This week we are going to be finding out about Bridges. These structures are used all over the world and are made from many different materials. We will be investigating why different bridges are used and what materials make them strong or flexible.
Computer group – click on BUILDING BIG – go to BRIDGE BASICS to find out about different types of bridges and write your notes into your worksheet.
Desk group – you will be reading an information book about different types of bridges and what makes them strong.
Teacher group – you will be researching the different materials used to build bridges. You will need your information book (Reading Safari) and your worksheet.
SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE – click here and read about our famous Australian bridge. It turned 80 in 2012. We will be making a timeline of the building of this bridge.
Listen to this story then answer the questions on your worksheet. What kind of bridge did the troll live under?
Welcome to our relief teacher for the day. I am sorry but I am unwell and will see all of you tomorrow. Work hard today everybody and show your relief teacher how well you can work at tasks, especially when you are in your groups. To the teacher: Unfortunately, I am without a computer at the smartboard and so you will have to model to students from one of the classroom computers. If you need to print this off, find a computer which has a printer on it (up the back) to print it out (see option at bottom of this post). I have some of the Three Little Pigs Ending sheets, so they can work in their draft writing books (in a pile on floor beside my desk and blue desk). Have students set up all computers around room before school with Dolphinkids on the desktop. Have a great day with a lovely bunch of students! :-)
9:00 Assembly
9:45 News – students know how to set this up and run it. (Elliot and Reid can get Dolphinkids up on a classroom computer to see the news roster for timer etc.)
10:00 Writing – Discuss parts of a Narrative – orientation, complication, resolution and ending. Today we are focusing on RESOLUTION and ENDING. Go over the story of the Three Little Pigs which students have done and compared. Talk about the different resolutions to the problem (wolf) and endings. Today, students need to come up with their own Resolution and Ending. They will start from: “The third little pig built his house from bricks.” The wolf….
10:40: Maths – On Dolphinkids show them post “Battleships” and model how the game is played. They each have a sheet with their ships filled in (in their trays) and partners to play the game. They are finding and calling grid references (more sheets in grey pigeonholes near door). Let them play the game.
RECESS
Sport with Mandy Sinclair until 12:25
12:25 Language – Three Little Pigs sheet (PMI on one side) language activities on the back of an A3 sheet on table next to my desk under window.
LUNCH
1:50 Spelling – students have their own contracts and today need to do next task. Making sentences with at least 10 of their words. Underline the word they have used from their spelling lists.
2:20 Inquiry Groups #2. Sheets on my desk – Venice, Parliament House and Thinkers Keys.
Teacher has Harbour Bridge Group – Venice (read through Venice information sheet, highlighting keywords to fill in Information Retrieval sheet on building foundations etc…)
Computer is Opera House Group – Parliament House activity
Desk is Eiffel Towers – Give them paper to do Thinkers Key – VARIATIONS. Show at least 4 different ways to clean the windows of a skyscraper. Draw and label your drawings and be as imaginative as you can. Colour too.
Teacher group will be looking at VENICE and the buildings there. They have been built in a special way because of all the water. This video clip will introduce you to what Venice looks like with all the canals (rivers of water).
For your own interest you can watch this video clip of a personal tour of Venice down the Main Canal. Notice the houses and what they are made from and their many grand designs. And of course, you will see some of the important bridges!
This week in our Structures Inquiry we will be looking at building materials. After listening to Story Nory’s “The Three Little Pigs”, watch these two videos. Compare two versionsof this story using your Venn Diagram.
Silly Symphony – The Three Little Pigs’ Story (A Walt Disney Musical)
Kermit and The Three Little Pigs (A News Report on Television)
Later, we will be writing your own endingto the original story of the three little pigs. You can be as creative as you like, but it must still be written in a way that shows it belongs to the story. But TODAY you need to do the PMI using the information below. 🙂
Builders use different building materials because of their different properties. Some of these properties are:
STRENGTH – some materials are stronger than others
INSULATION – some materials keep out the heat in summer and keep you warm in winter
APPEARANCE – some materials look better to the eye (colour, shiny, glossy, smooth…)
EASY TO USE – some materials can be cut, bent or shaped more easily than others
COST – some materials are cheaper or better value while others are very expensive
FIRE RATING – some materials are not as flammable as other materials
So, today the question is:
Why did the Three Little Pigs choose such different materials to build their houses?
You will be using a P.M.I. (Plus, Minus and Interesting or Ideas) Chart to organise your ideas. Have fun thinking today! 😎
When you have finished your P.M.I. you have an opportunity to choose crazy, humorous adjectives (describing words) to write your own version of the story called “The Microscopic Pigs”. 😆
Tracey Muir works for the Cape to Cape Catchment Group. (We are working out what ‘catchments’ are.)
When Tracey Muir visited our class she talked about the things that make a river ‘catchment’ healthy or unhealthy. She showed us just how many things can end up in the river – making it sick or unhealthy for all the fish and creatures who live in it.
We saw just how important it is to do things like
wash the car on grass so the detergent is absorbed into the ground, not into the stormwater drain
put rubbish into the bin so it doesn’t wash down the drains and into the river
use less fertiliser on the garden (chemicals) so it doesn’t get into the river water
appreciate and enjoy the beautiful river we have in Margaret River so that we can keep it that way!
