Show, don’t Tell!
How often do I say that, and how hard is it to be sure you understand?
I am always hunting for different ways to “show rather than tell” when I teach about this.
Here is a short video using rap and pictures. What do you think? It probably needs a couple of repeats to pick up the details. http://youtu.be/DCQMMFUDHRc
Writing a sensory poem is a good way to experiment with the power of imagery. Try one like this:
Have a look at this scientist’s videos. He has some great creations, mostly from everyday materials. I think it is interesting the way he presents the tutorials with no spoken guide.
This link https://trello.com/b/gb9eiFV2/genius-hour-flowchart shares your progress with the rest of the class. See me if you think I need to move you along the flowchart.
Don’t forget to add a post about your project as it develops. Have you had any difficulties? What did you do to move along? Can you upload a photo to show your current stage?
Your task is to make a comment on at least 2 posts by class members. Comments need to be worthwhile, so no silly remarks or bizarre spelling.
Consider what you want from “quality” feedback: some recognition of your effort, an idea about what parts appealed to your audience, and suggestions about “where next” for improving the quality of your posts.
Photo Credit: Mikel Ortega via Compfight
I have added a widget Compfight, which gives me instant access to images with their credits included, so I know I am allowed to use them.
The 100 Word Challenge is a weekly creative writing challenge for children under 16 years of age.
Each week a prompt is given, which can be a picture or a series of individual words and writers can use up to 100 words to write about it.
This should be posted on your blog, ready for comments.
Here is the July Challenge to try. Somewhere in your 100 words, you need to use these words!
…but ‘I’m afraid it’s the last one’, he said…
The new round of 100 word Challenges begins at the end of August. We can register for the next round and receive a weekly challenge. We do need to find an adult who will join the Team as a reviewer, to make a comment on around 10 blogs.
Let’s see what you can do!
There were some amazingly creative metaphor poems surfacing from the classroom ocean this week. They leapt to the light in muscular flight, or moved mysteriously beneath the waves, before ponderously heaving to view.
Watch for examples on everyone’s blog posts.
Photo Credit: Michael Dawes via Compfight
https://trello.com/b/gb9eiFV2/genius-hour-flowchart
This flowchart will track your progress this term.
http://www.gigaglitters.com/ - Glitter Graphics
Mildew Mania in 2014
Are you interested in this? The University sends us barley seeds which we plant and watch for signs of mildew. Then we send them samples for testing. Last time I had a class involved, our plants stayed irritatingly healthy over the whole season!
This is real scientific research that will have a real impact on Western Australia!
Maybe someone might want to choose this for their Genius Hour work next term.
Get your own Poll!• Here is some information about why they want help to gather samples around the state.
“This is a citizen-science research project aimed at protecting West Australia’s barley crops from the damaging effect of powdery mildew disease.
In WA, this disease causes the most economic impact on barley. Researchers at Curtin University‘s Department of Environment and Agriculture aim to give plant breeders and growers the tools they require to control this disease and therefore reduce the state’s losses.
Barley mildew is currently controlled in two ways, through genetics and through fungicides. But these are both presently compromised.
Genetic resistance to the disease is no longer effective, as the pathogen population can rapidly evolve to overcome the resistance genes that are present in current cultivars. To solve this problem this researchers need to explore which “races’’ of the pathogen are present in different parts of WA.
The second control is fungicide. Curtin researchers have observed that much of the population is becoming resistant to the most commonly used fungicides. To combat this we need to identify which WA mildew populations are fungicide resistant and which are not. “
http://s3.freefoto.com/images/07/08/07_08_4_web.jpg
Three weeks on and most students have settled down to explore their personal project. In one area, textile creations are a focus with the help of Mrs Thompson, and a sewing machine. Kayla says she is making a Onesy! Harry’s game using Construct2 is growing, and in a couple of corners, there are parts of remote controls being adapted. Monica, Nouan and Bella are oblivious to the activity around them as they build web sites or PowerPoint. Who knows where Branden is heading with his construction:) but he seems confident that it will work.
It is a challenge for some to maintain their concentration, some projects have obviously been too small or too ambitious. It is not easy to take ownership of your learning if you have not done this before.
