First Fleet Sails

This activity involved me creating one of my best ever classroom displays and boy am I proud of the end product.

My grade 3 and 4 class are currently working through a History unit which focuses on the Age of Exploration, the discovery of Australia and then local exploration and history. Yeah, a lot to cover in only 11 weeks!

We've spent a bit of time looking at Australia's First Fleet. Why they came? What were the conditions like for prisoners before, during and after transportation? and of course the ships.

In this activity, students were paired up and given one of the 11 ships of the First Fleet to research. They all had a great time and had a lot of fun converting the length of ships from feet into meters. They then had to present their findings on two sails which would then be placed on their ship.

The students are so proud of their 3D ships, a creative twist on the 2D displays they normally see.

What do you think?

Let It Begin

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by and taking a chance with the new kid on the block. I hope that you enjoy what I have to say and that, hopefully, you might get some inspiration for your own classes.

This Blog will add another ball to those I'm currently juggling, gorgeous husband, amazing kids, family, work, my Teachers Pay Teachers store Mrs Carter's Classroom , and if there's time, life!

So let it begin....

When I look back on my teaching career, those first teaching days were quite daunting. I initially started my teaching career at my local catholic high school. I shared a home-group with an experienced teacher and was more than happy to let him rule the roost. Here I was, a brand new graduate, teaching students only a few years younger than myself. And boy, could they smell the fresh meat! Those teenagers ate me for breakfast. I have never lost my voice so much as what I did in those first few months of teaching. Thankfully, I soon found my feet and learnt some survival strategies. Thanks mostly to my amazing mentor. I spent 4 years teaching at this school, but eventually the teenage attitude and the repetitive nature of teaching the same subjects to the same year levels each year got the better of me and I decided to move into the Primary sector.

So here I was again facing a first day of teaching. I was thoroughly planned, had come in over summer to make my room pretty, and was ready.... That was until that first bell rang and I suddenly had 26 Grade 5 and 6 students sitting on the floor staring at me expectantly! The teenagers I had taught never did that because they already knew everything (insert sarcastic talking marks here). I was unprepared for this, suddenly having respectful, excited and eager students ready to learn. I took a deep breath and plowed onward and upwards.

That was nearly 6 years ago now. I'm the first to admit that I've had my ups and downs as a teacher, some successful and some epic fail lessons and have made some great friends along the way. I'd love to share some of these stories with you.

Thanks for reading,

Mrs Carter