Making a Switch

Today we made switches using a cork, 2 drawing pins, a paper clip. We then attached this to a circuit and tried our switches. They all worked!

Circuit Work

What a lot of work we have covered over the past two weeks. Lots of hands-on circuit work where we've made buzzers, lights, switches and motors work. Also we have made word-searches, worksheets for other children, experimented with conductors and insulators, leaned about the symbols for electricity and more! Here are some photos for you all to look at.

Opera - The Magic Flute

Today we had another visiting performance. It was by Class Act Opera who performed 'The Magic Flute'. Mozart's music was beautiful. A lot of us had not been to opera before. The story goes like this...

Tamino, the hero, slays a dragon at the beginning of the opera. However Papageno, a feathered bird catcher, claims he was the slayer. To punish him for this lie, the Three Ladies lock his mouth up. They then beg Tamino to rescue the Princess Pamina who is being held against her will by Monostatos. He falls in love with her picture and willingly agrees to find her. Tamino tries, without success, to unlock the mouth of the struggling Papageno. The Three Ladies appear again and remove the lock. They give Tamino a magic flute to aid him in his quest to save the Queen’s daughter, Pamina. To Papageno, who is commanded to accompany Tamino, they give a set of magic bells, to protect him on the journey.
Tamino and Papageno journey to the evil Monostaotos’ domain to rescue Pamina. Using the magic flute and bells they tame Monostatos and his wild animals and they rescue Pamina. Of course Tamino and Pamina fall in love! Poor old Papageno is still seeking a wife and with a little bit of help with magic and the three ladies he finds his perfect wife in Papagena and everyone lives happily ever after.

Rhythmn Interactive Performance

Last week we went to see the Rhythm Interactive Performance. Every child had a drum to play. There were 250 drums! There were three performers on the stage with drums. Anton at the front who led the sesion and two people behind him.
Anton gave us all a beat to follow. He then split us into three groups and had each group playing different beats. Then we would all play together again. Anton led us through the hour without saying a single word. He did the whole thing through mime.

Circuits

Yesterday we had to draw what we thought as circuit looked like. There were lots of interesting, pictures and words to describe our drawings! We then explored and found lots out about circuits. What a difference today! We all can draw a diagram of a circuit and label the parts.
Today we used the BBC resource to explore conductors and insulators. We had to predict what materials are insulators and which are conductors.

Conductors allow electricity flow through them. Conductors are materials that can carry electricity - they conduct electricity. We found out that the following materials are good conductors of electricity...
copper aluminium graphite iron steel

Our conclusion was that most metals are good conductors of electricity.

Did you know that water, platinum, silver, gold, people, animal & trees are also good conductors of electricity?

Insulators do not allow electricity to flow through them. These materials are good insulators...
wood plastic rubber glass cloth
Did you know that porcelain is also a good insulator?

Electricity will always take the shortest path to the ground. Your body is 60% water and that makes you a good conductor of electricity. If a power line has fallen on a tree and you touch the tree you become the path or conductor to the ground and could get electrocuted.

The rubber or plastic on an electrical cord provides an insulator for the wires. By covering the wires, the electricity cannot go through the rubber and is forced to follow the path on the aluminum or copper wires. ( from http://tristate.apogee.net/kids/lewc_ifrm.aspx)

Circuit Games and Activities

Try these games and activities to learn more about circuits.



Find out what materials are conductors of electricity.






Learn about electricity in the home.






An interactive E-learning site to help you learn about electricity and how it is used in everyday appliances through electrical circuits.




Learn lots about electricity and circuits here!





Make a variety of circuits to light a bulb, make the buzzer sound and make the motor work.




Play this excellent game. I loved it! Join the spy team and learn lots at the same time







Build and test your own electrical circuit





How a circuit works.





The Blobz Guide to Electrical Circuits.

Playing the Recorder

Today we started our recorder playing. What an improvement after 15 minutes. We learned how to hold it properly and blow. This is what we found out...

• rest position is when you hold the recoder in both hands away from our mouths
• blowing into the recorder is like blowing bubbles (soft breath). The teeth don't touch the mouth piece - just the lips
• how to play B, A, G

Nga Mihimihi

Whaea Marianne is teaching us how to present our mihi. We have made a book to help us remember it and to refer to if we get stuck. Over the next few weeks we will all present these to the class. We will record some of these and podcast them for you to listen to.

Tēnā koutou katoa!
Greetings to you all

Ko (name) toku ingoa.
My name is…

(age) oku tau
My age is (your age).

No (place where you live) ahau.
I live at…

Ko (mum's name) toku māmā.
My mother's name is...

Ko ( Dad's name) toku pāpā.
My Dad's name is ...

Ko (Grandfather's name) toku koro.
My Grandfather's name is...

Ko (Grandmother's name) toku kuia.
My Grandmother's name is ...

Ko (brother's name) toku tungane.
My brother's name is ...

Ko ( sisters name) toku tuahine.
My sister's name is...


This is our nga mihi self assessment criteria...
I can name an audience for my mihi.
I was able to speak to a big audience.
I was able to introduce myself in Te Reo.
I was able to name my parents in Te Reo.
I was able to introduce my brothers/sisters in Te Reo.
I was able to introduce my grandmother/grandfather in Te Reo.
I was able to retell the mihi in English.
I spoke clearly so others could understand.
I spoke loud enough for others to hear.
I felt proud of myself.
Next time I would...

Room Ten are Stars

Library Visit

Today we visited the Wanaka Library to do lots of activities from the NZ Post Book Awards. We did lots of activities as part of a literacy initiative. Next week we are having a dress-up as a book character day and Annie has invited guests to read stories in assembly. Start thinking about what you might wear! Many thanks to the librarians for a great day. Thanks also to the parents who helped.
Click on the logo to learn more

Here are the picture book finalists. We loved them all!

Wanaka Numeracy Wiki

I have started a wiki to support the children's learning both in the classroom and at home. You can access it at. At present I only have Multiplication and Division on it. The numeracy stateges covered range from Stage 4 - 7. I will add new strands as we cover them.

http://wanakanumeracy.wikispaces.com/

Remember to bookmark this site.

Making Music

This term we are using untuned percussion instruments to make music. We have even been writing music, using the knowledge and skills from Term One. Can you name all the instuments used? Click comments and let us know!

Where In The World Does Your Food Come From?

Fresh From The World... where does your food come from?
Do you have a clue where your food comes from? This is American but you can get lots of valuable information. When it asks about where potatoes come from, try to think of NZ places rather than American. Follow the banana!