The Sunroom 8s & 9s
It is such a delight to be putting this edition together…..together again.
As we sit in the Sunroom, the ‘Sun’ is streaming in and the children are busy creating stories, comfy on a couch or a chosen spot of carpet. The chatter is delightful and the questions are rolling in:
“What about this?”
“Can I read you my story so far?”
“I’m going to create book two of Moon Exploration!”
Upon our return, so many of us were keen to continue the science and engineering investigations that proved very welcome and popular during Distance Learning.
Catapults
- Engineer a Catapult
- What variables are at work in terms of its functions?
The number of rubber bands.
Rubber band tension.
Amount of pullback.
Length of lever arm.
- Test, measure and record
- Alter a variable - Test, measure, record
- Compare and analyse results
We also used our measured catapult data to develop our mathematical understandings pertaining to finding the difference between two numbers as well as calculating averages.
Turning Milk into Plastic
Through research we discovered that plastic was once commonly made from milk! In the early 1900s ornaments, beads, buttons, fountain pens and brush sets were made from casein plastic.
So we decided to make our own, once again considering the variables of the experiment and looking through the conceptual lens of change.
The children were keen to continue with some creative writing.
Some snippets from their writing:
“Dear Diary, I thought it was going to be a good day, but it turns out it was not so good.”
“She packed her bags, ready for the trip. When the day of the trip came she went to the boat early.”
“My dad tells terrible dad jokes, ‘Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field!’’
“Chaos Legends. Chapter 1. I am McEvil. Yo yo yo, you wanna watch Peppa Pig?’”
“I was once a normal 50’s man. Just casually minding my own business. But then……”
The children engaged with descriptive writing as a way of reconnecting with the Sunroom space.
They chose an object or a place in the Sunroom that held some importance or meaning to them.
Some snippets of their writing:
“It’s smooth and its colour is a dark brown.”
“It’s white and has pentagonal shaped gaps. It's hollow and you can see through it.”
“There are lots of soft pillows. It makes me feel like I’m in the Kinda because when I was in the Kinda I used to go up to the bay window and look into the room.”
“The brown wood colour is very nice. Looks like it will never get old.”
Yoga
It was nice for us all to have a yoga session with Emily in person. Many of us enjoyed these sessions via Zoom; a Friday ritual that served to keep us all, ‘balanced’!
Michael Price and Sophie Dall'Ava
8s & 9s classroom teachers
sophia.dall'ava@preshil.vic.edu.au michael.price@preshil.vic.edu.au