Sunday, December 11, 2011

Happy Holidays!

Well it's almost the end of the year and the end of Year 2 in Room 5. This week we met our new classmates and teachers in our new classrooms, and we're all ready for next year.
This year has gone very quickly but we have had great fun and worked very hard, well done everyone, you have been a really super class! We hope you all enjoyed our Christmas concert last week, and that you all have a fantastic Christmas! Enjoy the holidays and safe travels for those of you who are going away!



Thursday, December 8, 2011

EOTC week

We had great fun during our Education Outside The Classroom Week (EOTC). We went to the beach and worked in groups to make sculptures and dens, complete with fences and tunnels- we really are so lucky to be in Eastbourne! We also went to Avalon Park on Wednesday and took part in our Athletics Event at school on Friday. Room 5 are all such good athletes, good job! Let's hope we have good weather all summer!


Thursday, November 24, 2011

Art Auction

Next Friday (2nd December) Muritai is holding an Art Auction, and each class has been working hard to create their collaborative masterpieces. The auction is to raise money for the Green Gecko Project, which helps street kids in Cambodia. Room 5 have made two reproductions of Kandinsky's Circles- and we're sure you'll agree that they are worth a fair bit! There is also a caricature/portrait of the whole class. Please come along and bid!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Capacity!

We have been looking at capacity in Maths for the last few weeks, and how many millilitres (ml) and litres (l) different containers hold.
We estimated how many popcorn kernels would fit into different containers, and counted in 10s to check our estimates. Then we estimated how much more space the popped corn would take up. Half a cup of kernels filled half of a big ice cream tub! As we had been working so hard, we then ate some popcorn, yum!



Thursday, November 3, 2011

Disco

Last week we had the Junior disco where most of Room 5 dressed up and danced and had a great time with the all the disco lights and glow sticks. A big thank you to Home and School for organising it all.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Spring Poetry

This term we are looking at poetry, and we have started off by writing some "Colour poems". We talked about using adjectives and wrote a poem about green as a class:

Green is…

juicy grass
the colour of leaves in spring
yummy broccoli
fresh green trees
a jumping frog
juicy apples
the colour of very sour apples
William’s eyes
the colour of delicious peas
one of the Rugby World Cup colours
yukky slimey slime
Crunchy cucumber
Straight green stalks
the Irish Rugby strip
swishing whishing trees
waving bushes
stinky smelly monsters
green grass that grows in the ground
leaves whishing in the breeze
yummy lime ice cream
delectable pears
the colour of a smooth avocado in spring and summer


by Room 5

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Rugby World Cup!

Well it's almost over, but Room 5 have been following the World Cup very closely, as we all had an 'adopted' country. With the semi-finals over, it's now France (Maui's team) v. the All Blacks ( William and Finn's team). We had an All Blacks Day on the last day of term to support New Zealand. Go the All Blacks!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Happy Holiday!

Happy holidays Room 5! We have had a busy term this term and no doubt next term will be as busy (and shorter!) Safe travels and rest up ready for more learning ...and remember your sun hats!

Measurement

We have been doing measurement in Maths for the last few weeks. We made paper planes and measuring how far we could fly them(in metres and centimetres), and then we measured our heads, feet and waists in centimetres. Good work Room 5! We will be looking at more measurement next term.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Shared Lunch

Today we had a Shared Lunch because Edward is leaving us soon, and it's almost the end of term, and well, Room 5 have been working very hard recently!
Thanks to Mums and Dads for all the yummy food- we had lots of savoury food and also lots of sweet treats so there was something for everybody.. Miss Capper finally got to taste the famous New Zealand fairy bread too!
(*Photos don't seem to be loading at the moment so will follow..)

Friday, September 16, 2011

Conservation Week

This week was Conservation Week and we have been thinking about what 'Conservation' is all about. We looked at a photo (thanks Mr Ray!) of what was in our school bin, and sorted the rubbish that should have been in the red bin (food scraps) - most of Room 5 didn't realise that our leftover sandwiches should go in the food scraps bin. We agreed we'll put them in there from now on (or in our tummies where they really should be!). Let's try and cut down on the amount of packaging we use too.

We also looked at how bugs and insects play a part in the environment, and some native NZ birds. Take a look at
http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation-week-home/ for more information and ideas.

Finally, we headed to the beach and picked up some rubbish in order to keep the beach clean and natural- we found bottles, cans, a cricket ball and lots of plastic and paper. Remember to clean up after yourselves and keep New Zealand clean!



Thursday, September 8, 2011

Pesky Rat goes to WOW

You've heard of the World of Wearable Arts...now Pesky Rat has decided to wear clothes after all! We used materials and paper to dress our rats, and don't they look great! Well done Room 5!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Calendar Art

For this year's calendar art we have done patchwork Elmers. Please have a look and order a calendar, diary or some cards from the office - orders close on Friday 23rd September.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Innovations

Over the last few weeks we have been writing our own stories based on traditional tales. This is some of our exciting writing- can you guess which stories they are based on?

The Three Little Kiwis by Lucy

Once upon a time there were three kiwis in Australia. They decided they would find their own houses. The first kiwi found a house made of straw. The second kiwi found a house made of sticks and the third kiwi found a house made of bricks. Then the big bad dog came. “Little kiwi, little kiwi let me come in!” “ No way, Jose I will not let you in!”. “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down so he did. The kiwi ran as fast as he could to his brother’s house and the dog followed him. Then the dog was furious!!! The two kiwis ran to their brother’s house they rang the bell and a trap came down. The end.


V

The Three Sister Unicorns by Evie

Two years ago there were three sister unicorns. Their mother said they were getting too big for their house. She said to go and build their own house. The first sister unicorn’s name was Angeline the second unicorns name was Angel and the third name was Eva.

The first unicorn built a house out of curly hair. The second unicorn built a house out of wands and the third unicorn built its house out of cement. When along came the big mean wizard with his magic wand and he said LITTLE UNICORN let me come in.

Not by the sparkle on my horn horn horn.

Then I’ll sprinkle and I will poison your house.

But Angeline just escaped in time and she said open the door and hurry the wizard is after me.

The wizard said little unicorn let me come in.

Not by the sparkle on my horn horn horn.

Then I’ll sprinkle and I’ll poison your house.

But Angel just escaped in time to Eva’s house when along came the big mean wizard. He said Little Unicorns let me come in. Not by the sparkle on our horns horns horns.

But he couldn’t put poison on the house so he went down the chimney and OWW he burnt his face.

And that was the end of that.

The end



The Three Flying Harpers by Harper

Once upon a time there were three little brothers. One day they decided to build their own houses. So Finn the littlest one set off down the road. He hadn’t gone far down the road when he saw some whiteboards lying on the road. So he started to build his house. The next day there was a knock on the door.

Little Finn Little Finn let me come in.

No way Jose you’re not coming in.

Then I’ll burn and I’ll burn your house in.


Aliens See, Aliens Do -by Edward

A long time ago there was an astronaut selling helmets. He was walking along and some aliens lived in space too. The aliens stole the helmets and danced. The astronaut sat and threw rocks at them and the aliens threw rocks back at the astronaut. The astronaut threw his helmet on the ground and the aliens copied and he got his helmets back.



The Three Little Cats by Chelsea

Once upon a time in the forest a mean big bad dog came to chase the three little cats away from home. Their mum and dad got so worried that they had to go and find them. But they were too late! The big mean dog has already chased them up a tree and the dog is trying to get up a tree but wait because the dog got up the tree.

The cat jumped over to the next tree but the tree had a trap up on the tree so the good news was that they found their mum and dad and the other good news is the dog died.


We also thought of different endings for 'The Gingerbread Man' - how could he get across the river?


- -on a humongous black and white goose's back (Jasper)

- on a green lilypad flowing down the river. (Zoe)

- he fell in and his legs fell off and he was seen no more. (Angus)

- an otter gave him a lift but then ate him up. (Gemma)

- a sly fiery komodo dragon gave him a ride. (Flynn)

- he built a boat but the river was too strong...the gingerbread man

jumped into the river and was eaten by a crocodile. (Seb)

- a big friendly elephant gave him a ride. (Harry)

- he found some bark but it took him 7 hours as the waves were humongous (Luke)






V








Visitor to Room 5!

Today Room 5 had a special visitor....he had 4 legs and was very cute! Seb's puppy Lenny came to see us and was really friendly, he probably enjoyed the visit as much as we did!


Thursday, August 18, 2011

On stage

Today Room 5 performed their dance routine in front of the whole school in School Assembly. They have been practising for a few weeks with Mrs Hooke, and were absolutely fantastic,well done everyone!


Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Three Little Ducklings

This term in writing we are going to be covering innovations, or changing well-known stories slightly to make our own exciting tales! In Room 5 this week we got into pairs and thought of all sorts of variations for The Three Little Pigs. We then wrote a new story as a class using everyone's different ideas. This is what we came up with:

Once upon a time there were three baby ducklings who lived at home with their mother. When their mother told them it was time to go off and build their own nests, the little ducklings waddled off down the lane. The first duckling made his nest out of twigs, the second duckling made his out of leaves, and the third duckling made his out of mud.

When the enormous, terrifying dog came to try and eat the nests, they all speedily waddled off to the mud nest. They got some water from the pond and asked their friend Baby Dragon to breathe fire to boil it, then they put the water under his food. When the terrifying dog went to eat his food, he burned his nose. He ran all the way home crying and his mother took him to the hospital. After that the terrifying dog was never terrifying again. And that was the end of that story.



Monday, August 8, 2011

Eastbourne

Welcome back Room 5! Sounds like we all had exciting holidays. I was lucky enough to go to Eastbourne in the UK, and we have been talking about how different it was to our Eastbourne here in New Zealand. It was of course summer there too!


Friday, July 15, 2011

Book Character Day

Today we had a Book Character Day to raise money for the Orphans of Nepal. We dressed up as all sorts of characters and talked about our favourite books. What a good way to end a busy term!

Happy holidays everyone and well done for all the super costumes!



Monday, June 27, 2011

Conductor or Insulator?

This afternoon we made circuits again, only this time completed our circuit using paper clips. We discussed why this worked, and then predicted what would conduct electricity and what would be an insulator instead.

Some of us predicted that a pencil would conduct electricity- and still light the bulb- well done! We agreed this was because of the graphite inside it, which was a conductor. We then tried to complete the circuit with a balloon, a rubber, a longer pencil and a bulldog clip.

We also discovered that the longer the pencil, the dimmer the light.....can you explain why?

We then tested Harry's zip and the hole for the laces on Harper's new shoes. They both conducted electricity! We really are scientists!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Bright Sparks

Our new Inquiry topic is Electricity, and yesterday we discussed what we want to find out:

Is electricity in the air?

Is electricity nuclear?

How do you make electricity?

Where does electricity come from?

Where does it get made?

Can we make electricity ourselves?

Today we had a fun lesson investigating electricity, making circuits to light up a light bulb, and making static electricity to pick up paper frogs. Some of us even found out how to stick a balloon to the wall!





Thursday, June 16, 2011

Believe in yourself!

We've decided we're all good at something in Room 5, whether it's reading, climbing trees, BMXing, swimming or helping people. But do you ever think you can't do something?..... Watch this video and BE BRAVE!

The Ant and the Grasshoppers

Yesterday Room 5's Kikorangi reading group acted out The Ant and The Grasshoppers for us to watch. The grasshoppers sang and danced all summer while the ant worked hard bringing corn home on his back. In the winter who was happier....?
Great reading and dancing boys!



Monday, June 13, 2011

The Fun Bus

We read 'The Fun Bus' by Jill Eggleton and thought of our own ideas about what would make a fun bus! Have a look at some of our ideas, we had stripy buses, an army bus, a kissing bus, a park bus-what great imagination Room 5!


Thursday, June 2, 2011

In my opinion..


This week we discussed whether we should have a lion in the library! We wrote persuasive arguments to support our opinions, and presented our arguments very well, well done Room 5! Please come and see our ideas !

Monday, May 23, 2011

In a minute..

What can YOU do in a minute? Room 5 have been finding out as part of their TIME topic in Maths. How many minutes in an hour? How many hours in a day? Can you remember your months and days?
We have also been telling the time- maybe you can practise at home!



Friday, May 20, 2011

Arguments..!

This week in Room 5 we have been doing lots of arguing...to try and persuade others, that is!

We have argued whether we should be allowed to bring our pets to school and put them in 'Petcare', whether we should be able to choose a pet such as a monkey or elephant, and whether we should be able to go to school at night so we can play outside all day!

Room 5 have presented some fantastic reasons why they agree or disagree: elephants might wake us up if they were a pet, and giraffes wouldn't even fit in the house!

We agreed that Petcare at school might be a bit tricky, as they might escape and hurt or frighten some of the other children, although it would be fun to play with our pets at playtime....! Harry and Harper managed to convince most of the class that Petcare was not a good idea, well done boys!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Making music!

Yesterday we had a 'Sound Afternoon' when we made some different musical instruments.

We made box guitars, bottle pipes, sound sandwiches, and played the water flutes. We thought about how the different sounds were made, and why some were low and some were high.



Thursday, May 5, 2011

Science Week...

During science week we put an egg in vinegar to see what would happen. We predicted that the shell might crack, the egg might explode, the vinegar might go bubbly and the shell might go soggy. The result after a few days: the egg was like a rubber ball or balloon. The vinegar had dissolved the shell and although it was still egg shaped, it was soft and rubbery. It was still soft though, as we found out when we bounced it from a little too high....oops!

We also predicted what would happen if we put different coloured M & Ms in opposite sides of a water pot. The results...have a look!

Next week we will continue with sound as part of our 'Switch on to Science' topic.


Monday, May 2, 2011

Science Week

This week is Science Week and we started yesterday by asking what science was. We decided it helped us figure stuff out, and was all about explosions, experiments, how things work, and how we can change things.

Today we had a rocket launch at morning tea, and made telephones using string and paper cups. We made rice move by making loud noises, and explained this as the sound making the rice vibrate. We talked about how sound travels and agreed that this is how our telephones worked!
More science to follow...!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Reading

We have been looking at lots of traditional tales this week in reading. Some of the reading groups performed the stories as plays, and we have all learned 'The Little Red Hen' together. Click on the green button below to listen to Room 5 retelling the story, and look at some of our story maps! Can you remember the story to tell at home?

Keep reading over the Easter break!




Friday, April 8, 2011

African drumming

Yesterday we had a visit from Eddie Quansah, a musician from Ghana. He played the drums, the xylophone, the trumpet, sang some African songs, and explained how important drumming is in Africa. He played several members of the 'drum family' and the Gyil- an African xylophone made with gourds.

Several students from across the school went up to play instruments with him and we all clapped along and got into the rhythm. Eddie has played with Bob Marley and bands like Split Enz, and his visit was truly a fantastic experience for the whole school.



Thursday, April 7, 2011

Shifting Shapes

For the last few weeks in Maths we have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes, and we can now describe them by the number of edges, faces and corners. Take a look at what we've been doing!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Grandparents' Day

This term our Inquiry topic was 'Here's Our History' and we have been looking at how life has changed over the years. We brainstormed questions to ask our Grandparents and asked them, and our Mums and Dads, to complete a questionnaire about their school days.

Yesterday we had
Grandparents' Day, and the hall was filled with our lovely Grandparents and 'Grandfriends' for a special assembly where we showed some of our work and saw some old curios such as Box Brownie cameras. Some of our Grandparents couldn't make it but we were thinking of them anyway.

We then took our Grandparents to Room 5 and showed them all our hard work, and they shared some of the things they had brought to show us such as old photos, books, coins and games. To end the day, we all had afternoon tea together.


Thank you all for coming and sharing your memories with us, we had a lovely day!