Hi Room 8!

I hope you have had a very Merry Christmas and are having lots of fun now that it is holidays.

I am writing you this message because you might remember we asked my friend Chris in Antarctica some questions on his blog. He has been really busy with his work down in Antarctica BUT he has answered your questions for you! If you would like to find out the answers to our fantastic questions then you can follow this link http://chrisjury.wordpress.com
You will need to scroll down to where it says "Hello Miss Collier and Room 8 Muritai School" and then click on comments in blue writing on the side. There you will find the answers to Room 7's, Room 11's and our questions.

Enjoy the rest of your holidays and see you at school next year!!

End of year!!

Well it is the last day of school and we can not believe how fast the year has gone!
Room 8 has had a great year full of fantastic learning and lots of fun!!
We hope you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a nice holiday break.
See you in 2010!

Antarctic Treaty

This week in Inquiry we will be learning about the Antarctic Treaty. Do you know what this is?

Look at the map here it might give you some glues...
What is a treaty? (Have a think about our class treaty, what is it and what does it mean?)
What does the map tell you about the Antarctic Treaty?
Does one country 'own' Antarctica?
What types of statements might the treaty include?

Have a think about these questions and be ready to share your ideas and thoughts in Inquiry this week!

Inquiry Presentations!

For the last few weeks Room 8 have been researching an Antarctic animal. We have been finding information from books and websites. Our big question is "How does (our animal) survive in the extreme weather conditions of Antarctica? To answer this question we had to research their habitat, the food they eat and where the fit into the food chain, their appearance and all of these factors contribute to their survival.
We were then able to choose how we wanted to present our information to the class, for the last week and a half some people have been making Diaramas, some people are working on posters, news presentations and videos. Below are the videos that some of us have made. The rest of us will be presenting our 'animal inquiry' to the class on Monday. We hope you enjoy our videos!

Cute Penguins
By Isobel

Penguin Puppets
By Madison

Exciting Emperor Penguins
By Amy

Fur Seals
By Mia

Bears talking about Emperor Penguins
By Thomas

Penguins
By Christian

My Penguin Video
By William

Cool Leopard Seals
By Euan

Emperor Penguins!
By Marten

EOTC Timetable

YAY EOTC!!!
EOTC starts next Thursday with our 'Electives Day.' Here is a copy of the timetable for you. You can click on the table below to make it bigger.
We are really looking forward to the fun outdoor activities we have planned. Hopefully we get some sunny weather!

More fabulous artwork!

Last week in Room 8 we finished our Pirate ships! They look fabulous now they are painted and have colourful pastel sails and accessories!
We have designed our very own board games! We are working on finishing our game boards to go with the clay counters we have made and painted.

Green-gold celebration

On Friday Muritai School was awarded the green-gold award for enviro-schools. We had a fabulous day starting with a powhiri to welcome visitors from around the community and the country. We then went into the hall for some great student speeches and a performance by our amazing kapa haka group. We then ended the day with a delicious hangi lunch! We were very lucky to have parents and whanau group members to help prepare and serve the food to us. It was a very exciting day! Take a look at some of the photos from the celebrations...

Green-gold!!

This slide show is a summary of what Room 8 has done this year to learn about and contribute to our environment. We hope you like it...

Writing blog

Read Room 8's creative COLOUR poems on our writing blog!

Antarctic Animal Study

This week Room 8 have started an indepenedent 'Antarctic Animal' study. We have each chosen an animal we would like to find out more about.
We are researching the following things about our animal: habitat, appearance, food, foodchain and survival (how does our animal survive in the extreme conditions of antarctica?)
We are using books and the internet to research relevant information to put under our subheadings.
Watch this clip! It might help you to think about the foodchain, where does your animal fit in the foodchain? What would happen if an animal was removed from the foodchain?

Our calendar art!

Here are some photos of our amazing pukeko! We painted the blue background and then we dyed newspaper green to make the grass. We then used pastel to colour our pukeko.
We hope you like them! You can also come into Room 8 to see them hanging up and look in our class clearfile at the colour copies which will be on our calendars.
Remember you can order cards this year too! They make great christmas cards.....

Check out this great clip and see how Antarctica was formed from the giant continent of Gondwanaland millions of years ago. Thanks Mrs Chao for finding this interesting video.

Can you answer these questions about Gondwanaland?
- Can you name the 7 continents we have today which were created from Gondwanaland?
- How long ago was it that Antarctica became surrounded by water?
- How do we know Gondwana ever existed?
More to think about:
- Why do you think Antarctica only had a few animals even before it became so cold?
- How did Antarctica beome covered in ice?

ANTARCTICA

Our Inquiry this term is 'Antarctica.' As a school we are starting to think Globally. So how are our actions affecting the world around us?
Our 'big idea' is that people's behaviours at home can influence places far away.

Today all the Year 3 and 4's went into Room 7 to look at some photos of Antarctica. We did a KWL chart (this stands for what I KNOW, want I WANT to know and what I LEARNT) to help us start thinking about this big idea.

We had some great questions which got us thinking about what it must be like in Antarctica. Some of our questions were: How are icebergs made? Why is it so cold in Antarctica? Can you live in Antractica? How do the animals survive when it is so cold? What animals live there? What lives under the ice? Why are there no polar bears in Antarctica?

Art exhibition work

Here are some examples of our Art work.

What's the time?

This week in Maths we are learning all about time! This includes telling the time on analogue and digital clocks. We will be learning to read calendars and timetables as well. This link http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/math-time.html has some fun games you can try at home. I especially like "What time is it?", "Bang on time" and "Train times."
Miss Collier

Inquiry for Week 8!

In week 8 we will be very busy with Inquiry. We will be starting a new part of our Inquiry: Nga Iwi o te whenua. We will be reading about and discussing the role (or jobs) of the Department of Conservation. Do you know anything about DOC? What do they do in New Zealand? You can start thinking about or researching this so you are prepared for Inquiry this week! I have put a link to some short videos you might like to look at under the Inquiry section.
At the end of the week we will also be sharing some of our family history stories from our homework.

Te Papa Trip

Check out our writing blog to see all the wonderful things we have written about our trip to Te Papa on Wednesday. You can even leave a comment about our writing!


Yesterday the Year 3's went to Te Papa to learn about a powhiri which is a welcome onto a marae. We looked at a marae, an entrance way to a maori village (waharoa), some greenstone (pounamu) and learnt some new maori words: wero means challenge and koha means gift.

By Georgia, Grace and Ella.

Thanks for all the comments!

Wow Room 8! Thanks to all the parents and children of Room 8 who have posted such positive comments on our class blog. I look forward to reading them out to the class tomorrow :)

Miss Collier

Well done Year 3 and 4's for your great dance performance at the Micheal Fowler Centre on Friday!!
All the Year 3 and 4's had such a great time watching choir's, dance groups and music groups from the Wellington region at the Artsplash: Schools for Schools concert. Thank you to Mrs Hooke for all her hard work organising everything!! And thank you to all the parents who came to watch us. Take a look at the photos below...

Nga Iwi o te whenua

This term our inquiry topic "Nga Iwi o te whenua" which means "The people and the land."

We have been learning about how Maori immigrated to NZ.

Next week we will be starting the 2nd part of our Inquiry which is all about people's "Emotional and Spiritual connections to the land."

We will start by thinking about where we live at the moment: Eastbourne, Petone or Wellington.
Look at these photos of Eastbourne. What words come to into your mind when you look at them?

Next we will be learning more about different connections people have with the land (Why is it special or important to them?) You might like to start investigating where your family came from before they came to Eastbourne as well! Have FUN!

Oral Language

This week we have been bringing in newspaper articles to share with the class. We are learning to think about key words (from the article) from the article using the 5W's to help us. We used James' article "Historic Club cafe destroyed" as an example. Next week we will be being 'news reporters' and planning a report about a new newspaper article to share with the class.
By James and Thomas

Key Competencies

Our Key Compentency Focus this term is "Relating to others."

But what does that mean???

Here is what 'Relating to others" means to Room 8:

We started to think about how "Relating to others" could link to our Inquiry -Nga Iwi o te Whenua (The people and the land). Some great ideas included:

- Learning about different places, languages and cultures.

- Taking an interest in others.

We also thought about how we use technology to relate to our families, friends and other people all over the world. Some ideas included: Photos, emails, phone calls and even blogging!

Great thinking Room 8!!

Maori Langauge Week

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 27 Hōngongoi - 2 Here-turi-kōkā 2009!
Celebrate Māori Language Week July 27th - August 2nd 2009.

Māori Language Week has been celebrated for over 30 years. Since 1975 Māori Language Week has been an opportunity for us to speak it, or to show our support to speakers of te reo Māori.

We speak te reo maori in Room 8 by using te reo greetings in the morning (for example: Kia ora, Morena or Ata marie), our teacher sometimes gives us simple instructions in te reo (for example: rarangi mai - line up, whakarongo mai - listen). We also play games to learn Nga nama (the numbers).
In Term 3 our focus is to learn Nga Tae (The colours) in te reo. Keep checking the blog for photos of Room 8 using Te Reo in the classroom.

For ideas about how you can be involved in Maori Language week click on this link:
http://www.nzlive.com/en/te-taura-whiri-i-te-reo-maori/te-wiki-o-te-reo-maori-maori-language-week-2009

Music this Term

Remember when we went to Capital E to watch 'Strike' perform? Take a look at these videos of a group called 'Stomp' and another one of some students making 'music' with classroom objects.


This term we will be learning about Beat and Rhythm. Can you think of some classroom objects or home objects (for example: kitchen objects like spoons, cups) you could use to create a beat or rhythm?

Holidays and Term 3!!!!!

Hi Room 8!
Check out our new BlOG!!
I hope you have all had a fun holiday break. I am looking forward to hearing all about your holidays and sharing some photos of my holiday with you on Monday!
Take a look at the new items on the blog:
New Arts Online section.
New games under maths fun: test your maths skills by playing 'Be a mathionaire!'
In Term 3 we will be learning about Multiplication so have a go at 'Test your timetables here.'

Enjoy your weekend and see you all Monday!
Miss Collier

Year 3&4 Worm Farm

Worm Farm actions!

This week we have been very busy. We have taken home to share our portfolios with our families. They are full of samples of the Maths, Literacy, Inquiry, Te Reo, P.E and Arts learning we have been doing!

We have also been busy informing the rest of the school about our Year 3/4 Worm Farm! One group has made posters to go around the school, one group have done presentations in other classrooms and another group will be showing a voicethread in assembly this week! There are some photos below...

We are also looking forward having vegetable soup on Friday which will be made from the veges we have been growing. YUM!

What a busy term we have had in Room 8.

Have a great holiday!!!

Art

Friday 19th June
Every Thursday we do art. This week we did tinting with a primary colour and white. We were painting snails with different tints. Then we glued it on a big piece of yellow-green paper. Then we drew colourful pastel leaves and flowers to put in the background.
By Jules and Euan.

Friday 12th June

Everyday except Friday we go to fitness. There are four activities. The teachers are Mrs Chao, Mrs Drinkwater, Mr Dobson and Miss Collier. Our teacher was doing step up's, Mrs Drinkwater was doing skipping and Mrs Chao and Mr Dobson were doing relays. First we went to Miss Collier. After that we did skipping with Mrs Drinkwater. The next day we did the other two rotations with Mrs Chao and Mr Dobson. We had an awesome week!
By Louis and Liam

Blogging our writing

Today in Room 8 we posted some of our writing on Room 8's Writing blog. This term we have been writing reports about animals. Today we chose our favorite part of a report on ladybirds we have been writing.
Scroll down and you will find Room 8's writing. Then double click on the Writing blog link to find out some interesting facts about ladybirds.

Art and Kapa Haka

Friday 5th of June

This week on Thursday 4th of June we did art. For art we used a coloured paint (blue, green, yellow and red) mixed with white to make tints.

This week on Wednesday morning we did Kapa Haka. It was so exciting when Mr Chadwick said that we were ready to perform in assembly.

Here are some photos of us performing at assembly this afternoon.
By Freya and Isobel.

Wow Week 6!!!

Wow it is week 6 already - how time flies when you are having fun!!!

A day in the life of Room 8: Wedenesday 3rd of June.

8:40am We get organised for the day by getting out our homework books out for Miss Collier to
mark, changing our browsing books and then settling into some silent reading.
9:00am Register and notices
Straight into Maths!
We have just finished studying fractions (remember to practice what you have learnt by
playing the fraction games under maths fun!).
This week we are refreshing our place value knowledge before we start on
measurement next week. To warm up we played one of our favourite games called
Number hangman. It is just like normal hangman but you have to guess a 4 digit
number by asking questions like "Is there a even number in the hundreds column?"
Next we learnt a new activity called Number line flips using blank number lines and
pegs. We practiced what we had learnt by finding the missing numbers in a set of
number cards on an activity sheet.
10:00am Kapa Haka. Boys - Ka mate! Girls - E rere taku poi. We are performing in Assembly
this week!
Morning tea
10:55am Writing - editing and practice publishing our Ladybird Reports.
11:45am Reading - We are are reading and performing plays! We all know the character we are
playing and the words we need to read. Now we are learning to read with expression
and in the voice of our character.
12:10pm Spelling - th words like thistle, third, brother and maths.
Lunch time
1:30 Silent Reading
1:40 Inquiry - Composting.
Look below to see all the interesting information we are finding out about worm farms!

Worm Farms

Today in Room 8 we made our own mini worm farms!

Materials: 3 ice-cream containers, scissors, a hammer and nail.
What we did:
1. We had to cut a big whole in two of the ice-cream container lids.
2. We punched 4-5 holes in the bottom of two of the ice-cream container bottoms.
3. We have three containers all together: on the top layer we will have a container with a lid and holes in the bottom, on the middle layer we will have a container with holes in the bottom and a lid with hole. On the very bottom we will have a container with no holes in the bottom and hole in the lid. This was a bit tricky to get our heads around!!

So....What will be in each container?
In the top container we will have food scraps.
The middle container is where the worms will start then they will crawl up through the holes to get to the food. Their castings will be left behind in the middle container (and will be used later to fertilise our plants). Liquid will drain from the middle container through the holes at the bottom into the bottom container (this liquid is also a great fertiliser for our plants but is very strong so we need to add water to it).

Now that we have made our worm farms we need to start thinking about exactly what food scraps we can and can not put in it. Worms do not like citrus fruits (oranges, mandarins, lemons) or onions - why do you think this is? Can you think of some food scraps or other things we can put in to feed the worms?

Take a look at this mini video of another room's worm farm. What will we be doing differently with our worm farms?

Vector Orchestra

Here are a few photos of the Year 1 - 6 trip to the Michael Fowler Centre this morning. What a wonderful way to start the week...

Composting!

This term our inquiry is all about "Making a difference in the garden."

Big idea: We can keep the garden healthy by composting waste and growing worms in a worm farm.
Check out this great video on composting. How can we start composting at school?

Fractions

We are learning how to do fractions. When we started it was very interesting and we thought it was fun. We are learning more and more about fractions.
Amy and Madison
Room 8

Jump Jam

Jump Jam wakes us up for the day. We do it with almost everyone in the school, the juniors and the year 3 and 4's. When we are done we go back to our classroom and are ready for learning.
By Julius and James.

Cross country

Every morning we warm up and run around the block to practice for Cross country
Me and Euan are really enjoying cross country.
By Thomas and Euan room8.

Report writing

We have learnt that if you want to write a report you will need to include... Title, Introduction, Headings with facts underneath and summary. We also need interesting words like topic words. We are writing reports about elephants at the moment.
By Marten and Max Room 8.

Art

On Thursday the 14th of May Room 8 did some art. We chose two primary colours and mixed them together. We made different shades for different bunches of leaves.
By Charlotte P and Charlotte W

Snails!

Can a snail slide over a sharp razor blade? Can you see the snails tentacles moving?

How does a slug eat?

Look closely at this video of a banana slug eating. What can you see inside it's mouth?

Enviro-schools!

This week in Room 8 children brought in items from home that they could re-use in some way. Below are some photos of items a few of the children brought to show...
Watch this space for comments from the Room 8 kids about how they used their items.

Amy - my item was a milk bottle. I cut it in the middle so I could put pencils, rubbers and stuff in it.
Ella - My item was also a milk bottle. I cut it in half to make a pot to plant tomato seeds in!
Lauren- my item was a mandarin bag from the fruit shop that I used as a bird feeder. I could fill it with bread and hang it in a tree.
Freya - I brought an old earl grey lavender tea container that I could use to hold my pencils.
Willow - I brought a tissue box that I could re-use to hold my little toys.
Madison - My item was a washing powder box. We had to think of how we could re-use it. I thought I could make a pencil holder too.
Jules - I had a metal chocolate container from my Dad's chocolates. I used it to keep my magnetix in.
Charlotte Wilson - I made a pencil, rubber and glue stick holder out of small and large yogurt containers. Then I covered them with pictures from magazines.
Louis - I brought a ice-cream container that I can use as my lunch box. Lots of people in our class use ice-cream containers to keep their lunch in at school.

Kapa haka

This term Mr Chadwick will be teaching the Year 3 children some really fun Kapa Haka activities on Wednesday mornings. For the last two weeks the children have been learning actions using tii rakau (sticks which have been made by rolling up old magazines). They have been practising the actions alongside the waiata (song) E papa waiari. Room 8 is especially lucky to have Room 21 (Mr Chadwick's class) as their buddy class this year so they have been practising with their buddies too!

E papa waiari
taku nei mahi
taki nei mahi
he tuku roimata

E aue, ka mate ahau
E hine hoki mai ra
E aue, ka mate ahau
E hine hoki mai ra

Maku e kaute
o hikoitanga
maku e kaute
o hikoitanga

E aue, ka mate ahau
E hine hoki mai ra
E aue, ka mate ahau
E hine hoki mai ra

Term 2

Well we are all rested up after our holidays and are looking forward to a very busy term. We have started lots of exciting new topics this week.
For Maths we are looking at fractions. Take a look at our Maths Fun! list for some great new fraction games you can play at home too!
For writing we are learning all about writing reports. We have read two reports already: one about honey bees and one about frogs. We will soon be writing our own reports.
For Inquiry we have started a new topic all about snails, slugs and later in the term we will be looking at composting. This will be great for our vegies!
In ICT we are learning to post comments on other classes blogs. We are also learning how to post comments on our class blog so we can update it.

Tsunami drill

On Monday the 5th the whole school went for a tsunami practice up the Mckenzie Road at about 10 o’clock. Mr Skilton rang a long bell for the warning. We walked up the hill and the Year Seven and Eights had classroom names we lined behind . It was all very organised.

By Gina and Tessa
The blogging team

Our Veges!

We've planted Broccoli, Lettuce, Cauliflower, Carrots, Spring Onions, Basil, Celery and Strawberries aswell!







Come and take a look...If you are at school over the holidays and think they need a water go for it!

Well done Room 8!

Well done Room 8! We had a wonderful time in Term 1 and everyone has worked really hard. I hope you are all having a relaxing and FUN break. Keep checking out our class blog for updates and notices. I'm looking forward to teaching you how to post comments next term so you can keep it updated too!
I hope you had a Happy Easter and I look forward to hearing all about your holidays when you get back to school.
P.S. Spot the Guinea Pig!