Video Conference Number Two

This morning we had a follow up with Mrs Donaldson, 4P and Bungendore PS through video conferencing. We had looked at their school through google maps and street view and could see that their school grounds were much bigger than ours. We then came up with 10 questions we asked them today. No technical glitches today and we even managed to get the zoom on the camera working. Yay!

Here are the 10 questions we asked them:

We found out that half of their class had horses in their back yards. Many of them live on big properties. One of them lives on 12 000 acres and has hundreds of cows and sheep. Half of the class catches a bus to school and the other half get to school by car. Only a few students walk to school because many of them live quite far away from school.

They were suprised that we have double story buildings at our school and wanted to know what it was like to be on the second storey of the building. While we were having our VC a message came through the loud speaker in the room we were in about the dances leaving for the North Sydney dance festival. 4P wanted to know what the sound was as they don't have any sort of intercomm at their school and only get messages on a piece of paper once a day. It is brought around by some students.

They also have three composite classes at their school which is the same as us. We were so excited about all the questions and answers that we asked and listened to that we ran out of time before we finished asking our questions. I've sent the remaining questions to Mrs Donaldson and she will try and answer them for us. We will have another VC next term and at the end of next term we are going to share the video that we make about our schools!

Video Conferencing with Mrs Donaldson

We've not only created great friends with our pen pals this year through letter writing, but we've also managed to find another school to develop a great relationship with too! On Thursday we will be having our second video conference (VC) session with them using the television and camera in Miss Hristofski's room. It's just like skyping with family!

After our last VC session we had to come up with 10 questions to ask the 3/4 class at Bungendore Primary School. We had to think about the difference between thin and thick questions just like in reading groups! Here are our fabulous questions:

1. We all either walk to school or go by car. How do you get to school? Why did you choose that way to get to school?

2. We have dogs, cats, fish, sea snails, guinea pigs, a hermit crab, one turtle, three chickens, ducks and a lizard as pets at our homes. What sort of pets do you have?

3. Half of our class have ridden a horse, but none of us have horses as pets. Does anyone have a horse or have they ridden on a horse?

4. We have three composite classes at our school. One is a kindergarten and a year one class, we have a year three and four class (that is us) and lastly we have year four and year five class. Do you have composite classes at your school? How many and what are they?

5. We have a small vegetable garden at our school. Do you grow any vegetables or have animals at your school? What sort of things do you grow and where?

6. Do you have any playground equipment and do you have to share it with Kindergarten, year one and year two or is it just for years three to six to use? What is the best thing to play at recess and lunch and why?

7. Our year fours are going on a two night camp in September. Do any of the students at your school go on camps? Where do you go and why?

8. We have 16 iPads at our school for 460 students. We also only just had WiFi connected this term so our iPads are not ready to use yet. What sort of apps do you like to use on your iPads and why? How many iPads does your school have?

9. Have any of the students in your class received their pen licence yet? What do they look like? How do you get your pen licence?

10. We looked at your school through google maps and street view and can see that your playground seems really big in comparison to our school. How many different playgrounds do you have at your school and what do you use them for?

Semester One memories

Amelia:

I have really enjoyed the first semester at school but I am really sad that Emma, my friend is leaving the school. The whole class is thinking of something nice to do for Emma before she leaves. The whole class has enjoyed writing to our pen pals. We have probably written about three letters but since I've been away they have probably done four. But we can't wait for the holidays! 

Charlie:

I realy liked when we made the ice-cream and I can now make it for my family. Another thing I liked is when we got to do the video conference and we tried to guess the other school's name. I've really liked PSSA A.F.L, although the juniors haven't won a game yet. We have only got four more days to go until the holidays.

Caillie:

I really enjoyed the first semester at school. When Miss Butcher came we made ice-cream! It was delicious! I've also enjoyed SISA. I like writting to our pen pals and receiving their letters too. I'm really sad Emma is leaving. But I can't wait for the holidays either!!!

Lucas: 

I've really liked when we did the experiment with milk and vinegar and it turned into plastic. I've loved everything this year, mostly Mrs Taylor. I'm really exited about the holidays but I'll miss everybody. Bye Emma!

Lucas out.

Millie:

This year has been a really good year and I really liked the ice cream experiment. I also really liked theexperiment where we made the plasticine stuff with Mrs Taylor. This year has been the best year ever! The only bad thing about this year is that EMMA IS LEAVING ); I am so sad! I wish that she wasn't leaving! At least she hasn't left yet because if she is going to leave today I am going to die. So it is a good thing that she isn't leaving today.

Emma:

This year I have really enjoyed our class. I will miss my lovely 3/4T class because they have always been there for me! I think that all of us have enjoyed our pen pal letters. They were so much fun! I really liked doing the ice cream experiment with Miss Butcher. I like my peer support group and Josie and Pascale my peer support leaders. I like art with Mrs Stephens. I like maths groups with Mrs Smith and Mrs Johnson and maths with Mrs Taylor in class. I'm really going to miss our school and all my friends and teachers.

Are you north of Macquarie Park?

Last week I made a connection with a lovely librarian, Mrs Donaldson, from a school near Canberra. After chatting, we decided that we'd let our classes meet and ask each other questions to work out where we are both from. 

This morning after assembly we took some atlases and with a partner came up with some great questions to ask the other class, to work out where the other school was from.

It took a few minutes to dial up the other school via our video conferencing equipment. Technology of course, always likes to work in its own time when we're in a hurry. We kept the other school waiting for a good 10 minutes while getting the equipment to work. Luckily our persistence paid off and the video conference, once up and happening, went off without a hitch!

Firstly, I spoke to both classes about what we were doing. I let them know that it was important to be still and quiet during the video conference unless we were asking a question. This was so we didn't distract each other while trying to listen to each other. Then we took turns asking questions. The rule was one 'yes' or 'no' question per class. It probably took us about 15 questions to work out where they were from and not long after that to work out where we were. 

We had atlases in front of us, but once we had worked out the area we were focusing on we changed to 'google maps'. This gave us the opportunity to zoom into the map and see the area close up. 

Now that we've met each other and have worked out what schools we attend, we are going to come up with 10 questions for each other. We also have to create a presentation of our school that we can share. I can't wait!

Here are some photos of today:

Experiment time...

Highschool students who visited Turkey

Today we had students visit us from Balmain high school, who had been to Turkey during the ANZAC Centenary. They visited us and spoke about where Turkey is, why we commemorate it and some of the important aspects of the ANZAC campaign at Gallipoli that we learn about. For example, Simpson and his donkey.

We also learnt about how the students got there. They were put in a ballot by their teacher and their school was picked. The students that were picked from year 9 had created amazing artworks, poems or videos as their entry. We got to see them. Wow!