SLAM

Getting to know each other

What an exciting day yesterday in Room11. This was the first day our Mentors worked with their proteges from Wai Cols SLAM programme. Take a look!

Goal setting

Rewards: Playing Mancala together

More rewards:Testing skills playing Jenga.

Golden Time

Rylee, April and Mili-Rose hard at work making Slushies for Room 11 students. They were easy to make and delicious. The girls made sure each Slushie was fair by careful measuring.
We gave all the boys pink or peach coloured Slushie straws and all the girls got green or yellow.
Thanks girls for all your hard work.

Student Learning Conferences

Mums and Dad hearing about the wonderful learning that Amethyst had been doing last term.

Rippa Rugby skills taken by Wairarapa Bush Players

Room 11 listening to instructions for some rugby skill training

Ready to Rip

And they're off!

Passing the ball

Weaving in and out of the cones

Playing Rippa Rugby-Awesome!

This week we are coming to the end of our inquiry about Healthy Food.
Our small questions that the students asked were:
What are the names for fruit in Te Reo Maori?
What is a serving?
Is it healthy if it's got fruit in it?

The students took photos of their Brain Food and then we found out what their fruits were called in Te Reo. We have learned lots of other names for food as well.
We have learned how to ask for a particular food, find it and reply, here it is.
"Jackson, homai te aporo?"
"Anei he aporo"
Each mahi group has made a poster with photos they took of their Brain Food and the Te Reo word for their fruit. They stencilled their word on and laminated their poster.

We have learned about the kaitiaki (caretakers) for cultivated food- Rongo-ma-tane and Haumiatiketike the kaitiaki for wild food, Tangaroa the kaitiaki for all kaimoana that live in the oceans and Tanemahuta, kaitiaki of the forest and all the life that lives in the forest.
We have created some art work about the kaitiaki using pastels and a technique called scumbling.

We discovered a serving is the size of the palm of your hand rather than a plateful. This was confusing for the students because you serve a person a meal which was on a plate.
This means a small person with a small hand has a small portion and a bigger person with a larger palm has a larger serving or portion.

We discovered that fruit that comes in a mixture like zucchini cake or carrot cake or muslie bars has lots of added sugar and fats so is not healthy and should be only eaten occasionally.

Measuring

This term we have been learning about measuring length and area. Here are some photos of students out on the job!

Term 2 Newsletter

Room 11 Newsletter Term 2

This term promises to be another busy one!

Thanks for getting students to school by 8.45am

This gives them time to be Independent and get themselves ready for the school day and get their Brains switched on with Jump Jam. Jump Jam is a Brain Gym getting both sides of the students brains working by having to physically cross over the midline of their bodies.

Food:

Our inquiry continues this term “What is a healthy diet”

We are looking particularly at snack foods that students eat for morning tea and lunch.

Please consider portion size when preparing your child’s school food. A rule of thumb is no larger than the palm of their hand i.e. ½ a banana, ½ a small apple, ½ an orange cut into child sized pieces. A Squeeze of lemon juice or dip into lightly salted water stops fruit browning,  it could save a fortune in your green grocery bill! Keep lunches small until they ask for more, as you would be horrified if you saw the beautifully prepared lunches that end up untouched in our worm and compost bins.

Illness:

Please keep unwell children at home as bugs spread quickly in the classroom. We encourage coughing and sneezing into your elbow and hand washing. This term I would appreciate each family providing a budget box of tissues for class use.

Maths:

We begin this term with Area and length then we will be back into Number Knowledge, Basic Facts, Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and Division.

Homework:

If you do not see your child’s Homework Book Monday to Thursday please check in your Childs Bag. It’s amazing what a “mothers” look can turn up! -Thursday is Newsletter day. If your child is the eldest or only child at DPS it is their responsibility to bring it home for you to read. It contains all the information and dates you need.

Reading:

A great habit to establish is for students to read quietly for 20 minutes before lights out! A town library visit each week is encouraged.

Students are responsible for changing and recording the title in their next home reader. These readers are 2 levels below the level they are reading at in class and are supposed to be easy. This encourages fluent reading with good comprehension.

Let me know if they are too difficult.

Spelling:

Spelling words are from the essential lists that are based on frequency of use not difficulty. I highlight known words on a chart when tested at the end of each term. If not yet known and in their long-term memory, we re-learn them. We begin individual lists this term.

Good luck with the 9 letter spelling square this term.

Maths:

Basic Facts:

These are found in the back of your child’s Homework Book along with a help sheet. What I’m looking for is instant knowledge that just pops out of your child’s mouth without them having to think about it and work it out.

Some great activities to help your child with their Maths can be found on www.nzmaths.co.nz go to the jigsaw puzzle piece families. Next click on activities to do at home. Choose activities from Stage 0-3 first then stage 4 activities.

We have a classroom blog that you can access by going into the Douglas Park School Website.

Please come and see me or email me if you have any questions.

claireblomgren@douglaspark.school.nz

Kind Regards

Claire Blomgren

ANZAC DAY

Ben brought his Greatgrandfathers medals from World War 1 to show us because we were learning about ANZAC Day.

The family keep the medals in a cigarette tin given to the soldiers by Queen Mary. Thank you for sharing your family treasures with us Ben.

Ben will be wearing the medals at the dawn service on ANZAC Day.

The contestants looking very nervous at the beginning of the Competition.

Food Ninja Competition

Paticia taking part in the Food Ninja Competition at the end of Term 1. The competitors had to taste a variety of citrus fruits and name them correctly. They also had to throw an apple to their teacher who had to slice it in half accurately. We did not win.

Healthy Food Inquiry

Room 11s blind food tasting consisted of raw potato, pumpkin seeds, a sugar cube, raw onion, sultanas, granny smith apple, popcorn, rice cracker, Chocolate buttons and grapes. Most students got 7 or 8 out of 10 however Erin was our winner with 9 out of ten and she goes forward into todays Food Ninja competition along with Rylee and Patricia who won the close looking and drawing of a fruit and naming the fruit and vegetable respectively.

Healthy Food Inquiry

More guinea pigs!

Healthy Food Inquiry

Here are too candidates ready for the blind tasting>
Today we had the great food tasting competition.

Close your eyes, open your mouth!

Squeals, yuck, mmm, I don't know! Whats this?

Golden Time

Here are Ben and Jackson and Ryan are battling with their Bay Blades for Golden Time.

Rowan,April and Olivia are enjoying playing with their Littlest Pet Shop toys at Golden Time.

Hockey Development Person Sharon Visits

Room 11 enjoyed todays Hockey skills session with Sharon. She taught them how to dribble and stop the ball and to tackle the ball. The students then applied their skills in a game of Hockey Seaweed. Tyler was the last man standing!

Mathmatics

Triangles, Diamonds,Hexagons, Rectangles and Square Rectangles are shapes that can cover an area without any gaps or overlaps. Students discovered that circles and oval shapes did not tessellate because they left gaps.

Tessellating Shapes

Room 11 students experimenting with shape to see which ones would tessellate. They discovered that shapes with straight edges would tessellate.

This week we begin a new unit for Math's. We are looking at Transformation of shapes.

Today we looked at rotation. We rotated a shape around a pivot point. We talked about rotating clockwise and anticlockwise. Dominic was able to explain the difference between clockwise and anti clockwise to us. We looked at the second, minute and hour hand on the class clock. It clearly showed the hands rotating around a pivot point. The students then chose a 2d shape, traced it and then traced their shape again as they rotated it around their pivot point. These made a whole variety of patterns.

Tomorrow we will look at reflection.

Today some MIS students visited our class as part of their "Community Experience" option. They came and played games with our students. Half the students went to the hall for dodge ball, and ball games. The other half played indoor board games in Room 11. After half an hour the two groups swapped over. Our students were very excited as some of the MIS Students were family members or ex DPS students.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go!

Here is Joseph with the lap top computer Mrs Ryan has loaned him to work on his reading. Today he is off to teach Laura how to use the progrmme too! Way to go Jo!

Visual Mihi

Our class have been working on our mihi to introduce ourselves. We were talking about where our ancestors came from and how they arrived in Aotearoa New Zealnd. Joseph brought along a copy of a story about one of his ancestors arriving on Petone Beach. It was wonderful to share this taonga with the class. Thankyou Joseph and family.

Aquatics

Room 11 swims with Room 1 each day at 11.15.

We have three groups.

A confidence group who have learned to float on their front and back. They can also push off the wall and swim using a kick board. They are practising blowing bubbles and using long straight legs to propel through the water.

Group 2 are working on sustaining a long straight leg action.

Group 3 are working on using their arms. They have been pointing their fingers to enter the water and pulling back strongly with their arm. They have also been working on their breathing technique.

Erin has been in the trials for interschool. She had to be able to swim two lengths freestyle in our school pool. She has been training at St Mathews.

Learning at DPS

The students are learning how to play reading games independently.This one is called the "High Frequency Way."They are also learning how to take turns and play fairly while having fun learning their High Frequency words.

Learning at DPS

Room 11 students working co-operatively in their mahi groups. The leader is recording the groups ideas.

Welcome to Room 11s blog for 2012.

We have been working hard in Room 11 putting together and learning our routines and systems. This will take us a few weeks.

Homework will begin in Week 2.

Information will come home soon in our Syndicate Newsletter. Keep a lookout in your child's Book Bag.

The Year 3 and 4 students are in the Rata Syndicate. So now Years 0-2 are in Kowhai, Year 3 and 4 are in Rata and years 5 and 6 are in the Kahikatea Syndicate.

Swimming season is short so named togs and named towels in a swimming bag helps everything stay together.

Aquatics and Swimming is a compulsary part of the Physical Education Curriculum.

Please ensure your child has their togs and towel every day even if it is raining or cold. The weather is so changeable that we can have four seasons in one day and we would hate to miss out if it turns out hot!

I will do my best to keep posting regular blog updates.

Kind regards

Claire