Reflection on Enrich 2011

Reflections on Enrich 2011

Sherbet

Today in our Science Talent Development, we were doing some baking. We made bread, sherbet and hokey pokey. Some of the chemical reactions we were looking at was what the baking soda did to the hokey pokey. The baking soda made it rise. In the bread we put yeast in which made the bread rise as well. These two ingredients are called Rising Agents. Just before we started making the sherbet we had to taste all the ingredients that were going to go into it:
Icing Sugar
Raro
Baking Soda
Tartaric Acid (TA)
Citric Acid (CA)
Then we wrote down what they tasted like. The one with the best taste was the icing sugar and raro. Then there were the two sour ones, the Tartaric Acid and the Citric Acid. The one that tasted the worst was the Baking Soda! Disgusting!

Science

Today in science we were making Lava Lamps. It was so fun. I am going to share what I learnt with you and show you how to make them. 
You will need:
Oil
Water
Food colouring
Berrocca
An empty bottle


What you need to do:
Fill bottle with water about quarter full. Then put oil in another quarter full. After you've done that drop 12 drops of food colouring in. Then get 2 Berroccas and put  them in.  The Berrocca contains citric acid and baking soda.  This reacts with the water.  The bubbles take hold of the food colouring, and make them float up to the oil, which has settled on the top.
That is how you make a Lava Lamp.

Habits of Mind Session 3

Today in Habits of mind we paired up and had to write a story, put on a play or write a poem about a Habit of Mind. I paired up with Stephen and he and I wrote a story about Striving for Accuracy. Striving for Accuracy is when you try your best and care what score you get in a test or something. Then we put it into a movie on photo booth. We had to make the play, poem or story sound like the Habit of Mind was a person.

Melting Moments

Today in our science Talent Development we were getting into working with solids, liquids and gases.
We did two experiments. These were called Melting Moments A and Melting Moments B. Melting Moments A was when we divided into three groups, two groups of four and one group of five. We needed one plain water ice cube, one sugary water ice cube, one powdered raro ice cube 3 petri dishes and one stop watch. We were going to see which ice cube would melt the fastest. We all wrote down our hypothesises. My hypothesis was that the sugary ice cube would melt first.  After that we got our ice cubes and put them in a petri dish each and labelled them. Then somebody started a stop watch and we watched our ice cubes for 3 minutes. So far the the plain ice cube was 3rd, the sugar ice cube was 1st and the raro ice cube, 2nd. Then we waited another 3 minutes. By that time, the water had melted the most, the sugar hadn't made progress and the raro was still in 2nd place. Then at the 9 minute mark the it was still the same. Then, at the 12 minute mark it turned out the water won! Our next experiment was Melting Moments B. For that we needed three plain water ice cubes, 3 petri dishes, sugar, salt a teaspoon  and a stopwatch. We were going to see which ice cube would melt the fastest: the one with sugar on top, the one with salt or the plain one. Once again, we wrote down our hypothesises. I thought that the plain one would melt first. What we had to do was get the ice cubes and put them in a petri dish each. Then we just did the same thing as the first experiment. In the end it turned out that the ice cube sprinkled with salt melted the fastest.  The reason is because salt changes the freezing point of ice. I can't wait to do our next experiments!

Hi Anna.
You had a very busy first day back at Enrich for Term 4!  It was great to see you so engrossed in the unpacking of the science trolley, and contributing to the light sensor experiment.  You thought carefully about our results, and made some interesting comments to summarise in our conclusion.  I am looking forward to the next few weeks of science talent development and our focus on solids, liquids and gases!
Katie.

Back Again with a New Talent Development!

The first day back on our 4th and final short term and we're into a new Talent Development again! The options were science taken by Katie and maths taken by Alana. Darryn is finishing the art in his art group from last term. I have chosen science because I like blowing things up and getting my hands dirty! Our main ideas for science is solids, liquids and gases. So far we have done an experiment on light. We used a lamp, a remote control, a candle and a dinoscope. We each put our hypothises-predictions down on a piece of paper predicting whether the object's light would stay consistent or fluctuate. Then we started our experiment. It turned out that the lamp was consistent, the remote control fluctuated slightly  and surprisingly the candle was very very consistent. I thought tha the candle would fluctuate because candles normally blow around. Our group thought that it might have been because we were all standing around it and not letting any air in. Our last object, the dinoscope was fluctuating because of the radio waves going through it. It was really fun learning about fluctuating light and consistent light! I can't wait to work with solids, liquids and gases!

Teacher comment

Anna you are self motivated and organized and you have embraced the new challenges that Enrich has provided. You use your time wisely and effectively to make the most of new opportunities and you willingly go the extra mile in all the work you do, and you definitely live up to the expectations of working in a high trust environment. Great start at Enrich!

Teacher comment

Anna you are self motivated and organized and you have embraced the new challenges that Enrich has provided. You use your time wisely and effectively to make the most of new opportunities and you willingly go the extra mile in all the work you do, and you definitely live up to the expectations of working in a high trust environment. Great start at Enrich!

2 Weeks to Go!

We've only got this Wednesday and next Wednesday to finish off our Talent Development projects.  I'm going pretty well and only have to do recording and finish off my scenes. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.  I'm so excited to be entering my story into the Made Awards, and I hope I win! My favourite scene would be the one with the trees and all the cool animations and patterns on it. My favourite character would definitely be Raquelle because she has faith in herself and her mum through the whole adventure and she was also very determined. This is one of the lines she says in the story. "Come on Mum! We can't give up now!"  The hardest scene I made was the house. I had to get the lines straight and the background good before I could add in the details.

In the Scene

Today I was using KidPix to make scenes for my story. First I chose my background if I needed it. For my first scene I didn't because it was just a house which I easily drew. My second scene definitely needed a background. But, instead of clicking on a colorful background I chose one that I could color in and put animations in. Animations are little pictures that are doing different things all the time unlike a normal picture which just stays still. My third scene was Mixhole beach. I clicked on a beach background and put big black holes in the water and sand to make them look like Mixholes. I haven't quite finished my slideshow but I hope to soon!

KidPix...

...KidPix is so awesome! Now that I've learnt how to use it, I want to use KidPix instead of Garageband! I pretty much spent all our Talent Development on it making cool slideshows! I made one to do with my story and now I'm working on a spooky one. I would rather use KidPix than Garageband because KidPix is much simpler and way more easier for kids. You can draw, type, and even say your text in funny voices.
I hope I can use it again next week.

Hi Anna.
Well done on a great session of writing on Wednesday.  It is great to see you so engrossed in your writing. Each session, you are managing to add more and more detail.  It was great to see you "light bulb" moment when you thought of the twist that you could add to your story!  You were very focussed during the demonstration of Garageband, and you ask useful questions to further your understanding.  Keep up the great work Anna.
Katie.

Garage Band Newbies

Have you ever used Garageband before? We learnt how to for Talent Development today. Katie made an example using the story of the Three Little Pigs. We learnt how to put in music and funny sound affects into the story. The funniest bit would have definitely been the different voices! For the pigs Katie used Helium Breath which of course, was a high, squeaky voice. For the gruff wolf Katie used Deeper Vocals.
When the pigs' mother kicked them out of the house Katie used a sound effect which sounded like a barn door opening then closing. It was really fun and I am hoping that next week I will be able to try it out myself!

Talent Development

Talent, Talent, Talent Development! Today we were still writing our stories but, we were improving them much more. Before we started to write today Katie showed us and interview with Roald Dahl. You know how he wrote about that Giant Peach? He actually got that idea from his own apple tree! We also got a sheet that had loads of stuff on it that you needed to have in your narrative story such as Word Pictures and Lead Sentences. Word Pictures are just like describing words. It's where you describe something, somewhere, or someone. It's just like painting a picture in the reader's head. 

Lead sentences is the starting of a story or a sentence. To make a story unique or intriguing, you need original lead sentences. I think I'm making much more progress since last week and my story is now getting more interesting. 

Hi Anna.
Well done on a productive session during our writing talent development today.  You used your time wisely and made great progress with your creative, narrative piece.  It was wonderful to see you so focussed, and offering help to others when it was needed.  Keep up the great effort.
Katie.

Writing My Story

Today in Talent Development we started writing our stories. My story is called Dognapped. It's about a little girl called who goes to Mixhole Beach with her mum and while they're there her dog Durello goes missing. The programme I am going to use to present my story is Garageband. I am planning to record my voice reading the story with a series of pictures along the way. I am looking forward to using Garageband for the first time and I am excited about entering it into the Made Awards. One of the things Katie said would make the story more interesting is that I should use more descriptive writing. I think that should be a challenge because I don't want my story to be too complicated. Other than that I think my story is going really well and hope to make good progress next week as well.  

Week2-Talent Development

This week for Talent Development we started planning our story. We looked at how you use a narrative structure.  There are usually 8 parts:
1. Status Quo. Is how the story started.
2. Initial Problem. Is the beginning of the problem.
3. Exposition. The initial problem starts to grow.
4. Complications. The little problems that build up to the crisis.
5. Crisis. Where all the action is.
6. Turning Point. Is pretty much the happy ending and it's where everything starts to go back to normal.
7. Denouement (day-nu-moan). This is the part of the story where you can just take a deep breath and relax. The wickedness is all over and the good guys have won!
8. Description of the new Status Quo. What happens after the denouement.
So, that's what we learnt in Talent Development today. I wonder what we'll be doing next week!

First Day Back At Enrich! New Talent Development!

Finally, back at Enrich again! We've already got our new talent development. There were three choices once again. Documentries, art and storytelling. I chose storytelling which is narrative writing. We write a story and then film it and act it out. First though we had to watch a couple of Made Award winner's stories.  Then we had to make negative and positive comments about each of them. Then we had to choose at least 2 fairy tales from 6 choices. They were, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White, The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. I chose Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. Then we had to complete some sheets about them. The first sheet was about the main character's personalities and their qualities. On the second sheet we had to write down what the problem in the story, the resolution and what we liked and what we'd change. On the third sheet we had to make a flow chart of the settings in the story in order. There was a few more sheets but I didn't get to finish them all. I am so looking forward to the next session!  

Teacher comment

Anna you are self motivated and organized and you have embraced the new challenges that Enrich has provided. You use your time wisely and effectively to make the most of new opportunities and you willingly go the extra mile in all the work you do, and you definitely live up to the expectations of working in a high trust environment. Great start at Enrich!

Little Red Riding Hood Skits

This afternoon we had to do Red Riding Hood skits. Skits are little plays that can even be done by 2 or 3 people. we divided up into groups of 3 and 4. I was with Henry and Theone. We wanted to put a twist to the story so we thought that the grandma, (which was me!) could do karate! Theone was Red Riding Hood and Henry was the wolf. I really enjoyed making up the 1 minute skits. Some of the other group's plays were really funny. I think that everybody did really well for just 1 minute skits.

P4C

As usual, I'm having a great day at Enrich! So far I have done P4C. This week P4C is about 'do little things bother you?' To start off Katie explained to us what 'stoic' meant. It means that if you are a stoic person it means that it takes a lot of work to annoy you. In other words, you are tolerant and accepting towards other people and little things don't bother you. Katie asked us some questions to find out if we were stoic or not. For example, one of the questions Katie asked was, would you be able to still concentrate on your work even if your classroom was to hot or to cold. Another one was, if your friend, not your best friend but somebody you knew in school was teasing you often. Would you be able to resist the urge to tease them back? So, if you are stoic you would answer the first question yes and so on. 
Are you stoic?

Talent Development- Contact an Expert

Today for Talent Development we had to contact an expert. I contacted Wellington Zoo by emailing them. Now I just have to find their email address. We had to ask as many questions as we wanted to. We had to say how old we were just incase they sent us something inappropriate. Hopefully I will get some more information. Once we've got all the information we need on our Talent Development keynote we have to print out our best page of information in colour. I am going to print out the one about the red panda. I know, it sounds like a lot of hard work. It's fun though and great new learning.
GO TALENT DEVELOPMENT!!

Adaptations...

Not just any adaptations, animal adaptations! We have been going further and deeper into our progress of learning about animal adaptations. My interest has grown about animal adaptations and I think that finding out about animals is really quite fascinating. Last week we looked at the skulls of some predators. The cat, the seal, and lots more! We had to make a keynote about an animal of our choice and write about it and it's adaptations. I chose pandas. The red panda, and the giant panda. They seemed like the most interesting sort. I've been having a really fun time with this study and I know that we will be learning a whole lot more today and I'll be back to tell you about it soon!

Iceland Volcano Eruption

Today we have had a really interesting topic for current affairs.  It is about the volcano that has erupted in Iceland.  One of the things that surprised me was that no one was killed or injured!  Want to know exactly when it erupted?  6.03pm!  Exactly!  It erupted in the south part of Iceland.  Nobody knows how it erupted or what caused it, but I bet that they're just happy to be alive. Everyone will still have to be really careful with all the ashes around, just incase.

Talent Development

The school holidays were really awesome but I'm glad to be back!!

This term the kids from last year are doing their passion projects. A passion project is when you choose something that you're really interested in and you do a little project on it.
But, I am not a kid from last year, so, what will I be doing? Me and all the other kids who have started this year are doing Talent Development, which is where we all get to chose a subject, nature science, art or ICT. One teacher goes with each group and guides them through it. I have chosen to do the nature science because I would love to learn more about nature and how it actually works. We have been on a trip to the museum and had a look at all the animals and the adaptations that happen. For example, mostly, for birds the male always has the prettiest colours and the female is just plain old Mrs. Brown! But the adaptations come into this now. The male is bright and handsome right? So he can easily get caught or shot or eaten. However, the female who is so plain she is better at camouflaging and has a better chance of surviving.
I have had an exceedingly great day today!

First Game of Chess!!!

I have always thought chess is quite a scary game when I have seen people playing it or seen the pieces just sitting there! Turns out it's a really hard game for beginners. How would I know if I haven't played chess before? Well, actually, I have! Darryn taught Zatoya and I how to play chess with a 1 on 1 lesson! First of all Darryn played against Zatoya and I and then Zatoya and I played a game of chess against each other.

MeZatoya

I never thought it would be so hard but I guess it would be for a beginner! I have played Draughts before and I thought they would be similar but they are totally different! I think I will really come to like it when I get going!!!

Last Day At Enrich

Today is the last day of the term at Enrich! Even though I am looking forward to the holidays I have enjoyed my time at Enrich. In reflection of my term here I think my time here has been fulfilling and full of excitement! I would like to thank the teachers for taking care of me.


One of the best things about Enrich is that there are no cannibals!! LOL! I know it's a pretty random thing isn't it!? But I have said this because I am learning about what they are and how they came to be, at home, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any here at Enrich! I can't wait till next term, it's going to be awesome! 


Today is only a half day today. Don't worry, it's just half a day for our must dos and can dos, not for Enrich! I am very interested in the technology lesson that Alana is taking because at school next term we are going to do technology as well and also technology is one of my favourite subjects!


I don't exactly know how to play chess but I would like to learn! I am also very interested in the huge chess set that is sitting at the end of the classroom and if I learn how to play chess it would be a fun thing to do at Enrich in my spare time!

Thursday-Party Time!

Tomorrow we are having a picnic at Waihopai school hall. I think that it is a very good topic to do with changing interactions and how people react with each other when they don't know anybody.

First of all I think that people will be quite hesitant as they won't know anybody at first. But I definitely know that there is only one thing that can bring confidence, laughter and energy all at the same time- humour!!!!

At the party I will be looking at all the different patterns and interactions that will be going on.

What will they do when they walk in to the hall and see people they've never seen before?

What will they do when it comes to meeting them?

I am very interested in all of this and I want to learn more!
I have a feeling that tomorrow night is going to be very enjoyable and full of intrigue!
  

Japanese Earthquake

This year we are studying interactions. I find the Japanese earthquake really useful for talking about interactions. The patterns of interactions have all changed in Japan because of the earthquake and tsunami. For example, all the kids in Japan would just probably have the same routine every day like getting up in the morning, having breakfast, getting ready for school then heading off. Unfortunately though those patterns now have to change and so do the interactions. Now people have to start worrying about where they are going to sleep and where are they going to get food from, instead of waking up to a cosy bed with a full pantry. Interactions have changed severely because now people can't talk on cellphones, they can't drive around in their cars any more and so many other things!

I have felt sorry for all these people but relieved that some people actually survived the earthquake. I can imagine how hard the workers are working to help these people.

Good luck Japan!

 

P4C, Current Affairs, and so many other things!

I have had a stimulating day at Enrich so far! I have done everything I need to do and I am totally organised. For this week I think my current affairs is really interesting, it is about the Japanese tsunami.

I would like to share some facts about a tsunami with you:

1. Waves in a tsunami travel very quickly; much faster than your car can! They can travel up to 800  km/500 miles from the depth of the ocean.      

2. Waves from a tsunami can be as high as 30 metres or 100 feet. They grow bigger as they get to the shore. This means that they can start off as just a ripple of water in the middle of the ocean and become bigger and bigger until they become a gigantic wave when they hit the land.

I have also done the P4C workshop and the topic for it this week is Effort and Reward. We found out that a reward doesn't have to be money or a certificate.

This has been a bucketful of fun today!

A Great Day At Enrich

I've had a great day at Enrich so far. I have done the blogging workshop with Alana which I thought was fantastic! I have a good feeling that I will be using blogging a lot. I am also hoping to do the P4C workshop today because it sounds really interesting and I probably won't have time any other days. I have also got art with Mel. We are drawing gifted and talented people like Fibonacci and Micheal Jackson and then we are going to paint them and put them on the walls of the classroom.