November 2011

iMovie, an Apple Application Software, is an amazing invention to make movies and even trailers for them. You can also use iMovie to make presentations. Plus, you can do lots of different things with iMovie. You can add music and even put sound effects, just drag what you need in and it will be there. Many sounds have been already downloaded into iMovie for you, so you don’t necessarily have to get different sounds and record them. When you buy an Apple product, like an iMac or iPad, you can check out iMovie too! If you are a beginner, just fiddle around w ith it and you should get the hang of it.

If you have an Apple product, you can also check out iTunes. It is as equal quality to iMovie. You can search on iTunes and make a folder and then add it in to your favourites. You can also download music onto it too. The good thing about iTunes is that it can run music while you are doing a presentation so there can be music in the background and it will seem really neat. As I typed in the previous paragraph, you can drag music into iMovie so you can s tart and stop music whenever you like. iTunes is a great opportunity to listen to music, especially if you are a musician or a music teacher.

iPhoto, which is another amazing app that can save pictures that you import into it. You can write in a small text box they give to you where the image came from, what’s the name, and other things you might need to remember about it. You can also put images on your iPhoto and then go to System Preferences (only for Apple Products) and it will show up in the desktop section. Then you can set it up as your background. iPhoto can keep lots of images in folders. Make sure to organize them or there will be hard times finding pictures. Pictures are sometimes automatically organized in order you put them in, so your latest import would be at the top of the page and you have to scroll down to see your earliest import.

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I really agree with the post “Learning In The New Generation” by Dynamo 4 and I will write different things but with the same format and same topic.

Now, here’s the thing. My friends don’t write this many blog posts, that’s obvious. Dynamo 4 said that but I actually have more posts. The only reason I do so many blog posts is because, I don’t really like writing.  I like typing more. If a teacher told me to write or type an essay out, I would choose type. The reasons are: 1. Computers are cool and you can use them to find information fast and easily 2. Your hand can just relax on the keyboard when you are typing, and your hands don’t get tired. I am really comfortable with typing and my record is about 50-60 words per minute. Plus, I’m lucky to be used to the computer, because if you’re not an expert or anything, modern technology is nothing to you. You wouldn’t know how to be computer pros, and if a lot of people are using tablets and computers in the future, you’ll need to know your stuff, if not, then you’ll be struggling with researching. I still use two fingers to type but I manage to still type fast. My school doesn’t use actual textbooks but we use on line ones. What we really need are computers. CDNIS students get their absolute own MacBook Pro when you enter G5 (Grade 5). Computers are really what students need and is a great studying tool. You can acce ss the internet and find pictures and lots of stuff. It helps children learn and can also be a great communication tool, like I, Dynamo 5, am communicating wi th you on my blog.

So if you ain’t that good with computers and tablets, you better start learnin’, if not, your future life is gonna’ be hard. You better trust this post.

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Hi guys,

Today, G5s went to the CDNIS Library Pit to watch a performance called SPLAT!. There were 3 performers from Faust that performed poems using lots of movement. The 3 performers’ name were Alice, Emma and Shona. The director (Alice) picked 30 poems out of all of the mill ions of great ones that were written by many different authors and were fro m different countries. They performed them in category so each category seemed like one whole poem or story. It was really fun. EVERYONE ENJOYED IT. They worked really hard for 3 weeks to memorize all the poems and movement and they performed in many different schools all around Hong Kong. SPLAT! was the only reason why today was not boring. I wish Faust would do more performances or productions just like SPLAT!

I have written a poem about my school day:

Today was boring all the way,

You won’t doubt my say,

It has been a boring day,

UNTIL….. SPLAT!

SPLAT was great!

SPLAT was fun!

SPLAT was awesome!

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For the Grade 5 “Lets Make It Happen Celebration” we will perform a two minute skit that includes music, drama, dance/movement and tech-arts about a historical event. Please come and see us perform if you are in CDNIS. The celebration will be on January 5th. You can help by commenting on this post or the post Lets Make It Happen Concert HELP! and include ideas about what we could do in our performance. Our historical event we chose as a group is the life of Spartacus. Visit this blog again after January 1st and find this post and it should have a poster about it soon. Thanks!

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Photos Of The Week! This week there will be 2 pictures. This photo is about Christmas Lights Night Festivities that have been launched in Edinburgh, Scotland. This picture is again from the Globe & Mail’s photo albums.

This photo is about a bunch of people holding strings to a gigantic Smurf balloon through Time Square during the Thanksgiving Day parade in New York. This picture is again from the Globe & Mail’s photo albums.

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Today, November 27th, was my Taekwondo Test. My test was located on the 3rd floor of Concord Commercial Building, North Point, Hong Kong. We were tested on 6 different things. They are Cheung Do Punch, Combination Kicks, Patterns, Speed Kicking, Wood Breaking and Free Fighting/Step Sparring. I have Taekwondo lessons every week, to improve and practice so I pass the test. As you might guess, Taekwondo has many different colour belts and they define the level you are at. If you are absolutely new to Taekwondo, you would get a white belt. If you pass the test, you will get a different colour belt that represents you are a level higher. The colour belts are written from lowest to highest. White ->Yellow ->Yellow-Green -> Green -> Green-Blue -> Blue -> Blue-Red -> Red ->Red-Black -> Black. I was very nervous. Once through out the test,  I thought I might fail my test. I was a Red Belt. Fortunately, there were only 4 Red Belts including me. I was the only one that broke the half-inch thick wood using the Jump-Round-Turnip Kick. Because I was the only Red Belt that broke the wood, I was the only one that passed and the others all failed. I am so proud of myself and I am now a Red-Black Belt which is the belt just before Black.

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It has been about 3 months since the 2011-2012 school year began. It has been the greatest year so far! Grade 5 is a whole new introduction to the higher grades shining above us. We get Amazing Brand-New MacBook Pros! We get to keep things in our locker so we know nobody will steal our stuff. It rocks school especially with Ms. Cahusac. She is the nicest teacher in the grade! She gives us FREE TIME on the computer almost everyday! And guess what? She doesn’t like homework! We hardly get any homework from her! Grade 5 will sure be my best year in CDNIS. And guess what else? DiG Day is coming up! How much better can it get? The dynamos are rockin’ the generator! Read the post about DiG Day when posted on December 5th. Let’s keep up the work!

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In class part of our unit is to pretend that we our archaeologists and discover and find out about artifacts we found as it is based on history. Our homework from Nov 24 – Nov 29 is to fill out sheets that is like a diary and we keep information about the artifact. You can find an image of it below. It is double-sided.

Click here to view Page 1                       Click here to view Page 2

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Here is a cool song called “We didn’t start the fire”. The author sang historical events from the beginning till the end. Check it/them out.

If you want to see the song with lyrics, play the video underneath.

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For Grade 5′s Let Make It Happen Celebration we have to do a scene of a historical event. The event that my group chose is the life of a person named Spartacus. In our scene we should include a few elements such as dance, technology, drama, music, etc. It would be great if you could help us think of ideas that would make our group successful in our grand performance and type it up and post it up (as a comment). Thank you so much! There will be another post about the Lets Make It Happen Celebration later.

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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

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If you are a CDNIS parent here is a poster about our upcoming Winter Concert.

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Yesterday, we watched a extremely touching and sad movie called “Nicky’s Family”.

This movie was talking about a man named Nicholas (Nicky) Winton who saved more than 2000 children including the famous Vera Gissing. These children were about to be killed by the Nazis or Adolf Hitler. Nicholas has sent children to Britain because it was the only country that was willing to help. He sent many children by train over there and they were adopted and taken care of. Now Mr. Winton is still alive celebrating his 100th birthday and even his grandchildren are proud of this caring man who added 5700 into his family by saving them.

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Photo Of The Week! This picture is about a chimpanzee named Toni tastes a cake he was given for his 50th birthday in Tierpark Hellabrunn zoo in Munich, Germany. This picture is again from the Globe & Mail’s photo albums.

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Check out these funny Apple videos.

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Today, we went to the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence. It was extremely big. There were very interesting things we have never seen before such as an underground shelter to keep machine guns and weapons, a machine that was used to shoot invading airplanes, where grenades exploded and holes where bullets were shot, and many more! Inside there were many theories of historical events and we learned a lot. There were many exhibits in the museum. Two were based on the Japanese and their weapons and who they fought and how. Below are some photos of the museum.

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I know that Halloween was a long time ago, but check out this funny video on YouTube I found.

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The current unit of inquiry we are studying now in class is based on history. The central idea is Different interpretations of the past can be discovered by investigating historical events. We play the artifact game every day and pretend we are discovering old things. This is how we play the artifact game: First, the teacher finds an artifact on the internet and puts it on the projector so everyone can see it. Then, we hand out post-it notes and we write down what we think the artifact was used for, where it came from and how old it was. We do this silently so we don’t affect other people’s thinking. After everyone writes everything they need to on the post-it, we share our ideas. This is the artifact game. Please comment on what you think the artifact is below, you should include what you think it is, how old it is, where is it from, and how was it used. This is connected to our unit of inquiry because we are learning in this unit how do we know facts about things that were used a long time ago and what were they used for in historical events.

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Failure is just the first step of success. You just found out what ways you can’t successfully do something and how would you do better to achieve in your next attempt.

“Failure is just the first step to success! When I was fired from Apple it was the best time of my life because the crowd stops putting pressure on me and I can think of much better ideas!“ -Steve Jobs

Failure is just the first step of success! Don’t give up because you are already one step ahead.

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Try these simple steps to see if you can do homework when you are stressed out.

1. Write with your favourite pencil/pen.
2. Eat or drink something so it will help you to concentrate.
3. Make sure you are in your study or anywhere quiet.
4. Take a short nap when feeling tired if you have time so when you wake up you feel like it is a brand new day and it feels fresh.
5. Research or read or watch a tv program about the subject your homework is about so you have more ideas in what to do/write.
6. Make sure nothing is distracting you so you can concentrate.

See if these steps work! If you have trouble about doing homework when stressed out, comment and I will try to find new ideas to try out.

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Photo of the Week! This picture is about a horse that is pulling a horse carriage in Central Park in New York. People in New York are agreeing to ban horses because there were three accidents due to horses. This picture is from The Globe & Mail’s photo albums.

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Today, we went to the Happy Valley Cemetery to learn about history which is our new unit of inquiry. Go to the unit inquiries tab and click Where We Are In Place & Time to know more about our unit. We walked around the cemetery looking at tombs and learning new things like many people who died then were soldiers. Click here to see the entire photo album of us in the cemetery with graves. Click here to visit the Happy Valley Cemetery site.

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Remembrance Day is a day where there is a ceremony in CDNIS. We celebrate it on this day ( November 11th) because it is day when World War I ended. We remember the sacrifices that people made to make our world peaceful. We wear poppies on us on the day. 

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Here is a trailer of a movie that I and Dynamo 4, 13,18 and 20 are making. The movie is called “Operation Golden Rules”, and it will be coming out in the beginning of 2012. Please watch it, it is very funny.

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