Tuesday Wednesday Weeks 5 and 6

We have been looking at creative thinking over the past few weeks...it's always a fun one to start with!!......We used Tony Ryan's THINKERS KEYS to help us think creatively with a focus on flexibility and fluency.

Our task was to come up 3 different ways we could;
Brush our teeth with the use of a toothbrush and then eating dinner without the use of utensils.

Hmmm, lots of weird and wonderful ideas were suggested including using corn kernels to brush your teeth and a flying machine that deposited food directly into your mouth! I remember also the mention of mice fur???

I introduced 'Headspace' to the classes this week. Headspace is a time when the children (and I) can share things we have read, watched, listened to...basically anything we have discovered....over the week. Sometimes gifted kids don't feel comfortable sharing things they have discovered with their regular class and friends because it may be beyond their peers' understanding. 'Headspace' is a time where they can share with a group of like minds. Last week I shared with them a new theory on the Bubonic Plague 'Black Death' from the 14th century. This week Isaac shared a stop animation he found on the internet as part of his research on claymation. Check it out. It is very clever!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKWdSCt4jGE

We are all busy writing our Like A poems and most of us have now discovered our temperaments. There seems to be a huge amount of Artisians!! The childrfen are now reading up on other people aroiund the world who have the sme temperament as them. The next stage is to work out which Hogwarts house they would be in and which character out of The Wizard of Oz they are.

Here are a couple of photos with their language tutors Betty (Tuesday - Mandarin) and Jcaqui (Wednesday - Spanish)

Both classes are learning songs.







****Tried to upload Wednesday's video, but it is toooo big!!****

TALENT CLUBS

Taine and Isaac have figured that 2 brains are better than one when trying to solve some of the complicted maths problems in level 5 Mathmate







Edward and Tom working on POLYHEDRA as part of their maths talent






Jean and Melissa working on their massive Shakespeare fact find. Only one more of week of hunting before they have to start putting together visual presentation showing us what they have discovered.





EXPLORING TALENTS - A chance to try something new


Taine working on some characters for his calymation animation








Anahere using the music programme ACID to compose music








Sara and Lily working on their story board for their claymation animation







A group of children working through some electrical circuit tasks








Oli working on a science activity








After lunch we have begun to look at philosophy and what it means. last week I introduced the children to P4C (Philosophy 4 Children) and this week our P4C was based on a book by John Steptoe called Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters.

'Both Mufaro's daughters are beautiful but one is bad tempered and one is kind. When the king of the land asks the daughters to apper before him so he can choose a queen, the prideful, bad tempered daughter decides to set out in the night so she can get there first. Along the path are many opportunities to show one's true character. The kind daughter who follows the same path the next day makes different decisions - with different results and a surprising ending!'

The moral of the story, which seems to be that kind, selfless people are deserving of reward while selfish, power-hungry people are not, raises the philosophical question which is: "What is the best sort of life to live?"

We discussed what makes someone 'worthy' and if it is ok, in general, to deceive people? and if so, why? If not, why not? It was interesting to hear most of them said it was ok to deceive their siblings!!! Philosophy is a great way to get these guys talking and believe me...they all have plenty to say!!

You can find out mre about P4C on these websites:

www.p4c.org.nz or www.mtholyoke.edu/omc/kidsphil/

Enjoy!!