Concept to Construction

After the brainstorm.  Kees' initial idea was a desk with a massive sliding insert.  Much more convenient than a flip-top desk 

An automatic pet feeder = inspired.  Kensington will love it!

The make-up gun.  Women are the 'target' market.

Cam Ed ensures kids stay 'in bounds' when at school

The kids are hard at work.  Most are now in the process of turning their initial drawings into detailed digital versions.   Construction will begin shortly! 

The moment of truth ....

Such focus and task commitment, Jacob

Karthiga - sweet taste of success after finding her inner design engineer

Jasmine's wallet has a clear cover for an iPhone.  Her attention to detail is evident in the card pockets

Nadia proudly displays her prototype and the final product

Brayden's nifty catch idea worked a treat!

Joseph holds a prototype and  his wallet.  Well done, Joseph!

Wallets - our designers are hard at work!

The wallets have to house at least three plastic cards

Rulers and scissors a must.  Those without creative and critical thinking need not apply

Joseph shares a prototype.  Happy, he's ready to move on

Skylar and Cailan - the road to success is paved with 'nearly theres'

Nadia works alongside her plan and prototype.  She's nearly there!

ANZAC Day - unlocking the secrets of my family history

I learned a lot today, so a huge thank you to all the kids in Room 2.  

             The memorial plaque my great great grandmother received is colloquially known as the 'death penny', and was sent out after World War I. It was given to the next of kin of deceased servicemen and women.   Thanks for providing that interesting information, Fiona, Carol and Nadia.

 BaiLin, Jake, Jacob and Nicholas explained some of the symbolism. I thought the most interesting part was that there is a lion (the symbol of England), tearing apart an eagle (the symbol of Germany).  The anger the allies felt must've run deep after the war.  I also learned the design was chosen after a competition, and that the winning designer was named Carter Preston.  Thank you boys for your thorough research.

My great grandfather's hat caused great excitement.  Lots of my boys wanted to have their photo taken wearing it.  Naturally, I obliged.  The hat is known as a 'lemon squeezer'.  This was news to me.

Courtesy of Tandia, Jasmine and Ruby, I learned my great grandfather, David Honore was a rifleman and trained in Wellington

David's brother Fritz was killed in action on 26 October, 1918.  He was also a rifleman, was in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, and fought in the 4th Battalion.  Thank you to Ruby, Jasmine and Tandia for researching this.  It was sad to consider he was so young when he died, and also that the war ended only weeks after he had made the ultimate sacrifice. 

Island Progression

Nessa, Ishika and Caitlin are using windmills to power their resort.  They will be growing their own food.  This means that they will not need to bring in supplies from off shore. 

Nicholas is using solar panels.  The energy will be converted into electricity

Ruby is providing a natural salt water pool.  Water will be replenished when there's a high tide.
Joseph and Samuel are collecting rainwater runoff from the roofs of their units.  This will be used as drinking water at their resort

Nadia has decided it is more responsible to have her guests stay in tents.
"I don't want people to stay in something that used stuff (resources) from the natural environment."

Which 5 items should Room 2 take to a deserted island?

There were 4 points of position set up around the room (at north, south, east and west).  The four positions were Agree, Disagree, Maybe agree and Maybe disagree. Mrs Wallace explained the rules of the debate (not debate in the purist sense of the word), and the kids moved to that position that reflected their point of view.  The kids changed position as their views were shifted as a consequence of compelling arguments.

   

Jacob asserted that water purifying tablets were a must.

Jake refuted the claim, explaining that water could be boiled, but the class sided with Jacob.

Cailan was certain that a fishing net was an essential item; eating is essential in your bid to stay alive he explained.  Nadia agreed that a fishing net was important but also felt that it didn't deserve a top five position.  In the end, the fishing net didn't make the grade. 

A steel bucket was an absolute must.  As Jake pointed out, it has multiple uses; like carrying things, boiling water, cooking food and, that fact upped its value.  Who could argue with such strong reasoning? The whole class agreed.

Samuel wanted to bring medical bandages, but Ruby pointed out that there were natural alternatives for bandages, and that many plants also had additional medicinal purposes. The bandages didn't make the cut. (The cut. Get it?)

Karthiga wanted to see insect repellent take the final place on the top five list. Brayden didn't believe that insect repellent deserved such a high ranking.  He argued that Bear Grylls didn't use it, instead preferring to opt for long sleeves and tramping pants.  Fiona retorted that you were likely to end up with heat stroke if you wore that in the tropics.   Kees added that mosquitoes were mostly likely to feast on you at night, and that the smoke from the fire (you'd started using your steel and flint) would keep them away.  The kids who didn't believe insect repellent was essential put up a strong fight, but in the end it was decided by the majority that repellent had to be there.  

Top debaters in Room 2?

Jacob, Fiona and Jake - all passionate, logical and articulate.

Well done!

Items in our Top 5 (as decided by members of Room 2)

Machete

Metal bucket

Flint and steel

Water purifying tablets

Insect repellent

Just Sayin'

You guys rock!

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

In Room 2 we look to positive role models to inspire us. Romero Britto is an artist who has a story that is worth exploring.

"I believe that every human being should try to do good for someone else.  There are so many different ways to do it.  My art can be an instrument for helping people... What a good feeling - that I can do that with my art ..."  Romero Britto

Romero Britto was born in Brazil.  He did not have a privileged upbringing but what he did have was an amazing imagination.  When life was tough he escaped into the world of his imagination where everything was bright and cheerful. Having an optimistic outlook led him to move to Miami where he established himself as artist (in spite of the fact he had no formal training).

His artworks bring happiness to many, and that's one of the reasons Mrs Wallace chose him to inspire our self-portraits.

Romero Britto has a very distinctive style. His work is child-like, with a bold bright colour palette that communicates joy and hope.  He often incorporates ‘happy’ words like ‘smile’, ‘dream’ and ‘laugh’ into his works.

Our aim was to channel our ‘inner Britto’ and imbue our portraits with a positive spirit.

Nadia

Success Criteria

Our portrait incorporates some of the symbols commonly found in Britto’s work

We use colour boldy

Our work has a childlike, almost cartoonish feel

We have taken pride in our work

Tandia and Joseph

Thinking Skills - The Hat Challenge

What would you wear if you met someone really important?

Our milliners (Year 5 students) were commissioned to design a hat (or fascinator) that would be suitable for an audience with the Queen.  It had to look good and fit well.

Well, that should've been easy, right?
Think again.

The only materials our milliners had access to were sheets of newspaper and Cellotape.
The biggest problem?
They had LESS THAN AN HOUR to design and construct their creations for this most auspicious event. They had to co-operate, be innovative, and adapt their designs as they encountered technical and design-based obstacles.


Well, so how did they go?

Naturally, they smashed it.  Check out Jasmine, Nessa  (with Nadia) and Samuel.
You guys are too too awesome!

Who am I?

I am considered the greatest poet of all time.  I was born a long time ago (well before anyone even conceived of the idea of a camera), in a place called Stratford-upon-Avon.  I wrote the plays Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and King Lear.  They call me The Bard because, seriously, I am that good at writing.  Just sayin'.

If you think you know who I am, please email your answers through to Mrs Wallace by Monday morning.

By the way, we are going to be working on writing good poetry this term.  We will learn about tone and tension.  We will also practise using simile and metaphor effectively.

Here is a poem I wrote to help people understand about poetry and poets.

About the Poet

she had an artist's mind

but not an artist's hand,

and as a consequence,

it's true,

she often
wrote

but never drew.

(Yes, the lower case 's' is on purpose!)  (Yes, I know it's not that good, but it only took a couple of minutes!)