Life is not like a box of chocolates ......

IT'S LIKE A GAME OF CHESS!

You have to know how you and your pieces can move. And you have to make plans and strategise. You often don't see immediate results but the fruits of your labour can be seen later down the track. (Yes, a game of chess can be quite a long game.)

Some Room 8 students have been studying the game of chess and are getting better with each session.

Here are some of the fabulous chess players:

Athletics Day Timetable

Tuesday 15th November 2011

Stitching!

Room 8 has really got into the swing of stitching. They have been practising on plastic canvas with great dedication. They have been learning how to do four different kinds of stitches.

1. Running stitch

2. Half cross stitch

3. Full cross stitch

4. Back stitch

We have also learned a really cool trick for threading needles. This trick came from Georgina's grandmother and it works every time! You don't even have to lick your thread! Ask someone from Room 8 to show you how to thread a needle the easy way.

Before we started learning about the kind of work that children involved in Child Labour do, we had a good think about all the jobs that Room 8 students do everyday.

Here are some of the Room 8 jobs:

- Cleaning the whiteboard

- Taking the roll

- Opening the windows and blinds

- Giving out CARE certificates

- Paper recycling

- Picking up rubbish from the floor

- Looking words up in the dictionary

- Returning the class books to the library

- Monitoring electricity usage

- Putting chairs up

- Putting things away

- Turning the lights on and off

- Pushing chairs in

- Handing out paper

- Buddy conferences to edit work

- Looking for examples of Standing Tall habits

Room 8 is full of very helpful people! I'm sure they are great workers around the home too.

Friday Night Disco

There was a good turn out at the disco and Year 3 proved how good they are at lining up by dancing around the dance floor in a very long locomotion line! These are a few photos that turned out.

Welcome back to Term 4

We are off to a good start for this busy and short term. Everyone is very proud of the All Blacks and this Friday there is a school disco. Bring $5 and your dancing shoes and come along at 5pm to the school hall.

Our Social Inquiry topic this term is Child Labour. We will be learning that children all around the world have to do different amounts and kinds of work. Many children have to work full time to help their families and miss out on education and learning but there are ways to increase their options and break the child labour cycle. Check out the links on the sidebar. We will be having an art auction in Week 6 to raise money for The Green Gecko Project in Cambodia.

In reading we will be doing guided reading groups and readers theatre. We will be reading with expression, a clear voice and intonation. In writing we will be learning the skill of persuading someone that you are right. In maths we will be doing number revision and geometry. Make sure you wear suitable clothes for doing athletics and there will also be time to learn stitching and weaving skills. Phew! Get ready for a busy and fun term!

23 October 2011

We won the RUGBY WORLD CUP! This is a day to remember in New Zealand history.

October 26, 2011

Buddies

We have a 'buddy' class from across the road. They are in the senior school and we have been to see their work and they have come to see our work. We went to see their amazing eco house projects.



This is the garden that is behind our buddy classroom:

Soccer skills

We were lucky to have a special morning with some professional soccer coaches, originally from Scotland. We have some very talented soccer players in Year 3!

Book Characters

The book characters in the books we read have come to life!

Boats that float

The success criteria: a boat that floats. You can use anything you find at home or in the classroom junkbox. Most of these boats floated but some did not. The ones that did not float tipped over or got too wet and sank. Have a look at these creations!

Getting to know one of the locals.

Lenny came to visit Room 8 and he was a very well behaved visitor. He was just a bit nervous and so he chewed on his lead. Then we gave him a tennis ball and he chewed on that instead.

Strange weather

The sky was dark. We saw some lightening. We heard some thunder. The electricity when out. But we weren't scared! A big load of hail fell out of the sky and it began to blanket the ground. We learned that light travels faster then sound. We also got a big tick for saving electricity yesterday afternoon!!

Calendar Art

WALT: draw pictures that we can enjoy looking at all year round.

Room 8 have created some really beautiful pictures that are eye-catching and individual. They traced photos of themselves and got creative with their choice of colours. These pictures will be put on the fundraising calendars and are available for purchase. Only the picture of your child will be put on the calendar you purchase.

Can you recognize your child?

Resilience

This video highlights the connection between healthy eating habits and being resilient!

Kapa Haka Sneak Peak

Have a look at a Kapa Haka practice. We are in the process of learning a new song.

Boat Floats

Meet the neighbours

There was a 'Pocket' behind the couch in Room 8! A cat named Pocket and another cat called Puss in Boots who both live over the fence came to Room 8 for a visit. They are very curious cats and had a good look around the class room. Don't be surprised if you bump into them when you are out doing cross country training!

Cross Country Practise

We went down to Williams Park to go over the course for the Cross Country Race on Tuesday 7th June. Everyone has made huge improvements since we have started practicing in the mornings. We are getting stronger and fitter! Keep up the good work!

Plays

We have been doing plays during reading time. We needed to know our parts well enough so that our voices would be clear and fluent and we needed to speak with expression and use our bodies to show what we were feeling. Room 8 has got some great actors!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Thank you very much to the Lion's Club for supplying the apples!

Writing Instructions

We have been learning how to write instructions. We had to write instructions for making milos and then we had to follow the instructions to make the milos. The instructions needed to have a title, a list of the materials needed, numbered step by step instructions and pictures to go with each step. It was really easy to see when the instructions were missing some steps or didn't have enough details! After completing the activity we did a class reflection. This is what we need to remember for next time.



We had a buddy conference before we published our instructions. We had to sit knee to knee and we needed to find two compliments to give to the other person about their work and one 'wonder'. The wonder had to be something that the other person could do to make their work better.

Well done Room 8!

Because you sat so well during assembly and because you showed so much courtesy, you got the Muritai Bear AND 10 minutes of extra play!

Reading and Follwing Instructions

We have been unpacking instructions during reading time and learning how to follow them. We have been making paper cups, pop-up cards, danish heart-baskets and purerehuas (spinners that make a noise). Some instructions were easy to follow and others much harder. There were lots of verbs, such as measure, fold, cut, and rule. We had to reread the instructions to make sure we were doing them right.

Tea bag rockets and lava lamps

Click here to find out how to make a tea bag rocket Children need adult supervision to do this at home.

We conducted our own science demonstrations in the class. The tea bag rockets worked really well. The air inside the teabag became heated and caused the tea bag to float up into the air. It worked just like a little hot air balloon.

The oil and water in the lava lamp don't mix. All you need to aid is food colouring and alka seltza tablets to get the blobs.
















Click here to find out how to make a homemade lava lamp

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 BLAST OFF!

The weather was great and the students were lined up to watch the science demonstration. The rocket was going to fly up into the air. BUT it didn't go according to plan. It turned out the pump was faulty and leaked air so the bottle couldn't get enough pressure to launch into the air far enough. Mr Devonport's bike pump helped and the rocket was able to travel 20-30 metres.

Similes

Your eyes are as bright as the sun. By Rufus

You are as soft as a kitten. By Georgina

You are as beautiful as a rose. By Holly

You are as brave as a lion.By Saxon

You are as sweet as a lolly. By Sabine

You are as soft as cotton. By Luca

You are lovely like a kitten. By Daan

You are as cute as a puppy. By Nina

You are as cool as a rockstar. By Rachel

You are as fast as a tornado. By Ethan

You are as small as a mouse. By Scott

You are bigger than a tree. By Mika

You are as cuddly as a puppy. By Charlotte

You are as nice as a Burman. By Amy

You are as fast as a cheetah. By Katie

You are as funny as a clown. By Lea

You are as soft as a cloud. By Charlotte

You are as smart as a scientist. By George

You are as witty as Jason. By Samantha

You are as wet as the rain. By Fergus

You are as fizzy as a fizzy drink. By Abigail

You are as hot as an oven. By Ethan

A simile compares two things.

Lest We Forget

Anzac Day was on April 25th. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Some of Room 8 students attended the Memorial Service on that rainy Monday morning last week. We walked past the memorial this morning and the lovely flower wreaths were still there. There were notes attached to the wreaths saying 'thank you' and 'we remember you'. We looked at the dates of the wars and the engraved names. The big wars happened a long time ago but we still remember.

Welcome back to school

Welcome back to Term 2! Hope you have had a fabulous holiday and I'm looking forward to seeing you all back in Room 8. What is happening on Tuesday?

Week 1 is National Science Week. We are celebrating as a whole school on Tuesday with the FIRST ROCKET LAUNCH using our new rocket launcher.

Then we are beginning a Term long SCIENCE Unit studying the FORCES OF FLIGHT.

We aim to:

• Learn how an aircraft flies.
• Carry out a series of scientific experiments to explore the the forces of flight.
• and then use our knowledge to design, create and test our own rocket using the rocket launcher!

HERE'S SOME other HIGHLIGHTS FOR TERM 2

As part of LITERACY we will be reading and writing lots of INSTRUCTIONS and EXPLANATIONS, following and reflecting on different science experiments. There will be lots of thinking, observing, measuring and reflecting as we carry out the different science experiments.

MATHS will be about addition and subtraction, measurement and statistics. Students will need to be able to measure accurately to the nearest metre, centimetre and second in their science experiments.

During VISUAL ART we will be delving deep into the finer points of painting, studying a model artist and creating some wonderful artworks of our own.

PE for the first half of term will be DAILY Cross country training, in preparation for the BIG RACE in Week 6. Later in the term, we will be developing our ball skills - throwing and catching.

Check out the Year 3/4 WIKI on the BLOG throughout the Term for fun videos, games and information from our in class learning.

Healthy Sandwiches

Here are the photos of our healthy sandwiches. It was a group effort and everyone brought an ingredient each. One person bought the carbohydrate, two people brought a vegetable and one person brought the protein. It was great to see the teamwork as everyone helped to make the group sandwich! Well done Room 8!

Eddie Quansah

Eddie Quansah came to Muritai on Thursday for a very entertaining performance with drums. He is originally from Ghana and is now living in Australia. We learnt that drums are used for communication over long distances and village celebrations in Africa. Eddie has been playing drums since he was a little boy and his drum playing certainly got us moving! Here is a video clip off Muritai students getting up and having a go.

Rippa Rugby Tournament

Well done to our students who participated in the Rippa Rugby Tournament at Fraser Park on Thursday. It was a great event and our students did us proud. Thanks to Mr Skilton for organizing the team!

Mind Mapping

We have nearly finished our first Mind Map. Mind Maps are a different way of getting our ideas down on paper and organising them in a brain friendly way.

For more information about Mind Mapping see The Learning Den