Poetry Day!

Today we spent a lot of time reading and writing poetry.  We used thesauri and word cards to come up with as many interesting words to describe the ocean.  We found words like 'significant', 'colossal', 'venomous' as well as others.

In reading we worked on reading poetry with fluency and rhythm.  We read to each other, in our groups and in front of the class.  We have taken our poems home so we can read them to someone in our family.

And it didn't end there!  This afternoon we even practiced our handwriting by copying a poem called, 'Ocean'! 

A is for Anglerfish!

This afternoon we looked at some of the different creatures of the ocean that we've been studying.  We decided to turn one of them into an acrostic poem, which is where you write the letters of its name vertically and each line of the poem starts with the next letter of that name.  We ended up with some really interesting and creative results.  Well done to Alex, who did such a good job on his acrostic poem of a Dragonfish that he earned a 'Principals Award' sticker from Mr Cain!

We have been getting in a steady stream of completed projects.  So far, the standard is high.  We have had models, powerpoints and posters.  Great work!  Don't forget the deadline is next Wednesday,  so if you've still got lots to do then you'd better get cracking!  If you need extra help or time, please see Mr Miller as soon as possible.

A roomful of Squirps!

Today we wrote a plan for a new information report.  We decided to invent our own fictional character, called a Squirp, and write down keywords to describe its appearance, habitat, diet and other facts.  It was interesting that we had so many varied and good ideas.  This seemed like an easy task but the challenge was to make the whole plan connected.  For example, if the Squirp lived in a volcano, it needed thick skin and a diet of things like lava.  Oliver's Squirp was electrical, lived in clouds and fed on lightning and passing airplanes.  It could even be used to power machines!  Tomorrow we are going to write our reports, concentrating on putting our ideas into paragraphs.  We should end up with some interesting pieces of work!

Chikldees

Today we decided to have a little fun with our information reports.  Instead of writing a factual report about a real creature, we decided to look at a fantasy creature.  We read an article about a creature called a 'Chickldee' and mind mapped all the 'facts' about it.  Then we drew a picture of how we imagined it to look.  It was interesting that our pictures had some things in common, like horns, scaly skin and wings because this was written in the report.  However, there were some bits that were different, like tails, the number of legs and the size of it because this wasn't written down and our minds had, 'Filled in the gaps.'

Below are a couple of pictures of 'Chickldees'

Friday!

Today most us had a really fun day.  In the morning we went to the hall to try out some interesting instruments.  We used clarinets, saxophones, electric guitars, flutes and normal guitars and trumpets. 

We also went to the computer room to carry on learning about knowledgenet.  We started writing comments for each other to do with our basic facts.  We can even try it out at home.

We also listened to some sounds of nature (you can see the link on our topics page) and drew some pictures that we visualised.

From Yellow Submarines to Blueprints!

This afternoon we designed our own submarines.   First we thought about what the submarine needed and also what things we wanted to take with us.  We remembered that there was a lot of water pressure and there was no food or air for us at the bottom of the ocean so we'd have to take our own!

Here are some of our designs, we hope you like them.  

Don't forget to leave a comment!

Octopus!

Today we did reading, writing and maths.  In writing we grouped some sentences together that told us all about the 'Giant Pacific Octopus'.

We also had time to play a little game of T-Ball.  We think we are getting pretty good at it!

This afternoon we had our first singing practice for the United Nations Family Day at the Cathedral on May 12th which is being organised by Shireen, who is Cameron's mum.  We sung the National Anthem, some One Direction and also Count on Me.