Aquarium Visit

Linking to our Term Two topic based on Forces of Nature, Room 3 will be taking a trip to the National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier to explore and learn about earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions.  Hands-on and engaging activities will set a solid framework for their learning.  Students will use bottles filled with liquids to simulate tsunami; they will mix various ingredients to create their own volcano; and build examples of strong and weak houses to see which is strongest in an earthquake.

Date: Friday 9 June 2017 

General outline of Educational Programme: Life at the Boundary

10.00pm              Arrival, introduction

                              Viewing feeding In Pania of the Reef tank

10.20am              East Coast LAB activities

11.30am              Self-guided time

12:00pm              Farewells and departure

Cost:  $4.50 per child

We will be travelling by car to Napier and require parental assistance for the trip to provide supervision and support during the visit. 

Matariki - Harvest Table

Our Harvest Table has begun.  Last year was a great success.  Let's make this year's even more spectacular.

This week we will focus on the following items. You could bring along...

Legumes – chickpeas, lentils, spices, herbs, grains, nuts, oats, buckwheat, autumn leaves and seeds.

Hiwi the Kiwi

We were fortunate enough to have Hiwi the Kiwi (otherwise known as The Minstrel) come to entertain us and teach us strategies for keeping safe and following rules when fishing.  It was great to have a good laugh while hearing such a serious message.

Hiwi the Kiwi gave us a challenge to write a story for a competition to win a fishing rod.  May, Max and Isla were given a Distinction award.  Runners up to the winner (Lydia from Room 5) were Emily and Nelson.  Well done on some awesome writing!

Autumn and the Wind

Autumn is almost over and we are heading into studying the Air Around Us.  We thought we'd combine the two and write some short stories today.  We used the photo below as inspiration.

Here are some of the spectacular results!

Deep in the forest the autumn wind was blowing all the colourful leaves to the ground, making a carpet of leaves.  The wind is getting stronger and it is getting colder.  My hair is wildly flying everywhere.  The trees are losing more hair by the minute.  I wonder what she's doing!

Isla

Some autumn days are windy and you can jump in piles of leaves.  Autumn is all about leaves falling off trees.  We can make angels out of leaves.  I wonder if we can throw leaves in the wind.

Angus L

Deep down in the forest colourful leaves were falling off bare trees.  Autumn is very windy weather.  When we jump in leaves we have a big smile on our face.  Our hair sways to one side and then the other.  Wrap up warm because the weather outside is cold.  I wonder why autumn comes.

Olivia

Autumn has a carpet of leaves that fell from trees.  A season so cold and windy.  It has a cold breeze.  Colourful leaves - red, brown, yellow.  What a wonderful sight.  Sadly, no green but no need for fright because there are evergreens.  The wind blows and blows.....brrrr!  How cold.  Day starts to go faster and night gets more slow.  I wonder why the leaves need to fall off.

Kobi

It is cold outside in the Autumn when the cold wind blows.  It whistles past and scatters the leaves all around the place.  The wind blows my hair around as it makes a carpet on the ground.  Red, yellow, orange and brown.  I wonder why the wind blows.

Nelson

Red and yellow leaves are fluttering about in the cold wind at the forest.  It is windy in Autumn.  Leaves are stuck in your hair.  Crunching red and yellow and orange leaves on the ground.  I wonder why Autumn is called Autumn.

Theo

Near the entrance to the forest the wind was making the bright Autumn leaves sway gently to the ground in a way that formed a carpet.  The bare trees' branches wave in the frosty weather.  All the colourful leaves are dancing in the wind before touching the ground.  The icy wind is whipping my face.  I wonder how the wind gets enough pressure to blow the leaves off the trees.

Max

It's Autumn now.  The weather is getting colder each day.  The wind is scattering the leaves in every direction.  Leaves are changing colours.  Soon all the trees will be bare except the evergreens.  Sometimes people sweep the leaves into piles that some hedgehogs hibernate in.  The wind blows your hair in your face or makes it flow out behind you.  You normally dress up in warm clothes before you go outside.  My favourite part of Autumn is jumping in piles of colourful leaves.  The wind will slam the doors shut if they're open.  I wonder how the leaves change colours.

May

Gift Cards for Matariki

What a busy week we are having!  The planning is done....the packaging is done.....the market plans have begun.....but we can wait no longer!  The selling is about to begin.

The initial selling point is outside Room 3 - starting tomorrow (Wednesday 10 May).  Bring your money to buy some beautiful top quality gift cards.  Mothers Day is this Sunday....make sure your Mum is catered for!

   
          

Term 2

Welcome back to Term 2 in Room 3.  I hope you and your children have had enjoyable holidays and are eager to start a new term of learning.  Term 1 flew by and here we are in the middle of autumn!  We have our routines and expectations all set up and we are set to take off to a new level of learning and playing. 

Our buddy class (Room 5) activities were enjoyed by most children and we will again be working together on some technology and science activities, as well as our buddy reading on a Friday.

Brain Food – Continue to provide several healthy snacks for eating first thing in the morning and throughout the day when children feel the need.  Water bottles should be at school each day too to ensure the brain functions well.

Our Habits of Mind foci this term are Responding with Wonderment and Awe and Questioning and Posing Problems.  We are focussing on articulating our thinking more clearly to learning buddies.  As a follow up at home you could expect your child to justify their thinking by using the word ‘because’ and to add detail to their discussions with you.  This is a good habit to develop and will ensure our learning accelerates.  For some people this feels a little uncomfortable, but our best learning is done if there is a challenge that is overcome.  The Key Competencies are an important part of the curriculum and this term we will add “Participating and Communicating” to “Relating to Others”. 

Integrated programmes:  This term we have two main topics -  ‘Forces of Nature’ and ‘Matariki’.  These foci will integrate all Curriculum areas - Reading, Writing, Maths, Art etc. Our aim is to explore values such as Respect and Excellence (To do and be our best in all that we do.)  The science topic will be decided upon with the children and could be volcanoes, air forces or water related topics.   Much of this learning will be through play related resources.  Matariki will be the focus in the second part of the term.  Room 3 are responsible for the Harvest Table and this will begin in Week 5 or 6.  We are hoping to have a hangi again but this is dependent on funds being raised.  I have a selected group of children who will be planning and organising a fundraiser for this purpose.  Watch for updates about this….we may require your assistance.  Weaving will be taught and we will work with our buddy class.  The term will end with our famous musical production – always worth waiting for.

Play-based Learning – This new concept complements the strong literacy and numeracy programmes that are already in place.  We try to play each day and this term will extend to learning handcrafts that we can undertake independently once some basic skills are mastered.  We have a new sewing machine to explore and knitting will be on the agenda too!  Hopefully we get some good weather and we can play outside each day.  Irene (Yannick’s Mum) is keen to help us create a mosaic wall so we will be very busy‼  

Learning Stories in the children’s portfolios will also update you on their learning in this area. 

Resources will be required so please keep an eagle eye out for anything that we may be able to use. 

*  Natural resources (e.g. seed pods, pine cones, drift wood etc) will be used for creating;

*  Fabric lengths or remnants, wool, threads etc will be valuable for handcrafts;

*  Old crockery can be used for our mosaic wall;

*  Plastic bottle tops for our upcycled wall hangings;

*  Remnants from old bottles of vinegar, shampoo, spices, sauces etc for our potions table to be set up

Writer’s Notebook -  Please encourage your child to bring along items of interest to glue in e.g. photos of pets, holidays, special events; newspaper articles of personal interest; tickets for rides, movies etc.  Even interesting words or phrases that you come across or that tickle your fancy which could be used in their writing can be included. 

Homework

Although the homework sheet should not require more than 20 minutes each night, tasks still need to be completed and books returned to school each day.  I have had to chase up some children recently.

☺    Spelling - Please encourage your child to learn words before being tested.  Refer to the chart in their books.  Using colour to practice with is a very good way to aid memory. 

☺    Reading Logs - Please remember to help your child record the date, title and a comment about the content of reading.  This could be related to what your child already knows about the topic, what he/she has learnt, what surprised, frightened, worried or made him/her laugh.  It is important to talk about the book before, during and after reading.  If your child is tired, share the reading.  Discuss their/your experiences around the topic.

☺    Number Knowledge must be learnt each day.