Monday 30 May 2016

Keeping Ourselves Safe

The Keeping Ourselves Safe programme will start in class over the next couple of weeks.  A letter went home with information for parents and caregivers last week, and there is an information evening tomorrow in the staff room from 6.30pm to 7pm for anyone who would like to come along and find out more.

If you are unable to make the meeting there is a lot of information at the following website which explains the programme to parents / caregivers.

Keeping Ourselves safe Info

If you have any questions at any point please get in touch and I will do my best to answer your questions.

Thursday 19 May 2016

Certificates

Congratulations to Lola, Ava, Mayer and Tessa who all received certificates in assembly today.

Congratulations also to Indie who was awarded the Walking School Bus trophy for this week.

Great job everyone - Ka pai!


Tuesday 17 May 2016

Science in a Van

This morning Emily and Alan from Science in a Van arrived at school to show us all some great science activities and engage our brains in predicting and observing.

We sat in the hall with the Year 4's and watched as Alan created some amazing bubbles.  Then Emily explained mixtures to us by saying how we take different items - like when we make a cake - and mix them together.




First she showed us how to create bubble mixture.  Then she mixed blue food colouring with water and asked for predictions.  Next she added vegetable oil to the blue water and asked whether we thought it would stay blue, turn green, turn yellow or do something different.  Many students predicted that it would turn green, but what actually happened was the two separated and formed two different layers in the bottle.  Finally she mixed baking soda and vinegar and talked about reactions.

Alan then did some more experiments with bubbles - this time talking about and filling the bubbles with different gases and explaining about density.




The students really enjoyed the session and there was lots of great thinking occurring as we made our predictions and observed the reactions.

You can find out more about Science in a Van here -  Science in a Van Website


Thursday 12 May 2016

Rhythm Interactive

Yesterday we were really excited to host John from Rhythm Interactive at school.

The Year 3's and 4's all went down to the hall at 11am for an hours drumming session.  Sitting in rows, with a drum each we waited.  Then John started chanting to us and we had to chant back.



He led us in a variety of drumming rhythms, putting words to the beat to help us remember.

He also told us a story of two African tribes and how they used music to communicate with each other from the mountain top to the valley.  He talked about how he was passionate about conservation and about how we can make a change.  He also explained about the different drums and instruments he was using including djembe, claves, guiro and a harmonica - he told us we were NOT playing bongos!



The students were really engaged with John's stories and the music we were all creating.  It was great to be involved in this activity.

Rhythm Interactive on PhotoPeach


When we got back to class we did a "Moment in Time" piece of writing where we wrote sentences with I saw, I heard, I wondered, I touched about our drumming session.  There was some fabulous writing including the following:

"I heard kids singing their hearts out.  I wondered if I was good at drumming.  I touched the smooth drum"  - Nicolo

"I saw lots of Year 3 and 4's.  I heard lots of beautiful singing.  I touched the rough top of the drum."  - Lola

"I saw big and small drums and other interesting instruments.  I heard laughing and happy voices.  I wondered how the man could do such good drumming.  I touched the smooth wood on the cool drum." - Bede

"I saw lots of drums lined up.  I heard lots of people drumming with drums.  I wondered what it will feel like to be a star.  I touched the drum and it was cold then I almost felt like it made me go to sleep."  - Reeve.

"I saw amazing beautiful drums.  I saw a man on the ginormous stage.  I heard people drumming up and down."  - Isla.

If you would like to find out more about John and his drumming you can visit his website - Rhythm Interactive  and you can also watch TED talks that he has presented.

Monday 9 May 2016

Keep on Running!

This morning, in beautiful sunshine, we headed out for our daily Cross Country practise.  The students are busy building their fitness and stamina in an attempt to be able to run or jog the whole course. 




We start every morning with a warm up stretch to make sure our muscles are ready.  Then we set off running past Rooms 17, 16 and 15, past the big tree down  the bank, along the fence and past the bandstand, across the bottom field, back along the bank by Rooms 7 and 8, up the hill by the car track, across the junior playground and the top courts and then around the whole course twice more.

We are lucky to have some great runners in Year 3, and I think that this year competition for the top spots is going to be tight in both the boys and girls races.



The Junior Cross Country race is due to be held in Week 5 - don't forget there is a Parents/Caregivers race too!

Thursday 5 May 2016

Kelly Sports

We were very lucky today to get the chance to have a taster session of a variety of different sports with Jeremy and Libby from Kelly Sports.

Rooms 20 and 19 joined together to try our hands (and feet) at Soccer, Hockey, Basketball and Dodgeball as well as a game of Toilet Tag.

We had to dribble the ball around some cones in soccer.






 For hockey the students learnt to push the ball and score a goal by getting it in a bucket.






In basketball the students had to dribble the ball using their fingers and then bounce it off the ground up into the air and see how many claps they could do before catching it again.





In Dodgeball the students played against each other to try and dodge, dip, duck and dive and dodge out the way of the balls whilst trying to throw their own at their opponents.


As you can see from the photos lots of fun was had by everyone.  If  anyone would like to take part in Kelly Sports after school activities, there is a notice coming home today with all the details on it.


 

Photos

Reminder that tomorrow (Friday) is school photo day.

In the morning we will be having individual, sibling and class photos taken.

Please ensure students are in the correct school uniform.

Many thanks.

May the 4th - Star Wars Day

Yesterday was a special day in Room 20.  We used the power of the Force to complete our work, because in honour of it being May the 4th, it was Star Wars day in class.

In the morning we started with cross country and then completed a Star Wars handwriting task.  Next it was time for Star Wars maths including problem solving, a basic fact BB8 colouring sheet and some R2D2 multiplication and subtraction games.

 




After morning tea  Mrs Dawe came into class to start on a space themed art project using fibre and fabric.  There will be several more sessions working on this piece of art over the term.


After lunch it was time for our reading tumble, as well as our usual reading groups, during which students helped Yoda and R2D2 find rhyming words and blend and digraph words.

In our writing session students were given the option to write a story based on two different writing prompts / photos.  The first was a photo of C3P0, R2D2 and an Ewok on Endor with the prompt - write a story about what would happen if you met these three in the forest.  The second choice was a photo of a Super Star Destroyer with the half completed Death Star in the background with the prompt - you're the commander of the Star Destroyer what do you do when the Rebel Alliance attacks.

The students were really enthusiastic about all the activities and we had a really fun day.


Monday 2 May 2016

Term 2 begins!


A huge welcome back to Term 2 to all the students and families in Room 20.  I hope you all had a fantastic holiday and are ready for an exciting term ahead.

This term we will be investigating the Solar System as part of our inquiry, we will be getting fit by doing cross country, learning about road safety and keeping ourselves safe and having the opportunity to learn some cultural dances and songs.  All this on top of our usual learning programmes.

We are reminding students this week about showing their CARE values at school, whether that is sharing and helping in class, being responsible for our books, showing respect to teachers and friend or always doing our best - all are important.

Students have received a new spelling list today and a simplified Home Learning sheet will be handed out on Friday.


Have a great week.