Place Value thinking

In Maths yesterday we were representing numbers by using place value materials, (blocks and abacus). We then worked out how may thousands, hundreds, tens, ones and tenths were in each number that we made. It was great mathematical thinking!

Literacy Time

    

Griffin loves turtles and has been studying them for the past few days. Today he wrote some amazing sentences about his turtle pictures as you can see.  Griffin is starting to sound out unfamiliar words and is using his vocabulary to enhance his short sentences. 

Griffin is also enjoying his art and creating pretty amazing pictures.  Great work Griffin, keep it up!

The Maths Curse!

Today in our numeracy group we read "The Maths Curse" by John Schieska. In the story we read about lots of Maths problems. One of the problems in the story was:
Mrs. Fibbonaci had 24 children in her class. They are in 4 rows. How many children are in each row?
We all had to solve the problem and show our strategies. Then we talked about and explained our strategies to a buddy and then the group. We put our thinking onto a SOLO thinking rubric. We listed all of our stratgies (Multistructural outcome). Then we explained our strategies (Relational outcome). Lastly we created different problems, like 24 children in 3 rows, 6 rows and 8 rows... (Extended abstract outcome). It was pretty cool Maths thinking! 

Do the Hokey Pokey!

In the fast track zone this week we made "Hokey Pokey". Here are three pieces of writing about the experience.

Hokey Pokey- By Ryan

Yesterday, the Fast Track Zone group and me did cooking. We made hokey pokey. It looked like golden slime. I got to put the sugar in. It took 10 tablespoons! The hokey pokey tasted sugary sweet. It felt sticky and smelt like honey. Aaaahhhh! It looked like lava. It tasted like a lollipop.

Hokey Pokey- By Blake

It floated up. "Super yummy!" I said to myself. It crackled in my mouth. There was cooking paper on the bottom of the scrumptious delicious hokey pokey. It was firm when I bit it. It smelt like delicious cookies. Sweet, sweet gold! It was the best baking at school. It was fabulous baking! I felt lucky.

Hokey Pokey- By William Q

I was really excited because I was thinking, "Is it yummy or not when I eat the hokey pokey? Is it yummier that a lollipop or ice cream with oreos?"

It's better than everything! At first it looked like golden lava! There was ten tablespoons of sugar in the hokey pokey. It's not good for your teeth, but it's yummier than everything!

We had fun making hokey pokey. If you would like to make it at home here's the recipe:

Using compatible numbers to add

Today in Maths we were using compatible numbers to add a series of two digit numbers. Compatible numbers are ones that add to a tidy sum (10, 100): like 8 and 2, 7 and 3, 6 and 4, 1 and 9 and 5 and 5. 

We were given a series of numbers to add, and then had to find the ones digits that added to 10. For example:
24 + 36 + 12 + 38 + 15 = So, (4 and 6), (2 and 8) + 5 = 25
Then we added the tens digits, by rearranging them into groups, 
So,  3 tens and 3 tens + 1 ten + 1 ten + 2 ten = 10 tens
Then we added our tens and ones together. 
So, 10 tens (100) + 25 ones = 125. Here are photos of us solving these tricky addition problems using compatible numbers.

Gertrude McFuzz!

Today we listened to a story by Dr Seuss called "Gertrude McFuzz". Here it is for you to enjoy.

After watching the story, we wrote about Gertude McFuzz. Here are some of our stories:

Gertrude McFuzz- By Joseph A Gordine

Gertrude Mc Fuzz

Gertrude McFuzz had a teeny weeny tail that was very green. It was mouldy and droopy like cows diarrhoea.  
So she ate heaps of pill berries. She suddenly grew a big, ginormous tail. It popped past the sky! It sparkled like diamonds and was very green, blue and stripy. 

There was only one problem though... she couldn't fly and the tail got tangled! 
She decided that one tail was just right!

Gertrude McFuzz- By Joel Odoom

Gertrude being carried because she was too heavy

Gertrude McFuzz had a huge tail but the feathers were TOO heavy. It was a little green and a gold tail at the beginning. Gertrude was so sad that she had one green and gold feather. 
Gertrude was eating the pill berries. The feathers popped out... bigger and bigger! It was a giant feather tail made out of green feathers and gold feathers. The tail was gigantic! It was like a fireworks display! When she tried to fly she couldn't because her fantastic tail was TOO heavy!

Gertrude McFuzz- By Miles Penny

Lolla Lee Lou

Gertrude was silly because she ate pill berries. She tried to be like Lolla-Lee-Lou. She started off with one feather. Then she got two feathers. It got so big it sparkled like gold! She couldn't fly because it was too heavy!

Fine Motor Skills Programme

The fine motor skills programme has proved to be a massive hit with our children at UHPS.  

They love the challenge of building, creating and extending their minds to overcome challenges.

Check out some of our creations.....

Life skills programme.

In the Fast track zone we have a Life Skills programme. In this programme we practise lots of skills. On one day we were practising how to do up buttons, zips and domes. 

ESOL Language Experiences

In some of our ESOL classes, we have been using language experiences to learn new vocabulary. Check out what we have been doing....

Making Pikelets

Yesterday we made pikelets in the Fast Track Zone. Read about our experiences and spot how many language features we have used.

Pikelets by Cohen

I was so excited because we were going to eat pikelets. The sizzling melting butter sounded like a rattle snake's tail shaking. I could see bubbles popping like popcorn. The burning hot pan was like a burning hot meteor. The pikelets tasted like honey toast. The pikelets felt like a trampoline. The butter was runny like a waterfall. The bubbles were bumpy like camel humps. It was really tasty and delicious to eat. There was a tiny, tiny pikelet that was the size of a mouse.


Pikelets by Jayanna

"Yay, another language experience!" I could smell all the yummy ingredients. These were baking powder, flour, milk and vanilla. I could hear people saying excitedly, "I want a turn, I want a turn!"
As I was watching the pikelets being made, I was reminded of rain splattering on the wet pavement. The ingredients bubbled like a steaming hot mud pit, it was so delicious in my mouth. It tasted so sweet it reminded me of a cupcake.


The huge pikelet! by Jake

I felt really excited when it was time for me to make my own pikelet. When I picked up the spoon I poured the creamy mixture, it was huge! "Woah!" the boys said. The pikelet was the size of a golden pancake. Two minutes later I was going to flip the pikelet. I flipped it and it landed on its side, argghhh! My masterpiece is ruined.