Sign Language

This year we have been learning sign language with Cody. He loves sharing with us and we love using sign to help communicate with him. We made a movie of the alphabet in sign to help teach others.

Gymnastics

For 3 weeks gymnastics ran in the Owhiro Centre. We had the time of our lives. We practiced forward rolls, flips, head stands, beam walking and straddling the vault. By the end of it everyone had achieved so much. We also made a movie of it for our assembly.



Slideshow:

Marble Games

As part of our topic (Can We Make It? Reuse and Recycle) we designed and made marble games. We had so much fun making them. We started by drawing a plan of how we thought our marble game might look. Mr Powell gave us criteria that our games had to meet (e.g. had to be self contained and sturdy). We also listed the materials we would need for our games. The next part was the best, we took our plans, large cardboard boxes and an assortment or reusable junk from home and started creating. This took 2 sessions. We needed to check our plans and make sure we were working according to what we had designed, if not, then we had to think about why. While we were working, we were constantly checking to see if our design was working. Once we had finished we shared our great marble games with Room 3 who were suitably impressed! Check out our pics, also the games will be in class until next term so come and have a look.

TOPIC

We are now beginning a new topic - Can We Make It? Reuse and Recycle. This is a technology and science based inquiry unit. Our focus will be on how we can reuse and recycle waste to help out the environment as well as the process of designing, making and evaluating products. We have a lot of ideas of what we would like to do: Reusing old white t-shirts to tie dye them and screen print environmental slogans, creating a recycled materials garden and reusing tubes, cans, rolls, bottles to make marble games. We are very excited about it.

Our big questions are: Why is recycling and reusing waste beneficial for the environment and people? and
Why is it important to design and build sustainable products?

Our Key Understandings are:
Materials can be reused in a vairety of ways to make a range of products
People make/create quality products by working through a series of steps in a process
Materials have qualities that make them better suited for certain products than others
There are a variety of other factors and considerations that influence how and why a products is made

My Greatest Feet

The Football/Soccer World cup is starting soon and as part of this we have been given a class set of pedometers to help the All Whites reach their goal and to let them know we are supporting them.

For the past two weeks the children have been using pedometers to count the number of steps they make at school during the day. This data is then added to our total steps website. We can unlock certain parts of the trip and play games on the website as well. Go to www.mygreatesfeat.org. There is a log in section - for this you will need to come and see Mr Powell for the password. The children are loving it, especially with the Cross Country coming up soon (we should get lots of steps done while we are training).

Wacky Hair Day

Today (Friday) we had a wacky hair day to raise money for the Westpac Rescue helicopter. There were some very wacky hair dos and a whole lots of wigs. We all looked very cool.

Miss Jowett

For the past 2 weeks we have had Miss Jowett in our classroom. Miss Jowett is a student teacher from the University/College. She has taken lots of lessons in PE, reading, maths and health. We made healthy snack food labels with her as well as problem solving in maths. We will miss her when she goes, but she has promised to keep in touch with us. We wish Miss Jowett good luck for her future as a teacher.

Golf

On Friday, Melanie the golf lady came out to teach the middle syndicate how to hit a golf ball. We absolutely loved it and Melanie told us that there were lots of people with wonderful swings. First of all we used a flag to get our grip and swing correctly. Next we used a club to hit a large ball, then we hit a tennis ball and finally we hit a rubber golf ball. Some of the shots went very far and some didn't. We would love to do more golf if we could.

Harold and The Life Education Trust

This week we have been off to see Harold in the Life Education trailer. We love seeing Harold and learning about all the good things he has got to tell us. This year we are doing a topic called 'Space Invaders.' We met an alien who arrived on Earth and was intrigued by the concept of growing food and eating it. We had to out different foods into 3 categories: From the ground, from animals and made with ingredients. It was fun. In the next lesson we will be looking at what happens to the food inside our body.

The BFG

We have started reading another Roald Dahl book called the BFG. Do you know what the BFG stands for? It stands for the Big Friendly Giant. This book is a favourite of Mr Powell's. So far Sophie has been taken by the BFG to a far away land filled with giants. She has seen all of the other horrible giants and is now asking the BFG what he was doing with his funny looking instruments.

Bee Hives

This morning for his oral language topic Thomas brought in an old bee hive that had been cut out of a tree. It was VERY heavy, but everyone was very excited to see what was in it. Thomas had some wonderful facts about bees. We have put the hive out on display with magnifying glasses so we can investigate what the inside of a hive looks like. There is a faint smell of honey and the comb is very waxy.

The World Came To My Place Today World Map

Last term we painted a HUGE world map. We have labelled the continents. For an activity we found object and products in the class. We had to look to see where they were made, draw a picture of the object and then stick it on the world map. We then labelled the countries. We found lots of things from New Zeland, Australia and Asia. We didn't find many things from Europe, Africa or North/South America. If you have any procuts at home from these continents feel free to bring them a long and we will stick a picture of them on the wall.

MAB Maths

Hi, I have had a few questions concerning the homework this week. MAB stands for MULTIBASE ARITHMETIC BLOCKS. They are the 10 base blocks and rods used in maths. Below is an image to explain how they work.



So if the question was: How many MAB minis in 3 tens and 21 ones, the answer would be 51. If the question was how many MAB minis in 7 tens and 35 ones, the answer would be 105.

Tirohonga

Yesterday the whole school loaded on to buses and headed to Tironhonga for a day of adventure and activities. We were lucky and the weather held all day long. Tyler Summers took along his camera and photographed the days events. The children were able to participate in outdoor activities like bivi building, team games, confidence course, obstacle courses and nature hunts. It was such a fun day and by the end of it, everyone (children, staff and adults) were very tired.

Charlotte's Web and Topic

We have been reading Charlotte's Web which is a favourite book in the class - a number of children got the book out of the library and read it at home. It is a funny story (with some sadness at the end) and there are a lot of interesting characters. If you haven't read it, maybe you would like to give it a try?


TOPIC
Our new topic is called 'The World Came To My Place Today'. We read a story with the same title and we have been looking at where different products are made around the world. We have made a GIANT world map which we all painted and have labelled the continents. Next we will find out where different countries are. We have also hunted for different objects from around our houses and the classroom to see where they were made. Some things really surprised us. Have a look around your house to see where different products were made.

Ultimate Frisbee

This week Mr Hoffman has been running an ultimate frisbee compeition at lunchtime. We have two teams in the comp, the Room 6 Springbok and the Room 6 Cheetahs. The Room 6 Springbok have made it into the finals! Well done to all that have been playing. Only 1 more week left of school. Please make sure your library books have been returned by Wednesday.

Swimming

This is our second week of swimming and we are having a great time. We are getting a little tired, but it is has been well worth it. The water hasn't been too cold and the instructors have been doing a great job.

Cycle Safety

Today Ross Greer (the policeman) came in to talk to us about cycle safety. He explained why it is important that we wear a helmet and times when it is safe to cycle on the road or footpath. Then he explained the road rules and created a course for us to navigate in the car park. We had a great time and there were only a few minor accidents.

Us

Here is a class picture taken of us.

Quiz

As part of their homework the children were able to come up with dinosaur question and answers to be put on the blog. They have come up with a number of fantastic questions. Here they are:

Matthew Kerruish

Q. Which dinosaurs had the biggest horns?

A. Triceratops

Q. What are the smallest dinosaurs?

A. Compsognathus

Q. Why did the T-rex have sharp teeth?

A. To eat meat

Q. How big was a T-Rex?

A. 12 to 13m long

Q. How heavy was a T-Rex?

A. 6 to 7 tonnes

Q. What were the biggest dinosaurs?

A. The sauropods

Erin Dickie

Q. What is a Palaeontologist?

A. It is a person who studies life in the geological past

Q. What dinosaurs lived in New Zealand?

A. The rhoetosaurus, minmi and mutta burrasaurus

Ben Horlock

Q. How many spikes does a stegosaurus have?

A. 14

Q. How many horns does a triceratops have?

A. 3

Q. Who was the most fearsome dinosaur?

A. T-Rex

Q. What did the supersaurus eat?

A. Leaves

Q. Is a T-Rex a carnivore or a herbivore?

A. A carnivore

Q. Is a pterodactyl a dinosaur?

A. No - because dinosaurs have to have lived on land

Q. How big was the heart of a brachiosaurus?

A. About the size of a small car

Thomas Geary

Q. How big is the brain of a stegosaurus?

A. About the size of a walnut

Q. What carnivore was bigger than the t-rex?

A. A gigantosaurus

Q. What dinosaur had the biggest tail?

A. Diplodocus - 13 meters long

Q. What do you call a plant eating dinosaur?

A. A herbivore

Q. How old was the oldest dinosaur?

A. About 230 millions years old

Q. Was the mammoth a dinosaur?

A. No

Q. What is the real name of an egg stealer?

A. An oviraptor

Q. Who named the T-rex?

A. Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1905

Tyler Summers

Q. What was the dinosaur with the most teeth?

A. Hadrosaurus (duck billed) up to 960 teeth

Q. What was the mesozoic era?

A. The mesozoic era was the time from 248 mya to 65 mya

Gina Haddow

Q. Why are some dinosaurs striped?

A. Some dinosaurs have stripes because it showed that they lived in herds

Q. What does tyrannosaurus rex mean?

A. King tyrant lizard

Q. Did dinosaurs have warm or cold blood?

A. Mammals have warm blood, but reptiles have cold blood and dinosaurs are reptiles so they have cold blood

Our Fossils

Here is a great slide show of our fossils that we made out of clay. This week we have been focusing using research skills to find out information about dinosaurs. We have started making dinosaur research posters. They are going well so far.

Dinosaur Research

Today Mrs Horgan came in to see our wonderful dinosaur research work. We worked with a buddy to read information on how fossils are made and what a palaeontologist does. We highlighted the key words and then answered questions. It was important to remember to put the information into our own words. Mrs Horgan was very impressed and gave us lots of principal awards! Come in and read our topic books.

Dinosaur slideshow - here is a little slideshow of dinosaurs, fossils and palaeontologists

Spelling

This is a link to a fantastic website that helps the children with practicing their weekly spelling words. They can enter in 5 words and the do complete a number of activities and games based around these words. It's a fantastic resource and another way for children to learn their spelling words:

Spelling City: http://www.spellingcity.com/ (you will have to copy and paste this into the address bar of your web browser or click on the link in the websites bar to the right of the screen called Spelling City.

Check it out and tell us what you think.

Art Gallery and Museum Trip

Today we went on a class trip to the Otago Museum to see the Dinosaurs and Babies exhibition. This was very cool. We looked at New Zealand's biggest fossil which is a Plesiosaurus and then we went in to the exhibition. Emma (the museum teacher) talked to us about fossils and Corey was chosen as a volunteer to make a handprint in a container of sand. Then Emma poured plaster of paris over the top and we left it to dry. We broke into groups and began doing a variety of exercises - our favourites were digging for dinosaur fossils in a sandpit, making up cool dinosaur names and exploring the dinosaur eggs. After the museum we had lunch and then went to the Art Gallery and John (the Art Gallery's teacher) showed us around. We talked about different paintings and how time is represented. Then he took us to the classroom where we made cool pop up dinosaurs! We had a great time.