We have been working very hard in class this past fortnight. For writing we are exploring how to write to persuade. Poetry has been  a part of our literacy as well, we have covered the acrostic poem, diamante poem and the language feature of alliteration through some tongue twisters. We have sharpened our basic facts skills and tried new strategies. Most of the students in Room 4 participated in the Football field day and have shown such great commitment in attending the practices leading up to the big day. We are getting more creative in the coming weeks exploring the visual artwork of New Zealand’s artists – so watch this space.

On Tuesday the Glen Taylor year7/8 team had their first Netball grading game. We all had mixed feelings, We versed Remuera Intermediate. My position was GS (Goal Shooter). We were dong pretty average in the first quarter of the game. Then we started to get more and more points as time passed by. At the end we ended up defeating our opponents. Our scores after 40 minutes were 33-1. It was a new event for me and it was really fun. At the end of the game we were filled with joy and happiness.

Our first game yesterday at the netball courts. We were all amazing at the job defeating our opponents by 33 – 1. Ka Pai Team!!

This week is Sign Language Week. We understand that some people aren’t able to hear as well as others, and sign language is there to help them be a part of conversations. Room 6 has been learning some new signs, including the alphabet to help them spell out their names. They are excited to share what they have learnt. Take a look at the video and feel free to leave a positive comment.

Song credits: MzVee – Sing my Name

This is a throwback to photos where we had made our creative self-portraits. It was a whole process but the results are immaculate. Mrs Fonua used a stencil maker to turn our portraits into line art and then it was placed into a laminating pouch where we had to outline the details of our faces and shade what needed to be shaded.

Then we dyed the actual face colour of our choice and used the house colours as our backing paper.

This week, the literacy students in Room 16 have started to learn all about Taniwha. Today, we discussed what we already knew before we watched a movie about taniwha. Then, we had a discussion about the things we learnt about taniwha and created a brainstorm on the whiteboard.

Here is a picture of our brainstorm hanging in our classroom.

Welcome back to Term 2!

This term our class is looking at force and different push and pull movements.

Our challenge was to create a marble run.

This seemed easy at first. We all had grand ideas of loops and curves with spectacular finishes.

We soon realised calculating angles, sharing resources and direction and speed created many obstacles with our

prototypes. All of these are opportunities for collaboration and great learning.

At the moment we are busy making adaptations to our original sketches.

Here are a couple of photo’s of our work so far. What do you think? We would appreciate any ideas.

Have you ever created a marble run? We will send some progress updates.

There is a lot for me to consider, sort through, and examine. With so many reading resources and options available, it is overwhelming to choose from. There is so much content presented during these sessions that it is quite a task to get your head around it.

This week the significance of devoting effort in choosing the right texts for my students were highlighted—what will genuinely enable my kids to accomplish their learning goals? Relying on your local or school library are not your only options any longer we now have so many digital options at our fingertips. The key here is to know your children their interests, likes and dislikes. You must make use of your in-depth knowledge of each student’s unique learning needs, abilities, interests, and textual and contextual knowledge in order to choose and employ appropriate texts for your class. You will also consider the  language, and culture of each pupil.

I am aware of the various reading approaches like Reading to, Shared Reading, Guided Reading, and Independent Reading.  I am now intensely aware that I have not provided my students with various genre’s and text types to adequately broaden thier horisons. Plot patterns, character dynamics, and storytelling approaches vary throughout genres. Children who are exposed to a variety of genres develop their critical thinking abilities and their capacity to decipher and grasp complex texts by learning how to examine and assess various aspects of storytelling.

This digital teachers booklet that was shared with us is a great way of tracking the genres and text types that you are presenting to your pupils. The task board has been a great way to engage my kids in their reading.

What I have learnt after starting reading workshops with my Ruru group.

Even though they all evaluate themselves as “good” readers or have high scores on the PAT, Star, or Steps, they still primarily read for direct knowledge— finding an answer in the wording of the text.

What I would like to share with my syndicate is Journal Surf and the available advanced search filters—I think they are fantastic!

I loved the comparisons  about reading as a window, mirror or a sliding glass door.

What we read can be a window (to look into the world of others), mirror (a reflection of ourselves so we can see who we are) or a sliding glass door (giving us the ability to go into other worlds) in our lives.

It’s important for our children to see themselves and others in the media they consume.

We have been connecting with our Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu team and their schools. We explored the landscape around the school using Google Earth. We noticed some similarities and difference to Glen Innes School.

We also used Google Maps to find the distances to Levin North School. It would take us the entire school day, over 6 hours to drive to Levin North School. We could walk to Glen Taylor School in 16 minutes.

We have been thinking about the personal information we share online.

We explored the blogs of some awesome Manaiakalani learners to see what they have been sharing. 

We noticed they shared a lot about their learning, things they are good at and enjoy doing in their spare time.

Next tried a thought and sort.  What personal information would we share and what would we keep private.

Here are Ana’s Smart Footprint decisions.

Welcome back to school for Term 2!

This term we are Inquiring into Drama. Team 3’s focus question is How can I showcase my feelings and the feelings of others?  We will be transforming into various characters through poems, plays and other means. Looking at how we can convey our emotions using our faces and bodies.

The Team 3 teachers had a go for ourselves at the Immersion Assembly on Monday.

Check it out!!

Next week, the Y8 kids are heading to Kauaeranga Valley Christian Camp for a 3 day leadership camp! This will involve them learning about the qualities that make up a great leader and putting these new learnings into action. They will have to push themselves outside their comfort zone and learn to lean on their team to be successful.

While the Y8s are at camp the Y7s become the leaders of the school. They will be engaging in a Step Up program that aims to develop their ability to lead by example in a variety of situations. This is a great training ground for them as they look ahead to being Y8s next year.

Be sure to check back here soon for photos and highlights.

Janayla and Naua got a certificates at our team assembly today. Janayla got a certificate for good listening and Naua got a certificate for staying focussed in class.

This term our school’s inquiry is ‘Transformers”.  We will be focussing on different aspects of performing arts, more specifically drama, but we will look into music and dance as well. It is going to be a fun term of learning for us. It is also an opportunity for us to continue on with our MITEY learning – talking about how we can use drama to express ourselves and our emotions.

Get ready for a creative and art-filled term! Click this link here to see some images of our Immersion Assembly from Day 1, Term 2.

Today we explored the location of schools in our Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu Blogging Team.

Click the image to explore schools on Google Earth. Double click the school name to zoom in.

We noticed that there are lots of green fields around Koputaroa School compared to our school and Panmure Bridge School.

We are looking forward to sharing and commenting on our Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu  blogs.

Ruru Class @ Koputaroa School

Room 7 @ Panmure Bridge School

Our theme for Term 2 is “Transformers”.

We will be focussing on different aspects of performing arts, more specifically drama, but we will look into song and dance as well. It is going to be a fun term of learning for us. It is also an opportunity for us to continue on with our MITEY learning – talking about how we can use drama to express ourselves and our emotions. Get ready for a creative and art-filled term! Click this link here to see some images of our Immersion Assembly from Day 1, Term 2.