2014, Term 1, Week 8

Today's lesson started with updating our individual blogs on Postach.io.  Each week we write an individual blog diary entry. Some of the class are helping others to get set up and started.  Today we had class members coming and going to Linguists Club and to get packs for the Sunrise Walk for the Hospice on Sunday, plus messages over the intercom, visitors,  and Mrs Vincent's computer froze three times - so we didn't get as much finished as we had planned. 

Mrs Vincent's favourite picture for this week.

This week's tongue twister: sixty-six silky short-sleeved shirts. There were four winners who shared a chocolate prize.

Further to our work on onomatapoeia last week, here's a few more video clips to help understand what is is and how it can be used:

Here's the sound effects alphabet in which a guy does the entire alphabet in sound effects.

Here's an entire story told in pictures and onomatopoeia. 

We discussed some onomatopoeia words which could relate to sport:

whack

boing

thwock

doing  

thwonk

whoosh

zoom 

 

Mrs Vincent's second favourite picture of the week.

Our Speed-Skills lessons today were: 

Correct Usage - there's and theirs (1 minute 50 seconds)

There's  =  there is or there has

- There's been a lot of interruptions today. (There has been a lot of interruptions today.) 

- There's a fly in my drink. (There is a fly in my drink.) 

Theirs  = belonging to them 

- The books are theirs. (The books belong to them.) 

To check which word is correct, see if you can replace it with 'there is' or 'does something belong to them'. 

Grammar - subject and predicate Part 1   (2 minutes)

Every sentence has two main parts - a subject and a predicate. 

The complete subject includes all the words that tell what the sentence is about ; it is always includes a noun or a pronoun.
The complete predicate includes all the words that tell what the subject does. 
Example: Most children enjoy sport.

Punctuation - capital letters for proper nouns (30 seconds) 
Always use a capital for God  and any pronouns relating to God - He, His, Him 
Use lower case g when referring to any unspecified god or goddess, such as:  Greek gods, the god of thunder, the goddess Athena.

Term 1, Week 7, 20th March 2014

Today we covered: 

 Correct usage:  We learnt when to use did and done

- the short rule is: Never, ever use I done when you should be saying or writing  I did.

- You can say I have done, I've done, I had done, I'd done, it was done,  and so on. 

Grammar: We continued to look at simple sentences and identified the subjects and the verbs, and then we had a go at punctuating simple sentences - with full stops rather than commas if the sentences looked too short ...  

 

Onomatopoeia Chart

Figurative Language: We looked at some examples of onomatopoeia.  See below for some links to help you learn more about onomatopoeia.

Here's a way to reeally annoy your friends and family - and your teacher - by  learning and practising  onomatopoeiac words.

Here's a silly song about onomatopoeia.

And of course, no examples of onomatopoeia could be complete without Batman!

And who would have thought that animals sound so different in other languages.

And here's some onomatopoeia you may recognise from songs.

Tongue Twister:  Today our tongue twister was Unique New York and Eli won the competition - and a chocolate bar. 

Punctuation:  We revised capital letters for months of the year, days of the week and the titles of  festivals and holidays, such as Christmas Day, Easter, Diwali, Anzac Day, and Auckland Anniversary Day.  BUT  the names of seasons do not have capital letters - even though we tend to see them use capitals incorrectly so often that it almost has become a new rule.  So:

- In summer we have to wear hats at school. 

- In winter we have the heaters going in the classrooms. 

- Even though it's autumn, it is still quite hot during the day. 

- Daffodils bloom in spring. 

But, of course, if the season is included in a title, then it would have a capital letter. 

Incidentally, we learnt that New Year's Day and New Year's Eve - and even just plain New Year's needs an apostrophe. (Because it's not a plural, it's the day - or eve - of the new year.

Mrs Vincent's Favourite Picture This Week

Term 1, Week 6

 Here's what we covered in English Skills last Thursday: 

1. Things to learn from errors in our own writing: 
(a) Only use "gonna" in direct speech, when using the exact words of the person speaking.
"I'm gonna go home now," said Jessica. But, Jessica said that was going to go home now."

(b) When writing  a story using an iPad or the computer,  it is usually always correct to have the writing lined up against the left hand side margin  - as in this page.

2.  Correct Usage: The difference between allowed and aloud
(a) I am allowed to go to camp this year. (My parents will allow me to go.)Most of the time, this is the word we would be wanting to use in our writing.
(b) He worked out his maths strategy aloud so the teacher knew he understood how he got the answer. (If the meaning has anything to do with noise or being heard, then aloud is the word to use.)

3. Grammar:Simple Sentences 

A simple sentence can also be called an independent clause

It contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. A simple sentence can contain more than one subject (compound subject) or more than one verb (compound verb)

In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs are in green.

(a)  Some children walk  to school in the morning.

(b)  John and Andy play football after school.

(c)  Jessica  went to the shop and bought some bread.

These are all simple sentences. Sentence (b)has a compound subject, and sentence (c) has a compound verb. 

4. Figurative Language:  Alliteration 

We are still looking at ways alliteration can be used in poems, songs, writing, and film.

Here's a link to a video clip from The Masked Man, giving a very vivid version of alliteration using the letter V.






Here's some examples of alliteration in  songs.

5. Oral Language: Tongue Twisters
Today  our  tongue twister was: Dust is a disc's worst enemy.

6.  Punctuation: Capital Letters 

Capital Letters are also used for the titles of plays and musicals, paintings, tv programmes and movies and computer games

(a) A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, Wicked, Mama Mia

(b) Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

(c) Star Trek, Top Gear, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Despicable Me

(d) Minecraft, Angry Birds Rio Game Ultimate Edition

7. Writing:  This didn't get finished because we had a fire drill. 

Mrs Vincent's favourite picture for this week. 

And we listened to the music of Johann Strauss II -  and a German ballet version of the Tritsch Tratsch Polka. 

Term 1, Week 5, 6 March 2014

Today Olivia, Hannah and Kate are away playing cricket.

Last Saturday was the first of March, which is the official first day of autumn. It's still hot in the day, but it's getting cold in the mornings and at night. "The sun is lower in the morning", said Nathan, "and it is in my eyes when I ride my bike to school." (Mrs Vincent added, "Try driving  a car with the sun in your eyes!" )

Last Friday was ice block day. We could order ice blocks and Magnums from in front of Huia 2. Magnums were $3, Calippos  and chocolate Paddle Pops were $2.00,  and lemonade ice blocs were $1.00. The queue went to the end of Poutama. "It would have been much shorter if people realised there were two lines," said Corey.

We are starting to get ready to prepare for our science fair which will be later in the year.  We are also creating a can crusher to reduce the amount of space waste takes up. We are working on establishing our own blogs, and we have been learning about digital citizenship which means knowing about cyber  safety. In reading, we have been learning to scan to locate key words to help us answer questions and understand what we are reading. We did a test on instructional writing to make the best  ice cream sundae in the world.  We had to instructions  on how to do this, but we haven't made the ice cream sundae yet.

For homework we have a project called Ten Days to Make a Difference. We have to choose a local situation and we have to write a plan to work out how we can make a difference to this situation. Some of the things we are going to make a difference with are:
- pollution (Nathan by picking up rubbish around Manurewa)
- global warming (Matthew and Redhriane by using eco-friendly light bulbs and by not using as much electricity)
- saving power (Sean by turning off all the appliances in his house that aren't being used)
- recycling (Corey and Ronan by recycling paper, plastics and clothing  not used at home)
- hole in the ozone (Adam by not using cans like Lynx)


Today we  watched a video of an orchestra play Flight of the Bumble Bee by Rimsky Korsakov, a Russian composer (1844 - 1908). We also saw a few comedy versions of it and did a quiz on the new information we learnt.

Who wrote Flight of the Bumblebee?
What was his nationality?
What changed the prince into a bumble bee?
Why was the prince changed into a bumblebee?

In English skills we learnt when to use I and me.
 I  is used when it is the subject of a verb.

David and I went to school.  (verb - went)

Ronan and I shared our lunch. (verb - shared) 

I'm sorry that Breanna  and I left your computer on the bus.  (verb - left) 

We tried to find the way, but Jessica and I took the wrong path. (verb - took)

When in doubt, leave out the other person, and hear what it sounds like:

(David and) I went to school.

(Ronan and) I shared ...

(Breanna and) I left ...

(Jessica and I) took ...

Me is the object of a sentence 
Me, us, you, him, her, and they are all objects of sentences. 
They are used when they are object of a verb or preposition.

Aaron and Jonothan chased Caleb and me around the yard. (verb - chased)

The teacher thanked Alisha and me for tidying her desk. (verb - thanked)

John went to school with Jerry and me. (preposition - with)

Jerry shared his his lunch with John and me. (preposition - with)

Andrew lent his computer to Emma and me. (preposition - to)

Sally gave directions to Susan and me. (preposition - to) 

When in doubt, leave out the other person, and hear what it sounds like:

Aaron and Jonothan chased (Caleb and) me...

The teacher thanked (Alisha and) me ...

John went to school with (Jerry and) me.

Jerry shared his his lunch with (John and) me.

Andrew  lent his computer to (Emma and) me. 

Sally gave directions to (Susan and) me.

 Mrs Vincent's favourite quote of the week:

Unsure of origin of this.

Our tongue twister today was: Irish wrist watches and was won by Ebony again. 

We also learnt that some words can be proper nouns when used as a title, but common nouns when used in other contexts, such as:

 - Later this year Prince William will visit New Zealand.  

- The magic swan turned the exiled prince into a bumble bee so he could fly over his country to  see what was  happening. (The story behind Flight of the Bumblebee). 

- The first English person to visit New Zealand was Captain Cook. 

- The house captains were announced at assembly last week.

- Some Maori chiefs did not think they needed a governor from England to make laws for them. 

- Robert Fitzroy was the second governor of New Zealand after Governor William Hobson.