Testing!

We're having a few tests this week and next week ready for the end of year, so here's a few tips to help you ace them!

• Make sure you have a drink and go to the toilet before the test starts.
• Have a good breakfast in the morning (or morning tea/lunch).
• Have two sharp pencils with you.
• Listen to all the instructions the teacher gives you and read the instructions and questions on the test carefully.
• Breathe! Take a few moments to relax!
• Remember that the test isn't trying to trick you, it's trying to help you show your teacher what you can do!
• It's YOUR work, no one else's.
• If you finish early then CHECK, CHECK, CHECK! You never know what you might think the second (or even third) time round.
• Stay nice and quiet so it's fair to everyone - there's nothing worse than trying to think about your answer and having noise around you to distract you 

Don't stress about the test! You'll be fine - just do your best! 

Miss Walters

:)

Incredible Instructions

In Room 6 we have been learning to write clear instructions - we know that we need a title, a list of what we need and clear numbered steps in the correct order.

Miss Walters bought us the ingredients and equipment to make ice cream in a bag, but first we had to write instructions by watching this video:



After we watched the video and wrote our instructions, we checked our partners writing and made sure it had all the steps in the right order. We put all the best bits together from our 3 favourite sets of instructions to make the most amazing instructions for ice cream that we could!

Next we used our instructions to make our ice cream outside - it took a lot of shaking and cold fingers but we nearly got there in the end! We ended up with a thick milkshake-like ice cream but it still tasted awesome!

Check out our instructions and photos of us making ice cream!

We had an explosion of ice everywhere and we reflected on this later on. We decided next time that we would write new instructions and tell people to put a second bag around everything so that it was extra protected!





We also noticed that our shaking wasn't fast enough to churn the mixture up like an ice cream machine would and that we could have added more ice to the bags so that it froze faster. Our ice cream was pretty runny but our ice was nearly melted so we couldn't carry on! In our evaluation we said that we would put an extra bag around everything, shake faster and add more ice!

It was still yummy though and Frank took these great photos for us!

Perfect Prezi!

In Room 6 we have been practicing using the laptops and tablets to use a new online site called Prezi. It allows us to create a moving presentation online to show our ideas. We have mostly been using them independently while Miss Walters is reading with our four reading groups. 

Since we have been learning about instructions in our writing, we have been reading some instructions too! The Giraffes reading group read some instructions in their school journal and gave us step by step instructions in their own words and put them into a prezi!

Have a look at the instructions they wrote after reading the text!

Daffodil Day Dilemma

Today is Daffodil Day!

August 28th 2015 is the day we show our support for the Cancer Society and we buy a daffodil to donate money to help doctors research to find a cure for cancer. Cancer affects lots of people in New Zealand and around the world.

We made some daffodils using a Youtube video on Thursday afternoon but unfortunately the origami daffodil was a lot trickier than it looked! We struggled and persevered but in the end we didn't think they were good enough... So we tried again! 

Miss Walters looked on the internet to see what else we could make using our origami skills. We found some cool pictures of Daffodil Pinwheels. We made some changes to the instructions when we made ours, so we wrote our blog readers some new ones.

Here are some instructions written by Room 6!

How To Make A Daffodil Pinwheel.

You will need:
- Yellow paper in a square,
- Pencil or pen,
- Ruler,
- Scissors,
- Hole punch,
- Split pin,
- Gold glittery paint,
- Paint brush,
- Green straw.

Method:
1. Fold your paper into a triangle by putting two opposite corners together.
2. Open it out and then fold the other two opposite corners together to make a cross.
3. Measure 2cm from the middle of the cross down each of the four lines and make a small mark.
4. Cut down the lines of the cross from the corner to the small mark you made.
5. Choose one corner and gently loop it into the middle and hold it there.
6. Do the same to every second corner.
7. Ask an adult to punch a hole in every looped corner.
8. Put a split pin into one of the holes and thread each other hole behind it.
9. Push the split pin with the corners attached through the middle of the cross inside.
10. Split the two sides of the pin on the back to hold it down.
11. Put your initials or name on the back of your daffodil.
12. Paint some gold glittery paint in the middle of the flower.
13. Leave it to dry at the back of the classroom.
14. Slide one stalk of the split pin into the top of a green straw.

We decided that it would be even better to video ourselves to make a tutorial and show everyone, so we all took a part in narrating, video and making the daffodil! Dora and Guinevere were our lovely folding models, Peni and Limiteti were our camera people and everyone else had a part in narrating our tutorial.

Check out our video and see if you can make a daffodil pinwheel to celebrate Daffodil Day!