This week we practiced taking portrait shots, did some more experimenting with creative features, and learnt how to light paint with our cameras. I look forward to sharing these amazing shots with you next week!
One of the many things that I love about my job is seeing children make huge leaps forward in terms of their confidence and skill base. My digital photography students are really taking my advice and feedback on-board, they are listening and actively applying their new skills with fantastic results. I was absolutely thrilled to see such a huge improvement from the week before as I worked my way through their photos last week - great work DP-101, I am really proud of you all!
This week we practiced taking portrait shots, did some more experimenting with creative features, and learnt how to light paint with our cameras. I look forward to sharing these amazing shots with you next week!
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WOW what an amazing afternoon we had yesterday! Dr. Catherine Buyck, who is also one of our lovely parents at Island Bay school very kindly spent the afternoon with Thena's class (R8) in the Learning Hub explaining how the Human body works. Catherine helped us piece our skeleton together, and then worked with the children to add body organs in order to make him complete. Catherine explained all of the jobs that our organs have within our body, and we also learnt the medical names of several of our bones. Did you know that the smallest bone in your body is in your ear, and that we are born with a grand total of 270 bones with this number decreasing to 206 bones by adulthood after some bones have fused together?!
We then went on to listen to our heart beat using stethoscopes, and we examined the human torsos & human body felt boards. The children all took turns to look through the Learning Hub microscopes for a super close up look at a blood sample and human hair. Words like WOW and AWESOME came up a lot : ) And then, the children were offered the opportunity to look at (and some examined) some real organs that were sourced from Island Bay Butchery. The children got to look at a sheep heart & brain, liver, eye balls, and 2 kidneys. Catherine dissected the organs and explained how the human equivalent of each organ worked. The children were fascinated, and asked Catherine loads of questions! I was SO impressed with the sheer volume of newly acquired Human Body facts that the children were telling me as they left, a great time was had by all. From all of us at Island Bay School, I would like to offer a really BIG thank you to Catherine for taking time out of her busy schedule to share her expertise with us, and a HUGE thank you also to Island Bay Butchery for providing us with animal organs to inspect, greatly appreciated. What a fabulous community we live in! As the 2013 school year came to a close last year, many children presented their teachers with a gift to show their appreciation & thanks for a wonderful year of learning - but last year it was slightly different for my son's class! Cameron's lovely teacher & syndicate leader Amy Austin gave every child in her class a gift in the form of a cherry tomato plant with a lovely personalised note attached. Amy's thoughtful gift taught my son the importance of watering and caring for a plant, and his sense of pride when harvesting his crop was immeasurable.
Cameron has been harvesting his tomatoes throughout summer & he can't wait to plant tomatoes again next year. Who knows, he may even give some tomato plants away as Christmas gifts this year too! Thank you Amy, this was the best gift ever! Just a reminder that the Learning Hub is reserved from 9am - 9:30am every day of the week (Mon-Fri) for Parents & Caregivers to come in, prepare a hot/cold drink, read the daily paper, relax and catch up with friends. We even have a Nespresso Coffee machine that makes THE most delicious coffee for only $1 per cup. Please do stop in & visit, it would be fabulous to see you!
I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Penny's class last week while the children learnt all about the digestive system. The children had a lot of fun exploring 5 activity stations set up around the Learning Hub which included 2 x 50-cm human torsos, 2 felt boards, a magnetic skeleton + organs, 4 x stethoscopes, and coloured Plasticine for making models of the digestive system.
The learning & conversation was fantastic, and the children told me a number of really neat facts that they had learnt about the Human Body. I really look forward to seeing you all back again soon! Island Bay School was abuzz with excitement last Friday as our Freedom Friday programs got started for Term One! Every Friday afternoon our children make their way to their chosen activity and wrap up a busy week doing something that they really enjoy. I am working with 10 very able up & coming photographers and we are learning all about Digital Photography.
For our first session we talked about the purpose of photography, and took a look at the many different ways in which photography is used. We looked at documentary photography, advertising, we analysed why we take photos of friends and family, and we discussed the important role that photography plays in preserving our past. We then went on to learn how to operate and drive our digital cameras, and went out into the field to experiment, get comfortable with changing settings, trying out different creative features, and chasing the perfect shot! You will see some examples of our work above which include images taken using fisheye, toy camera, monochrome, and super vivid special features. I can't wait until next Friday! I had a great time taking a closer look at the South Coast marine ecosystem with Adele's Class (M12) early last week. We examined a number of different seaweeds, some seashell, Paua shell and a small collection of sea sponges from our coast line. We learnt that our beautiful coastline is home to thousands of different forms of life. The children were mesmerised by the complex structure of sea sponge and with the beautiful colour of red seaweed under the microscope - they both looked AMAZING! We also took a closer look at our samples with magnifying glasses.
Lastly we took a look a special plastic test tube containing some live Paramecium. Paramecium are single celled organisms. We learnt that cells are the building blocks for all life forms, and that Paramecium only has one cell for it's entire body. Most plants and animals have more cells than you can count! Paramecium are so tiny that you need a microscope to see them. They live in water, including lakes, ponds, streams and puddles. You can learn more about Paramecium here should you wish to - http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/paramecium.htm As soon as we had finished our close inspection I returned our samples back to where we found them. One thing is certain, the South Coast is home to a diverse, amazing & beautiful marine ecosystem! This animated weather map is not only fascinating, but it is also breathtakingly beautiful. It provides you with a visual view of global weather conditions forecast by supercomputers & is updated every three hours. Ocean surface current estimates are updated every 5 days. You can even choose to view weather patterns by humidity, temperature, air density or by wind power density. The NZ image below shows the upcoming storm due to strike the top on the North Island this weekend. It really is quite mesmerizing!
Click on the images above to go directly to the website & take a look for yourself. You can zoom in and turn the globe around should you wish to explore. Be warned though, several hours can pass quickly once you get started. I'd love to hear what you think! A huge thank you to one of our lovely parents Sharyn Seabourne who came into the Learning Hub to talk to Penny & Rachel's classes (R7 & M10) about human anatomy and for explaining how our bodies work! Sharyn is a Doctor at the Wellington Hospital Emergency Department & we were thrilled to welcome her to the Learning Hub to share her expertise.
Sharyn introduced us to Eddie the skeleton who could be pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle, and the children really enjoyed working together in teams to make him whole again. Sharyn also showed the children how to listen to their heartbeat using a stethoscope! We zoomed in on some hair strands using our new microscopes, and worked in teams to deconstruct/reconstruct felt & 50cm human anatomy torsos. The children had a great time being scientists for the afternoon! Here at Island Bay School we are incredibly lucky to have the multi-talented Avie looking after us as our school caretaker. Not only is Avie an excellent caretaker, but he is also a talented musician and poet - just to mention a few! Avie very kindly took some time out of his busy schedule to share some of his poetry with Adele & Amy's classes (M12 & M13) in the library yesterday afternoon.
Avie read out three special poems;
The children asked Avie which poem was his favorite, and where he gets inspiration for his work. Thank you for sharing your poetry with us Arvie, we enjoyed it very much! Here is one of Avie's poems that is the children's favourite : ) The Caretaker - By Avie Pitch black winter's morn. Turning over the silver click, unlocking the silence of a brand new learning day. I turn on the lights on - instantly! Lighting the warmth of crayon smells, that awake the goldfish, splash! It is at this time, The school bell is silent, though I am with the hands of the clock. The teachers roll into the morning, they say "Good Morning Avie". I raise my hand. I sometimes forget that I am a grown up like them. At this early time of the day I can hear the voices of a generation, a community that will remember my face while their youth grows older, my face will grow old from their school days. Though for now, I walk through their playgrounds, pick up the forgotten clothes of forgetful children, the plastic lunches blown away with the leaves into untidy corners. Climb ladders for footballs, cricket bats, tennis balls, and reach out of trees for shoes and scissors When the school is into the full pendulum swing of knowledge, discovering planets, dinosaurs, words And numbers, flags of the world I walk past the hall to hear the choir singing in harmony. It is then within the bells of time, I tend to my gardens, turning back to green for the birdsong to return. For the restless winds Of Island Bay will blow for this evergreen time, for my children's chimes and for the children forever changing colours of season When the last bell resounds at the end of the day I'll do it all again, except, I turn the silver click the other way, for tomorrows brand new learning day |
AuthorHi! My name is Karin Grice & I am the Learning Hub Coordinator. I will be making regular posts showcasing the amazing things that we are getting up to in the Learning Hub! Archives
March 2016
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