As we move towards the end of the year we are still working hard in Digitech building various Lego models. It has been a really enjoyable program that the students have learnt a lot of skills particularly in the area of STEM. Recently, we built a Ballista and a 90 degree Conveyor Belt. They have been tough design to build and required quite a bit of teamwork. We learnt about how belt transmission and elastic energy works.
Here are some of us in action ….
Our Prep students are working hard on their touch typing skills using Typing Tournament. This program teaches the students to use all of their fingers (on both hands) when using the keyboard. I would encourage all students to try to log into this program at the following site ….. https://goo.gl/vsdhsY
Here is a few more of our Prep students in action …..
In term 3 the Prep students are learning to log on using an individual username and password (instead of the generic one that they all used at the beginning of the year). This means that logging on takes a bit longer because each student is required to type in a few more letters but they can also get to use their own Google accounts a lot more.
One newer program that the Preps are beginning to use is called Typing Tournament which is an online program designed to develop touch typing skills. As part of this program the students complete a series of activities working towards completing a touch typing test. The program is very engaging and it tracks the students progress as their skills develop.
Here are a few of our Prep students in action …..
This week in our Lego Engineering lessons the 3/4 students learnt to build four chair carousels. They learnt about some of the different forces used to get the machines functioning such as centrifugal force, momentum and centripetal force. Once the groups had finished building their original design they were encouraged to experiment with adding extra speed, weight, length of arms and some even decided to add extra chairs to the model. Here are some of the groups in action…..
This week all our 3/4 students built a sailboat as part of our Lego Engineering unit in Digitech. The students learnt that there are forces working both above and below the boat to help it to move. We also learnt that sailboats can still sail forward even when there is a headwind. Here are some of our students in action …..
In Digitech, the 1/2 students are developing their touch typing skills using a program called Typing Tournament. In this program the students complete a series of skills and activities practising different letters and symbols on the keyboard. They start with the ‘home row keys’ where the students learn about where to place their fingers and then as they become more efficient the activities become more challenging. At the end of each level the students complete a test on the keys they have been practising and if they reach a certain level of words per minute they can progress through to the next level. The students get very excited when they reach the goal and progress through to the next level of the program. The students have their Typing Tournament details on their computer cards. This program can be found at https://www.typingtournament.com/
Here are some of our 1/2’s in action …..
This term Digitech will look a bit different for our 5/6 students, because they won’t be going to the Tech Lab each week to work on the computers for their lessons like they used to. Instead the students will be lucky enough to participate in the Lego Engineering program where they will get to build lots of different types of machines such as an amusement park carousel, a laundry drier and a conveyor belt. This is part of our new Digital Technologies Curriculum that incorporates STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) within our Digitech lessons. Whilst building different machines our students will be learning about different forces that help to make them function such as centrifugal force, belt transmission and traction. The 3/4 Level will participate in the Lego program next term and then 5/6’s in term 3. All the students are very excited for the program to begin so please keep an eye on our school blog over the coming weeks to see some of our learning in action.
Our Prep students have begun Digitech very enthusiastically by learning about touch typing using BBC Typing program. This is a program that can be used on any computer and can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr
The students are learning about where the letters are on the keyboard and how to position their fingers. This is some of them in action ….
Welcome to a new school year of blogging at HT and St. Mary’s.
It is exciting to see everyone’s happy faces after a restful break. The students are very enthusiastic and ready to learn.
We welcome our Preps and other new students and hope you are settling into school well.
The site of our school blog has changed slightly this year. We encourage you to bookmark the following link to refer to on a regular basis.
Hopefully our school blog continues to provide you with lots of opportunities to gain an insight into the world of learning at Holy Trinity and St. Mary’s. We encourage you to contribute your thoughts to different posts and remember to only use first names and keep all comments positive.
This year the students will be contributing to our school blog on a much larger scale. It will be exciting to see life at HT and St. Mary’s through the eyes of our students.
Keep a look out for more posts to our school blog in the coming days and weeks.
This week (September 4 to September 8) is eSafety week which means that we are reminded about always acting in a ‘cyber safe’ manner whenever we use the Internet. Here is a link to the eSmart website …. https://goo.gl/G2YaUK
During this week our ICT leaders shared their cyber safety tips on a video discussion platform called Flipgrid. Year 6 leaders in other catholic primary schools throughout Melbourne also shared their tips and I would encourage you to look at some of these to discuss as a family.
1/2 C love to meditate each morning. Sometimes teachers and parents think that we are the 5/6s because we are so quiet at it. If students are late they know to remain quiet so that the class can continue to meditate. Some things we do whilst meditation is closing our eyes, deep breathing and trying to clear our minds as much as possible. Here is our class in action ……
In week 7 of this term we were fortunate enough to have the ‘world famous’ John Burland attend Holy Trinity to teach us some great songs. It’s easy to see how much we loved the day!!!!
Here is a link to a few videos of the day as well for you to enjoy. They are well worth a look.
Thanks to Mrs. Cascinelli & Mr. Downie for organising the day!!!
Yesterday, the 5/6’s represented our school for the first day of their Interschool Winter Sports Competitions. As part of this day the boys soccer team not only performed well during the game but also afterwards doing a HT version of the Haka proudly led by Bruce. Click on the link to see the boys in action.
