Periscopes

We watched a couple of videos which explained how periscopes work and how to make them. We spent our last Stepping Up session together making a periscope each from a toothpaste carton. It was fun trying them out and seeing how useful they would have been to the soldiers in the trenches.  

Model making

The boys had such a great time finishing off their model trenches by putting down duckboards, adding 'barbed' wire and toy soldiers. They added 'blood' and tons off 'mud' too!

Mr Limbrick, our principal, enjoyed seeing our handiwork!

Trenches and duckboards

While painting our models of trenches we realised how easily they would become muddy. We learnt that duckboards were made from timber and placed in the bottom of trenches, above the mud, to help soldiers move around them with more ease. 

We made some mini duckboards for our model, using small Popsicle sticks. 

Photo by Rafa. 

Making models

Our job for the next few weeks is to create some models of trenches using papier mâché. 

While we were doing our work we talked about how rough it would have been for the soldiers to work in a trench. It would have been muddy, cramped, dirty and smelly. 

A varied session

Our Stepping Up session today was quite varied. First we helped to dismantle the crosses that were set up for Armistice Day. It was a good chance to remind ourselves about soldier's military numbers and why they were needed. 

We also remembered why there is a cross with 'The unknown soldier - Known unto God' on it. 

As we carried the crosses back we thought about how to show respect to the soldiers that they represent. 

Back in the classroom we ripped up paper to use when we make our model of trenches. We had tons of fun but were surprised how black our hands got after handling all the paper!

Our final experience today was going to the boat and doing a role play. We pretended to be the last ANZACs on Gallipoli. We tried to be aware of the 'snipers' as we set sail for Lemnos Island where we look forward to having a nice rest over Christmas!

Presenting our Learning

We were very excited to share our learning with others today!

A big crowd of eager children came to Room 21 at lunchtime to hear our speeches and look at our Minecraft presentation.

We were really keen to show our audience around our 'worlds' using Apple TV. They were impressed with our work!

Busy at work

On Monday we had a small group of children at Stepping Up. Each of them are working on a building a World War 1 environment using Minecraft. 

Creating

The students are very busy creating a World War 1 scene using Minecraft. They have been constructing and making improvements on their multi storey hospitals, trenches, cemeteries and jetties. 

Creating with Minecraft

We are quite engrossed with our project to create something using Minecraft, that reflects our learning about World War 1. 

We are building German tunnels, Red Cross hospitals and trenches, alongside cemeteries. 

Minecraft & Model Making

Today's Stepping Up session was very exciting as most of the students brought iPads along and spoke about the virtual worlds they are building using Minecraft. Lorin has been working at home to build a two-storey Red Cross hospital, complete with beds with red covers! He has also build a house with a memory room which contains poppies and a book about the war. Ivo has built the dock at Anzac Cove. Aaron has begun to build trenches and some tunnels. Rafa has made a war cemetery with flowers growing over the graves. Joe is just starting his 'world' so we will learn more about it next time after he has spent more time on it. 

It was great to see the students teaching each other how to construct things, and how to navigate the 'worlds' they are constructing. It's also fascinating to see how they are incorporating their learning about WW1 into their project. 

We looked at some photos of trenches today to get some ideas on how they looked. This is to help us to construct a model trench using papier mâché. We will be making the model inside a little box. 

We used wire cutters to cut some chicken wire which we are using to make a mould. It was quite hard for us to cut the wire, but we were persistent. Joe thought about how hard it would have been to cut the barbed wire in no mans land during the war. He was glad he didn't have to do the job!

Getting creative with Lego

Aaron has been working hard at home to create trenches using lego. He has done an amazing job hasn't he?

Making WW1 tributes

At our Stepping Up session today we framed a picture of the person we are researching. We worked out how to open the frame up then closed it back up again. 

Here is another little matchbox that was finished today. 

Some of us are working on creating a war scene using minecraft. We are very excited about it!