Hula Hoop Amoeba

Today at Enrich we played hula hoop amoeba. Hula hoop amoeba is a game where you have a group of three and when Katie (or whoever's doing it) says jump and then claps your group(who are holding hands) have to jump with your feet together and all land at the same time if you don't you have to go back to the start also if Katie says something different then jump and then claps and you jump you have to go back to the start as well. Your aim is to get to the hoop jump in it and then jump out to get to the next hoop. There's only two hoops and the first hoop is a checkpoint. Our team came first and then we went back to the start and came second as well. We didn't come third but we were quite close. It was a really fun game.

Chess

Today at Enrich I thrashed Alana at chess I took out her queen straight away and it was a piece of cake after that she was a gonner in seconds. She lost a tragic death and it went downhill after that because I won both rounds of abalone as well it was easy! Alana was so sad she cried for two hours afterwards I guess I just have mad game winning skills. In abalone I got six in a row both times and Alana got none both times I guess she's just got mad game losing skills, actually everything was the exact opposite.

My Garden Planner

This is my garden planner. I chose it for a family with 3 kids of the ages 7, 10 and 12 which is pretty much like our family. 

It is a modern backyard garden with safe fences to keep the children in and a swimming pool that is fun for kids to play in and great for friends.

It has a deck for the parents to hang out in and have some time alone and a relaxing swing seat.

It has 2 tanks a wheely bin, a washing line and a letter box which you find in most modern backyards but it also has a mixed breed palm tree a mixed breed fountain tree and a mixed breed tree.

It has a vegetable garden  and a herb garden so they won't run out of food and a trampoline and sandpit to keep the children entertained.

In my opinion this is a perfect backyard home perfect for every family with 3 kids of the ages  7, 10 and 12.

I enjoyed making this and would love for it to be my own garden.

Stone Carving

Today at Enrich I did my stone carving. It is a koru pattern. To make a stone carving you need  a piece of Omarau stone. You then cut that stone into the right amount of stone and draw your carving onto the stone. Then you cut most of the extra stone out with a saw and then the excess pieces off with a smaller saw. After that you use a file to round the stone and get the pointy edges off. You then use a small knife to carve anything in that you need to carve in and then use sandpaper to sand it until it is completely smooth. I am up to the filing stage and when I'm finished it will hopefully turn out like this picture.

The Technology Challenge

Today at Enrich we did a technology challenge. We had to make a device that would pull a hammer and a chisel towards us and then free ourselves from the set concrete which our feet were sealed in. In our group there were Pippa, Jemma and I. Our construction was a failure and we blew up. Luckily it was only a game!!

Recycle Signal

Today at Enrich Isabella's Mum came in again and we finished rolling the newspapers. We also started the table top. First of all we chose a design. The design was the recycle signal, that you see on the bottom of the things you can recycle, outlined in black and coloured in white, then we had a circle and it was coloured in green. Next we put little black circles around the circle and decided we'd colour in the rest of the cardboard white. We put it all on and it actually looked pretty good. This is what it looked like:

Teacher Comment

Hi Kate.

Your preparation for the recycled furniture is going so well!  You girls were REALLY busy all day.  I didn’t hear any complaining about all the painting you had to do - you all just got on with it!  Great to see.  The discussion about water pollution today was pretty interesting.  We could see your thoughts progressing with each question you asked!  It is something to keep in mind, that while we are doing our bit with our environment projects, we also need to keep in mind the bigger picture and the fact that if everyone does just one thing to help - even through awareness - then this is a step in the right direction.  It was great to see you so involved in the discussion Kate!  Katie.

Coloured Circles

Today at Enrich we painted the circles from the pizza boxes colours after painting them white last week. We painted a few white but mostly we painted the already white ones blue, yellow, orange, purple, green and red. We still need to make 60 more newspaper rolls because we didn't make any this week and we still have lots more cardboard circles to paint!

The Legs

Today we continued with our table. We focused on our legs. We made 120 rolls of newspaper. There is going to be 40 rolls in each leg. We have made 3 legs. We also went to the pizza box man and we got millions of circles and two pieces of big cardboard. The pictures above are of us working:

Rolling the News

Today at Enrich Pippa and I rolled newspapers for the legs of our table. When we had finished rolling and taping for the day, we had made twenty sticks and we had forty more to go. We used paper tape for the middle newspaper sticks and we are going to use this strong clear tape for the outside sticks. We are on our way to finishing it but we still have a long way to go.

Recycled Furniture

Today Isabella, Pippa and I started our project on recycling furniture. Isabella's Mum had done it before for the Southland Disability Enterprise's foyer. The furniture was amazing! She took us to see it and it was even more amazing there than in the pictures. Then she took us to see the man who gave her the cardboard for the couch and one of the chairs. The man made pizza boxes and had lots of leftover cardboard. He also had lots of these leftover circles. Then Anais joined our group and we decided that we'd make a table with the table top made out of stacked cardboard painted white with circles glued on top painted different colours and newspaper legs.

Science

Today at science they did stuff on electricity but I wasn't there because I had ballet practice. It sounded like lots of fun and I'm disappointed I missed it. Today we also did our goals. My goals were to know where my book was each week and to get more done in a day. I hope that by the end of the term I will have mastered those goals and will be able to do them easily next term.

Science/Chemistry

Today at Enrich we got to try either science/chemistry, maths tessellations or art painting. I chose science/chemistry. At chemistry we made elephants toothpaste. Elephants toothpaste isn't toothpaste for the elephants it is only called that because it looks like toothpaste coming out of a tube except the tube is way bigger than a normal tube of toothpaste it looks a tube the size elephants would have. To make elephants toothpaste you need either a tube or a fizzy bottle, you then fill the tube halfway with hydrogen peroxide that has water mixed in with it you then put a little bit of dish washing liquid in and add food colouring of your choice. After that you need a cup or a very little measurer and put a  teaspoon and a half of yeast add some hot water then stir while also stirring the tube. Then pour the liquid yeast into the tube and watch the reaction. Here is a photo of what might happen:

Last Day Reflection

Yaaay! Finally, today is the last day of Enrich for the term. Because it is the last  day we did a reflection on the term. The reflection was talking about what things we liked and didn't like and did and wish we had done. I found the reflection challenging because it was hard to put your thoughts into words. This is a picture of it:

Habits of Mind

Today we learnt 8 Habits of Mind. Habits of Mind are things that gifted learners use when they are thinking up ideas or other things. One of my favourite Habits of mind so far is managing impulsivity. Managing impulsivity means that you're  stopping and thinking before you do something. The action for managing impulsivity is when you put you're hand out in front of yourself like you're saying stop!

Tapa Cloth

Today I did a Tapa Cloth. I made it out of Paper. Here is a video of me explaining what I did.

Wayne Edgerton

Today after we went to the radio station to record our plays we went to the Art Gallery to look at Wayne Edgerton's paintings. The paintings were of places in Fiordland. They were very detailed and very impressive. He has a very unique way of painting. If I could of I would have bought some of the paintings but they were way to much money and I don't have anywhere to put them. I wish I could paint that well and he had some amazing talent. I was so amazed and would love to see him again.

Talent Development

Today for Talent Development we recorded one of our plays. The play we recorded was Little Red Riding Hood. We recorded it on Garage Band. We left gaps where we wanted sound affects and recorded it by headphones. It was a podcast and there were nine different people playing parts. I am Little Red Riding Hood. I enjoyed the recording. It was a great experience and I'm looking forward to doing it next week.

P4C

Today I did P4C with Katie. It was about is it ever okay to use violence. I think it's okay to use it for self defence but I don't think you should do it when your being harassed and teased by someone. I would also use violence if I were fighting for our country but otherwise I don't think I would even if I was really annoyed with someone.

Wearable Arts

Today Enrich went on a field trip to the Southland Museum and Art Gallery. We went there so we could see the Wearable Arts display. The Wearable Arts are like for example a dress made out of wood that you can wear. There was all types of different stuff. There was even a bra made out of handcuffs! My favourite one was one that was made out of wool sacks to make it kind of look like a sheep. I enjoyed going to see the wearable arts and would definitely go to see it again if I could.

Chess

I am still at the top of the leader board surprisingly because Katie stale mated me. :)
Katie was a few moves away from checkmating me and then she put me in stalemate on accident. But unfortunately I'm going to have to face Luke someday and I'm not looking forward to it.

Now I get to stay on top of the leader board for a whole other week. I really want to go to the chess tournament in Dunedin. I love going to the chess tournament but I'm surprised I'm even good enough to go. I'm really excited but I bet I won't be on the top next week.

Last Day For the Term

Today was the last day of the term. We did a learning wheel. A learning wheel is kind of like how you feel and things like that. Kind of like a review. We did it on this term and it looks like this:

I played chess against Darryn and I WON!!! I moved all the way to the top of the leaderboard. :)

I liked this term and will definitely be coming back next term.

Tena koe Kate,

Well our chess challenge has stepped up a notch! I am really impressed with the way your game is developing. During debating you came up with lots of great reasons for your team, and some very well thought out rebuttals. You showed some great leadership skills in organising your team. I wouldn’t like to take you on in an argument!

See you next week

Alana

Making a Pyramid

Today I made a pyramid as one of my picks.

I did it four times and didn't complete it once. It was really hard but I enjoyed the challenge. I never made it through the nile river fast enough but I will keep trying.

I had a hard fun time and will try to do it again next week if I have enough time.

My Biopoem

Today I made a Biopoem with Darryn. A Biopoem is a poem about yourself. It says things like what you like, where you live, what your name is, what you fear etc. I am happy with my Biopoem and think it is rather good for me, a non poetic person. It looks like this:

P4C

Today I did P4C with Darryn. We talked about why because is such an important word. It's important because it explains why you said what you said as long as you use it in the right way.

For example if I said "Why do I have to go to bed so early?" And they replied. "Because I said." That is not a very good use of the word. If I said "Why do I have to go to bed so early?" and they answer "Because you are tired and had a late night last night." That would be an appropriate answer.

So really I decided that because is an important word as long as you use it properly.

P4C

Today I did P4C.

It was about should we listen to other peoples opinion.

I think we should sometimes and shouldn't other times.

I think that because sometimes they aren't saying very nice things about you.

I had lots of fun and hope to have as much fun in two weeks time.