Merry Christmas Stage 3

We would like to thank everyone for an amazing year. Thank you for all the hard work completed this year. It has been so wonderful to see growth and change in everyone.

To the ones who are leaving next year, we hope that you find success in your new school. For those returning, we look forward to catching up with you in 2016.

We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a safe holiday! 

Stage Gold Party

It was a nice opportunity to be able to celebrate great behaviour for the year with our Stage 3 Gold Party. It was a lot of fun, with many of the students showing what they could do on a trampoline. We won the Dodge Ball competition against Elderslie High. 

Charlie and Jemimah showed great competitive spirit. We had a few that were nervous about jumping off a height onto the trampolines, but they managed to overcome their fears. 

We thank each of the students for their wonderful behaviour and it was great that they were able to share in a day of fun to celebrate. 

What did you enjoy about Jump Zone? 

Year 6 Farewell

Ending the year is always a little bittersweet. There is always the sense of achievement of looking back on a year of hard work, triumphs, successes and sometimes failure. There is always, however, the knowledge that there has been growth. There is also a sense of completion towards the end of a year.

This year has been a special year. I have had the wonderful privilege of teaching a close of whom I am especially fond. They are a happy, supportive and fun bunch of wonderful people. I have an enormous pride in each one of these amazing students. 

I am also humbled by their generosity of spirit for one another and for the people around them. I have learned much from watching and chatting to each of these students. 

Some of our Year 6 students will be heading for other schools next year. Some are staying and continuing their education at MACC. To each of you I would like to say: stay true to yourself and love the Lord. He will guide you!

For each of you, I pray that you will be blessed. I hope that the things you have learned and the memories that you have of Year 6 will hold a special place. It has been an honour to have been your teacher for Year 6. I hope that you will grow and show the world how truly special you all are!

Christmas Carols 2015

Christmas Carols are a great event for drawing a community together. This was the experience on Thursday night when staff and families were able to celebrate a great year at Mount Annan Christian College. The night was a great success!

I really enjoyed how excited Stage 3 were about performing their version of an Aussie Jingle Bells. The students choreographed the dance moves by themselves. It was very effective. I would like to thank parents for coming along and supporting the event.

What did you enjoy the most about the Christmas Carols? 

Editing Our Stories

Editing is an important skill to have. To help make your writing clearer it is better to use Active voice in your writing. Some examples are:

Active Voice
A feature of sentences in which the subject performs the action of the verb and the direct object is the goal or the recipient: The mechanic fixed the car.

Passive Voice
A feature of sentences in which the object or goal of the action functions as the sentence subject and the main verb phrase includes the verb to be and the past participle: The car was fixed by the mechanic.

To help edit your writing use the following app/ website.

Type your writing into a Word or Pages Document and then highlight it. Right click onto "copy" and then go to the Hemingway Editor. Right click paste and then use the key on the right hand side of the page to help edit your work.

Genius Hour

The fact that Stage 3 are on the way to being Geniuses was pretty evident today. It has been a busy term and despite some obstacles, everyone achieved a good result. We recognised that some of the students may not have finished. Instead of focusing on the product, we encouraged the students to present what they learned through Genius Hour this term.

Thank you to everyone in Stage 3 for giving an amazing effort. We also really appreciate that family members came and showed interest in everyone's efforts.

What was the best thing that you learned about Genius Hour? 

FOLDED STARs

Instruction link                               

4 - point star    

5 - point star                                Video Instructions

Mini Matisse: Artist Trading Card Update

Check this out Everyone! Our Artist trading cards have arrived in the USA. Mini Matisse: Artist Trading Card Update: This trade is BOOMING!! Because our ATC's are due at the end of this month, Mrs Hahn so many cards coming in! Its is exciting!

Two Wolves

The focus of our read alouds this term, has been a book called "Two Wolves" by Tristan Bancks. It was a winner of the recent KOALA book awards, which was attended by some of our stage 3 students. They attended this with our wonderful librarian, Mrs Turner. They were very excited when they met Mr Bancks and when the book won.

Two Wolves (1 slide) from bill woodruff

At the heart of the book, is the story of Two Wolves, an old Indian story. It's main focus is on Ben and his sister Olive. The story is told from Ben's perspective as he tries to make sense of the confusing and frightening events of fleeing the police with his parents and then being stranded in the bush. It is a suspenseful read and each chapter leaves the reader guessing. The book has given rise to some excellent learning opportunities about reading and writing. 

Personification

Olive often describes her father as being Maugrim, a reference to the Wolf chief of police in "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. We watched a clip that showed the character of Maugrim. The students wrote down the characteristics of Maugrim, which we then compared to the children's father. We discussed how the wolf portrayed the human qualities of anger, hate and malice, which is why Olive compares her father to a wolf. 

We then discussed what personification was with the help of an online dictionary. We discussed how non human things can portray human qualities. After looking at some other examples of personification, our students created some of their own examples in pairs. 

Making Pictures in our head

Visualising what we read is a good strategy for reading and is one of the Daily 5 reading strategies that we were working on. We referred to the character Ben. He is always visualising movies in his head throughout the story.
 We discussed what visualisation was and how the author used words effectively so that the reader can visualise what is happening in the story.

A quick assessment to see that students could use this strategy was to draw a picture of what the students remembered happened in the previous chapter. We read half of the chapter and then the students drew what they remembered most. We discussed how it helped to remember small details & how using prior knowledge of the bush and the information in the text helped to form a picture of what was happening. We then predicted what would happen next in the chapter. 

What have enjoyed the most about Two Wolves? What have you you learned about reading and writing this term? How do you think the story will end? 

Our Christmas Song

Aussie Jingle Bells - (Bucko & Champs 1999)

Music file .mp3

Lyrics and Chords


Words and Music by Colin Buchanan E Dashing through the bush, A in a rusty Holden Ute, B Kicking up the dust, B7 E esky in the boot, E Kelpie by my side, A singing Christmas songs, B It's Summer time and I am in B7 E my singlet, shorts and thongs E Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, A E Christmas in Australia B B7 on a scorching summers day, Hey! E Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!, A E B7 E Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute. E Engine's getting hot; A we dodge the kangaroos, B The swaggie climbs aboard, B7 E he is welcome too. E All the family's there, A sitting by the pool, B Christmas Day the Aussie way, B7 E by the barbecue. E Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, A E Christmas in Australia B B7 on a scorching summers day, Hey! E Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!, A E B7 E Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute. E Come the afternoon, A Grandpa has a doze, B The kids and Uncle Bruce, B7 E are swimming in their clothes . E The time comes 'round to go, A we take the family snap, B Pack the car and all shoot through, B7 E before the washing up. E Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, A E Christmas in Australia B B7 on a scorching summers day, Hey! E Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!, A E B7 E Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute. An F. K. Tab,,, Enjoy!!

Year 6 Orientation for Year 7

Memories make up of experiences and people that we encounter. It has been a focus this week as we write about favourite memories. Remembrance Day also occurred this week. This helped us to remember the fallen soldiers who fought for Australia.

A day for memory making was our Year 7 Orientation Day. It happened on Thursday. Many activities showed Year 6 around Secondary School. Some of the activities that they might do next year.

The end of the year is drawing near for our Year 6 class. It means that the end of their Primary school years are also drawing to a close. We hope that there are many wonderful memories of Primary School. It will be a big adventure in High School. 

What did you enjoy about Orientation Day? 

The wall

Memories

One person that I wish that I could have met was my Great Grandmother. She was a lady of enormous character and grace, who raised three rather wild boys, one of whom was my Grandfather. She lived through Two World Wars and The Great Depression. She lived to old age, outliving two of her young sons, who she missed very much. The photo shows my Great Grandmother on her wedding day. The veil she is wearing is the same one that I wore on my wedding day. A special memory!

The very old book was given to my Great Uncle Peter, my Grandfather's younger brother, in 1926. It was a much beloved book that shows how much it has been read and loved. It was a book that held a fascination for me when I was younger and helped me to connect with relatives who I didn't get to meet. 

Memories are an important and powerful part of our identity. They are created by remembering events and situations that involve people we know. This week we are focusing on the importance of memories as part of our cultural and personal journey in life. We looked at what memories are and whether memories are something that we should share with others.

Dreamtime - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Some of the responses that came out discussed that not all memories are ones that we want to share with others. They may be personal or they may touch a sensitive part of us that might be difficult to share. 

Memories are a powerful writing source and when shared. can influence other people's thoughts and ideas. 

What is a favourite memory that you have? 

Dreamtime stories told through Dance

One of the unique things about living in Australia is learning about the rich cultural heritage of our indigenous people. Learning about their stories of the Dreamtime, along with the traditions about the way that they are told, help to give an appreciation and understanding of their culture. 

Storytelling in many aboriginal tribes is the task of the storytellers of the tribe. It is their task to pass on the stories of the Dreamtime to the children, to teach them their ways. These stories were often told by an elder or shared in dance and music. The stories tell about creation and often bear a moral or lesson for life. 

Some examples that we looked at demonstrated theses traditional ways of a telling a story. The one thing that was noticed was that the stories were often told without words, particularly in the example shown by the dance "Brolga".

It turns out that telling a story without words can be rat here tricky! 

The students in Stage 3 were given a Dreamtime story to read in small groups. The challenge was to turn the written story into a dance. The students could use music but no words. Many of the groups researched or experimented in the way that animals move, as often the stories featured an animal. The creativity of each group was to be commended and all succeeded in creating a unique dance that told a story without using words, creating music to help tell the story.

The students were given a rubric to help them to focus on what they needed to include in the dance. The dances were presented in class and we discussed the effectiveness of each dance. It's encouraging to see when other students can comment and give positive feedback.

Dreamtime stories-rubric from Kate Todd

Genius Hour is back

Genius Hour is back!

Genius Hour is a time for students to consider projects that they would like to work on. There are many creative and interesting projects, with many students challenging themselves in learning new skills. Some of the activities are: 

Sewing Dolls Clothes

Sewing a dress...

Creating designs...

Creating Pokemon Balls out of Clay

Stop Animation...

Diorama on Wolves...

Cooking Chicken Satay...

Students can explore skills and interests in Genius Hour that they may not be able to in conventional lessons. Differentiation of learning often gets spoken about when discussing how to meet each students needs. Genius Hour allows each student to learn at their own level. 

The process requires that each student reflect on their own learning and needs to be able to discuss what they have achieved. Students set goals for each week that they need to be able to achieve. We look forward to the Students sharing what they have learned in Week 8. 

What do you like the most about Genius Hour? What do you think you will learn from having completed Genius Hour? 

Artist Trading Cards

It has been stated before that, when we are able to share what we have learned it helps to develop and improve our understanding. The opportunity to share our artwork has arisen through an international project called "Artist Trading Card Swap".

The idea of  Artist Trading Cards was started in 1997 in Switzerland as a Project for Artists to share their work with one another. The card is about the same size as a regular Trading Card (63mm x 89mm). The artwork can be of any subject or medium. On the back, there needs to include details about the painting, the artist and where it comes from. 

An opportunity arose to participate in a school version through a group of Art teachers. Mini Matisse, otherwise known as Mrs Hahn, has given some of her time to organise this project.  More details of the project can be seen at her website: Mini Matisse.

To first create our cards I gave the students the following criteria that they had to make each of their cards for:

• One had to monochromatic
• As many different lines as possible
• use only primary colours
• Use a letter in the design.
• featured a cow
• own choice
• use perspective

''

The next group of  cards that we created, needed to include a robot in one of the designs. We also used the following template so that all of our cards were labelled. 

Artist trading cards from Kate Todd

We are really looking forward to sending them to the United States soon, so that we can exchange our Trading Cards. It will be exciting to see where the cards all come from and the many different artworks that have been created. 

What have you learned through creating Artist Trading Cards? What have you enjoyed the most about the project so far? 

Award Winners Week 2

This weeks award winners have shown the diversity and uniqueness of our students. 

Chaye received an award for the great effort he has given to his mathematics. Ashleigh had some great ideas for her artists trading cards that we have been working on. Ethan has been working very enthusiastically on his Genius Hour Proposal. 

Hayden, Ben and Cedric were wonderful representatives of our school at Cricket on Thirsday! 

  Well done to all of our award winners! 

Dreaming of the Dreamtime

The Dreaming is an important part of the Australian indigenous people's spiritual identity. The stories from this time talk about the creation of the land that we live in. Many of the stories also teach about how to be better people and the ways that are appropriate to live. The stories help to bind the people together, because they brought the community together and taught the little ones the ways of their people. They were told through dance, music and as they sat around the campfire.

Among the Aboriginal people there was often one person who was the storyteller. Their job was to remember and tell the stories of the whole tribe. The stories did not belong to one person. It was the communities memories and beliefs that were passed down.

As part of English this week, we have been focusing on these Dreamtime stories. The students were given a book to read and to discuss in pairs. They had to answer the following questions after they had read the book:

• What was the story about? Who were the main characters and what did they do?
• How do you think this story was passed down to others? 
• What was the purpose of the story? What does it teach us? 

The students then created a triorama of their story to show others what the story was about. The purpose for creating drawings in this way, gave the students an opportunity to show what they knew aside from their writing. They could explore the ways that the images were drawn, experiencing some of the ways of communicating without always using words. 

Stage 3 Cricket

Cricket 

by Noah and Hayden

Yesterday, Mrs Camilleri chose 13 students from stage 3 to represent the college at the MACC V WCCS cricket match. MACC started fielding and bowling. We had a drinks break at the 10th over. After our 20th over we batted. Hayden and Jack opened the batting followed by Charlie,Joel,Noah,Aidan,Daniel,Mathew,Cedric,Ben,Shayden. At the end of the day MACC lost but all the boys came off with a grin on their faces. The boys got SLUSHI'S on the way back so they happy in the end!

.

Picasso Cow Presentation Day 2015

Picasso Cow Presentation Day

by Peter and Jack P.

At 9:30am in the morning we got on the bus to go to the RSL in Blacktown. Once we got on the bus it took about 1 hour to get there. We helped get the cow of the trailer, we got it into the RSL.  The only choice to get the cow up to the area was to get it into the elevator. It just fitted! Peter and I helped it getting it out of the elevator. Once we got the cow into its place,  we had recess. 

Then the Presentation Day started! 

The first activity was a Quiz for every school. One student from each school had to go up onto the stage so we chose Amelia to represent our school. Each school had to choose a sound as a buzzer. We gave Amelia a Cat sound. Amelia made it into the grand final but we didn't win but at least we had fun. 

We played this game where we throw the ball in the air until the music stops. Who ever had the ball when  the music stopped, had to read out what it said on the ball. Each  word on the ball was an activity. After the Quiz there was a milking challenge. Two people were needed for the activity.  They didn't actually milk a cow. They milked a teat on a bottle. It looked funny! 

 After all the milking we all did an activity together we had to make a own milkshake. We didn't win that because we forgot to put some healthy stuff in there. After that then they announced the cow that won. A school called Emu plains won the Picasso cow presentation. We were close to winning because we look a little bit like them. 

We enjoyed watching the activities and the free Yogurt and Milk they were really tasty.

What did you learn from our Picasso Cow project? What could we do to improve?