The Great Tightening Tension Challenge

Our students are currently working on their English assessment which is a fantasy narrative. We use Seven Steps to Writing Success in our school as it teaches the students the skills required to build a story. Each step is taught in chunks, focusing on key concepts. This week, 5SK are creating their tightening tension paragraphs which we also call our pebble, rock and boulder. To implement this wonderful program, students work in a variety of groupings.

Today 5SK  participated in an online writing challenge with classes from four other schools in Queensland and South Australia. We used Padlet to run our session as it publishes student work instantly. This is the second time we have run this type of activity. Last week students created sizzling starts with three other Australian classes using the same format.

They were given a picture prompt today and asked to brainstorm their senses – see, hear, touch, taste, smell and feel. From there, each group created at least two tightening tension paragraphs around the prompt and posted online with the help of Mrs Franklin (Principal), Mrs Gummow (Master Teacher/HOC) and Helen (our lovely parent volunteer).

As the day passes, and the night goes, I see something edging closer. The boat rocks, Brandy turns to me helplessly, I feel worried and scared. Then a loud grunting noise is heard, the taste of salt is sneaked through my mouth as the clouds clear. I’m stunned, I’m paralized with fear. I can smell something, it smells rotten, suddenly the dead fish rise. “I’m hungry” my brother complains, I want to go home. If only, I think to myself, I feel like crying, but then I would be looked as a weakling. Charlee – Merinda Senior, Yr 6

Over the horizon I peer through the sun set drifting away. Ready to pack up I get a cold shiver down my boney spine, from the foggy mist. I can smell the salty fish that we caught earlier this morningsuddenly I can hear water splashing beside the boat. Circling us were three pointy fins. Ivy, Chloe, Jasmine & Emily – Mount Gambier, YR 4/5

We were surrounded by 10 metre man killing sharks. We were all screaming. One nearly flicked us in the face. We could feel the boat shaking with the waves. There was a big hole in the boat. We didn’t know what to do. Gypsy, Brody and Jack – Merinda 3/4R

Crack! The boat starts rapidly filling with salty water. All of a sudden grey pointy objects start circling like a cheetah chasing its prey. Sweat starts running down my face as I pace back and forth. Will this be my last moment? Zanna, David, Hugo, Ayden, Ellie & Levi – Queens Beach, Yr 5SK

The deep ocean started filling the boat.It entered in gushes of waves.We were filled with fear.We heard the waves crashing.Then we saw tiger sharks! They swarmed around the boat and started biting chunks off the boat.The boat started jerking and sinking like a rock!The Sharks are threatening us.We smell salty blood from their jaws as they bite the the side of the Oakwood boat.CRACK! Part of the boat is lopped off.We hear nothing but crunching and us screaming.The hot breath of our mouths was horrible so was our skin.We have no help now…..RAWR!!! Elissa, Hannah, Hayley and Charlotte – Brisbane, Yr 5/6

CLUNK! CLUNK! What was that? Oh no our motor had fallen off into the deep black ocean. Fierce hungry sharks were surrounding us. That is not any shark, that is 5 Great White sharks! We were petrrified and nervous. Our hearts were hammering. 2 sharks were charging right at us. Would we live? Bobby and Cameron – Bowen, Yr 3C

Here is our completed Padlet.

The Lattice Method for Multiplication

5SK were introduced to the Lattice method of multiplication on Monday. This has to be one of my favourite methods to solve multiplication problems due to the ease of solving. Our lesson focused on 2 x 1 multiplication but this method can be very easily applied to bigger problems.

Brainstorming Skills

We use Seven Steps to Writing Success at our school. This program introduces the writing process in small chunks thus making it more manageable for students.

Our focus last week was brainstorming. Being able to brainstorm is such an important skill for writing. Without brainstorming, students find it difficult to create written pieces. 5SK were broken up into small groups and given a series of word prompts to brainstorm story ideas around. They came up with many great ideas. Once finished they were then asked to pick their best idea and share with the class.

From there, students created two characters for their story and brainstormed complications. They were asked to circle a pebble (small problem), a rock and a boulder. They then mapped these on their story graphs and added notes for their sizzling start and backfill paragraphs.

On Friday, Mrs. C and her class joined us in a brainstorming activity in the lab. We used a Shuttorstock image,  augmented reality apps colAR Mix and String, to create our story graph together.

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Why use images and apps?

The first paragraph of a story needs to hook the reader without giving too much of the story away. We used an image of a knight fighting a dragon in a burning field. Students brainstormed noun and verb groups around this image.

The backfill paragraph can be tricky at times to create. The app colAR Mix allowed the students to get a picture of the village and how the villagers would feel having a fire breathing dragon circling them repeatedly.

String was used for the climax as it shows the dragon breaking through the wall and they could visualise what the knight felt like when the dragon attacked.

We found that by using the visuals, students were able gain to a stronger understanding of the sequence of the paragraphs.

 

Lesson Gameboard for C2C Math Unit 2

We have been asked to create a visual to map lessons for each unit. Mrs C and I have ordered the C2C lessons in a way that works for our classes and placed them on a gameboard for each child. A copy of this has also been glued into each math workbook as well as on the unit description wall in our classrooms.

I will use this document to create a ThingLink soon and post on our website. You are very welcome to download both our document and copy the ThingLink code which can then be embedded into your blogs.

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Math Gameboard unit 2