other. These interactions enhance the values and attitudes of Australian and Korean school students.
The project is based at the University of New England (UNE) and you can visit the Australia Korea ConneXion website by clicking on the hyperlink.
3P have been continuing their cultural video conferences with a grade 3 class from Shingi Primary School in Korea. The classes have shared fairy tales and Dreamtime stories and more recently presented on their countries popular sports. Here are the presentations from Shingi Primary School students. They also took the photos for our blog 🙂
May
27
This term 3P has visited the Life Education trailer. It is usually known for its mobile drug and health education with Happy Healthy Harold, however this year it has introduced cybersafety into its program.
The new module, called bCyberwise, aims to educate primary school students on how to stay safe online and help build appropriate online communication skills. Some of the issues include the use of digital media and how it can be used for bullying, inappropriate communication, exposure to inappropriate advertising or adult material, and financial scams.
3P enjoyed the use of videos, discussion, problem solving, and role play to help them learn and practise how to be good citizens online.
Apr
17
3P and 3/4H finished their maths lessons with Mrs Booth recently. Both 3/4H and 3P have been using virtual technology to complete tasks connected to data, measurement, space and geometry. Though it was challenging using Sim-on-a-Stick all students have worked hard and helped each other to problem solve . The final task for 3/4H was to build a scale replica of the school library in Minecraft staying as close to the real design as possible. Some managed to finish and others still have some work to do but the fantastic thing was no body wanted to leave the lessons as they were so engaged with their tasks 🙂 We also had a discussion on perspective because some students still felt Steve, the Minecraft avatar, was 2 metres tall though the Minecraft wiki puts him at approximately 1.75 metres tall. Each Minecraft block is 1 metre cubed and students placed 2 on top of each other to check. Since we don’t have wifi yet we were unable to go into each others builds to gain a viewing perspective from within the world. The wiki states:
The player’s eye level (According to coordinates while pressing F3) is 1.62 meters. Since his eyes are 29 pixels above his feet, leaving 3 pixels above his eyes (.17m), Steve is approximately 1.79 meters tall (5’10”).
Mrs Booth
Apr
17
Stage 2 has been working on the Storypath unit ‘Toy Factory’ over Term 1. These units are a highly engaging program that fosters problematic thinking and higher order thinking skills as students are scaffolded through a series of learning episodes.
Originally developed in Scotland during the 1960’s, Storypath draws support from decades of experience with teachers and students.
The Episodes of a Storypath are:
Creating the Setting – Students create the setting by completing a frieze (mural) or other visual representation of the place.
Creating Characters – Students create characters for the story whose roles they will play during subsequent episodes.
Context Building – Students are involved in activities that stimulate them to think more deeply about the people and place they have created.
Critical Incidents – Characters confront problems typical of those faced by people of that time and place.
Concluding Event – Students plan and participate in an activity that brings closure to the story.
Information source: Storypath Stu.Murray.Wikispaces.com
3P have been working in groups to design and develop their toys with all students assuming their particular job roles as part of the process. It is hard to work together but when each person has an identified purpose tasks are achieved and everyone is productive. It is just like working in a real toy factory. 🙂
This is an excellent 10 minute video from the Mattel Toy Factory in 1950 and the stages they went through to create a new toy. It mirrors the process Stage 2 took with their toy designs and final presentation.
Mrs Booth
Apr
7
The Framing Paper Consultation Report: Mathematics (ACARA, 2009, p. 9) states that “new and emerging technologies provide not just new tools for doing mathematics but also new possibilities for pedagogical approaches.”
NSW Maths Syllabus – MS2.1 Estimates, measures, and records lengths, distances and perimeters in metres, centimetres and millimetres.
3/4H and Mrs Booth have been working on a mathematics activity connected to length and scale on Wednesday. Using the Minecraft Pocket Edition app for iPad students needed to estimate, measure and record the perimeter of the school library. Using a trundle wheel the perimeter was measured and the students commenced building the library using the scale of 2 blocks = 1 metre. After they had built the perimeter wall the students commenced adding doors, windows, tables, bookshelves, the IWB, ceiling fans and even made sure that they used the correct carpet resource blocks. They needed to estimate the size of each object as they were building, and try to remain as close to the real school library design as possible. Minecraft uses the metric system and each block is equivalent to 1 cubic metre. The students also learnt that the default player, named Steve, is approximately 1.79 metres tall or 5 feet 10 inches (Mrs Booth initially thought he was 2 metres tall). The students then wanted to know which of them would nearly be as tall as Steve if they stood on a chair. Initially estimating and then using a metre ruler the students were measured and it was decided that Ngaarruu was the closest measuring 1.75 m. It was a great lesson and the students returned for the following two lunchtimes to work on their builds which should be finished in next weeks final lesson. Excellent work 3/4H.
On Thursday 3P used the school virtual world platform Sim-on-a-Stick to continue working on their maths tasks. This was very challenging as each group only has a short time and had missed some lessons due to the school server change over and having to use Minecraft on the iPad instead. It was excellent to see students working mathematically by helping each other and Sharlah was a wonderful teacher as she sat and worked with another student to solve a problem. Even Mr Pike is getting the hang of it! 🙂
Minecraft and Virtual World Maths:
Mrs Booth
Apr
6
Australian and Korean schools are connecting digitally in order to develop cultural exchange while fostering understanding between Australian and Korean students and teachers. Through video conferencing and online discussions, they see each other, talk to each other, and learn about each other. These interactions enhance the values and attitudes of Australian and Korean school students.The project is based at the University of New England (UNE) and you can visit the Australia Korea ConneXion website here.
3P conducted their first video conference to Korea with a grade 3 class from the Shingi Primary School last Thursday as part of the Australia Korea ConneXion project. 3P shared their knowledge about Australian animals and the Korean class spoke about Korean food – Yum 🙂 The conversation lasted about 40 minutes and was a great experience for all the participants. The next video conference is scheduled for Term 2 and 3P are looking forward to it.
Class presentations:
3P
Mar
21
DS2.1: Gathers and organises data, displays data using tables and graphs, and interprets the results.
- constructing vertical and horizontal column graphs in Minecraft using one-to-one correspondence
- marking equal spaces on axes, labelling axes and naming the display
With the school computers switching over to eT4L this week, 3P were unable to use Sim-on-a-Stick, our virtual world technology, for their maths tasks so instead they worked on data collection and graphing using iPads loaded with the Minecraft Pocket Edition app. The class was split into two groups of 10 and each student group had only 40 minutes to collect data on their group and graph it. One small hiccup was that some of the Minecraft apps weren’t updated so some students didn’t have signs to write on. Either way it was a wonderful and highly creative lesson with the students supporting each other well. It was great to hear those blocks being stacked, see students’ working mathematically, and before we knew it it was lunch time.
A great maths lesson 3P and thanks to Indi who is a super Minecraft miner and mathematician!
Mrs Booth
Mar
14
“An innovative curriculum cultivates a culture of learning that values creativity, critical thinking, curiosity, risk taking and rigor. Innovation is creativity with purpose and meaning that brings learning to life in the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge.” Karen Yager and Andrew Weeding – ‘Focus on Creativity – A Pedagogical Shift’ (p 105-138)
“Judy Willis, neurologist and teacher, assessed how learning that is challenging is similar to the way in which a gamer becomes engaged in a video game. She states: When learners have opportunities to participate in learning challenges at their individualised achievable challenge level, their brains invest more effort to the task and are more responsive to feedback. Students working toward clear, desirable goals within their range of perceived achievable challenge, reach levels of engagement much like the focus and perseverance we see when they play their video games.” Jeffrey Adams- ‘Inquiry Learning? Try a Game
Thursday maths with 3P and lunchtime library club
Mar
12
Australian and Korean schools are connecting digitally in order to develop cultural exchange while fostering understanding between Australian and Korean students and teachers. Through video conferencing and online discussions, they see each other, talk to each other, and learn about each other. These interactions enhance the values and attitudes of Australian and Korean school students.The project is based at the University of New England (UNE) and you can visit the Australia Korea ConneXion website here.
Mr Pike was busy organising his classes itinerary with the Korean UNE advisor and the school in Korea all via video conferencing today. The Korean principal even joined the teachers as they discussed time differences and topics. South Korea is currently 2 hours behind us so working out times wasn’t too difficult.
Did you know students start school at around 9am and will generally finish at about 3pm (high school hours are 8am-9.30pm!) After school the majority of the students attend a hagwon, which is a private academy that offers extra tuition. There are many different types of hagwons; maths, science, art, English… and the types of hagwons the student attends will usually depend on what subjects the parents want their child to excel in.
Students take Maths, Science, Social studies, Korean, Music, PE and Art classes at school. They also usually study a musical instrument, most commonly the piano,violin or flute. The public school system is very good and all the teachers at the school are dedicated and highly educated professionals.
Another interesting difference to our school is that in Korean public schools there are no cleaners. After lunch in the cafeteria students are assigned different areas of the school to mop, sweep, dust and wipe. In order to help keep their school clean, teachers and students wear special indoor shoes that they change into as they arrive at school. Information sourced Expat Arrivals
The first VC session is in April so stay tuned!
Mrs Booth
