PLAY IN ROOM 3

"Play" has become a huge part of Room 3's week.  Unprompted.... some children were noticed creating some signs as they played!  This says it all really....

There is a lot to say about Play-based Learning and I have MANY photos and stories to share.  This post will evolve over the coming weeks so please revisit it to find out more.

Put simply - the children LOVE play-based learning and more importantly their academic achievement and social skills are accelerated.  

Children are always trying to convince me to allow play all day!  That doesn't quite work but sometimes their logical explanations about their learning are difficult to ignore.  

These are some photos of play happening.  Notations to explain will come soon.

tails!

Knitters

Construction

Photos of mosaics

intricate constructions always have a story

Cardboard tubes - what is it? What can it become?

telescope?

bird garage

potions - what happens when I mix this with that?

pattern making

Large construction

sewing - puppet making

movement skills

more knitters

pattern making with different media (chalk)

shapes in chalk - sea creatures

drawing, writing, constructing

Hamster Castle - watch this space for the story that goes with it!

Let's frighten the teacher by surrounding 

Add caption

construction alongside knitting

invented card games

personal notes

playdough

more personal notes

hiding!

ball skills - where is it?

skipping

building comfortable habitats for garden creatures

playdough

Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori

We have been having fun learning this week.





We have been learning to pronounce words correctly.  This Easy guide to pronunciation and learning Te Reo is very useful.

We have been reading pukapuka written in Te Reo Maori.

We have invented some maths games using our knowledge of numbers in Maori up to 100.

We have also been learning greetings and farewells and have made puzzles to help us learn these.


Maori TV have some examples of how we can include our native language in everyday situations.

This link explains News about macrons and their purpose.

Windy Writing

Friday afternoon was very windy!  The tiles in our ceiling were jumping up and down and this prompted us to write about who or what was making this happen.  Some excellent writing comes from impromptu ideas.   ooooooooooooh!!!


Suddenly the roof wooshed out!  Room 3 is haunted!!!!!!!!  I feel scared.  He makes a ghost noise.  He has pink freckles.  He has no body - just his head.  He smells like dog poo.  His head is made of candy floss.

Angus L

I heard the wind howling like a wolf.  Creeeeaaaak!  I nervously looked up.  Several parts of the roof were flapping up and down.  Friday afternoon was giving me the creeps!                                                                                                   May

In Room 3 Mister Stinks was messing about.  He had a family.  They all stink.  You will never want to taste him.  He whistles on and on.  It was on the roof.  I was shaking when I saw it.  He always tricks us.

Emily

The roof was slightly lifting on a windy day.  I was watching the pink batts move up and down from my grey wooden desk.  I smelt nothing.  I tasted nothing.  I heard wooooooo noises.  Room 3 is haunted!!!!!

Nelson

In Room 3 the roof lifted slightly.  It sounded like a ghost whistling.  The ghost is white with a big droopy mouth and huge, black eyes the size of tennis balls.  It wore ripped up clothes and smelt like fish bones.  It slowly hovered over the pink but he was all by himself up there.  He eats fish and bugs.  He has lived up there for 100 years.

Quinn

The roof slightly moved.  I think I saw a monster.  I think it had glowing, red eyes and a pair of devil horns.  It had a million blue spikes on its back.  It was haunting our roof.

Jake

The ghost in Room 3's roof was lifting up all the boards on the ceiling.  As they creaked we all got scared.  Was the ghost going to haunt us?  Do ghost really exist?  I thought I saw some glove-like hands and it had a ponytail on her head.  She was wearing a nice dress with dots.  Was it really a ghost?

Isla

In the attic there is something that is scaring me.  His name is Casper.  Casper is a friendly ghost.  What I think is that he wants to have some fun.  When Room Three's tiles on the roof lifted it made a windy noise and a banging noise.  I smelt nothing but fresh clean air.  What I feel is fear and shock, and I am frightened.  How can ghosts do that?  I really don't understand.  When did it come here and does it live here?  I don't know.                                                                                     Kahlani

There was a ghost in Room 3.  He lifts up parts of the roof.  No-one knows what he looks like.  All you can see is two bold eyes.  He smells like dead fish.  If you try to punch him your hand goes right through.

Theo

                                                             

Writing - Turning a daily activity into something interesting

We wrote some descriptive recounts this week, with pleasing results.  Our aim was to take an everyday activity and make it interesting.  Which vocabulary do you think is SPECTACULAR?

We are learning to: 

•    Begin the story in a way that hooks the reader in
•    Use interesting and explicit vocabulary
•    Use adjectives to describe an object
•    Use similes - (using the words 'like' or 'as')
•    Add detail to interest the reader

Here are some examples:


Dad explained that I had to put Benson, our family dog, away in the kennel.  He had flopped down on the thick carpet.  Bright sun rays were shining all over Benson's fluffy, fur-covered body.  Benson has white fur on his belly and the rest is black.  His eyes are black and shiny.  He is a miniature Schnauzer.  I called for him.  He slowly heaved himself up.  We went outside and had a tough race.  At first he went bounding ahead of me as fast as a wolf can go.  Then I suddenly plucked up my speed and shot off like a rocket and beat Benson by five inches.  He went  into his kennel.  I gave him a crunchy treat and he barked "Thank you."

By Max

When I was brushing my teeth my tooth popped out.  When it popped out, the tap was still running and I JUST saved it from running into the drain.  I tried to keep it a secret but I couldn't because my slimy gum was bleeding.  My heart was beating so hard like I was running hard out.  I tried to keep it a secret because my Mum and Dad's friends were over.  That would be embarrassing!  The next time I brushed my teeth it felt funny because my front tooth was gone and I started to get upset.

By Emily

I was playing with my cute kitten in the hot sun.  She was following me around and meowing like my brother when he was a baby.  When I drag a long piece of white string across the smooth ground she will chase it.  Sometimes she nudges my face.  She is as fluffy as cotton wool.  I love my cat!

Katie

I was slowly patting my Nanna and Pops soft cat while the rich, yellow sun was sparkling through the old window.  She started to purr.  Queeny has white fur under her medium chin and the rest is black.  She has eyes like a green emerald.  I patted it one more time.  It hissed like a snake at me and stuck it's hard paw out and tried to scratch me with its sharp claws.

Nelson        

When I scratch my cat under his chin where it is white, he shuts his eyes and purrs in the sunlight like music in a disco.  He follows me wherever I go and when I pat him he immediately lies down in the sunlight.  He's got white whiskers as long as a piece of string.  He's black and white and likes chasing rats, mice, birds, bees, and butterflies.  His fur is as soft as snow.  His name is Boris.

Yannick