Room 9's Blog

Welcome Back!

2012-02-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

Room 9 blog updates to come!

EOTC WEEK!

2011-12-07T01:16:00.000-08:00

Education outside the classroom (EOTC) week has been so much fun!! We especially enjoyed PLAYING at AVALON PARK and EXPLORING and DIGGING at the BEACH! Enjoy the photos!

Letters to Santa

2011-12-07T00:55:00.001-08:00

Last week we went for a walk to the post office. Ethan, our SUPER STAR, had the important job of posting our letters to the NORTH POLE! We can't wait to hear back!!

ART AUCTION!

2011-11-21T19:51:00.000-08:00

As many of you have probably already heard... Muritai School is having an ART AUCTION!! Each class is creating one or two collaborative art pieces for the auction (which is happening on DEC. 2nd). All of the money raised will be donated to a school in Cambodia. We are so happy to be taking part in such a great event for a fantastic cause!!

Here are a few photos for a sneak preview of room four's art pieces... Mrs Naik could only take a few photos because she was soon covered in PAINT!!
Enjoy!!

SHADOW SHAPES!

2011-11-21T19:35:00.001-08:00

As part of our inquiry on SUN SAFETY we had a close look at our SHADOWS. We found out that when our body blocks the sun it creates a shadow. We had a great time making interesting shadow shapes!

Then we traced our buddy's shadow with chalk. We had a big laugh at the funny outlines that emerged!

SUN SAFETY!!

2011-11-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

For Inquiry this term we have been learning about SUN SAFETY! Today we went on a walk in the playground in search of some SHADY areas where we can go if we get TOO hot!!

Welcome Back!

2011-10-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

We have had a great start to Term 4! I hope you have all had a restful holiday to get ready for the busy term ahead! Just a few reminders:

All children should have sunhats at school this week.

Please ensure your child had a drink bottle at school, filled with WATER for those HOT summer days!

We will be practicing for Cross country on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays so please make sure your child is wearing suitable running shoes.

We also have an EXCITING art project in the making so keep checking our blog to find out more about what we are doing!

Conservation Week

2011-09-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last week was Conservation Week. Conservation week is a time to really think about how we can care for our environment and about how we can make a difference! We watched an interesting video that taught us all sorts of important things, like where water comes from to the importance of insects!

We also went to Rona Beach for a beach clean up. We were happy to see that the beach was almost rubbish free!

After our beach clean up, some of us were exhausted!!

At assembly we found out different ways that we can help our environment. One way is to have LESS wrapping and packaging in our lunch boxes. Another way is to eat ALL our lunches and to put any food scraps in the RED food scraps bin. Also, all paper should go in the GREEN paper bins! Finally, Mr Ray and some of the older children have written to the council to find out how we can get a better system for recycling plastic and other things at our school. We are proud to be a Greengold Enviroschool! To find out more about Enviroschools and about what Muritai school is doing to make a difference please visit the enviroschool blog:

http://www.muritaienviro.blogspot.com/

Information about our adopted country!

2011-09-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

The children in room 4 have been learning about their adopted countries. We have learned so much already! Here are some of the things that the children have shared with their classmates:

JAPAN (Lucy):

This is the Japanese flag and the Tongan flag

SCOTLAND (Lachlan):
In Scotland men were skirts called kilts. They also speak English with a different accent.

This is the Scottish Flag.

Can you find Scotland?

This is a photo of Men wearing kilts and playing the bagpipes.

This is a photo of a man wearing a kilt on a windy day! Oh no!

FIJI (Ruby):
In Fiji it is hot!

CANADA (Mia):
Canada is one of the largest countries in the world! It can be very cold. Canada has a special animal, just like the kiwi in New Zealand, it's a MOOSE!

IRELAND (Amy):
Ireland is in Europe and it is surrounded by water, kind of like New Zealand! In Ireland people also speak English with a funny accent!

ARGENTINA (Cella):
Argentina is a country in South America. Most people speak Spanish. This is a photo of The Pesky Rat dressed up as an Argentinian rugby player!

Our Fabulous New Classroom Clock!

2011-09-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks Lucy for bringing us a nice BIG clock for our classroom! It is much easier to practice telling time now! We love it!

Inquiry

2011-09-11T01:04:00.000-07:00

For Inquiry we have been using our green thinking hats to come up with creative solutions to problems in stories. Last week we read The Ginger Bread Man. We worked together in small groups to come up with three different ways that the Ginger Bread Man could get across the river and away from the hungry fox! We practiced working together cooperatively. We are getting really good at listening to each others ideas, sharing our own ideas and taking turns! Come and visit our classroom to see the interesting solutions that we came up with.

2012 Calendars!!

2011-09-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

In room 4 we have been busy creating our pictures for Muritai school's fundraiser calendars! Our pictures are up for display in our classroom, you can order a calendar from the office.

Elmer in the Snow!!

2011-08-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

We have been creating our own Elmer pictures using paint and collage. The inspiration for our art work came from the story Elmer in the Snow. We enjoyed reading this story during our stormy week!

Here are some photos of the first stages of our creative process, we worked carefully to create the patchwork pattern on Elmer's coat.

On Friday we had a fun and messy time sponge painting the background for our Elmers. We were amazed at how realistic our sponge painted snow looked!!

The Snow Storm!

2011-08-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

Last week we wrote about the snow storm. We made sure our stories had a title, an interesting beginning sentence and described what happened. Enjoy reading a sample of our FANTASTIC stories!!

The Nasty Storm
By Rory

We were eating dinner when suddenly the power went out! We lit the candles so we could eat our dinner. Then we played a game. I couldn't do my homework because it was too dark. At bedtime we had a fight with hail. I had to dodge Hannah's throws. It was cool.

In The Dark
By Jack

I was having afternoon tea and suddenly the power went off! Then I heard my sister say "it's dark down here!" Mum got a torch. My sister was learning a new song on the piano. Then there was light. I was sad because I like power cuts!

The Power Cut
By Solomon

I was outside with my dad's head torch. Then the power went out! It was scary. I got to stay up for as long as I wanted. I got to have a candle in my room. I played with lego. It was so much fun. In the morning I cleared the snow.

The Nasty Storm
By Poppy

Shalini and Freya and me were looking out the window... There was thunder and lightening! Suddenly it was dark and there was a power cut. We lit olden day candles. We were nice and toasty by the fire.

Junior Assembly

2011-08-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

Last week Room Four hosted the Junior Assembly. Ethan and Ruby were OUTSTANDING hosts. They did an AMAZING job of speaking loudly and clearly so that everyone could here them. We shared our self portraits, there were lots of "oooohhhhs" and "ahhhhhs" as everyone admired our BEAUTIFUL art work.

Please come visit our classroom and check out our 'Gallery Wall.'

The Little Red Hen

2011-08-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

This week the Kirorangi reading group read the story and the play "The Little Red Hen." They enjoyed it so much that they decided to present the play in front of the class. The group practiced the play on their own until they felt that they were ready for an audience. We were amazed at their excellent acting and reading! Have a look at the short clip from their show:

Maths Practice!

2011-08-04T20:02:00.001-07:00

If you have some spare time this weekend, check out these sites for some SUPER math games!

For Practicing doubles:

http://www.ictgames.com/robindoubles.html

Practice your skip counting in 2s:

http://www.ictgames.com/fishy2s.html

For multiplication practice:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/numeracy/multiplication/index.shtml

ENJOY!

Welcome Back!

2011-08-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

We have had a FANTASTIC start to term 3. Our renovated classroom is looking AMAZING! Now our job is to work hard so that we can fill the walls with our BEAUTIFUL artwork, our CREATIVE writing and of course, our TRICKY maths!

Please come and visit our new classroom!

Reminders:

Spelling Testing is now on Tuesday afternoons
Basic Facts testing is on Fridays

Jumping Frogs!

2011-05-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

Today we learned about STATIC ELECTRICITY.

First we cut up tiny paper frogs:

Then we brainstormed the different ways that we could make the frogs jump using a balloon. Some of us thought that we could rub the balloon with our hands to create electricity. This didn't quite work but it was still a great idea!

Then we tried rubbing the balloon on our heads! This created static electricity and made our hair stand up!

We then rubbed the balloon on a buddies head and placed the charged balloon near the frogs, it was fun to watch them jump!

Science week!

2011-05-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

We have had a fantastic start to term two with science week. Earlier in the week we made our own classroom circuit. We learned that energy flows through a loop but if there is a break in the loop, the energy stops flowing.

Mr Dobson and Mr Ray then shot a rocket into the air on our school field. It was funny watching them get soaked!

On Friday we made oobleck with our buddy class. We had a great time exploring the oobleck!

Welcome Back!

2011-05-01T21:47:00.001-07:00

I hope you have all had a restful and enjoyable holiday!

We have a lot to look forward to this term!

Our inquiry focus this term is science. We will be exploring electricity, sound and magnetic forces. For the next few weeks we will focus on electricity, we will even make our own electrical circuits! If you would like to practice online please visit:

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/electricitycircuits.html

Just a few reminders:

Hats are no longer needed as the winter season is setting in. Please ensure that your child has a named pair of slippers at school by the end of the week.

We will continue testing spelling rockets with our buddies every Friday.

Please visit our blog regularly as we love reading your comments!

Super Drumming!

2011-04-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

Today we were very lucky to have Eddie Quansah visit us at school. Eddie put on an entertaining African drumming show for us and even invited children to play some music. Eddie is originally from Ghana, and has been playing his beautiful music around the world! Eddie explained the importance of music and drumming in African culture.
Thanks Eddie!

Grandparents Day!

2011-04-05T02:26:00.000-07:00

Grandparents Day was a tremendous success and a great conclusion to our inquiry unit! We were so proud to have our grandparents and grand friends visit our classroom, we loved sharing our work with them and learning all about their special objects. We surprised our grandparents with our knowledge about how things used to be in the past! They especially loved the photos of us dressed up like they used to when they were children.

A huge thank you to all the parents, grandparents, and grand friends for coming and sharing this special afternoon with us. The memories from our wonderful afternoon will stay with us for a long time.

Thank you!

Pataka Fun!

2011-03-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

As part of our inquiry, "Here's Our History," we went to Pataka museum. We had a fantastic time. We got to experience how people lived 100 years ago! We washed clothes with a washboard and mangle, practiced writing with ink pens, and played games like marbles. These are just a few of the things that we did. We realized that life has changed a lot over time! We found some of the games that children used to play quite frustrating and slow-paced. We also noticed that day-to-day appliances (like pots and irons) used to be very heavy! We think that people must have been very strong and hard-working. We can't wait to share our experiences with our Grandparents on Grandparents day!

One of the funniest things we did was dress up like children did 100 years ago, we practiced making very serious faces because we noticed that in the photos from the past, people didn't seem to smile! We found out that people didn't smile in photos because it took so long to take just one photograph!

Soccer Fun!

2011-03-05T22:06:00.000-08:00

Pat and Fraser came to Muritai School and taught us how to do soccer exercises. We had a great time dribbling the soccer ball and doing the soccer relays. On Friday we played a soccer game with room 5. We all showed fantastic sportsmanship!

An afternoon at the beach!

2011-03-05T21:14:00.000-08:00

On Monday the Junior classes visited Rona Bay Beach. We had a blast! We practiced using our senses to observe what we could see, smell, touch and hear. We collected beach treasures, built sandcastles and dug deep holes together. We had such a great time that we decided to write recounts about our afternoon at the beach. We hope to visit the beach again while the weather is fine.

Meeting our Buddies in Room 15

2011-02-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

On Friday we met our buddy class. We asked each other questions like "what's your favourite colour?" and "what do you want to be when you grow up?"
We found out some interesting things about each other!
Then our buddies in room 15 read us stories. It was great fun! We can't wait for our next buddy day!

Welcome room 4 to 2011!

2011-01-31T00:56:00.000-08:00

We are going to have such an exciting year together! See you all on Wednesday and remember to bring your sunhats and drink bottles!

Happy Holidays Room 4!!

2010-12-19T01:08:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all your hard work this year! You have been a very special class to teach! Enjoy your summer holidays and I will see you next year!

Miss Naik :)

Thank you parents for all your support throughout the year!

The Royal New Zealand Ballet!

2010-10-25T20:07:00.001-07:00

Today was a special day for room four, we were lucky to learn some fabulous ballet moves and positions! Shannon from the Royal New Zealand Ballet came all the way to Muritai School and spent the afternoon teaching us Ballet dance, technical terms and miming! We learnt how to communicate without taking. It was very interesting and fun!

INQUIRY: Our Playground!

2010-10-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

Last term the junior students talked about how we could make our school a better place. One of the most common requests was for a bigger junior playground. So this term we are finding out what makes a playground fun. We have designed our dream playgrounds and now we need to learn about some of the practical things like keeping safe and having enough space.

This week we visited Bishop's Park. It was great fun! We played on the different equipment and talked about which equipment we liked the best and why. We found out that moving fast in different directions is quite fun!

A visit to the Senior School gardens

2010-09-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

Today we went for a mini field trip across the road to the senior school. Mr Eames told us all about the garden and about how much work the senior students have done to create and maintain such a wonderful garden. We looked inside the worm compost and found out why it is so important to put our food scraps in the red bins at school... Our food scraps feed the worms and the garden! We liked holding the SQUIGGLY, SLIMY worms in our hands.

Flat Stanley visits England!

2010-08-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

Flat Stanley had some incredible adventures in Sussex. He visited the train station, lounged under the hot sun and strolled through beautiful gardens. We loved looking at all the information that Flat Stanley brought back, especially the books and pamphlets about castles and knights!

While in England, Flat Stanley adventured in the Rossendale Valley. He travelled on the steam train, flew model planes and visited the panopticons which are large modern sculptures. The beautiful halo that lights up at night was our favourite.

Flat Stanley also visited London, what a lucky world traveler! While in London Flat Stanley went to Buckingham Palace to visit the queen, he went to Big Ben and to the Tower of London... And he even went on the London Eye! Lots of us have been to London before so we loved sharing our stories about our own travels.

Luke's grandad made us a special slide show that charted Flat Stanley's journey through London. We loved reading his funny comments! If you would like to see the slideshow please come and have a look on our Flat Stanley board in our classroom.

Soccer Tournament!

2010-08-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

Room 4 had a BLAST at the soccer tournament. We played many games. We loved running really fast, scoring goals and cheering for our friends. Have a look at the photos.

Australia!

2010-08-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

We opened five packages from Australia! Flat Stanley travelled to Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Karratha! What an experience!

Flat Stanley visited Mines in Karratha:

Dreamworld In Brisbane:

And beautiful beaches in Melbourne and Sydney:

We noticed that there are many similarities and differences between New Zealand and Australia. Here are some of the ideas we came up with:

Similarities:

1. We have a harbour and a boat dock in Wellington.

2. The city of Brisbane looks similar to Wellington. They both have tall buildings and busy roads.

3. We have a Zoo in Wellington with lots of animals just like in Sydney.

4. We have beautiful beaches as well!

5. The main language in both places is english!

Some Differences:

1. In Australia there are koalas, kangaroos, crocodiles and snakes!

2. There are different road signs like ones that tell you to watch out for kangaroos!

3. They have different sayings like, "G'day mate!"

Flat Stanley goes to Tauranga!

2010-07-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

This week we opened Zane's Flat Stanley package. Zane sent his Flat Stanley to visit his Auntie in Mount Maunganui.

This is what we learnt about Flat Stanley's trip:

1. Hot Pools are special because they are salt water from the sea that has been sucked into the earth, heated, and bubbled back up to the surface.

2. Tramping up the mount is great exercise.

3. Mount Maunganui is famous for its surf beach. There are lots of sand dunes at the beach and great big clumps of seaweed!

Some other things we learnt about New Zealand are:

1. New Zealand is made up of two islands called the North island and the South island. We live in Wellington city which is on the bottom tip of the North Island.

2. Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand and that means that the government buildings are here.

3. John Key is the Prime Minister of New Zealand and he works at the Beehive.

We loved looking closely at the Maps!

We Can't wait to learn all about Australia next week!

Amazing Violin!

2010-07-22T01:03:00.000-07:00

In room 4 we were very lucky to have a wonderful violinist play one of our favourite songs for us... Dan played twinkle twinkle little star, he was fantastic! Have a look at the video to see for yourself. Thanks Dan, we loved listening to you play!

How long?

2010-07-21T16:43:00.000-07:00

In Maths we are learning about length. We have learnt that a centimeter is around the same length as the width of our finger. Our fingers are around 5 centimeters long and if we open our arms wide they are about one meter long!

We had lots of fun measuring objects around the classroom to see how long or short they are.

We even measured each other to find out who the tallest and shortest children in room four are. We found out that Kai Matthew is the tallest while Esme is the shortest.

A visit from Bob Kerr

2010-07-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

We were very lucky to have Bob Kerr Visit our classroom! Bob Kerr is an illustrator and an author. Our favorite Bob Kerr stories are the ones about Mechanical Harry and all the crazy inventions that he creates!

Bob Kerr answered many of our questions. We found out that when he was a little boy, Bob Kerr used to invent things himself and that's where some of his ideas for Mechanical Harry came from.

Bob Kerr brought in examples to show us how drawings change into the pictures that we see in books. We learnt that many of his illustrations come from observing real life things! Like when Bob draws a picture of a little girl he would take a photo of a little girl and then make a drawing from that.

The small drawing that he makes are then enlarged or made bigger. Then Bob uses water colour paints to make his illustrations colourful.

In the end all of the words and illustrations are stapled together and a machine like a photo copier is used to make the books.

Bob Kerr showed us how to make observational drawing of each other. He drew pictures of Lizzie and Harper and then we all had a chance to draw a friend. We were so lucky to have such an amazing visitor! Thanks Bob!!

My Special Place

2010-06-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

WALT (we are learning to):

1. Title
2. Start with an interesting beginning sentence
3. Use adjectives to describe our special place
4. Write about why it's our special place

Enjoy reading our wonderful stories!

Lollipop's Playland
By Sam

Lollipop's Playland has spinning things and they are fun.
And it smells like chocolate.
And it is fun because you can play with whatever you want.
Lollipop's PLayland is fun and it has a big ball pit.

The Zoo
By Kai-Matthew

My Favorite thing is to go to the Zoo.
The Zoo is so fun and good and good and good! And it has zebras and
tigers and lions.

My Cousin's House
By Angus

Their house is really big. They have two pigs and one dog. And one cat. And five or four Chicks. I have to sleep in my cousin's room. He is fourteen and my other cousin is twelve. It sounds like chicks. It smells like a pig's pen. It is hot and it is fun because I get to jump into their pool and then I will swim back to the other side of the pool. And I like feeding the chicks and the pigs. Then I go and swing on the swing and then I go and have a rest and then I wake up. Then I go watch tv then I go and play and then I go to sleep.

Some Colourful Poems

2010-05-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had lots of fun writing poems about our favorite colours. Enjoy!

Pink is a party dress
Yellow is a lemon
Green is a grass hopper
Purple is grapes

By Esme

Yellow is my bedroom wall
Yellow is a bumble bee
Yellow is the hot sun
Yellow is a lemon

By Tai

White is a soft sheep
White is a soft fluffy cloud
White is freezing Ice

By Harper

Red is a big heart
Red is blood
Red is our table
Red is lava
Red is in a rainbow

By Evie

Blue is the sky
Blue is a white board pen
Blue is a nice flower
Blue is a table

By Angus

Red is blood
Red is my table
Red is a bike

By Baxter

Pink is a flower
Pink is a balloon
Pink is a t-shirt
Pink is a piece of pink paper

By Chelsea

Green is a piece of grass.
Red! Is... Some lava.
Black is a piece of black paper
Blue is a pencil

By Joshua

Indigo is the colour of the rainbow

By Pippa

Red is a Honda
Red is blood
Red is lava
Red is hearts

By Zane

Green is a green apple

By Rory

Blue is the sky

By Kai

Red is a volcano
Red is a red hat
red is a red table
Red is a star fish

By Erin

Flat Stanley Update

2010-05-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Last week we labeled the continents on our world maps. We talked about different maps and the reasons we have them. We decided that without maps we might get lost and not be able to find our way to wherever we are going! We then looked at where we are sending Flat Stanley. The continents that Flat Stanley will be traveling to are:

Europe
North America
Australasia
Canada
Africa

We talked about the ways that mail can travel. We came up with:

1. Planes
2. Helicopters
3. Trains
4. Cars
5. Buses
6. Trucks
7. Ships

We found out that when you put something in the post you need to put a stamp on it. After looking at a variety of examples we designed our own stamps. We made sure that we included:

1. The country that the stamp was coming from (New Zealand)
2. The cost of the stamp
3. A picture of something that represents New Zealand

Next week we are going to address our envelopes and glue our creative stamps on them. The sealed envelopes will be sent home so that we can post them with our mums and dads.

We can't wait to start receiving mail so that we can learn about all the different places that Flat Stanley will travel to!

Flat Stanley

2010-05-15T02:13:00.000-07:00

On Friday we looked at a map of the world. We then counted the different continents and found out that there are 7 continents in the world. We played a fun game to help us remember the different continents. You can practice with this game at home, just click on the link. We talked about some of the places that we are sending our Flat Stanley letters. Next week we are going to write our letters and practice addressing envelopes. We can't wait to post them!

INQUIRY

2010-05-15T01:49:00.000-07:00

A VISIT FROM STAMFORD!

We were very lucky to have a special visitor on Friday... Stamford, Mrs Sullivan's new puppy.
Mrs Sullivan is going to bring Stamford in for another visit in one month so that we can see how he changes. We noticed his big paws so we think he is going to come back much bigger!

Here are some of the questions that we asked Mrs Sullivan:

Where did you get Stamford from (Esme)
From a breeder in Christchurch. He came in a special puppy crate in a plane!

When did you get your puppy? (Rory)
We got our puppy when he was 8 weeks old and we got him one month ago.

How do puppies Grow? (Sam)
Puppies grow by eating good healthy food.

What do puppies eat? (Evie)
Puppies eat meat and vegetables. And they have special puppy food just for puppies. Stamford eats Weet-Bix for breakfast. They drink fresh water and goat’s milk.

When do puppies bark? (Harper)
When they are happy, or scared or excited. When somebody comes to the house.

Why do they chew everything? (Holly)
Because their teeth are coming through and they need something to help their teeth push through the gums.

Blending Colours

2010-05-15T01:41:00.000-07:00

We looked closely at some of Van Gogh's paintings. We then decided to create some of our own paintings of flowers in a vase. We blended primary colours to make secondary colours and we added white to our paints to make a lighter shade. These paintings took several sessions. First we drew outlines of our pictures in chalk, then we painted our flowers, the vase, and the table top. In the last session we painted the backgrouds a contrasting colour and made some finishing touches with pastel. Come and visit our classroom to see the finished paintings!

Flowers everywhere!

2010-05-09T00:29:00.000-07:00

We have been learning how to make sketches of flowers. We looked closely at different types of flowers. We saw that flowers have different sized petals. Some flowers only have four of five petals while others have more then ten! We transferred our sketches onto another piece of paper and used pastels to make our flowers vibrant and colourful. We then dyed the backgrounds of our flowers with a contrasting colour. Our next project will be to study the work of Van Gogh, we are going to create our own paintings of flowers in a vase. Come and visit our classroom to see our beautiful work.

Exploding Volcano!

2010-05-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

Room 2 and Room 4 put on their green hats (creative thinking) and became scientists!

We made our own volcano and created a chemical reaction (chemical change) by adding food colouring, liquid detergent, baking soda, vinegar and water. After mixing the baking soda and vinegar we watched the chemical reaction, green lava fizzed and bubbled out the top!!

We are interested in finding out how baking soda and vinegar CHANGE when they are mixed together.

WATCH OUR VOLCANO BUBBLE!

The Flat Stanley Project

2010-05-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

On Friday we started a Flat Stanley project. Flat Stanley is a book by Jeff Brown about a boy named Stanley who is flattened by a bulletin board and becomes as flat as a pancake. Because he is flat he is able to fold up and travel in an envelope, and in this way he travels around the world on lots of adventures. We are each making our own Flat Stanley to post away in an envelope to someone we know in a different city/country. We are looking forward to hearing about the adventures our Flat Stanley will go on and seeing photos of him travelling in a different city. Flat Stanley will help us learn all about interesting places all around the world.

Don't forget to bring in an address of someone you know who lives in another country or in another town in New Zealand.

Anzac Day

2010-04-23T02:17:00.000-07:00

Today we learnt about carrier pigeons and the special job that they had as messengers in World War I and II. We found out about Cher Ami who was a brave carrier pigeon, he even won a medal! We decided to make our own carrier pigeons. We found it quite tricky to write notes on the tiny pieces of paper! Have a look at some of our work.

Time

2010-04-23T01:51:00.000-07:00

WALT (We are learning to):

1. Tell the time to the hour and half an hour
2. Sequence events in the day
3. Determine if something takes a long or short time
4. Order the days of the week

We made a giant class clock and practiced making different times to the hour. It was fun! Here are some photos.

It would be great if we could practice telling the time at home. Try answering some of these questions:

- What time do you wake up on weekend mornings?
- What time do you eat lunch or dinner?
- What time do you go to sleep?
- What time do you feed your pets?
- What time does the sun go down?

- How long does it take you to get dressed?
- Walk, drive or bike to school?

CHANGES...

2010-04-15T19:51:00.001-07:00

As part of our inquiry learning this term we are discovering changes that occur in our world. We have already brainstormed different things that we think of when we hear the word "change." Come and have a look at our inquiry board and read some of our ideas.

We are going to begin our discovery by looking at the different ways that we have changed since we were babies.

Please bring a baby photo to school this week :)

Happy Holidays!

2010-04-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

We can hardly believe that term one has come to an end! We have had a wonderful time getting to know each other. We ended the term with a wacky hair fundraiser for autism and an Easter egg hunt.

We were very sad to say goodbye to Grace. She is going to America for 6 months! We are looking forward to hearing all about her stay when she returns in October. We will miss Grace, she is such a kind and thoughtful member of room 4.

We will be welcoming a new student to room 4 on the first day of term two. His name is Henry and some of you might remember him from Kindy. We can't wait to meet him!

Happy holidays everyone!

A visit to the Eastbourne Fire Station

2010-03-30T01:14:00.000-07:00

As part of our inquiry unit about keeping ourselves safe we are learning about fire safety. We brainstormed some questions about fire safety that we wanted to investigate. Some of our questions were:

1. I wonder why firemen wear masks?
2. I wonder why fire is hot?
3. I wonder why some fires are put out by airplanes and helicopters?
4. I wonder why firemen need to use fire trucks?

On Friday we visited the Eastbourne Fire Station. We were lucky to have almost all of our questions answered! Some of us felt frightened when fire fighter Mike put on his mask and protective clothing, but we were relieved to find a smiling face behind the mask. We had a great time holding the fire hose and exploring the fire truck.

Pastel Sketches

2010-03-05T02:31:00.000-08:00

We have been learning how to make observational sketches of all sorts of different objects. Today we used pastels to draw watermelon. We payed close attention to the different shades of the watermelon and used our fingers to blend colours. The watermelon was tasty and juicy :) Come visit our classroom to see the finished product.

Sun Safety

2010-03-05T02:09:00.000-08:00

We have been learning about how to keep ourselves safe. Today we put on our green creative thinking hats and designed our own bags out of newspaper, cello tape, and glue. We filled our bags with different items that we felt would protect us from the sun. We really enjoyed using our imagination to create our own unique bags. During the next few weeks we are going to be coming up with a safety question that we will investigate further. We would love if our mums, dads or brothers and sisters could help us think of different ways that we can keep safe!

Buddies

2010-03-03T22:27:00.000-08:00

This week we met our buddies from room 7. They read us stories and then we practiced throwing and catching balls together. They were excellent teachers! We are looking forward to doing lots of different activities with them. Next week we will be doing more fitness with room 7, we will be practicing throwing balls at targets and doing relay races.

M&M Statistics

2010-02-21T22:43:00.000-08:00

We have been learning about statistics. We have been organizing all sorts of things into groups based on common characteristics. We then compile our data into bar graphs, pictographs and tally charts. We are also learning how to read the information once it has been presented in a graph. The M&M investigation has been our favorite so far, we especially liked the part when we got to eat the m&ms!

A visit from Constable Julie

2010-02-13T21:56:00.000-08:00

This term we are learning about safety as part of our inquiry unit. We were lucky to have Constable Julie come to our class to talk about road safety. She read us stories and made us laugh! Next week we will be learning about what makes a safe classroom and playground. We might even put on our black thinking hats and go on a hazard hunt!

Our first week of school

2010-02-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of our first week at school. We have had a great time getting to know each other and are excited about beginning our learning journey together. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Photos to come!

2010-02-09T00:45:00.000-08:00

Welcome Room 4 to 2010!

2010-01-31T16:47:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone! My name is Ms Naik and I am going to be your teacher this year. We are going to have an exciting year together doing lots of learning and growing. I can't wait to hear about your summer holidays. See you all on Wednesday!