Where have we been?

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Hi all.

It has been a very long time since I have been on this blog and I thought you all deserve an explanation.

At the end of 2011, I moved away from Sydney and started doing some casual work at some regional Australian schools with more bright, brainy, brilliant students. However, this was not for very long as I went on maternity leave and I’m proud to announce I have a baby girl. As I am being ‘mum’ at the moment, I won’t be returning to work until 2014. I hope all our readers can hold out until then and be sure to add comments to our posts on the bright, brainy, brilliant students’ work next year.

You can always use this website in the meantime to review past posts or use the links listed in the right vertical task bar.

I’d like to wish everyone the best and look forward to engaging in quality educational conversations with you again next year.

Kind regards,

Ms Bush

All the best for the holidays

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We’d just like to take this time to thank all our blog visitors who have read about our activities and have left comments. The children get very excited when someone comments on a post and it deepens the thinking of the students when they engage in such a conversation online.
All of the students and I would like to wish you all a safe holiday (if you are in the Southern Hemisphere and you are taking your summer holidays now). For those that celebrate Christmas, have a lovely time. And all our visitors from the Northern Hemisphere, we hope you are happy and healthy where you are.
All the best and we hope to hear from you in the new year.

Xtranormal

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The children in 6S have been using Xtranormal to discuss historical facts about the Australian Explorer they have been studying. Some of their videos are embedded below.

George Bass expedition
by: basketballer54

Australian explorers
by: aj310

When the children included these videos on their own blogs, they wrote some questions to test how closely the blog visitors paid attention to their information.

What questions might you ask about the students’ videos above?
Perhaps you could suggest a question and answer a different question in the comments section below. If you do answer someone’s question, put their username in your reply so we know what question your answering.

Questioning texts: Roald Dahl ‘The Enormous Crocodile’

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Students in 2H have been reading the book ‘The Enormous Crocodile’ by Roald Dahl. As we were reading, we paused to think of some ‘I wonder’ questions. The children created artworks to depict their question and used photo story to vocalise their question.

Here is the result of all the hard work. Do you know what happened to the crocodile at the end of the story. Write your ideas below. Do you have any ‘I wonder’ questions about any of the books you’ve been reading? Please list them below also. Start with the following sentence starters:
I wonder when …
I wonder who…
I wonder what …
I wonder where …
I wonder how …
I wonder why …
I wonder if …

Jack and the Beanstalk

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Take a look at 1M’s fabulous artworks and reading voices.

We discussed drawing characters with different facial expressions: happy, sad, surprised or angry.

We also talked about reading with a louder, slower voice when we wanted to show that certain words are more important.

Please leave a comment for our students and perhaps answer our question:

Do you think Jack was right to steal from the giant?

Hi 6S – Watch these videos to learn how to use Movie Maker

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Hi 6S,

Now that you have your video footage of the retelling of Aboriginal Stories, we need to edit the movies so they look professional.

The video below will help you use the different tools in Windows Movie Maker.

Please go to the start menu, click on programs and select Windows Movie Maker. Then play the video below. Pause it whenever you want to edit your movie and go back to it when you are ready.

Some things you will need to consider are:

  • Do not use music that you do not have permission to use. You can use the sound clips in the Movie Maker Fun Pack. You can find these in the C Drive, Documents and Settings folder, All Users folder, Shared Documents folder.
  • The flip video does not record sound in high volume. To increase the volume, go to the Clip menu, select Audio and then Volume. Increase the volume here. You can also make your music fade in and out by using the other features in this menu.

Now you are set. Ms Sofiolakis and Ms Bush will be around to help you with trouble shooting.

All the best – I’m sure your movies will be fantastic.

I’m back

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Hi everyone,

I have had a weird start to the year. I had to go back to my previous school before I was able to reapply for this job.

But now I’m back. The children and I are SOOOOO keen to get back to blogging so next term you should see some more conversations about our work. Please feel free to join in.

I went to a conference for teachers on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. It was about how to use ICT in the classroom. I learnt some AMAZING things that I can’t wait to show my Bright, Brainy, Brilliant Bunch. They are going to be so enthusiastic about animation and e-portfolios – just as I am!

Here is my experiment with some animation using clay. My question to the students is:
Can you do better?
I bet you can!

Looking forward to working with you all soon (the students in our school and across the globe),

from Ms Bush

Fearless visits KH

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The children in KH were very surprised last Wednesday when Fearless visited their class. He was very shy to begin with because he is scared of loud noises.

Once the children sat extremely quietly Fearless came out to learn and play alongside the children in Kindergarten.

If you would like to learn more about Fearless’s visit, please watch our PhotoStory below.

If Fearless visited you at home on a Saturday, what would you and him do together?

Please leave your comments below.

KH Fearless Video

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Here is the video KH made. Some children dressed up as characters from the book and acted out the main points from the story. Other children narrated the story as the actors performed.

 

What was your favourite part in this story? Why do you like this part?

Please leave your answers in the comments section. KH will respond to your comment during their next lesson with Ms Bush.

Edublogs Awards 2010 Nomination

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I’d like to nominate Amenah Mourad’s Class’s Blog ‘Ms Mourad’s Absolutely Sensational Learners’ for the category ‘Best Class Blog’ http://msmourad.edublogs.org .

Anyone visiting our site (Ms Bush’s Bright, Brainy, Brilliant Bunch) and would like to nominate it for ‘Best Group Blog’, please create a post on your blog titled ‘Edublogs Award 2010 Nomination’, write the name and address of the blog and the category (e.g. Best Group Blog) and submit the link to http://edublogawards.com/ .

Thanks – the students thank you for all nominations.

If you have an edublog you would like us to check out, please leave a comment below. It is always beneficial for our students to visit other blogs.