Inquiry Outcome- Human WW1 timeline

Week 9 Term 1

On Tuesday the 31st March Te Manawa presented their inquiry outcome to parents, caregivers, family, teachers and other SPS students. Our outcome was a 'human timeline' of all the crucial events of WW1.

Each class in Te Manawa was given 3 significant dates/ events to research and create a freeze frame for, then the students had to reflect on what they had learnt from the date/ event and create a new freeze frame to show their new learning.

Room 16's dates are shown through the photos and captions below. 

We received some amazing feedback:

• 'Thank you for a great learning experience'- Parent
• 'The students confidence was amazing and so was their behaviour'- Parent
• 'The timeline had a real sense of occasion'- Whaea Barb
• 'You could see the students were really passionate about what they were doing'- Parent
• 'I didn't know they used dummies to trick the Turks!'- Mrs Wrightson
• 'I like how there was a mix of drama and research'- Whaea Dagmar
• 'I am so proud of all the hard work the Te Manawa students put in to creating this amazing human timeline'- Mrs McGarry

Some of our students were asked- 'What did you learn or find interesting from the human timeline?'

• 'I learnt that each different date there was a different war'- Wils Room 9
• 'I learnt that when soldiers came home (from the war) it was hard to get on with their real life'- Jaeda Room 9
• 'I didn't know there was a treaty made at the end of the war'- Lorenzo Room 9
• 'I learnt that soldiers sacrificed their lives for us to have a good life'- Riley Room 9
• 'I learnt that everyone has a treaty at school'- Gabby Room 6 
• 'I learnt that there were Maori soldiers in WW1'- Elizabeth Room 6
• 'At first I thought all the soldiers got killed in the war but I learnt that some came home'- Amelia Room 7

Inquiry Group 1: 16th October 1914- NZ soldiers leave for WW1.

From this event we learnt that our soldiers were brave in fighting for our freedom.

Inquiry Group 2: 15th December 1915- ANZAC soldiers are evacuated from Gallipoli; One of their tricks- Dummy soldiers! 

From this event we learnt that if you want to be successful in something you have to be well prepared and willing to 'Think outside the box'.

Inquiry Group 3: 15th March 1919- ANZAC soldiers arrive home. 

From this event we learnt that war changes everyone and that it was very hard for our soldiers to go back to a normal life.

All the Te Manawa inquiry groups are set up and ready to go. 

The 'Field of Remembrance' (end of the human timeline)- each cross represents a soldier who fought and was killed in WW1. 

The crosses are a silent reminder of our soldiers sacrifice. 

Parents walking around the human timeline of WW1. 

Te Manawa wowing the students in Pohutakawha. 

'An Awfully Big Adventure'

Week 8 Term 1

On Wednesday the 25th of March, all the year 6 and year 7 students went into town to watch a play called- 'An Awfully Big Adventure'.

Play synopsis:

Through inventive play, An Awfully Big Adventure takes audiences on a journey to World War One where a story emerges of two young men; one a keen enlister convinced he is on his big OE, the other a conscientious objector. As road cases transform to trenches, and a dusty collection of coats becomes a map of Europe, their stories collide on Flanders fields.

Through energetic songs and moments of Pythonesque vaudeville, this high energy ensemble, Adam Brown, Andrew Paterson and Brynley Stent, beautifully shares the unforgettable stories revealing the truth about what really happened out there.

It was a great play and confirmed everything we have learnt in inquiry!

Te Manawha's 'Shine and Share' afternoon

Week 6 Term 1

On Thursday Te Manawha held their 'Shine and Share' afternoon. Each class presented their mini-inquiries on WW1 to each other.

In room 16 we had some great inquiry questions like-

• What would our world be like today if Germany had not entered into WW1? 
• What did soldiers eat in the trenches? 
• How did the soldiers write their letters during the war? 
• What weapons did they use in WW1? 
• How does a soldier in WW1 compare to a soldier today? 

Some questions were super tricky that we couldn't actually find any information on Google or in books! In the end we had to put on our thinking caps and come up with our own theories and ideas to answer our questions.

here are some photos of us giving our presentations....one group even got Whaea Emma to do push ups!

Buddy Reading

Week 4 and 5 Term 1 2015

Every Friday we meet up with room 23 to do some buddy reading. It is a really great way for us to form relationships with students in the junior school as well as help them with their reading. We also get to read a chapter or two of our books to them which is helping with our own fluency.

Life in the trenches- WW1

Weeks 1 to 6 Term 1 2015

For writing this term we are learning how to write letters and for inquiry we are learning about what our soldiers had to go through in WW1. To give us some real insight of what life was like in the trenches for our ANZAC soldiers we decided to create a trench in our classroom using our tables, we then had to army crawl into class with the noise of bullets and bombs sounding over head (actual recordings from WW1); and once we got into the trench we received a letter from our mother. We spent the next 20 minutes eating 'hard-tack' (soldiers biscuit) and writing our reply.

Mr McGarry made use some hard-tack- thanks Philip! 

Army crawling into the trench! 

Get to safety quick! 

Nearly all in...

Writing our reply to Mother- amazing letters room 16! 

New Year- New Class- New Learning- More Fun!

Weeks 1 to 6 Term 1 2015

Hello every body and welcome back to Mrs McGarry's blog!

Mrs McGarry is now teaching year 6 students in room 16 and she is absolutely loving it! We must apologise for not posting anything up on our class blog until now... but we have just been so flat out with getting to know each other, learning new classroom routines, learning how soldiers dealt with conflict in WW1, how to stand to attention during our morning drills, how to draw flowers from a bugs eye view in art, how to pitch during active sports rotation and not to mention learning new things in maths, reading and writing! But luckily for you Mrs McGarry always had her phone handy to capture it all- Gosh just look at everything we have done in only 6 weeks!

1st week and we win Levi the Bear at assembly... why? because we are awesome! 

Morning drills with Major McGarry- star jumps, push ups, running, high knees.....phew so exhausting!

Learning how to work in a group by completing the 'House of Cards Challenge'

Working together to build a cup tower- no hands allowed only a string for each person and a rubber band, oh and no talking! 

Whaea Dagmar has displayed some of our art work up in her room- look at our stunning flowers from a bugs eye view! 

Playing softball for our active sports rotation- watch out Black Sox/ White Sox players!

Sitting up at assembly- we want Levi back! 

Julius, Charlize and Tali were called up on stage by Whaea Barb during week 5 assembly to talk about their obstacle course they created at lunch time! Great to see room 16 students getting active at lunchtime and putting the new sports gear to good use!