MORE ANIMATIONS

A number of our children have now created animations and I have explored these in further depth on my blog on my eFellowship - Peeling An Onion - and have just realised that they are not on here to share with everyone! How remiss of me!

Anyway I will now share these and I am sure everyone will be amazed. We have several that were created by children who wanted to make a movie without a structured story and others that have a story behind them.

 

We also have two that are children's interpretations of favourite stories, both these have had a lot of forethought and planning go into their creation.

I am sure you have enjoyed seeing just how clever at animation our children are!

Margaret ❀

SNOW PLANET FUN!

24 September 2010

What fun, we finished the term with a visit to Snow Planet for our morning children and what a wonderful day out we had! We went on the bus to Snow Planet to have a great time in the snow. After arriving, we had morning tea outside before going in and changing into all our warm snow gear and boots ready to go into the snow dome. It was so cold in there -4 degrees. We all had a toboggan to ride and after going up the 'magic carpet' to the top of the slope, we slid down. It was just heaps of fun and lots of the grown ups, including me, had turns too.

When we had had enough fun, we went into the warm cafe to have some yummy hot chips to warm ourselves up again before returning to Kindergarten.

What a great day out we all had!

Margaret

A STAR IN OUR MIDST?

James just loves playing the guitar and asks to use it every day. He sits on the couch and plays and sings so I grabbed the Easyspeak microphone and recorded him as he sang the pirate song.

Then Ian, our techie, told me about a great new keyboard that isn't too expensive - made by Akai. After a little online research I went to the shop he suggested and bought one. I am so pleased with it. Using Garageband on our computers, the children are creating some fabulous music and having heaps of fun. James was the first to try it out (of course) and I recorded his first efforts. I think it has a lovely jazz type feel and that it is very musical. I wonder where James will take this and look forward to listening to more of his music as he becomes even more proficient.

Margaret ❀

POLKADOTS SHOW!

We were very lucky to be invited by the children's group, the Polkadots, to a free show (thank you to their sponsors Telstra Clear) at Greenhithe School on the 8th September. All the children also got a free DVD from the Polkadots to take home at the end of the Kindergarten session.
I created a slide show with the photos I had taken so the children could revisit the show and after setting it up on my lap top on a table, I invited the children to draw pictures of what they had enjoyed at the show. I was so impressed with the results - the drawings were stunning and full of detail, capturing the wonderful time they had all had. Another example of ICT enhancing children's learning opportunities!
Margaret ❀

MASTER BUILDERS

We have been amazed by the wonderful buildings the morning children have been creating over the past few months. They started out very simply and have become more complex as time passes.  After searching Google Images for some interesting buildings and printing out those that the children chose, the buildings became even more developed in form and shape. We have had taller and taller buildings created and rooms and buildings within buildings. We have even had roads between buildings made and buildings created along the roads. One road even went out to the sandpit! The printed images are regularly used as a reference point as they consider what to add to their creation, or as a starting point at the beginning of the day. We just wonder what they will come up with next.

Margaret ❀

SKY TOWER VISIT

Our morning children have been creating an amazing range of buildings in the block area at Kindergarten and doing building related activities, so to extend on this we took them to visit the Sky Tower in the city on Friday 20th August. Everyone really enjoyed their morning which started with us having morning tea at the base of the tower, out of the rain. However, when we went up the tower we could see a long way despite the weather. And, near the end of the visit we got to watch some people jumping off the tower - a highlight for many of the children.
Margaret ❀

ANIMATIONS

I am a little behind here - I have worked with two of our children to create wonderful animations, both of which have come from their own imaginations and using models they decided on themselves. First is Cade's animation and when he decided he wanted to make it he came to me with the dinosaur models already in his hands and the story ready to dictate to me. We filmed it very quickly as he had planned it all before he started. He chose his background in KidPix and after we edited everything in IMovie he dictated his narration and it was done in one take as he was very happy with what he had done. We shared it with all the other children at mat time and they have regularly asked us to replay it ever since.



The second animation is Ryan's. He was very keen to create an animation too and decided it had to be about his favourite Superhero - Spiderman. We discussed what models he could use and he had a look at the block area people and found a model of a surgeon to use as the Green Goblin. He then found a wooden man to use as Peter Parker back in his 'normal' clothes and we decided it would be best if he brought one of his Spiderman models from home to use for his movie.
Once filmed he chose his background in KidPix and then we exported his animation to IMovie to edit. Ryan told me what sort of music he wanted for his titles and of course the background had to be red. He dictated his story and it took two takes as he had trouble fitting it all in with the first take.
At the mat time at the end of the session when we finished Ryan's animation he shared it with all the children with pride and the final confirmation of his success was the spontaneous applause when it ended from everyone.



I wonder who will create an animated story next?

Margaret ❀

MARK THE MAGICIAN VISITS

20/7/10
We were so lucky today because we had a visit from Mark Robinson the magician. He came to visit the morning session and shared his magic with us. He did lots of magical tricks and we couldn't believe our eyes! He even turned his scarf into Neo the dove and we all were able to give Neo a pat at the end of the show.
Later we watched Mark do some more tricks on You Tube and were even more amazed!
Thanks for sharing your magic with us Mark.
Margaret ❀

FROG LIFE CYCLE

11/6/10
Our children have studied, in depth, the Frog Life Cycle. We decided to try creating the life cycle in an animated form and after discussion on how to create the stages we got models from our science area and set up our 'film studio'. The trickiest bit was how to recreate the egg stage, but an answer came up and we were able to proceed. The children moved the models and pressed the keys on the laptop to take the images. I was able to be just the director, making sure that they understood the processes they were using. I think the result is fabulous and that as the children gain a deeper understanding of the process of animation, they will achieve even better films.
Margaret ❀

GREENHITHE'S FIRETRUCK PAYS A VISIT!

9/6/10
What a surprise at Kindergarten today! Phil the firefighter came to visit with the Greenhithe Firetruck, to make sure we know our fire drill. We do - when the alarm goes, everyone has to line up along the back fence and wait for the teachers to call the roll and make sure everyone is there.
After very successfully doing our fire drill Firefighter Phil invited us to go and look at the fire truck and showed us how some of his tools work. He even squirted the hose and water went on his boot! Then, he let us all go on board the fire truck to take a look and gave everyone a sticker.
After the fire truck left, with it's siren going, lots of people really enjoyed a great game using some of our props to play firemen. As we didn't have enough hats, some people even made their own. What a fantastic visit for us. Thank you for visiting us Firefighter Phil!
Margaret ❀

OUR VISIT TO AUCKLAND WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM

On Friday 21st May we braved the inclement weather and took the Morning Session children, by bus, to Auckland War Memorial Museum.
We started our visit with morning tea in the Museum's classroom area (due to the steady rain outside) and then had an hour long session in Weird and Wonderful, the interactive children's area. this was great fun, with lots to see and explore. We even got to see, in a perspex cube, just how much vegetation a possum consumes in 24 hours.
At the end of our Weird and Wonderful booking it was time to explore the rest of the Museum. Many of the children really enjoyed the experience of how a volcano erupts in the Volcanic area and others loved the Dinosaur bones in the 'Origin's Gallery'. Another highlight for many of the children were the crayfish and crabs in their rock pool set under the floor in the 'Ocean's Gallery'.
We finished our visit with lunch back in the classroom area before returning to Kindergarten and home for a well deserved rest.
Margaret ❀

THE HULA HOOP GIRLS

Our Morning Session girls have set themselves a challenge recently - to become proficient at using a 'Hula Hoop'. Every day they ask if we can bring out the hoops and set to work, trying and trying to get the swing of the hips just right.  It has been wonderful for us to observe them achieving the goal they set themselves and the huge sense of satisfaction it has given them, along with how those who have achieved their goal are mentoring those still learning.
Margaret ❀

WE VISITED KELLY TARLTONS UNDERWATER WORLD!

5 March 2010
What a fantastic day we had today - we went to visit Kelly Tarltons Underwater World and saw SO much! After having a very quick morning tea, we started our visit in the Antarctica section, watching the penguins swimming underwater and looking at some of the machinery they use on the ice. From there we went into Stingray Bay where we could go into a snow cat and visit the penguins. We even saw some baby ones! on our return to Stingray Bay we looked into a small tank that had baby school sharks and a large tank with fish, a turtle and stingrays. We could also look out the window at the falling tide as we were below ground.
From there it was into the shark tunnel - boy they were big! We saw some divers in the fish tunnel and they waved to us. After exploring the rock pool area with it's giant crayfish (that made the grownups mouths water) and very big eels we went into the classroom where we met Chris and he introduced us to Jim and his friends in a puppet show.
By now we were all very hungry so it was off to Bastion Point for lunch and some fun games organised by Ruby's dad James before we all climbed back onto the bus to return to Kindergarten.
What a wonderful trip to Kelly Tarltons we had!
Margaret ❀

5 March 2010
What a fantastic day we had today - we went to visit Kelly Tarltons Underwater World and saw SO much! After having a very quick morning tea, we started our visit in the Antarctica section, watching the penguins swimming underwater and looking at some of the machinery they use on the ice. From there we went into Stingray Bay where we could go into a snow cat and visit the penguins. We even saw some baby ones! on our return to Stingray Bay we looked into a small tank that had baby school sharks and a large tank with fish, a turtle and stingrays. We could also look out the window at the falling tide as we were below ground.
From there it was into the shark tunnel - boy they were big! We saw some divers in the fish tunnel and they waved to us. After exploring the rock pool area with it's giant crayfish (that made the grownups mouths water) and very big eels we went into the classroom where we met Chris and he introduced us to Jim and his friends in a puppet show.
By now we were all very hungry so it was off to Bastion Point for lunch and some fun games organised by Ruby's dad James before we all climbed back onto the bus to return to Kindergarten.
What a wonderful trip to Kelly Tarltons we had!
Margaret ❀

A VERY BUSY DAY

Today as I looked around at Kindergarten all I could see was very busy children working in all the areas, enjoying their learning adventures! I just couldn't resist grabbing the camera and recording some of the wonderful engagement that was happening. How great it is that everyone is so involved and obviously enjoying their work and interacting with their friends.
Ataahua - how neat!
Margaret

OUR VISIT TO AUCKLAND ART GALLERY

Our morning children visited Auckland Art Gallery today to participate in an interactive exhibition about food. The programme we participated in is called 'Crunchie Munchie Yum.' The children were shown through the exhibition by 'Lova the Pavlova' and they were very engaged and enjoyed the whole session. After spending time in the gallery we went into the art studio where we started to create an artwork about 5 plus a day and healthy eating. We will finish these at Kindergarten next week.
It was a great day out and the children were complimented by Lova on how well behaved they were - well done everyone!
Margaret.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Everyone has come back to Kindergarten looking really pleased to see all their friends and to get into some great learning fun.
It seems that we all (including the teachers) had a great holiday break and everyone is looking relaxed and happy.
Margaret