Freestyle Drumming

Today, in music, we had a go on a drum machine. Ms K wants one for her Christmas present! Watch the video until the end to see our skills!

On a tall, tall cliff by Andrew Murray

We read On a Tall, Tall Cliff and were inspired to create some masterpieces. The story was about a friend who asked his friend to move his whole house so that they could be neighbours. It was very cunning. We hope you enjoy our Art. We based out drawings on Alan Snow's illustrations from the book.

Games for the New Entrants

Today we designed matching games for LZ14, the New Entrant class. We thought about what they might need to know and decided to make matching cards with the world flags, capital cities of countries, the maori colours and numbers, homonyms, compound words and animal families. See if you can match them!

Andre's Polar Bear Poem

Comparing Bears

Bears are large mammals. Some bears are alike, some are different. Bears look wild and scary. Don't you dare think bears are cute! They are wild. They will hurt you. Black bears eat honey, insects, fruit and fish. Polar bears eat fish and seals. They both have sharp teeth. Polar bears have naps and black bears hibernate. By Harman

Bears are furry animals. Cubs are little cute bears. They look like mammals. They hunt for food but Polar Bears hunt for fish in the sea and Black Bears hunt for insects.  Everyone thinks bears are cute, but they're not and they are dangerous. When there is no food for the bears they have to hunt everywhere. If they don't have food for a long time they won't survive. By Liang

Bears are big dangerous animal that can scratch your back. They look cute but they have huge teeth. Polar Bears hunt for food in the water. They eat fish and seals. Polar bears have webbed claws to help them swim. Black Bears hibernate, but Polar Bears just have little naps. All the bears are mammals. Baby bears are called cubs. Cubs stay with their mother for 2 years. By Keisha

Polar Bears

On Thursday we created some polar bear art. First we made glaciers out of newspaper. Then we used blue bits from magazines to collage the sky. Then we stuck some paper towel down and dyed it blue for the water. We also stuck some glitter paper on to make the water look shimmery. Next we practised drawing polar bears on newsprint before drawing the final bear on blue paper. We then used silver, white and yellow pastel to make it look like the polar bear's fur.

Did you know:

polar bears have black skin

polar bears are left handed

polar bears like eating seals and walruses

polar bear babies are called cubs

Halves

Today we learnt about halves. First we had to find half of a circle, square, rectangle, hexagon and a triangle, then we had to work out a half of some numbers. Ms K had a bonus question which was finding half of 462. Harold got the answer correct! We are practising halving big numbers which have even numbers in them like 682, 448.

Walk on Wednesdays

This week three people from our Learning Zone were rewarded for walking to school by Mrs Hishey from the Travelwise campaign. Well done Harshil, Mellisa and Kawiti!

Teddy Bears' Picnic

Today we had 20 visitors come to our Learning Zone! It was so exciting. We learnt about where the name 'teddy' came from. Apparently in 1902 the USA President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear when bear hunting and a newspaper wrote about it. Then a toy maker started making bears and they have been popular ever since!

We had a shared morning tea with Tiny Teddy biscuits, fairy bread which was cut into the shape of teddies made by Andre's Mum, fried bread from Harshil's Mum, some sandwiches and a cookie from Michael's Mum and biscuits from Ben and Tanisha. We all made a sandwich with our toys and could choose from three fillings; vegemite, strawberry jam or runny honey. Then we met with all the other classes and went to the hall for a picnic. We sat on blankets and ate our sandwiches. The New Entrants had made teddy shaped biscuits for every single student in the Junior Learning Community! What a treat. We finished the day off with a rotation of Robbing the Nest, Rugby Skills and playing Musical statues and chairs. 

Michael's News

On Friday Michael went to Hamilton with his Dad and his Dad's boss to watch the All Blacks play Japan. He brought the tickets in to class to show us. They cost $ 194 each! But it was worth seeing the All Blacks. Michael's favourite player is Richie McCaw. The All Blacks won the game. Michael brought in a magazine to share with the class. 

Connor is Player of the Year 2010 and 2011!

Connor plays soccer on Sundays at Howick Soccer Club. His team is called United Fencibles. His shirt is black and orange. He went to prize-giving and was awarded a medal for being the Player of the Year for 2011! Well done Connor.

Fractions

Over the next two weeks we are going to be working on fractions. We will not only be looking at a half and a quarter of shapes, but also of numbers. If you have any links to great fraction games please leave a link in the comments!

Click on the link here ----> Fractions

Wohooo Alaska! Blog goal.

We have now had a post from Alaska, Russia, South Africa and South America. We are still hoping to get a star on our map from Greenland and Antarctica. Ms K has decided to extend the timeline from end of Term 3, to December 2011. Next term we will write to the Antarctic centre in Christchurch to see if they can help us with our mission. Seeing as we have already had hot chips this term, Ms K thinks a shared lunch of food from around the world in the last week of the school year would be more appropriate.

Teddy Bears' Picnic

Buddy Chips

Today Ms K bought chips for our buddy class and our learning zone. She ordered $18 worth of chips, but accidently the Fish and Chip shop man made $80! Ms K didn't know what to do. She felt sorry for him, so she bought $40! Now we have full tummies but Ms K has no grocery money for the week! It was a nice surprise.

Answers from Wendy Orr

Dear Everyone

I'm glad you were all so happy that I answered! I have a Google Alert that tells me when people blog about Nim's Island, and very occasionally, I see something very special, like yours.

1. Were you good at writing books when you started? From Connor 

Writing is like all other skills - you get better at it with practice. But sometimes you can be lucky and start with a story that seems to be easier to write than some of the ones that come later. (Ark in the Park was the third book I wrote, even though it was the fifth book published, and it is nearly exactly the same as my first draft.)

2. Who are you supporting in the Rugby World Cup, Canada, France or Australia? From Ms K

         (Very quietly) Canada. But what I love best is watching the haka. 

3. Did you go to Auckland for the opening of the World Cup? From Michael

          No, but I saw a bit of it on the plane coming from the Brisbane Writers Festival. 

4. Where do you live in Australia? From Kawiti

          On the Mornington Peninsula, which is south of Melbourne. 

5. What is your favourite movie? From Liang

          The Fox and the Child. (And Nim's Island, of course!) 

Happy reading!

Wendy

Progress!!

Congratulations to our readers who have made the most progress this term in moving up the reading colours for the PM Benchmark test. Andre is now ready for the Probe test!

Nim's Island Quiz

Wendy Orr wrote to us!!

The author of the book Nim's Island commented on our blog posting of letters from Jack to Nim. How awesome is that? I wonder how she found our post. Maybe we could email her with some questions?

Here is what Wendy wrote:

What wonderful letters and great drawings! Nim would be very happy to get those.
Happy reading
Alex Rover

Rugby World Cup Celebrations

Romania Fever

Romania

Nim's Island

We are reading the novel Nim's Island by Wendy Orr in class. We are also watching the movie starring Abigail Breslin and Jodie Foster. We have been making slideshows about sea lions and iguanas. We are spotting differences between the book and the film. We have learnt about acting from Abigail. We drew Nim's Island by following a dictation of instructions from Ms K. We also imagined that we were Nim's Dad, who is shipwrecked, and wrote a letter from him to her.

Tanisha in Romanian/Polish National Costume

Romanian national costume

This is Tanisha wearing Ms K's Polish national costume. it is very similar to the Romanian national costume. Doesn't she look fantastic?

Exposition writing

Today we tried our hand at exposition writing. This is when you write to present your point of view. Our subject was whether we thought PE kits were a good idea or not. 17 people thought PE kits were a good idea and 3 thought they were a bad idea. In our school all students from Yr1-6 have to change into their PE kit for fitness and sport.

I think students should have P.E. kits because when you do Jump Jam and you are wearing your uniform it can smell a lot. If you don't wear your P.E. kit and you are doing exercises you might get holes in your uniform. I think schools should have P.E. kits.    By Michelle

I think students should have P.E. kits because if you get very super sweaty you can get changed and be alright. It is thin so you don't get super hot. You can use it to not get as sweaty as Jetipeti. It is part of our school uniform so we have to wear it.  By Connor

Flash Haka

There is a new phenomenon sweeping the world: the Flash Haka! It started in Sylvia Park, Mt Wellington, Auckland and in two days has spread to Spain and Australia. The All Blacks will rule supreme for the Rugby World Cup and this is how we show our support worldwide!

Heroes

Today we discussed what we thought made someone a hero. We decided that they need to be strong, kind, generous, talented and caring.

Rugby World Cup Song

There's a dream 

I feel so rare, so real 

All the world in union 

The world as one

Gathering together 

One mind, one heart 

Every creed, every colour 

Once joined, never apart

Searching for the best in me 

I will find what I can be 

If I win, lose or draw 

It's a victory for all

It's the world in union 

The world as one 

As we climb to reach our destiny 

A new age has begun

We face high mountains 

Must cross rough seas 

We must take our place in history 

And live with dignity

Just to be the best I can

Sets the goal for everyman

If I win lose or draw

It’s a victory for all.

It's the world in union 

The world as one 

As we climb to reach our destiny 

A new age has begun

It’s the world in union

The world as one

As we climb to reach our destiny

A new age has begun

It’s the world

The world in union

A new age has begun

Excellence Award Week 5

Well done to Moriah for being awarded the Excellence Award. Moriah is taking more risks in her learning and contributing to class discussions with increased confidence.

Romanian Art: Costel Larca

Romanian artist Costel Iarca captured attention on the international art scene for a patented application technique that leaves the canvas textured and three-dimensional. This procedure involves layering latex caulk and acrylic paint, giving depth and definition to the surface of his unique abstract and figurative paintings. We used one of his pictures to inspire our own creations. Didn't we do an awesome job? Come visit LZ4 to see our portraits.

Cross Country

Ms Koltonowska's Yr 2's have WON the cross country in 2009 and 2010. The pressure was on. This year Mellisa came 1st for the Yr3 girls and Harshil came 2nd for Yr 3 boys race. Connor came 2nd for the Yr 2 boys race. Well done my champions. One gold and two silver medals is an awesome result from 19 students who ran. For everyone who crossed the finish line- well done! We are a winning team.