Meet the Teacher

Sparklies

The X-Men reading group have been reading 'Sparklies' by Rachel Hayward. In the story a boy called Simon finds a star and decides to keep it. We thought about whether or not it was OK to keep something if you found it. Here is what we thought. Do you agree?

If you find something is it OK to keep it?

If you find something in the street would you take it? We think it depends on what it is. For example if you found a bike you should leave it where it is so whoever it belongs to can find it if they come back looking for it (Sebastian). If you found a pet walking around the street, you should take it to your home and find out who the owner is so you can return it (Sativa). If we found $100 in the street and no one was around, most of us would keep it because we wouldn't know who to give it to. However some of us believe that you should not take anything because it doesn't belong to you (Jolui) and you could also get into trouble (Kishan).

Overall we think if you find something in the street, you need to make a decision on whether it is precious to someone or if you could return it to the owner. On the other hand if it is not valuable or couldn't be returned you should be OK to keep it.

At the Beach

This term we are writing recounts. A recount is a story about a certain moment in time. We wrote a recount together about a day at the beach. First we discussed the features of a recount such as using past tense verbs, including thoughts and feelings and using language features such as similes. We then used these features in our recount. Enjoy

At the Beach

The soft sand slipped between my toes. “This is how every weekend should be!” I thought as the sun warmed my skin. My family were laying out our picnic as I strolled towards the edge of the sea.

“Splash” my foot landed in the crystal clear water sending a tingle up my spine. I hoisted myself up onto the slippery rocks as the waves came crashing in around me.

As I ambled along I saw something darting along the tide line and up the side of the rocks. I looked closer to see what was happening. There in front of me were heaps of scurrying sharp-clawed crabs.

Suddenly I felt an unbearable pain coming from the big toe on my right foot. I screeched “Arghhhhh!!!” I looked down at my foot to see what was causing this agony. There clinging onto my toe was a colossal crab. I tried shaking my foot to release the crab’s grip but it just hung on even tighter. I began hopping like a startled rabbit.

I shook my leg ferociously and with a “whoosh” the crab went flying into the sea. However it wasn't the only one! As I was shaking my leg I lost my balance, slipping on the rocks, I tumbled backwards into the cold ocean. The briny water flew into my mouth and up my nostrils “Yuck”. A mixture of seawater and snot dribbled out of my nose as I stood up. I spat out the remaining seawater but my mouth felt like someone had tipped a whole saltshaker down my throat. I coughed and spluttered as tears ran down my cheeks.

I wiped the water from my eyes and looked to see people pointing and laughing at me. I turned to look towards my family to see if they were worried about me and they were laughing too. My face went red with embarrassment. I looked like a soggy wet tomato. “What a way to spend the weekend!”

Pepeha

Kia Ora

This week we had our first Te Reo lesson with Matua Edwards. Here is a sample of some of our pepeha saying the names of our parents and our own name. Enjoy.

The Old School Bus

The Justice League reading group read "The Old School Bus" by Jennifer Beck. They then compared a country school to a city school.

The Old School Bus by Jennifer Beck

WALT: Compare and contrast a city school with a country school

If you are a child in New Zealand and live on a small farm in the South Island you may go to a country school like in the story ‘The Old School Bus’ by Jennifer Beck. On the other hand if you live in a large city like Auckland you would probably go to a city school like Halsey Drive School.

One similarity between these schools is that both have pupils travel to and from school. However the teacher picks up the children at the country school in a bus. This is probably because their parents may be too busy in the morning on the farm to drive a long way to school. The children in the city usually live closer to their school so can walk, ride scooters or go in the car with their parents. Our teachers don’t pick us up for school because they are too many children to pick up and they are busy preparing for the day.

Another similarity is that both schools have pupils and teachers. However in the country school there was only 15 children and one teacher in the whole school. Halsey Drive has about 500 children and 21 teachers plus two deputy principals, one principal, teacher aides, Takumi who manages ICT and Mr Hewitt who manages the property. We believe going to a city school is better because you have lots more friends and opportunities to learn from different teachers.

Lastly these schools both have rules that the staff and children must follow. However the country school doesn’t have strict rules for instance they can share food and go on a mystery trip. In Halsey Drive school we are not allowed to share food because of allergies and religious reasons. We also can’t just disappear on a trip without parent’s permission. We don’t want to share food because some of us have allergies so we are happy with the city school’s rules.

Overall we think a city school is better for our education and helps us to be better learners because they are more children to play with and make friends. Going to a larger school with more teachers means there is also more fun opportunities to be a singer, play music, dance or play sports like netball, soccer, hockey and cricket.

Chinese Zodiac

The Justice League reading group have retold the Chinese Zodiac story using the Puppetpals app. Enjoy

Water Safety

This term as part of health we have been learning about water safety. This is very important because we are spending lots of time in the pool at school and many of us go to the beach during the warm weather. Today we defined what water safety meant to us. Enjoy

WALT – Define Water Safety

Water safety is being safe around different types of water. These can include the bath, pools, rivers and the sea. 

New Zealand is surrounded by water that is why it is important for people to be water safe. If we are not keeping safe around water it could lead to bad injuries, drowning or even death (Kevin). To stay safe we must most importantly learn to swim and follow the safety rules around water.

Firstly there are rules we must follow at the beach to stay safe. You should always stay near the lifeguard. If you are far away from the lifeguard they may not see you and you could drown. You should also be sensible when near water (Dev).

To be water safe you should swim between the flags when at the beach because if you swim outside the flags you could get stuck in a rip, drown or hit some rocks. Water safety is also knowing your limits which means you should know when water is too deep for you (Skye).

Further rules for water safety include wearing a life jacket when on a boat and checking for dangers when swimming in rivers.

Water safety is very important for everyone. We must follow the rules around water to stay safe.

Chinese Zodiac

Did you know 2015 is the Chinese Year of the Goat?

This week we have been reading the 'Chinese New Year Animal Zodiac Story'. A long time ago in China, the Jade Emperor decided there should be a way of measuring time. On his birthday he told the animals there was to be a swimming race. After reading the story The X-Men reading group used a SOLO hot map to describe the rat and the dragon from the story. They then collaborated on their description below.

 WALT – Describe characters in a story

In the story of the Chinese Zodiac there are many animals. One animal in the story is the rat. The rat came first in the race so had the first year of the zodiac named after him. The rat was also mean because he pushed the cat from the ox into the water. Although the rat was only small he was smart to trick the cat. Now this is meant to be why rats and cats never get along.

Another animal in the story is the dragon. The dragon finished in fifth place in the race, so has the fifth year of the zodiac named after him. The dragon was kind and helped the animals and the people by making rain so they had fresh water to drink. He also helped the rabbit by blowing the wind, which pushed the log the rabbit was on to the riverbank helping him finish the race.

Overall we think the dragon was the best animal in the race because he helped others instead of cheating like the rat.

Silhouette Portraits

In art this term we are looking at portraits. We created a special type of portrait called a silhouette. A silhouette is an outline of a person and is usually done in black. We made ours a little bit more interesting by filling in the silhouette with images of all the things we like.

What is Learning?

As part of our Identity Inquiry this term we are asking ourselves “How do I learn best?” Today we set about defining what learning actually means to us. We organised our thinking using a SOLO hot map and then wrote the following summary together as a class.

WALT – Define Learning

Learning is the gaining of knowledge, values or skills through experience, practise, or study or by being taught.  However not all learning takes place only at school, people learn throughout their lives from friends, family, workmates and by educating themselves.

Ways we can learn include reading, watching and listening to others. Learning is also gaining knowledge of skills that are useful and can be used to make our lives better. For example learning to drive can help us get to places quicker and be able to get to work.

Gaining knowledge without using it in our opinion isn't really learning. Learning is when people take new information and use it in their daily lives.

Being able to learn is important for our futures because without it we wouldn't be able to have good jobs and be successful in life.

We think our definition is relational because we have several ideas about what learning is and said how learning is important for our futures.