Creative Collaboration: Why is it important to learn maths in schools - Evelyn, Tiare, Saruja and Tim

Saruja, Tim, Evelyn and Taire worked collaboratively on this video. It tells why maths is important at school. They think maths is very important at school because when they get older they'll need to know their maths.

Student Leader Nominees

Congratulations to all the Year 7 students nominated to be leaders next year. 

30 kms to Tonga?

Fine, Samantha and Shantay collaborated to create this awesome i-movie that shows why learning maths at school is so important. They used comedy to get a very important message across. Great work girls!

Maths Animations

This is my presentation about why I think it is important to learn maths in school. I collaborated on this presentation with one of my classmates, Manu. We used the ruler as our characters to make it more interesting. We think that this is a very cool way of telling people why Maths is important at school.

Master of Maths!

Today for maths we were challenged to make a DLO that explained why we think it's important to learn Maths in school. We were allowed to use anything to make this DLO. My group decided to make a movie. The movie is about me helping my friend learn maths skills. Latham, John and I were collaboratively to get our message across

Teaching the Teacher!

Today San Tat and Manu showed me how to use animations in google slides. These boys were great teachers and their instructions were really clear. Thank you to Paige who took the photo.

Problem solving explained by Saruja

As part of our Maths Quick Writes, we wrote a paragraph about Problem solving. This activity includes both maths and writing. This activity helps us to explain what we were doing and also will help us to explain what is problem solving. The tasked helped us a lot to use Rm 5 rubric and work with a critical friends to give a feedback each other. 

Problem solving explained by Sebastian

What is Problem Solving?

Does it only happen in maths?

What is problem solving? Do you know? This is a simple question that nearly every year 7 and 8 can answer this. It’s simply when you are trying to figure out an answer to whatever problem you are solving. For example, when you are given an equation to solve, you usually find the numbers you are working with then you use the best strategy to answer your question. Then when you have your answer and it’s correct, you have just done problem solving.

When problem solving you are working out an solution to your problem and at the same time you are developing your maths knowledge and skills. There won’t usually be a answer or hint there for you, that's why problem solving is one of the most important parts and aspects of doing mathematics.

Not only in maths problem solving can be used, but also in our daily lives. Like when you need to figure how much time there is until you need to do something else. As Well as detectives and when they try to solve the mystery crime or find a solution to who had done it. There is many other problem solving in our lives.

Today for our Maths Quick Writes, room 5 all looked at one question. What is problem solving? Does it only happen in math? Our task was to answer these questions and write and explain about these two questions. We were learning to understand more about maths language because we weren't very good with it.We used the the Rm 5 and 6 rubric and a critical friend to help us with our paragraphs.

Problem Solving explained by San Tat

What is problem solving? Does it only happen in Maths?

Problem solving is when you are finding out numbers or an answer. When you are finding out an answer you have to have a strategy, so that you can explain it. When you are solving a problem you are explaining a strategy and finding out the answer. You need to have a strategy before you find out an answer. When you are solving a problem it doesn't only happen in maths it also happens in school, shops, work and sometimes at home.

Today for writing we had a 20 minutes maths quick write, We did this to give a clear explanation about problem solving. This helped us have a proper understanding of how to write a paragraph about problem solving. This can also help us to develop our knowledge in maths.

Problem Solving explained by Evelyn

Does solving maths problem only happen in Maths?

Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. Solving maths problem can not just happen in maths it can happen outside the bubble.

When you are at a shop and you needed to calculate up your supplies altogether. You can find a solution to help you figure out what the problem or you can use maths language like if I should add up my groceries, should I subtract my groceries, or should I multiple my groceries.

Sometimes people figure out the answer just like that but likely sometimes the answer can be wrong that when you're adding up number in your head or something you can lose count or lose your solution. Rather than finding out the answer it also about using a strategy that is helpful or explain out the problem.

This is my problem solving, I had to show my thinking and my opinion if solving maths problems only happen's in maths. My answer was No because we do maths in school but solving maths problems can happen outside the bubble like where you go that maybe involves numbers like when you are adding, subtracting, or multiplying the price up together.I have worked collaboratively with my partner Jasmine. We had to comment on each other's slide to give them feedback and advice.

Problem Solving explained by Zeba

What is problem solving and does it only happen in maths?

Problem solving can be used everywhere not just in maths, for example if your trying to earn pocket money, so you try to do different things such as chores. Problem solving is when you are going through the process to find a solution ( answer). Problem solving can be used in maths by writing down your strategy or explaining. When you are problem solving not always the first solution will work. You would be going through different strategies to find the right answer for your question. Overall  problem solving is used in daily life and is very useful

As part of our maths quick writes we wrote a paragraph about problem solving this activity combined both maths and writing. This helps us so that whenever we do a written test that needs us to explain our strategy and show our thinking. This task helped us in writing as we used our rubric and worked with a critical friend to help us structure a paragraph. 

PBS' Flag Vote Results by Paige

Today we had a school vote based on which flag we would want the flag to be changed to. Every student in our school had a chance to choose which flag they wanted. Mr. Johnston shared the results with us today. I have made a pie chart showcasing all the results with percentages. In my opinion, the results were very interesting especially the Black and White Koru which is only 4 percent out of 100. I would have expected a much higher result with that particular flag. 

Making an informed choice

Today we had a PBS vote to see which flag we think should be chosen. Each class went to the polling booth and placed a counter in the bucket under the flag they liked the best. Before we could make a decision Room 5 need to have some facts so that the choice they made was informed (made because they knew the story behind each flag). To do this we used 4 -3 -2 -1 to help us gather our own thoughts, share our thinking and listen to the thinking of others. To help us make connections to this topic we created a list of reasons why we would not choose a flag, then used these reasons to collaboratively write an 'up to 50 word' paragraph that explained this.

The Silver Fern Red was the most popular choice in our class, with the Silver Fern Black coming second. This was because my students felt these flags would be recognisable around the world, they had strong connections to New Zealand's history and could see links to their own and other cultures. 

Which flag would you choose?

Building connections in Maths

We spent some time this week looking at how asking questions can help our learning. Below is the list of our own Room 5 'crowd sourced' examples. Our next step is to create a display that encourages questioning during learning time.

What questions that you have asked, or heard someone else ask that have helped you in maths?

• 
  
• Don’t be scared to come up and ask for extra help?
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions?
• Can you explain your thinking ?
• Do you know what that is.
• Do you get what I mean?
• What strategy should I use?
• Can you say it in a easier way so I can understand?
• Can you help me?
• Do you want be to explain in more detail?
• Does this make sense to you?
• Do you need help?
• What strategy should I use?
• Are there any maths game to help me?
• Is there a website we can practise on?
• Is there a different way to solve this?
• Does this strategy work for me ?
• Is this strategy work with bigger numbers?
• Do you understand now?
• Can you show me an example.
• What is the best strategy to use to find the answer to this question?
• Does this strategy work for me.
• Can you break the strategy down for me?
• How did you use your strategy?
• Do you know how to solve this?

Yvette's Manaiakalani Ambassador Presentation

Today I represented Panmure Bridge School at the Panmure Yacht club to an audience of teachers. Each school in the Manaiakalani Cluster had one representative who presented a digital learning object in their classroom. I decided to showcase a google poster I created earlier this year based around the Maori Pioneer Battalion. My challenge was to write a letter to the editor sharing my reasons why conscription of men who the government has disappointed should not be allowed. All students that had contributed to the presenting today did excellently and we all encouraged each other. It was nice meeting new people and we all said our goodbye's - for now. Below is the presentation I showcased. Hopefully you like it as much as everyone else did. 

Oral Language

We noticed that at times we struggle to explain our thinking in Maths. To help us develop confidence in explaining the way we think we have been doing some oral language sessions. This morning we were sharing our best and worst experiences in Maths. The challenge was thinking about how we would explain our thinking. The more partner changes we had the more confident we became.

Year 7/8 Science with Tamaki College

Science @ Tamaki College

Today was the start of our science time at Tamaki College. Miss Bunce and Mr Malhotra are teaching us how the process of investigations works.

Check It!

Check It! is the film written by, filmed by and put together by the very talented students in Room 5 for the Manaiakalani Film Festival. We saw the idea on You Tube and decided we would create our own version to celebrate the wealth of reading material available to us from the Tamaki College Overdrive site to our very own Panmure Bridge Library. 

Inclined planes by Yvette, Fine, Sajiha and Zeba

This is the google poster my group and I created based around the inclined plane. This ties in with the work we will be doing in science at our technology. This prepares us for the work we will be doing and builds our knowledge on simple machinery. Our task was to write in 25 words what an inclined plane is and how it works.  

Inclined planes by Jasmine and Paige

Today Paige and I  made a poster about an inclined plane. We had to find out a lot of information to write a 25 word summary about what inclined planes are and how they work.

Simple Machines DLO by June, Courtney, Juanita and Afu

June, Courtney, Juanita and Afu created this DLO to show how their smart searching skills helped them find information. The purpose of making this is to understand what is a simple machine are and what they used in the past. We created this by using Google Presentation. June's favourite fact is that a screw can be able to hold parts of other machines together.

Multiplying with place value by Tiare

Tiare created this 'Show Me' to share her understanding of one way she has learnt to multiply larger numbers using her knowledge of place value.

Year 8 'Jump Off'! by Thomas

Thomas used his great photography skills to create this fabulous collage of the Year 8 boys high jump 'jump off'. He captured some really clear images of the action.

Stop-Motion Movie by Latham

Latham made a stop-motion movie for his free choice of home learning task this week. It shows two teams playing against each other in a game of soccer. Look out for the victory dance at the end!

Thinking with the 6 Hats by Sajiha

This is a google presentation I filled out based around an article about a girl being injured by a firework. This revolves around our Guy Fawkes tasks. We were given the six thinking hats to record down our perspective on different aspects of this article. Have a read of the article and see what your opinion is on these 6 thinking hats. 

RWC 2015 by Tiare, Zeba, Tim and Saruja

Part of our reading we were doing activities about RWC. I worked with Zeba and Tim. We create a DLO about Argentina rugby players and some information. We had added the players of Argentina and their names. Hope you will learn something from this DLO.

Tech Update by Paige

Today we had Tech. I'm in woodwork with Mr Grundy. I am making something for my mum. I find it very interesting learning how to make things out of wood. My favourite part about wood work is our teacher Mr Grundy I like him because he is a bit strict for little things, but if we are good and have a good attitude and safe then he is nice and relaxed. The thing I don't like about it is all the wood dust because it gets all over my shoes and all in my eyes. But I'm having fun at woodwork!

Congratulations June and Jane's Grandma!

Having amazing role models help shape who we are. June and Jane are very lucky to have a wonderful grandmother who is always there for them. 

Congratulations Fine and Sajiha!

Well done girls a superb effort in this years ICAS Maths exam. Room 5 are very proud of you both!

Congratulations Saruja!

Huge congratulations to Saruja! A certificate for using our CARE values. Saruja has risen to the challenge and is the first person to have achieved all of her silver CARE values badges. Room 5 is very proud of you Saruja. Well done!

Congratulations Courtney!

Huge congratulations to Courtney who won a scholarship from the Tzu Chi foundation. 

Tech @ Tamaki College

Today at Tech our Year 7's continued working on their woodwork designs while our Year 8's were working on the code for their game designs.

Kiwi Can Celebration

Last night Panmure Bridge school joined together with Tamaki Primary School to take part in Kiwi Can Jam. The Auckland schools involved in Kiwi Can came together to put on a celebration and showcase of values through performance. Everyone had a great time. A special thank you to our wonderful Kiwi Can coaches Mr M and Miss Latoia.

Wheelchair Rugby

Manu created this DLO after reading a text about the Wheel Blacks. I think he has done a really great job of telling their story.

The First Rugby Ball by June, Evelyn and Tiare

June, Evelyn and Tiare created this DLO to show the information they learnt after reading a text about how rugby balls have changed over time.

Shake Out by Tiare and Juanita

Tiare and Juanita created this presentation after we took part in the Shake Out earthquake drill. It tells you information about what they did, what they experienced and why it is important.  

Shake Out by Dontalian

Today we learnt how to be safe in the earthquake. I made this with Manu and Zahn.

Story Swap by Sajiha and Halatoa

"Where am I?" I questioned myself. As I looked around, I felt like I was being followed. I had never seen such a strange looking house before. I slowly crept towards the house hoping I wouldn't make a sound. Words rushed through my mind asking me if I should step back or take a risk. So I made a wise decision. Suddenly out of nowhere, the door slammed shut! My whole body started trembling. Every step I took, made me more curious. I had no other choice, so I sprinted inside the mysterious building as it felt more safe than being alone outside trapped in the darkness. The lights kept switching on and off. I only took a short glance around the room. The room was blank...

This is a short recount that Sajiha and I wrote. Our task was to take turns in writing a sentence each about the picture above. This helped us with writing a proper recount which we will be doing in a few weeks.  I found this very interesting because I had never done anything like this before and it gave us a good chance to work with people we have never worked with before!

Shake Out by Courtney

Today at 9.15 am Schools and people around NZ participated in the NZ earthquake drill called the shake out. We had to drop under our desks and hold the table legs until it was 9.16 am. I created a DLO with my friends Jasmine and Afu about our experience about the shake out using google slides

Shake Out!

Latham, John, San Tat and Raymond worked collaboratively to create a movie on the Ipad to show us how to Drop Cover Hold. 

Zeba and Oh S'Mar's Maths Challenge

Today in maths we learnt how to play a game called the grid challenge . I played this maths game with Oh'Smar. This game help us practice our times tables and measurements everybody had a lot of fun playing this . To play this game you need two dices and and a grid. 

When you roll the dice you times the two numbers you get and then you create a shape that should have the amount of squares the total you got from you two dice. You should then have an array once you have filled up as much boxes a you can than count the squares that are left out. The one with the least squares left is the winner.

At the end of the game I won by three points.

Shantay's Shake Out DLO

Today Panmure Bridge School and more others from around New Zealand, did the Shake Out drill. We do it every year on October the 15th at 9:15am so we know what to do in a real earthquake and it was very helpful for us and for our safety. This is my DLO about the Shake Out we did today! 

Shantay's Maths Strategy

Day 2. I have completed this equations using my own strategy. Paige has helped me with this question because I have got a little mixed up. 

Drop! Cover! Hold!

At 9.15am along with many other schools in New Zealand, we took part in the national 'Shake out' drill. We did this so that in the event of an earthquake we will know how to try and keep ourselves safe. 

For more information on Drop! Cover! Hold! go to: www.shakeout.govt.nz

Teach the Teacher!

Fine, Yvette and Tim stepped up to the challenge yesterday to take a ukulele lesson for all of Room 5 including me! We learnt the chords C, G, G7 and A. Some of us found it really challenging to change chords quickly but our 'teachers' were very patient. We started off in small groups work then took our learning back and strummed along to 'Islands'. Fabulous teaching and a treat to be the learner!

Story Swap: Fine and Manu

Today in Writing we did a 'story swap' in pairs to write a collaborative recount that made sense. It was a bit challenging because we could only write one sentence at a time, we weren't able to talk to each other and we had to make sure our ideas flowed even though we weren't thinking the same thing. I learned that if you read your story out loud you can hear if the tense is wrong.

I stared into the cracked windows of the abandoned house trying to discover its secrets. I had to walk in. I felt scared but I still had to do it. The house had stuff I hadn’t ever seen before. I was at least five steps away from the broken door when it slammed behind me. I went into a room and all I could see was an empty space. everything looked shut down. I felt someone watching me as I looked out a window. I turned around but there only the sound of a piano being played to trace. I followed the sound and it took me somewhere where there was a picture of an old scary looking lady. I walked up to it, examining her. Was the music coming from a place behind the picture. I lifted the picture up and took a little look. I saw who was playing the piano. The lady in the picture sat on the seat playing a fast rhythm. When I lifted the picture up more she stopped and focused her action on me. I had this feeling that she was going to come closer but she just sat there and looked at me. I heard breathing. I quickly turned around and saw her there. Confused at why I was here but i just kept staring back. I didn’t know what to do. I blanked out. When I woke up I was outside on the grass.

Yvette Reflectes on our Electives Assembly

Today we had our elective sharing assembly. The different electives were science, mosaics, dance, photography, mask making, bike riding, stomp, boot camp, book club, and scrap booking. People from each elective shared their learning and some created an e movie showcasing photo's during their time at their elective. Tim and I represented our elective Mosaics. Everyone in our group had used a stepping stone as our mosaic platform. We're taking them home today! I liked watching the dance elective performance. They had performed a dance piece going along with two different songs. It was a really cool and creative performance and I enjoyed watching it a lot. It was out there and different which made it As well as everyone else! It would've been cool to see more out there presentations or something to make it more lively. If I was still in intermediate next year, I would either go to dance, science, or mosaics again. I loved watching and listening to what people had to say. The presentations were amazing and I loved the photography e movie. It was effective and the music hooked me in as well. The picture looked amazing and professional. Even though the science elective presenters were a little un-practiced, what they had done looked really fun and I would love to do it! All of the electives looked fun and mosaics was really cool and I hope I get to do things like this in college!

Time to get Healthy!

Brianna, Jack, Juanita and Latham created this trailer to show kids why it's important to eat healthy food. Latham did a great job at being director and an outstanding group leader.

ICAS English Celebrations!

Thomas and Menchung (R6) 

Distinction

Fine

Merit

Sajiha, Yvette, Sebastian

Participation

Inter-school Cross Country Champs!

Huge congratulations to Zahn and San Tat for coming 1st and 3rd in the inter-school cross country competition. Impressive achievement boys!

Making Healthy Lunches

After our trip to Pak 'N Save on Monday we were given a voucher to buy food to make healthy lunches. Room 5 decided to make healthy wraps. We looked at the nutrition information to make sure the products we bought were healthy. Our friend Greg from SPARK and Miss Donaldson came to help us. 

Collaboration with Room 8

Yesterday we worked with Room 8 to create collaborative DLO's that reflect our learning from our trip to Pak'n Save. All the learners worked really well learning from and with each other.

Breakfast cereal comparison

John created this DLO to show the difference in energy levels between an everyday breakfast cereal and an occasional breakfast cereal. The information he has included tells us why the nutrition labels on food are important.

Manu and Saruja's Scarpbooking

Manu and Saruja told us about the fun they had a scrapbooking with Mrs Prasad. Their pages looked really colourful and told a story that was special to them.