Digital Day Trip Waitangi

Today our class went to Waitangi to learn more about how people build programs and control electronics. We went to experience computational thinking so we can include it into our learning at KCS.
We learned that computational thinking is about thinking about how computers work.

The program we focused on is called Scratch. It is a good way to learn about coding because it uses 'block's that have English instructions on. The computer code behind the 'blocks' is what makes them work.

The image we manipulate is called a Sprite.
We had a tutu with
Motion
Looks
Sound
Events
and
Control

There is a lot to remember and we need to think about the sequence we want our sprite to move in.

Fire Brigade Cup

What a fantastic day the 16th June was. 

 All of the children from Room 6 participated in the annual Fire Brigade Tournament. Year 5 and 6  entered a rippa rugby team and a hockey team. The Year 7 and Year 8s entered two soccer teams.

Our ripper team won all of their games and represented our school well with their high standard in play, sportsmanship and dedication. A special mihi to Matua Te Rangi for the hours of lunchtime training he has put into this team. What a success they are!  

I also thank Gail Eruetit for her commitment and willingness to help out. 

Hockey was awesome. We had full participation and everyone worked as a team. A few special standout students were Hunia Reihana - an amazing player, Kash Danford - dedicated and positive. This boy showed leadership and played his heart out. The team had 9 games and won six of them. Special thanks to Liz Cook for her support on the field and to whanau, Shana, Kiri and Zar for your tautoko.  Lastly, a special acknowledgement to Elise (seven years old) who joined our team and was a valuable member.

Year 7 and 8 students played extremely well too. Soccer was very popular this year and they had strong competition. Well done Team A who won 3rd place in the tournament! A big thanks to David Prickett for organising the soccer tournament. 

To our young sportspeople who participated, we are proud of you all.  Whaaia te iti khurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei.    

Animation in Room 6

On the last two days we had our sports tournament postponed and our hike up the Waima Forest postponed due to severe weather warnings.
Instead, the children learned to use Google Slides to make animations.
The task was focused on having at least three facts that they had learned about the kauri snail and learning to make the movements of images smooth. Children also learned how to use narrow their image search by choosing images with transparent backgrounds and how to layer images.
Below are some of their finished products ( I am still waiting for Sophya and Kataraina to share theirs).

Daniel and Neil have been experimenting with coding using Scratch. As a class, we will be learning more about coding and computational thinking next term. I am looking forward to seeing the computation thinking develop in my learners and help them develop their digital creativity.


Kauri snail Life Cycle
By Gianni, Tumu and Hunia.

Sarn's and Zion's animation


Crystal and Kiriana's Animation



Taitokerau's and Taylah's animation



Mahina's and Lenore's animation