ANIMALS, WORD GAMES AND COOK

This week a group of students were away at HUHA for a period continuing with their work from Term 2  on looking at experiences that can support people with anxiety. Supported by our guidance counsellor, the students took some students to HUHA(Human's Helping Animals) and played with some very sweet pups. A big learning point for the students was not only could photos not be shared of those students they had taken to protect their anonymity but also HUHA asked them not to share images of the pups on social media, as they had been adopted. 

Back in class, the remaining students played games for that lesson! Games with a purpose. The board games focussed on literacy skills while getting discussions, collaboration, literacy and competitive spirit balanced by fair play. Board games take some unpacking to understand the rules, instructions and what it takes to win. 

This week the students have looked at Captain Cook and the legacy his exploration has left. They have looked at the message that monuments give on the lands he visited. They have also viewed and commented on how the journals of his visits validate the oral histories of the Pacific and give a view of the environment, plants and animals. This follows on from their work on Tupaia where they learnt that credit to Tupaia's navigational skills, translation and mediation were not given recognition by Cook on his return to England. 

Current Events Week 1

Example for students on posting badges.

 I earned this badge through researching Current Events in Week 2 and I got 100%. When I did the quiz I actually knew 7 of the questions without researching them.

Screencaster Badge

To earn this badge, I viewed an hour's worth of short instructional videos. Completed a test and created a 30 second Screencastify video.  I need to make instructional videos for my student's work so that they can rewind their learning and have more chances to view, hear and find out what they need to do.

WRITING AN ESSAY: INTRODUCTION

Friday's focus was writing a 4 sentence introduction that will work with any technique. Using a support card from the 'Write that Essay' resources started my students on the process. We co-constructed our first paragraph using the information on Tupaia that they knew. 

Neutral Sentence: a general sentence about a topic that everyone could agree with.
              Tupaia, a Polynesian who traveled with Captain Cook, used the stars to navigate.

Context sentence: show some of your knowledge. 2 or 3 specific facts.
              Tupaia was an artist, a tattooist, fluent in many Pasifika languages and in English.

Argument Sentence: state your position on the topic
              Tupaia has not been acknowledged for his part in Cook's journey to Aotearoa. 

Sum Up: 12 words or less, reinforce your position
              Tupaia did lots but didn't get very much back. (as written by a student on his blog) 

 

It was good to go into my student's blogs to see how many had reworked our original paragraph and added their own ideas. 

Next week students will have more practice writing Multipurpose Introduction topics. 

New Term, New Focus New Challenges

This term we are looking at the historical causes and effects of exploration and voyages. To start this the students are viewing Tupaia's Endeavour series.  Using Sketchnote to collect information that they can then later take into a group task, was a challenge today. It is a challenge to listen, view and record new information. It was good to see many of the students identify the key labels under which they started to gather their notes and the information that they picked up and I missed.

While they did theirs on paper I  placed some notes on the whiteboard. I asked them what was a key point of interest or surprise that they picked up from the viewing and it was the shooting of the Tahitians over the trading dispute and of Te Maro in Aotearoa.

The documentary has many interesting historical facts that it introduces about Tupaia, a Tahitian High Priest and Navigator, who traveled with Captain James Cook to Aotearoa/New Zealand. Tupaia was a key mediator between the Māori and Cook. I am keen to see the students gather historic knowledge and identify the causes and effects that Cooks arrival and exploration of Aotearoa/New Zealand have had.

9T Considering Equity

The students are working on inquiries to answer the question "How can we make our community accessible and equitable for people with diverse abilities?"

 My Year 9 class has viewed, listened to and researched information about a range of disabilities. A parent of a young man with Down Syndrome has shared her views on how pay equality has not made it equitable for disabled adults to be employed. We started our inquiry by viewing a movie about Dr Temple Grandin's life. Dr Grandin faced many challenges from students, educators, employers and strangers who saw her autism but not the brilliance of her engineering designs or the child and young woman who had a right to be respected.

 Throughout their study, the students have impressed me with their knowledge gained through research and their sensitivity when discussing and sharing what they have found. The students are now in the phase of planning an action that provides an equity based solution to a need that they have identified.

 I am excited about some of the actions that the students are developing. If possible, we aim to develop these ideas into real action for our community.