LEARNING

Learning with Virtual Reality

By Patrick O’Connor, Year 1 Teacher

This year, the students in Year 1 have embraced one of the newest forms of technology and incorporated it into their curriculum: Learning with Virtual Reality (VR). The students have been using Oculus headsets in order to fully immerse themselves into virtual environments. Academic research has shown that immersing students in an environment and involving as many of their senses as possible, leads to higher motivation, engagement and achievement.

By using the VR headsets to immerse the students in a virtual reality story, they can expand their vocabulary for writing. Year 1 used this new technology to bring their ‘Fairy Tales and Traditional Tales’ learning theme to life and focused on a modern retelling of a Native American legend. ‘Crow: The Legend’ is a VR experience which takes the viewer on an exciting journey with a colourful cast of animal characters. It tells the story of how the crow got jet black feathers and hoarse, gruff caw. The students used the VR experience to retell and innovate the story for themselves.

First, students planned their stories

and made sure they had a clear idea of the characters they wanted to include and the settings they wanted to use. They then planned a clear beginning, middle and end for their tales. Focusing on the various sections of the story, they re-imagined the legend to create their own stories with fanciful explanations for why some animals have certain characteristics. The students then went on to produce some truly wonderful pieces of writing.

Deandra in 1P said, “I liked the ‘goggles’ because I could see Hansel and Gretel all around me and I could

hear the words from Hansel and Gretel too. I felt happy and excited when I could use the Oculus goggles. I would like to use them again because it was special and so much fun!”

Sophia in 1T said that she also loved the VR Goggles. “It was fun as I could see nice animals that I had never seen before. I saw sharks and stingrays and I was very scared of them! I thought I was under the sea in real life! I also enjoyed seeing the deer and rainfalls which were cool. I liked the Oculus so much that I would like to have one.”

Students found the learning very interesting and exciting. They look forward to using virtual reality in learning again.

The Monsters’ Picnic

By Garam (Momo) Lee, 4K

One particularly gloomy day, Zina the Zombie and her four monstrous mates went to the haunted graveyard to have a picnic. There was Tenny the TwoHeaded Tarantula, Samo the SemiSlug, Lulu the Laughing Lizard, Willy the Werewolf, and of course Zina. Each friend had brought an appetising snack to share with the group, but first they needed to find a way to divide the food so that every monster received the same amount. “I brought frog pies!” exclaimed Tenny. “I baked fifty!”

There was a fresh, froggy aroma in the air. The monsters were enchanted by the mouth-watering smell.

“Everyone will get ten each, since there’s only five of us,” explained Zina. “It’s an equal amount.”

“Sure. That seems fair,” added Lulu.

The friends devoured the pies in a flash.

“Yummy!” everyone shouted. Next up was Lulu’s chocolate-flavoured cockroaches. She excitedly dumped all thirty-five of them onto a plate. “To keep things fair, I’ll give each of you… seven!” declared Lulu, after pausing for a moment to figure out the answer. “Yes, that’s right! Thirty-five divided by five is exactly seven,” confirmed Willy.

The friends stuffed all of the cockroaches into their mouths and swallowed them in a single gulp. Their eyes widened with delight; the taste was unbelievable!

*GRUMBLE!*

“Looks like we’re still hungry! Does anyone else have a snack?” asked

Zina. Shortly after, Goody the Ghost floated over to join the group.

“Sorry I’m late. I was making eyeball soup!” exclaimed Goody. “Anyone want some?”

Everyone rose to their feet to get a whiff of the spooky soup.

“There’s only eighteen eyeballs, so is everybody okay with three each?” asked Goody.

“Three is a lot already,” said Zina enthusiastically.

“Ooohhh, yum yum!” the monsters exclaimed. Samo dangled sixty scrumptious spaghetti worms in front of the group. “Everyone gets… ummm… nine?” asked Samo, unsure if he had calculated correctly. “Actually, ten each!” corrected Willy. Without a moment to waste, the monsters slurped up the worms, their faces full of joy. “Those were some juicy worms!” commented Lulu. “Unfortunately, I promised my parents I would help them carve pumpkins tonight. “I better go too. I have to eat my homework,” said Samo regretfully. “Bu-bye!” A few minutes later, Cubby the Colossal Crab, Holly the Hippo Head and Yoyo the Yeti arrived. Now, there were seven monsters. “Hey everybody! Are you having a picnic?” asked Cubby. “Can we join? We have some snacks to share too!” Yoyo revealed twenty-one singing scones and gave the friends three each. “Enjoy!” “I can hear them! They can really hit those high notes!” Holly remarked. “Anyone thirsty? I’ve brought thirty-seven litres of slug juice!” exclaimed Zina. “YAY!” Zina grabbed a piece of paper out of her pocket and started to write frantically.

“There is seven of us… ummm… wait

a minute... How can we divide this?”

How will the friends share the final course? Will they each get an equal amount?

Or is there a remainder? About the Author Gram (Momo) Lee is an author and illustrator who has written such stories as Safe Sea, Home, School of Monsters, Wisdom from the Future, and the Robot 3000/4000 series.

Her short story Safe Sea won First Prize in the 2019 Kid World Fun short story competion.