Coffs Harbour Public School Blog

Courtesy & Honour – Principal:Leonie Buehler

Sep
13

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The Human Body 3/4H

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Every Thursday afternoon for term three 3/4H students have been working on virtual world science tasks for the human body unit of work. One of the tasks asked them to create virtual simulations of the intestines and stomach. This is very challenging as they all must learn how to transform 3D objects such as cylinders, torus or hemispheres to create a likeness of these organs. Some students are using x,y,z coordinates to manipulate their prims (3D virtual geometric objects are known as ‘primitives‘ or ‘prims’ for short.). The lessons fly by but the class has done a fantastic job. It is also wonderful to have access to a class set of laptops for this project.

Mrs Booth and Ms Hodgson

May
14

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Stage 1 “The Learning Zone” English Project

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2M are taking part in the following English/Minecraft project. It is hard as they must learn how to navigate the space, keyboard control keys and read at the same time. This is also tricky when you have small hands and have to use both of them simultaneously. For many students this is the first time they are using this program which has been specially modified for teachers. The reading in-world and crafting of tools exposes them to different forms of sense making/comprehension as they problem solve the task. Already there are student experts on hand to guide other students who are having difficulty. Finally, the students are documenting their experiences and creating illustrations reflecting their learning.

Task:

  • Students work in group rotations to problem solve how to craft items. There are 4 different sections to complete, each one building on the previous learning. Zone 1: Crafting / Zone 2: Building Bridges / Zone 3: Making Numbers / Zone 4: Pyramid Building.
  • Students must navigate information supplied to correctly complete each task. They need to interpret the information presented, explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the task and recount the information and additional relevant learning in their English journals. Students will finally compose a brief summary of their overall experience guided by class created assessment criteria that reflects their learning, highlighting difficulties, what they enjoyed the most/least etc.

The MinecraftEdu map being used is called ‘The Learning Zone’ and was created by teacher Mr Solomon. Educators’ click on this link to access the download: The Learning Zone

Mrs Booth and Mrs Mellitas

Feb
15

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Grade 3 Virtual Maths

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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.”

Both 3M and 3-O are using our virtual world technology Sim-on-a-Stick to complete mathematical tasks based on the NSW maths syllabus substrands of Data, Measurement, Space and Geometry. Each week student groups complete tasks relating to these outcomes using a combination of both the virtual space and their work books. All grade 3 students will have access to this program and already they are extremely engaged as they navigate the tools and space. This technology encourages problem based learning and is inherently mathematical but by creating virtual workstations the tasks become more explicit in nature. Also, by having small groups the students should develop a deeper understanding of the more abstract concepts. Within 30 minutes of using the program students from 3M & 3-O were sharing their newly acquired knowledge with other students in their group and this was wonderful to see. Lots of learning happening though they thought “the game” was hard but great fun!

Oct
16

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Virtual Rainforest Project: MinecraftEdu/Sim-on-a-Stick

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Coffs Harbour Public School uses virtual world technology in many of its learning areas. This term all stage 3 and some stage 2 students are studying the HSIE unit ‘Rainforests’. Part of the requirements of this unit is going to be completed using Sim-on-a-Stick (virtual world on a USB) and MinecraftEdu. The project outline is:

Students will demonstrate an understanding of Australian rainforests through creation of a simulated Australian rainforest and presentation treehouse. eg the Daintree using virtual world technology (Sim-on-a-Stick/MinecraftEdu). Students research information on traditional land owners/Indigenous peoples, rainfall, location, human impact, dangers i.e., species extinction, and geographical features and demonstrate understanding using virtual notecards and scripting. Students will include in their simulation insects, reptiles, birds, plants, frogs and fish, an ecosystem display board and other flora and fauna specific to the area using a range of sources and display these in their tree house and specific locations within their rainforest. Students will also simulate emergent growth, canopy, understorey and forest floor. Student pairs will present their builds in Week 9.

This is the first time MinecraftEdu is being used at Coffs Harbour P.S. and with the engagement displayed today in Miss Callinan’s class this project should allow the students to really engage with the task. MinecraftEdu has been developed by Finnish and American teachers with Mojang (the creator’s of Minecraft) and contains some fantastic tools specifically targeted for the classroom teacher and student. Mrs Booth and Miss Callinan love the ‘freeze students’  button!  Here is a hyperlink for further information about minecraft in education 🙂

Mrs Booth

Sep
4

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Josh and Tyler apply for a Minecraft Server

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Josh and Tyler have been wanting their own server in Minecraft for a while now but Mrs Booth told them they needed to create a charter and convince her why they should have their own server to share with other students. They made a movie justification and submitted their rules to her today. As a result they have had their server approved. Well done boys and Ms Callinan was also impressed 🙂

Their charter states:

  • No swearing
  • No bullying
  • Build on your own land
  • Don’t break other peoples builds
  • Don’t kill other people unless in PVP
  • Don’t abuse other players in text chat
  • Do not be rude
  • The biggest rule is to be nice and kind to others!
  • If any rules are broken there is an automatic 2 week suspension

Here is their video justification for having a Minecraft server:

Sep
4

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Afghanistan Project Virtual Building

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Today students moved on to building their schools as all plans have been approved against the UNICEF child friendly schools criteria. All students bar one are using Sim-on-a-Stick virtual technology and the other student is building his model straight off his plans with the assistance of Yarrob. It was fantastic to see all the students bringing their projects to life and for many this is the first time they are using this technology which can be quite demanding. Luckily they are all very quick learners and also have an expert, Wakjira, who is wonderful in sharing his knowledge as he has been building with Sim-on-a-Stick for the past 15 months.

Great work everyone.

Mrs Booth, Mrs Newton and Yarrob

Aug
28

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We Skyped UNICEF Australia

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This week as part of our school design enrichment project and wearing our UNICEF blue t-shirts we were very fortunate to Skype with Mia Cox from UNICEF Australia. She spoke about the work UNICEF does across the world which is completely driven by The Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ms Mulrooney and her students shared their classroom with our project group and learnt that 57 million children do not go to school each day! That is nearly 3 times the population of Australia. Rut, Hamid, Wakjira and Evan shared their school plans with Mia and she was very impressed that the students were only 9-12 years old and yet were producing such amazing work 🙂 Mia asked that the students work be shared with her to be placed on the UNICEF website, a great acknowledgement for our students. Now they  have to build their scale models using virtual technology or 3D modelling.

Jul
17

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Minecraft Library Club

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Collage

Thanks to the super Nick, a year 10 student from a DEC high school on the south coast, we managed to get our multi-user Minecraft server up and running. Nick has packaged Minecraft with settings that work wonderfully with DEC graphics and computers. As a result virtual world library club was crazy! So many students wanted to be a part of the server but they firstly need to purchase their own Minecraft accounts from Mojang as the server only works with full accounts and not lite/free ones. Next Wednesday we will write a charter and create rules for in-world behaviour which is a critical component of digital citizenship. Mrs Booth used the MCJam DEC map that Nick sent her for our world and the students loved the spawn point and buildings that had already been created by Nick and other DEC teachers during professional learning days in the school holidays. Other students were able to play the Pocket Edition on our iPads.

Also, coping with all the noise, was the very patient Luke who was building a bathroom using Sim-on-a-Stick as part of his building design. His attention to detail using this technology is amazing and we will also be using his expertise for a UNICEF school design project  that Mrs Booth and Mrs Newton are currently undertaking with an enrichment group of students.

See you next Wednesday and happy mining 😉

Mrs Booth

Jul
17

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4J Virtual Australian History Project

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Hover over the image for information about our project.

Mrs Booth

Jun
21

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2M Virtual World Maths Friday

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NSW Maths Syllabus: S1/Grade 2

MS1.1 Estimates, measures, compares and records lengths and distances using informal units, metres and centimetres.

MS1.3 Estimates, measures, compares and records volumes and capacities using informal units.

SGS1.1 Sorts, describes and represents 3D objects including cones, cubes, cylinders, spheres and prisms, and recognises them in pictures and the environment.

Today 2M spent a large part of the day investigating 3D objects, measurement and volume. The class rotated through different activities as they explored and worked mathematically to engage with maths tasks. They used the virtual technology of Minecraft and Sim-on-a-Stick to explore volume and shape. Each minecraft block is 1 metre cubed. The students used both the iPad and PC version of Minecraft to work through activities and further develop their problem solving skills skills as they explored this fabulous virtual space. Finally the students had to measure, using centimetres and metres, cardboard boxes ( rectangular prisms) and construct real life versions of the grass block (cube). It was a great day and all were on task and worked brilliantly. Fantastic work 2M 🙂

Mrs Booth

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