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Saturday 15 December 2012

Welcome to the Muritai M.A.T.CHbox!


Muritai M.A.T.CHbox has arrived! Come and explore and ignite your creative spark within! Students, teachers and parents alike can use the M.A.T.CHbox as a source of inspiration and a place to share amazing ideas, work and talents.
This blog is accessible to all but is specifically aimed at our children who have been identified as M.A.T.CH (Muritai Able and Talented Children). 

What does this mean?
More Able children are those who demonstrate a significantly higher level of ability than most children of the same age in one or more of the statutory curriculum areas such as Mathematics, Literacy, Science and Inquiry.
Talented students are children who display talent in one or more of the following areas – Art, Performing Arts, Music, and PE. 

Our Vision

  • To provide a differentiated provision, in and out of the classroom, for more able learners.
  • To provide alternative, personalised learning pathways for the more able and talented.
  • To be accessible for all.
  • To raise standards and provide challenge through a range of learning opportunities.



Video of the Week - Simple Ideas + Creative Thinking = Amazing Results..


Each week on the M.A.T.CHbox there will be a video to ignite some questions, curiosities and wonderment in our readers minds. Our first offering explores how coupling a simple idea with some creative thinking can produce amazing results.

Sometimes it is the simplest ideas that are the most effective. An example of this is an award winning ad for a Sony Bravia TV. 

The idea? 
Find a really steep street, release a quarter of a million coloured bouncy balls at the top and film. No computer graphics or trickery, just plain filming, slowed down and put to music with the hook line "colour like no other." 

The result? 
An amazing film and quadrupled sales for Sony. Sit back, relax, watch for yourself and then see the second video to watch how it was all done. 



How different would this scene have looked without gravity?!
Next time you sit down to plan a project, consider how you could use a simple idea to create amazing results.

Check out some of the recent thinking and doing of Muritai students!

Click on the links below to check out some examples of recent clever thinking and doing!




http://muritaimantlejunior.blogspot.co.nz/

http://www.mrsryanmuritai.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/balancing-on-coke-can.html

http://mrscodys.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/food-for-energy.html

http://mrssaker.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/ipads.html

http://room6muritaischoolnz.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/the-knights-adventure-by-matthew.html

http://muritaiscienceclub.blogspot.co.nz/

http://mrschao.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/how-many-people-can-fit-in-square-metre.html

http://mrschao.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/the-water-carrier-challenge.html

http://msnaikmuritai.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/everyone-everywhere-needs-water.html

http://mrssmithroom15.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/solar-eclipse.html

http://mrmcmillan-murray.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/athletics-on-monday-room-11-had-tonne.html

http://mrmckays.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/cz-athletics.html

http://kirstenatmuritai.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/week-four.html

http://misscoton.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/victory-at-2012-battle-of-bands.html

http://misscoton.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/debating-homework-weeks-4-5.html

http://mrdevenports.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/the-death-penalty-should-be-introduced_3041.html

http://muritaienviro.blogspot.co.nz/

http://mrchadwicks.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/mean-green-house-comp.html

10 Practical and Fun Maths Games and Activities to Inspire Kids at Home


Maths is the universal language and affects almost every facet of life. Reinforcing your child’s maths skills with practical exercises and activities enhances proficiency and boosts self-esteem in a fun and engaging manner.
From fractions to decimals to geometry and measurements, simple games and activities can incorporate every basic maths skill, building a solid platform for life.
Below is a list of 10 games and activities that either inherently use mathematics or can easily be adapted to stress maths applications, sometimes without your child knowing they’re learning!

Primarily indoor maths activities include:

1. Maths folding: Origami 

Because it is an exacting activity that entails precise shapes and proportions, origami is a prime activity that enhances geometry. Triangles, squares, rectangles and more are inherent in the activity; origami would simply be a crumpled wad of paper without geometry.





2. Maths for fashion: Sewing 

The primary maths application involved in sewing is measuring. Checking length and size of the material is imperative in this activity. Additional benefits involved in sewing include patience, small motor coordination, and attention to detail.



3. Building maths: Fort Building 

Geometry leads the maths skills enhanced by fort building for many of the same reasons as sewing. Measuring length, shape and angle of the wood and other material is absolutely required as well and involves both whole numbers and fractions. Additional skills include hand-eye coordination and large motor coordination.

4. Crafty maths: Beading

This arts and crafts activity entails making jewellery, decorating clothing and accessories as well as creating artwork. Recognising and creating geometric and other patterns, counting and measuring lengths are the basic maths skills reinforced. Small motor skills are also reinforced in this popular pastime that can appeal to both boys and girls.

5. Puzzling maths: Tangrams 

A Chinese puzzle gaining in popularity, tangrams incorporate geometry as its maths-oriented skill. The pieces form a square that involves five triangles, a square and a rhomboid. The pieces can be rearranged or combined to create a wide variety of other shapes, limited only by a child’s imagination and pieces availability. All puzzles in general incorporate both geometry and basic counting skills.

6. Competitive maths: Board Games 

Every board game requires at least a rudimentary ability to count, add or subtract. If it’s a purchase game, use of play money enhances counting and possibly multiplication and division in addition to addition and subtraction.



7. Sharp card maths: Card Games 

Counting, addition, subtraction and geometry are the top math-related skills utilised and reinforced in any card game a child likes. Having the right number of cards to recognising card suits and card hierarchy use several maths skills that children need.





8. Tasty maths: Baking 

Volume measurement, weights and counting are the primary maths skills involved in baking. Knowing the difference between a liquid ounce and a weight ounce, for instance, is a supplementary maths skill that also plays an important part in baking and cooking in general.



Outdoor maths games and activities include:

9. Jumping maths: Hopscotch 

This game enhances and reinforces a child’s geometric acuity. The game sketch includes squares, triangles and circles or arcs. Proportions and distance judgement are equally utilised as well. A tremendous non-maths benefit of this game is that it’s terrific exercise.


10. Hit the goal maths: Football 

Football utilises the maths skills of distance and length measurements and counting. From determining yardage and number of players on the field, football cannot be played without using maths.

Shapes, sizes, amounts, sequences, and spaces, mathematics is a crucial field to know. Too few children enjoy learning and especially learning math. Whenever parents can maximise exposure to and utilisation of a child’s maths skills, the child benefits, and the child’s world expands. Use these and additional games and activities to enhance your child’s maths skills whenever possible.

Time to blow the Muritai Athletics trumpet!










Very well done to our amazing and talented Muritai athletes who performed so well in 2012. Check out these links to Muritai's sports blog to see just how well they did at the central and inter zone events!
http://muritaisports.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/cz-athletics.html
http://muritainews.blogspot.co.nz/2012_12_01_archive.html

High Achiever? Gifted Learner? Creative Thinker?

Click here for a very interesting perspective on these different aspects of "the more able" child

Video of the Week - Wow! Amazing 3D Street Art

Ode to the Brain

Post 10