Self Portraits

Miss B showed us this self-portrait of a High School student.  We noticed that the artist only used black and white paint but made shades of grey as well.  She painted on black paper.  All around the self-portrait are words that describe what the artist is like and things she loves to do.  We think she looks like a very interesting person!

This is our artist's model!  We are going to make a similar artwork.

Now it's our turn to make a self-portrait!

Miss B gave us all a black and white photograph of ourselves and we sketched the shapes we saw onto black paper.  Next we painted all around our head with white paint to highlight its shape.  After that we made sure that the whites of our eyes and our teeth were painted white, then we added shades of grey to show our T-shirt, cheeks, nose and mouth.  Lastly we painted the black sections.  When our paintings were dry Miss B gave us a large sheet of white paper and we glued our self-portrait into the centre of the white paper, leaving a wide border right around the painting.  Miss B told us to look at everyone's self portrait and write an adjective that describes that person.  When we went back to look at our pictures later we were suprised to see so many lovely words describing us! 

Miss B hung our self-portraits up in our classroom.  Now our room is getting full of our work!

Merit Award Winners for Week 8

Each week two students are chosen from our class to receive Merit Awards.  This week HG got her first Merit Award for the year for being able to select relevant and important details to include in descriptive writing.  Congratulations!  Our second student, SB has made a great effort to recognise and learn more high frequency words.  She is persistant and enthusiastic.  That's what Miss B loves!

Another exciting award handed out this week was the Environmental Award which was given to....

Room 14! 

We won it for our bright and informative classroom displays.  How exciting!

Here are our class leaders with our second Environmental Award for the year.

Shared Writing

Here is some shared writing we did all together about Fun Swimming last Thursday.  We had to think of extra details to add to our writing to make it more interesting for YOU to read!

Fun Swimming

Fun Swimming is a fun day we have once a year at our school.

At Fun Swimming the Middle School children have relays and races.  Teachers and some parents watch the children swim.

At Fun Swimming there is lots of noise because the children cheer for their team-mates. 

The water in the pool feels cold but the children fell warmer when they start to swim.

There are lots of different races to do at Fun Swimming like the shark race, jet boat race, swimming with a ball, swimming with one arm, the train race, freestyle and lots, lots more

What makes Fun Swimming fun is when a teacher puts a blow-up crocodile into the pool.  When that happens all the children have to get out of the pool as fast as possible. 

Come and watch our Fun Swimming next year!

Fun Swimming

Today we had Fun Swimming at school!  At play-time we all got changed into our togs and straight afterwards we went to the pool for loads of races and relays.  We had such a fun time. 

Here we are lined up ready to race, but first we had to listen to the instructions.

Mr P explained to us that when he put the crocodile into the pool we had to get out of the pool as fast as possible, even if we were in the middle of a race! 

Here are some of us enjoying the first races of the day!

Here our some of us waiting for our turn to race!

Here are some of us screaming our head off as we supported our team mates!  We were very noisy! 

Here are some of us racing with the ball.

Here are some of us relaxing between races.

Here are some of us making a big splash in the pool!

Here are some of us enjoying our shared lunch after all the fun!

We loved Fun Swimming today!  This is what we liked best:

TT - I liked the first activity best - the freestyle relays.

LF - I liked swimming with one hand!

HG - I liked the crocodile!  We had to sing "Who let the croc out?" when Mr P put the crocodile into the pool!

JT - I liked freestyle swimming best.

TP - I liked it when we had to run in the water.

KL - I liked it when Miss B took a photo of me with  my crocodile mouth!  I also liked it when Leitiana bumped the crocodile's mouth while swimming.

SC - I liked everything!

UM - I liked when we swam like a shark.

AM - I liked the last relay when we had to swim the fastest.

ST - I liked it when Mr P threw the crocodile into the pool and we had to get out really fast!

LG - I liked it when we did the train and swam freestyle with the rugby ball.

RD - I liked the choo choo train relay!

AD - I loved everything!



Descriptive Writing

Today, for our writing lesson Miss B told us that when we write descriptions we need to learn how to add detail to support our statements.  She taught us how to do that today.  Our topic was 'Going to the Doctor'.  We all know about doctors so this was an easy topic to write about.  After each sentence we had to think about some more information that we could add to explain what we said.  This is our combined effort:

Going to the Doctors

It's important to go to the doctor when you're feeling sick.

Before you go to the doctor, call them first for an appointment.  It's important to call them so that they know you are coming.

Sometimes when you visit the doctor you feel scared or nervous because the doctor might give you an injection or he may give you disgusting medicine to drink.

The doctor's clinic smells clean and fresh but it feels cold.  Doctors keep their work places clean so that there are no germs that can make us sicker.


We could have added more information in our writing.  What other things should we mention about a visit to the doctor?

World Water Day

Today is World Water Day (WWD), a day to think about the importance of clean, fresh water for drinking.  Water is essential for our survival but unfortunately the supply of water is not certain.  We must find ways of conserving water and protecting water supplies for the future.  The United Nations has designated March 22nd each year as World Water Day to help us remember that many people in our world do not have safe drinking water and some suffer from water shortages.

What can YOU do to save water and protect this vital resource for the future?

http://www.worldwaterday.org/

Card Making

Today we made cards for people who are suffering from the Christchurch earthquake.  We could choose who to write to. 


Here are cards that were made for Aranui School in Christchurch:

These cards are for Miss B's friend Sue who lives in Christchurch. 

These cards are for the family of a Japanese lady who died in the Christchurch earthquake.  We have a special flag which is made to show that we are sending our love to Japan.



Tricky Triangles

Today we were all given a piece of paper and were told to fold it in half, creating one line of symmetry.  Miss B explained that we had to cut from the centre of the paper so that when we opened it we could see a triangle there.  Miss B said that we only had three chances to get it right.  We thought it was going to be so easy to cut triangles but when we began our work most of us cut diamonds instead of triangles!  That made us think really hard about how to get it right.  Finally, KL found the secret!  She showed us how she made her triangles.

National Memorial Service - Remember Christchurch

Today we pause to think about the loss of life and the damage caused by the earthquake in Christchurch on February 22nd. 

We remember those who lost their homes, their jobs, their friends and family members, those who are still waiting to be reunited with a loved one, those who were far away from home when the earthquake struck.  We remember those who came to the rescue of others, from around Canterbury, from all over our country and from places far away.  We remember those who were hurt as a result of the earthquake, especially those who will have permanent scars.  We remember those too, who are suffering at this time in Japan.  Our hearts go out to them in their time of great need.  May God keep his hand over us all.

This afternoon we were able to watch part of the National Memorial Service to remember the suffering caused by the earthquake in Christchurch.  Many parts of the service touched us.  Here are our highlights:

I liked Dave Dobbin's song Loyal.  It was very special. 

I liked hearing the song 'Amazing Grace' because it reminds us that God is always with us.  When Hayley Westenra sang her final verse it was particularly significant considering everything that the people in Christchurch have been through.

     Through many dangers, toils and snares
     We have already come;
     'Tis Grace that brought we safe thus far
     and Grace will lead us home.

I liked it when Prince William said "Kia kaha!  Be strong!"  The other lovely message he brought to the people of New Zealand is that "grief is the price we pay for love." 

I liked the part when the people lit the fire as a symbol of God's presence. 

I liked the karakias because we were praying for all the people who are suffering.  Prayer makes people feel strong because we are asking for God's help.  Prayers are good too, because through them we are sharing how we feel.

I liked the front of the stage.  I saw lots of flowers, pictures and people. 

I liked it when people applauded the speeches and songs.  It showed that they cared.



We made paper flowers today to show our sympathy for those who were lost in the earthquake.  In particular we were thinking of Miss B's Japanese friend and her family for the loss of their relative in Christchurch. 

Miss B took our flowers to the Memorial Service at the Auckland Museum and left them there with the other floral tributes. 

Mystery Bag

Miss B started a new activity in our class this week.  It is called the Mystery Bag.  Every day one student can take home our special bag and put something interesting inside it.  Next, they have to write down some clues, describing what is inside the bag.  When that person arrives at school they will read out their clues and the rest of the class has to try to guess what is in the bag!

Yesterday it was AM's turn to do share the clues for his mystery object. 

See if you can guess what was inside the bag!

They are small.

They are a round shape.

They can be silver or golden colours.

They are hard.

We use them almost every day.

What is it?

Descriptive Writing

We've been doing Descriptive Writing at school.  Miss B is trying to get us to use connectives in our writing to make our sentences longer and more interesting.  How do you think we're doing?

My Lunchbox



Today I am writing about my lunchbox. 

On the front of my lunchbox I have a fairy with blue hair and a purple T-shirt.  A lunchbox can hold food inside.  I like the colours of my lunchbox.  I have a zip on my lunchbox so I can open it and close it.  My lunchbox is shaped like a square.  My lunch box is soft and purple.

SC

My Lunchbox

 

Lunchboxes are very important because you need them to keep your lunch in.  The colour of my lunchbox is pink.  That's why I chose it!  it has four containers to put my morning tea and lunch in.  Sometimes I have two lunchboxes.  They are both unique.  The lids are red and the bottom is clear.  The top three containers are for my morning tea and the bottom part is for my lunch.  When I open/close it, it makes a click, click, click sound.  I always take my lunchbox to school.  I take my lunchbox in my bag to school.  We can even take it to camps or sleepovers. 

Now you know why lunchboxes are very important and know all about my lunchboxes.

KL

Potato Chips

Miss B asked us to write about potato chips this week.  We brainstormed all the things we knew about potato chips - how they looked, smelt, tasted and felt, how they sounded when we ate or broke them.  We also thought about where we get potato chips from and why we eat them. 

Potato Chips



Potato chips are crunchy and hard.  They are delicious and they feel like toast.  They smell like vinegar, chicken and salt.  All potato chips look different, taste different, smell different and their sizes are different too.  Some potato chips are smooth, some are wavy, but they have one thing in common.  They are delicious! 

AM

Potato Chips

My best snack is potato chips.  They are salty and crunchy.  They feel oily.  They smell tasty.  We buy them from the shops.  They are a snack.

RD

Can you guess who these people are?

We wrote descriptions about ourselves to see if others could guess who we were.  See if you can figure out who these children are!

More Bronze Certificates Issued to our Mathematicians

Sadly, our two week free trial of Mathletics came to an end yesterday.  We hope to have all of our class members fully subscribed to Mathletics by the end of this term so that we can resume the fun and challenging activities online again in Term 2.

Most of the students who gained certificates for Mathletics over the past week are shown below:

We are so happy that as a class we have received a total of 23 bronze certificates over the past two weeks.  Three students earned three bronze certificates over that period!  That is quite impressive!