Monday, April 30, 2012

WALT: throw, catch & move without the ball


Corner Ball from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

We played corner ball at P.E. today. The skills we were developing were accurate, rapid passing and positioning to receive a pass.


We worked together as a team by passing and also by moving without the ball to be in a good place for a pass. When we were the defending team we had to use our dodging skills.

Some students also took turns to take some action shots on the iPods.

Update - Student Reflections:


Vocaroo


Voice Recorder >>

Having trouble recording your voice, saving and embedding? Try Vocaroo. It's quick and easy.

Update: Check out how CourtneyCharlotte, Hannah and Felicity used Vocaroo today!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Making Connections

The Jedi Knights and Storm Troopers have been learning the reading strategy, making connections. This strategy helps us understand what we are reading by connecting the text to things that we know and are reminded of. We connect the text to our own lives (text to self), other texts (text to text:) and to the wider world (text to world).

Here are the first connections from both reading groups' new books, recorded on the interactive whiteboard.


Update - student blog posts about making connections:

Storybirds Part 2

We love Storybird! These Storybird stories were created by students at home or during independent time as part of our literacy rotation. Enjoy and comments would be very much appreciated!

Professor GumballThe Curse of the Blue TrampolinePart 1 on Storybird by Stefan.
Feelings we can all relate to on Storybird by Eden. Tigers lands. on Storybird by Amy. Adventures of Azurre and Lillian. on Storybird  by Kharn. A brave dog's adventure... on Storybird by Teva.
Proffeser Gumball.The Mystery of the ice man. on Storybird by Brody. The brave spartan who fought the romans on Storybird by Seth. Friends. on Storybird by Samuel.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

ANZAC Day: The NZ Story

Lest we forget. ANZAC day is a special day in New Zealand. We pay respect to all the men and women who have served our country. It is held on the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings by Australian and New Zealand troops in Turkey, 1915, World War 1.

Click to listen to the Last Post.

Here is a documentary which shows the New Zealand Story of Gallipoli. It is split into six clips and you can choose to watch it in small parts.

Screenshot from the NZ Story
Some students have been inspired to create their own ANZAC posts, to pay tribute (while having a break from school). Here are the links (I will add to this list):
Here are two other links from Parkvale School. I particularly like Phoenix's letter to his Great Great Great Grandad.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Steepest Railway In The World

The Three Sisters
Hey everybody, I couldn't resist one last travel post from my quick trip to Sydney. We drove out to the Blue Mountains and wow! It was beautiful.
Three Sisters and Solitary Mountain



Panorama shot from Scenic World

Quite a squash and a squeeze
Wentworth Falls from the Skyway











I took some photos with the panorama function (three separate shots joined together). We walked down stairways into a limestone cave. A musician was tapping a hollow steel drum and the vibrations made it sound like a guitar.

Later on we went down into that view, the Jamison Valley and to a place called Scenic World. Here, we had some fun going on the rides, experiencing a rainforest (in Australia!), seeing some mining history, an amazing waterfall and basically acting like big kids. Check it out:




Steepest Railway In The World from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Creating a Storybird


Screenshot from Room 121

Near the end of the term one, we enjoyed reading and choosing a Storybird for our blogs. In term two, we are going to have a go at creating our own, using Storybird to present some writing.

Here are some great examples from Room 121, a fifth grade class in the USA. Have a read! Maybe some of you will get creating (if you have spare time left in your holidays). Go for it!

UPDATE: Quite a few students have created their Storybird, but we have to sort out our class account for embedding.
Here is the link to Joshua's Storybird, The Employee's Revenge.

The employees revenge. on Storybird by Joshua. UPDATE: More links from our class!
black knight's big adventurer on Storybird by Lachlan.
Moving house on Storybird by Katrina

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Bondi Beach





I had a great time swimming here. The water was warm and salty. Notice how they have a swimming pool right next to the ocean. Waves crash into the pool, splashing the swimmers.

   

As you may have already noticed, I love taking photos of sunsets and the sea.




Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Auckland Sunset







Kia ora! I am in Devonport, Auckland. It's beautiful here and I took some photos of the sunset over Waitemata Harbour. Thought I would share them with you all.

Monday, April 9, 2012

3D PRIDE Art


3D PRIDE Art from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.
These fantastic artworks are about us and how we show Parkvale PRIDE in our lives!

Check out these student posts on their artworks:

Thursday, April 5, 2012

E.B. vs Tech Head

Here is our movie. Well done to Stefan for writing such a great script. Thank you Room 20 for participating and contributing in such a fun way!


E.B. vs Tech Head from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

EB (Easter Bunny)

Our play/movie will be shown at assembly tomorrow morning at 9am. We have re-filmed all the scenes that got corrupted. Also, the Easter raffle will be drawn.


Describe to EB the egg you would like for Easter in the comments and she will do her best!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Mountain Views Part 3: Orienteering


Orienteering from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Can't Say Can't

Can't Say Can't on Storybird

Natasha shared a wonderful website with me: Storybird. You can create and read electronic picture books there. I have added it to our writing Symbaloo and our reading SymbalooI embedded the story above because I really liked it! It has a great message.