Homework

Term Three  -  Weeks Five and Six:

• Keep practising your speech.  We've heard four speeches already and these four all have Kaweka speech potential.  Remember the positives and recommendations for each speech and try to incorporate these into your speech delivery.
• BOOK REVIEW:  I've been mentioning that book reviews are coming up and now they're here.  You need to choose a book you read recently and enjoyed and write a review about it.  Your review should be 4 - 5 paragraphs long and include an outline of the story (without giving away the key events), who you recommend it for, and the type of (genre) book it is.  Remember to be enthusiastic about the book you're recommending!  We'll discuss any queries you may have in class.
• Post at least ONE comment over the weekend.  One can be directly onto our class blog.  If you write a comment for a different blog, please email the comment to me and include the link to the post you're commenting on.
• Read through our two new pages HOW TO COMMENT and CYBERSAFETY.  Get Mum & Dad involved in discussing these.  What are your thoughts?  Is there anything you think should be added?  If you need to take a paper copy of these pages home, let me know and we can get that sorted.
• Catch up with Miss McLeod if you think there's a blog task you should be working on - or you think we've talked about. This may be a blog post, investigating the use of a widget, or something else.  We all love motivated learners! 
• If you are hoping to begin your own student blog soon - and you know from discussion with me that this is a possibility - have a look through some quality student blogs.  There are some on our 'Stunning Student Blogroll' and you'll find others on the blogrolls of quality class blogs.  Spend some time considering what makes a student blog effective and what makes you want to revisit and comment.  Also, think of some ideas for what you might call your blog, the layout, and what you might include.

  

Term Three  -  Weeks Two and Three:  

• We are beginning speech writing and everyone will have the opportunity to present a three minute speech to the class.  You need to brainstorm a FANTASTIC speech topic and begin writing your speech.  We will be working on this a lot in Week Three at school.
• Keep training at home for Cross Country.  Make sure you push yourself and keep extending your goals and personal best.  Let's go Kaweka!
• The countdown is on for the 2012 London Olympics.  Stay tuned into the news and keep abreast of what's happening.  Start asking questions and thinking about what aspects of the Olympics you're really interested in.  This can be as specific as an particular event or as broad as which countries get to compete.
• The Habits of Mind we're using for this week's homework are:  Ask Questions and Learn Forever.

Term Two:  FAMILY BLOGGING MONTH

• We are celebrating blogging with FAMILY BLOGGING MONTH from Friday 11 May - Friday 8 June.  We're inviting EVERYONE to post comments on our blog; mums, dads, sisters, brothers, grandmas, grandads, aunties, uncles, cousins and family friends.  
• To do this well, we need ALL students of Room 24 need to contact their family and friends by email, skype, or other method and ask them to visit our blog and write a comment on one or more of our posts.
• We're hoping to "flatten the walls of our classroom" and see tonnes of family members getting involved and contributing to the learning that happens in Room 24.
• As cyber-safe citizens at TIS we are all very careful to not divulge personal information.  We ask that visitors to our blog identify themselves using their christian name only, eg:  Nina, Toni's mum.  
• We also hope visitors will notice the quality comments that have already been posted on our blog and set their comments out using a simple letter format.
• An easy way for commentors to know what to write about is simply to respond to the questions at the bottom of a post.  There's no limit to the posts one member can comment on.
• Let's GO FOR IT Room 24 and see who can get the most comments from different family members!

Term Two: Week's Three & Four 4 homework:  A DAY IN THE LIFE

1. Using a world map, locate one of the two countries the 40 Hour Famine is raising money for this year.   
2. Research this country and the people of that country.  An excellent place to start is using the 40 Hour Famine website as they have lots of quality, accurate information.   
3. Draft a "Day in the Life" diary entry as if you lived there and lived in their conditions.  Your writing must show you "know your stuff" about their lifestyle and living conditions.
4. Edit your writing and present it attractively and appropriately for the type of writing it is.  The final product can be completed either on a computer or by hand.  It will be displayed on the wall once finished.
5. If you would prefer to write about a country focused on in a previous year's 40 Hour Famine that's fine, please just check it out with Miss McLeod first.

Week Eight homework update:
Hi Room 24.  As you know we are going to be creating our own postcards for B4, a Year 2/3 class, in Reefton, South Island, NZ.  How exciting!  This is our first project with a class at another school.  It's also really neat that this venture fits perfectly into our CULTURE & IDENTITY inquiry.  You need to:

• Visit B4's blog (which you can find on our blog roll) to familiarise yourself with who they are.  
• Then, take a fabulous photo of your chosen Hawke's Bay sight or activity.  Once you've taken the pic, email it to Miss McLeod (we'll do the writing part at school).
• Please can you get this done by Monday 26 March so we can send our postcards off next week.  Your Habit of Mind focus for this task is CREATE, INNOVATE, and IMAGINE as well as GO WOW!

Week's Seven & Eight homework:

1. Make sure you have completed a character description first and then begin making your puppet.   Gather the items you need for your puppet - anything you need to make your puppet with should be available from home, The Warehouse, The 2 n 5 shop, or similar.  REMEMBER, to keep your puppet simple.  If you'd like to re-watch Jim Henson's tutorial, here it is:  Puppet Making with Jim Henson.  You will need your completed puppet at school by Tuesday 20 March.  The Habit of Mind focus with this fantastic task is CREATE, INNOVATE, and IMAGINE.
2. At 5am on Sunday 25 March 2012, two of the 'give way' road rules will be changing in New Zealand.  These will affect ALL drivers and cyclists on the road.  It's also important for pedestrians to be aware of these.  Your task is to make a brochure explaining these rules.  The brochure needs to be for a specific audience; this could be for adult drivers, school-age cyclists, or any-age pedestrians.  Watch the new road rule video, look at the information on the website, talk about it with your family, and create your brochure.  The brochure can be made by hand or on the computer.  The most important Habit of Mind to use when completing this task is BE CLEAR.  This is due by Friday 23 March.
3. Learn how to open your school webmail account at home, how to attach a document in an email, and how to email back and forth to yourself.  Being able to do this is a GREAT way to work on and complete digital learning tasks at home.  You also need to know how to download attachments and save the new version over the existing one on the school server.  If you're stuck with any of this, ask others in the class first and then Miss McLeod.  Your Habit of Mind focus for this task is LEARN FOREVER, TRY NEW IDEAS, and WORK WITH OTHERS.  This needs to be done as soon as possible please.
4. Log on to Mathletics Online at least THREE times a week.  Make sure you complete the set tasks.  Then challenge yourself on Live Mathletics.  Remember to aim for AT LEAST 1000 points a week.

Reminders:

1. Keep replying to comments from others on our blog.  Write comments for  Class Blogs We Follow (found down on the right hand tool bar of our blog).  It's best to email your comment to me, with the blog link and the name of the post, so we can proofread before you post (as well as keep a log of your blog work).  Continue to work on your proofreading skills in this.   Remember, if we want people to visit and comment on our blog, we need to be actively visiting and commenting on other class blogs.
2. Make sure you bring ALL the necessary equipment to school for the day.  This includes any school books you may have taken home to do work in.
3. Independently keep your diary up to date.  Bring your PE gear to school every day.
4. Remember, if you have any questions, post a comment below and it'll be answered within a few hours.

Week's Two and Three homework:

1. Visit our french quad blogging buddies, Pink Mathematics, and comment on their posts from Monday 5 February (their date) until now.  They are currently celebrating Maths Week at their school.  You need to comment on at least one of their posts.
2. Log on to Mathletics Online several times a week.  First complete the set tasks and then challenge yourself on Live Mathletics.  Remember we're aiming for AT LEAST 1000 points a week. Mr English's class are currently ranked 8th out of the New Zealand classes; how close can we get to that? Let's aim to be the top TIS class in Week 3.
3. Spend some time at home working on your Writing Assignment.  The due date for this will be Wednesday 29 February. This gives you enough time to ensure your that your writing is quality, creative, and error-free.  It also allows you time to make sure the presentation is to your very best standard.

Reminders:

1. Make sure you have handed in all notices and forms.  Have you returned the Parent Information Sharing form?  Camp forms?  Sports forms?
2. Continue to keep your diary up to date, share our blog's 24/7 calendar with your parents, and keep commenting on Class Blogs We Follow (found down on the right hand tool bar of our blog).  Remember, if we want people to visit and comment on our blog, we need to be actively visiting and commenting on other class blogs.
3. Lastly, we're still needing two parents for Camp Opouahi.  Ask mum and dad (and other family members) if they're able to join us for our three day CHALLENGE.
4. If you have any questions, post a comment below and it'll be answered within a few hours.

Kia ora to all the MARVELLOUS Room 24 learners!

As you know, this is your Homework Page where (at this stage) most of your homework will be posted.  
Your homework tasks for Week One are:

• Ensure you have all of the stationery requirements and that they are named.  Book names will be given out on Wednesday.
• Have a look at our blog's home page and the other blogs that have been mentioned.  Answer the questions that are beneath our first blog post.  Please either do this by emailing me a Word doc. or writing on refill.  At the moment we are practising our editing skills so we can successfully post comments on blog posts.
• After this, click on the About Us page.  Have a read of the comments I've made and record your ideas down in the same way as above.  If you are sure your writing is error free, you're welcome to have a go at posting a comment.  It won't appear on our blog straight away as I need to moderate it first.  Make sure your writing is quality so I do post it.
• Tell your whanau/family about your first week of school, keep your diary up to date, and stay tuned to our class calendar on our blog.