Boating with Ohana

We had our first summer school day all together in one classroom. We were really happy to spend the day together, with some of our siblings, learning and playing in the same room; going to the park on the same rope and having all of our meals and rest time as one.

DSCF3815 Today part of our lesson was about building and taking care to build something that will stay upright; so looking at balance, the size of the bricks so the large ones are on the bottom and seeing that the bricks are piled carefully on top of one another. We all had one brick which was made from a cardboard box. We each had a turn to put our brick on the tall pile and while we were doing this, we were seeing whether the tower was taller, or we were taller. Ryan and Ethan were tall however Sean was the tallest and when he stood next to the tower; his DSCF3813height was equal to nine boxes. Wow, he is tall! We also learnt a song while we were piling the bricks on top of each other, which went like this:

One block, two blocks, three blocks, four

Five blocks, six blocks, seven blocks, more

Eight and nine right up to ten

Knock it down and start again.

DSCF3806We really knocked the tower down and then built it again. When the tower came down, our teachers were careful to see that they didn’t all land on top of us.

 We also added some detail to our large boat that we can sit in. We added a mast which is the tall long pole to which you attach a sail. Ava and Jennifer helped make the mast and the most important thing that they did once it was completed, was to hold it steady while Darren attached it to the front and back of the ship with string and tape. Then we all climbed inside the boat and we were amazed because we could all fit inside it. It is almost like a life-size boat however we are not sure if it can really float on water. We know that it is made of thick cardboard which is like paper and when paper DSCF3805gets wet……..it sinks.

Today at the activity tables we made our own wooden boats, which may be able to really float. Lilian and Elisa made theirs today and we have a few more to share with our friends who will come to school tomorrow. When they are all made, we will try to see if these ones float. We drew on the wooden pieces that make up the boat and there is a piece underneath which is called the rudder. This is what helps the keel to balance on the bouncy seas.

 When our bigger friends arrived at school this morning, they had a big job to sand the wooden pieces that we were going to use for our boats. There were some prickly bits and they each took a sanding block and rubbed the prickly bits away. Then they needed wood glue to attach the parts together in order to make a boat. When we drew on the wooden parts, we also drew on a small triangular piece of cloth, which was the DSCF3804sail. In order to help the pieces stick together well, we put a rubber band around the parts that we glued and by the end of the day, they seemed securely attached. Our teachers helped glue the sail to the mast using a glue gun. Tomorrow we will continue working on our boats and add some collage materials to them e.g. jewels, sponge shapes etc.

Downstairs, when we first arrived in class we had some Bob the Builder puzzles to do as well as building with blocks on the floor. Our story upstairs was a Bob the Builder story, called ‘Mucky Muck’. We like the Bob the Builder song: “Bob the Builder, can you fix it? Bob the Builder, yes we can”. We held hands in a circle and sang “Ring a ring of roses” and when we sat down we played an action game using our hands and other parts of our bodies.

We want to wish Vincent, Koh and William, “get well soon” as they were all sick today or are getting better slowly. We missed them all and look forward to seeing them again when they are well.

Thanks for another wonderful day of summer school.

Love always Shelley, Darren, Nanako, Ayaka, Christine, Goh, Liezel and Sabine

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