A make-up gymnastic lesson...

I had forgotten that we had missed a gymnastic lesson last term and so today we were pleasantly suprised to have one. The colourful equipment was back and the excitement level was at a ten! Two sessions of exciting games in one day!

Today we moved around the different equipment, from the side-vault, mini-trampolines, parallel bars, and high-bar, to the balance pods and finally the wedge blocks where we did some forward rolls and cartwheels. We had to remember to finish properly with bent knees and arms out in front of us. Here are some action shots!

SISA Social Skills Program

Today I got to watch first the year fours and then the year threes during the SISA social skills program. First there was an activity where the girls and boys were split and stood in a line facing each other. They each had a ball that they had to throw from above their heads into the centre. In the centre, between the boys and girls was a large ball sitting on cones. All students had to use their ball to throw at the big ball at the same time with the aim of knocking it off the cones. Students had to work together to all throw the ball at the same time, knocking the big ball toward their opponents. Lots of cooperative talk and fun was had by all!

The next game was working in teams with a net. The purpose was to work together to bounce a ball as high as you could while then catching it on the net. It was very important to work together as a team!

Creating shapes was the purpose of the next activity. Students had to use an elastic band around their bodies to make a shape. For example to make a square, students would have to make four points by moving their bodies away from each other.

Once students had mastered making shapes in the air they had to make shapes with the elastic on the ground. The shapes got more and more complicated. So much positve teamwork happening and watching the problem solving in action was wonderful!

The last activity of the day was working together to move a small ball through a maze as a group. Wow! Now that was a tricky one! Lots of talking and working together. Level one was holding the metal plate with their hands. Level two was using rope handles attached to the metal plate.

Year four ended the session by talking about working as a team and using our words to work through problems. Now it's time for year three to have a go!

Packaging Experiment

Amelia

Today we did some science experiments. We had to drop a can of baked beans on to a protected biscuit. Then we had to record the changes it made when we dropped the can on to the biscuit. The types of packaging we were using were bubble wrap, air bags and paper. Everyone thought bubble wrap would be effective but it actually wasn't. We were so suprised that we got most cracks from the bubble wrap. After that we handed in our work and got to eat the biscuit it was very yummy.

Jade

Before we dropped the baked beans we had to hold a ruler on top of the packaging. We had to measure 10,15, 20 and 25 centimetres and drop it from that height. The reason why we did this is to get prepared for the egg drop. We had to see which materials are best at protecting the biscuit or egg. After we dropped the can we had to record the cracks, crumbs and splits on the biscuit and where they occured. We had to work with partners and of course I went with my BFF, Amelia and afterwards I wanted to eat the can of beans. 

Fun with water

We are learning about capacity using coloured water. What fun! Makes estimating and measuring with liters and milliliters engaging and very wet!