Learning in S39

Middle School S39 is sharing the learning taking place in our class…..

The students in S39 have been working extremely hard in all areas this year.

In Numeracy we have been learning to compare, order, add, subtract, multiply and divide decimal numbers.  It has been really challenging but a lot of fun.  Some students even participated in a scientific notation project to extend their learning.

Recently we have also started comparing fractions on a number line and adding and subtracting fractions with the same, related and different denominators.  Some students have also been extended to multiplying and dividing fractions.  Which is an easy enough concept to learn, but it gets very tricky when you have to create a visual representation!

In Narrative writing,  we have been learning to develop our characters through the use of dialogue, actions, reactions and relationships.  We have particularly focused on our ability to SHOW rather than TELL our audience when it comes to character description:

To do this we have created our own pirates.  We initially drew them and began by describing their appearance before discussing their behaviour, personalities, communication and interactions.  We even created some similes and metaphors to help create a mental image for our audience.  The results have been fantastic and students have been genuinely excited about writing.

Here are a few small examples from our work…

His fake metal leg slowed his speed as he stumbled

across the deck to his quarters.

Zac

With one hit he fell into the ocean like an anchor.

Senitha

The beautiful diamonds shone like the stars.  The trees danced on the golden, soft sand, and the blue sky sparkled over the vast ocean.

Thon

If you don’t clean the deck, you’ll be falling off it!

Kuny

My heavy boots stomped through the ship and thumped up the creaking staircase.  My dark hair flicked aggressively across my face and my eyes were as black as charcoal.

Vicky

The tree is a human, tall and beautiful.  It dances in the summer breeze, whistling as it goes.  It is different from all of us, but aren’t we all?  We stand like statues, tall and proud.  As the years go on, we grow old, withering away.  Its memory echoes with the wind after its final words have been spoken.

Tess and Holly

The floor creaked as Skully heaved herself onto the rotten deck. Her hair shone a brilliant hue of red in the morning sun.  Her eye glared defiantly at the semblance of crew members before her.  Skully’s leg screeched against the floor boards as she stepped forwards slowly.

“He’s right here, Cap’n,” squeaked a short plump crew member. Skully’s hands stumbled for her sword.  With one swift movement, the blade was out, glistening in the sun light. The sword pointed towards the helpless man, gagged and tied up on the deck.

“Give me the money, or feed the sharks!” she snarled, stepping toward him ruthlessly. Her muscular body was tense, prepared to fight. The edges of her lips pulled continuously into a grimace on her sour face, forming a hideous grin as she thought of her favourite past time: watching people walk the plank.

“I-I d-don’t have any,” he stuttered sheepishly.

“Well then, this will be fun,” she said with obvious enjoyment plastered on her face.  A coming storm brewed, blowing her hair from underneath her skull imprinted purple pirate hat. She wrapped her sky blue coat, rimmed with gold, ever tight around her.

“Untie him,” she ordered.

“Eye eye mate,” they answered. Their fingers fumbled with the knots finally freeing him. She walked threatening closer, sword held high. The man retreated onto the plank, until there was nowhere else to go.

SPLASH! He went down, down, down, into the depths of the dark, merciless ocean.  Skully laughed menacingly.

“Back to work!” she barked.

Tess Gilbert

In Reading we have focused on identifying and interpreting figurative language.  We have analysed picture story books, passages and even song lyrics to find a range of different types and have started to experiment with writing our own.   Some students have even attempted their own extended metaphors, Shakespeare would be so proud.

In S39 we have also been participating in ‘Survivor’ where we learn to apply learning behaviours in team-based scenarios.  Each week our survivor teams compete and are faced with a series of challenges which require resilience, persistence, confidence, organisation and getting along skills. Team members need to create strategies, use each other’s strengths and promote inclusion to succeed.  Here are some insights from S39 discussing the benefits of Survivor...

“I like Survivor because you learn to communicate with others and the challenges are challenging.”

Rosa

“In Survivor, you work as a team to overcome challenges.  In one challenge we had to be blindfolded and work as a team to find objects in an obstacle course.  It was really scary but you had to rely on your partner.  That helped build trust.”

Senitha

“On the puzzle challenge, it was hard because you had to find pieces that matched.  We had to include everyone’s ideas which helped us.”

Diesel

“You have to plan out strategies.  One challenge involved us on a scavenger hunt around the school.  Some people had to come back and get help from others rather than cost their team time.  We learned people have different strengths and that’s what helped us come first.”

Tahlia