Room 11 2010

End of 2010 School Year

2010-12-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

It hardly seems like yesterday that all my new friends were arriving for their first day of school in Room 11. What a fabulous year we have had together. I hope you are all able to enjoy our photo and movie memories on the DVD sent home last Wednesday. If any parts of the DVD will not play on your home computers or DVD players you are welcome to bring a memory stick over to Room 11 after school one day next term. We can have a holiday catch up at the same time as copying all the data across for you.

If you are stuck inside due to the much needed rain take a minute to enjoy this slide show of our shared buddy morning tea on the last day. First, however, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all your support this year and wish you all a safe and happy festive season.

Tracy

Bye Bye Buddies on PhotoPeach

What's been happening in the last 2 weeks?

2010-11-07T22:27:00.000-08:00

First of all apologies for the noticeable lack of Room 11 blog for the past few weeks, but hopefully we are back on track now. For the last few weeks we have been very lucky to have had Abbe working with us in Room 11. She is in her first year of teacher training and did a great placement with us. We all miss her smile in our room but she will be popping in regularly to see how we are all getting on.

As part of Nelson Arts Festival week we were entertained by the very funny Craig Smith, author of Wonky Donkey and Willbee the Bumble Bee.

Have a look at him here performing live.

For 1 hour each week this term we are working with a group of 8 elementary English language learners from NMIT. They are helping us with our art lessons and providing opportunity for us to practice our speaking and listening skills as well as working on our inquiry questions. So far we have made some super sunglasses as part of our Sun Smart topic, check out the finished pieces on our kidzstuff blog.

We have learnt the basis of simple weaving using paper and...........

........fabric

Can you guess what we used the finished pieces of weaving for? Keep an eye out in Room 11 this week to discover the answer.

Over the last 3 weeks we have been involved in the Keeping Ourselves Safe program and helped by Constable John in these lessons. Thank you for the support for home with the homework sheets. We feel the program has been a great success in empowering our children to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations.

We have also shared in some significant whole school events over the last few weeks. Firstly Room 8's record attempt at air guitar. To have a look at the whole school in action go to the school website at http://www.nelsoncentral.school.nz/

Secondly we are all very excited about the arrival of a new piece of equipment on the adventure playground. A grand opening was held where the student council demonstrated how to use the equipment. A big thank you to the student council and the School Community Group who worked together to make this happen.

WEEK 6 TERM 4
Sounds: short and long vowels
Grammar: verbs
Tricky words: their and other
Maths: Numeracy
Inquiry Topic: Sun Sense
P.E. Run Jump Throw
Art: Dream Catchers

THINGS TO REMEMBER
Wednesday: Walk to School Day
Thursday: Library Day
Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th December: Kowhai end of year production, School of Music, afternoon performance for parents and families
Tuesday 14th December: kowhai Big Day Out at Tahuna trains, transport needed
Wednesday 15th December: Suter Visit, leave school at 10.25 return for lunch, helpers needed
Thursday 16th December final day of school, lunchtime finish

Sun Smart Kids

2010-10-14T22:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to term 4, it was lovely to see all those smiling faces return safe and rested on Monday morning. With summer just around the corner we have started of our new inquiry topic "Sun Sense" with a 2 week Sun Smart unit, learning all about " slip, slop, slap and wrap". Take a look at our learning so far:

Please support us in our Sun Smart message by supplying a wide brim for use at school during this term. If you wish to send sunblock for your child to use please name it clearly and hand it over to one of the adults in Room 11. We will then ensure it is applied at the appropriate times and not used too extravagantly! Our poem this week helped us to remember the Sun Smart message. Thank you to Hannah for the lovely picture. See how many compound words you can hear when you listen to our recording?

On Tuesday we had the first of 4 sessions of Grass Hopper Tennis. We all had great fun and are looking forward to next week's lesson. Here we are learning how to hold their racquet's correctly.

Please check the reminders below, as this is a busy term. Notice the change of time for the Port Nelson Ahoy visit on Tuesday 9th November.

WEEK 2 TERM 4
Sounds: 'oi' as in boil and 'oy' as in toy
Grammar: adjectives
Tricky words: should and would ( ask your child about the O U Lucky Duck trick)
Maths: Time and Measurement
Inquiry Topic: Sun Smart
P.E. Grass Hopper Tennis and skipping
Art: Giant Sunglasses project!?!?!?
Maori: Colours and simple mihi

THINGS TO REMEMBER Wednesday: Walk to School Day Thursday: Library Day
Monday 18th October: Craig Smith author of Wonky Donkey, $2 charge
Thursday 21st October: Parent information session on Keeping Ourselves Safe 3.30 NCS Arts Centre
Tuesday 9th November: Port Nelson Ahoy, Nelson Museum, $2 charge, helpers needed, leave school at 1.10 return by 3.00 PLEASE NOT CHANGE OF TIME
Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th December: Kowhai end of year production, School of Music, afternoon performance for parents and families
Tuesday 14th December: kowhai Big Day Out at Tahuna trains, transport needed
Wednesday 15th December: Suter Visit, leave school at 10.25 return for lunch, helpers needed
Thursday 16th December final day of school, lunchtime finish

Final week of Term 3

2010-09-20T23:47:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy final week of Term 3. On Tuesday we visited the Nelson Museum and learnt all about the kiwi animals in the beautiful stained glass windows. Then we made our own animals to put on our Room 11 windows. Look out for them at the start of term 4. Why not pop along to the museum during the holidays and let your child share their learning with you.

On Thursday afternoon we celebrated the end of our folk dancing unit with Renwick 3 by putting on an energetic performance for our families. Thanks to everyone for their support, we had a great turn out. See if you can spot anyone you know on these short video clips.

On Friday we marked the end of our inquiry unit in to states of matter by tasting the lemonade we made the previous week. Take a look at us enjoying our liquid and gas experiment whilst listening to this week's poem "Gases, Liquids and Solids" .

You can also check out our ICT work on sorting items into solids, liquids and gases on our kidzstuff blog.

Thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement this term and I am looking forward to seeing everyone returning refreshed and eager to learn in Term 4.

What's Coming up in Term 4?

Literacy: Narrative writing Maths: Numeracy, 3D Shape, Time, Symmetry Topic: Sun Smart, Keeping Ourselves Safe, Sun, Shadows and Seasons Art: Fabric and Fibre P.E.: Run, Jump, Throw and Grasshopper Tennis Trips: Nelson Ahoy! Nelson Museum Whale Exhibition Suter Gallery Kowhai Big Day Out at Tahuna trains

Week 9 Freezing and Melting

2010-09-14T01:44:00.000-07:00

In week 9 we had our last soccer skills session with Jordan. We were all able to celebrate our successes, big and small. Thanks for all your fantastic ideas Jordan you have inspired us all!

We continued with our heating and cooling experiments by heating chocolate until it melted into a liquid.Then we mixed it with ricies. When the cholcolate cooled it turned back to a solid and we were able to enjoy our tasty chocolate crispie cakes...yum!

We are busy pefecting our folk dancing ready for our performance next Thursday afternoon with Renwick 3. Come along to Trinity Hall at 2.30 and see what we have been up to....don't forget to bring your dancing shoes.

In art we learnt all about primary and secondary colours by watching what happened to red, blue and yellow ice cubes as they melted and mixed together.

We used this knowledge to paint beautiful rainbows.

On Friday we made lemonade by using the juice from freshly squeezed lemons, sugar dissolved in hot water and yeast to make the gas bubbles form. Then we all had a quick shake to mix it up well and now we are waiting patiently unitl next week when we can sample our liquid and gas mixture.

Our poem this week contained many rhyming digraphs e.g. 'ie' as in pie, 'ew' as in stew and 'oo' as in hoop. How many can you find when you listen to our poem below? Thanks to Seren, Toby and Ben for the pictures.

WHAT ARE WE DOING IN WEEK 10?
Phonics: 'or' as in horse, 'aw' as in paw and 'al' as in walk and 'au' as in autumn
Tricky words: 'after' and 'just'
Grammar: Capital Letters
P.E.: Folk dancing performance
Inquiry: Celebrating solids, liquids and gas with our homemade lemonade and ice cubes
Maths: Fractions
Art: colour shades ICT: How to change font colour using Microsoft Word

REMINDERS
Wednesday: Walk to school day
Thursday: Library Day, no more library books to be issued this term
Tuesday 21st September: Museum Visit: Stained Glass window workshop, 9.10-11ish, helpers needed
Thursday 23rd September Folk Dancing Performance, 2.30 Trinity Hall Friday 24th: Last day to check lost property before it is staken to the charity shop
Calendars orders by end of week 10

A busy week of Art and Science

2010-09-08T02:26:00.000-07:00

Our art work for the 2011 calendars, cards and diaries is now on show in the classroom for anyone to pop in and view. All orders need to be in by week 10 and money should be returned to Tracy in the envelope provided. Have a quick preview on the slide show below or take a longer look at your child's art work on their individual blog link.

On Wednesday we went on a class trip to the Diaspora exhibition at the SuterArt gallery. The workshop focused on interpreting the art works through drama. We started off by passing various 'faces' along our group line. Take a look at these 'cross' faces.

After that our parent helps assisted us in putting together a short mime about a child and parent in a shoe shop faced with the, no doubt familiar, situation of not being able to agree on the shoes they want. Look at the plays from these 2 groups

Our last clip shows a group interpreting a line drawing of an exploding letter box. Watch out Hollywood here we come!

Here is Ed's recount of the Suter visit:
When I got to school I felt excited because we were going to the Suter. First we looked at the pictures then we did a warm up. After we did some drama. After we watched people do their drama. Then we went back to school. I love the Suter because it is fun because I love Esther.

On Friday we looked at how we could change liquid cream into solid butter and butter milk. All you have to do is half fill a jar with full cream, put the lid on tightly and start shaking.....and keep shaking....and keep shaking......eventually the butter appears and the butter milk can be poured off. Finally wash the butter in cold water to remove any more butter milk and cool it in the fridge. Add salt if you wish. We will be trying out our butter on our toast next Friday.

In the afternoon we continued with our experiments on states of matter by making gas. To do this at home put 4 tablespoons of vinegar into a plastic bottle. Then put 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda into a balloon...a funnel would be helpful. Stretch the balloon over the top of the bottle and shake the baking soda into the vinegar. Look what happened to our balloon.

Our poem last week was looking at the 'igh' sound. How many times can you hear it in this clip? Thanks to Seren for the great picture.

WHAT ARE WE DOING IN WEEK 9?
Phonics: 'ue' as in rescue, 'u-e' as in cube and 'ew' as in stew
Tricky words: 'who' and 'which'
Grammar: sentences
P.E.: Folk dancing and soccer skills
Inquiry: more experiments on states of matter
Maths: numeracy and measuring length

REMINDERS

Wednesday: Walk to school day and soccer skills, please send change of footwear
Thursday: Library Day
Tuesday 21st September: Museum Visit: Stained Glass window workshop, 9.10-11ish, helpers needed
Calendars orders by end of week 10
Term 3 ends 3pm Friday 24th September
Term 4 starts 8.55 am Monday 11th October

How to leave us a comment

2010-08-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

In computers last week we learnt how to leave a comment on our own and other NCS blogs. You can learn to do this yourself by watching the same power point as we did...go on have a go!

Blog comment

View more presentations from tracywatkin.

In art last week we continued experimenting with warm and cool colours creating the first 2 parts of the art for our calendar pictures. Look out for them later on this week when the finished results will be available for you to view in the classroom. Details on how to order the calendars will also be sent home later this week.

On Wednesday we had our second soccer skills lesson with Jordan. Look how we got on!
Room 11 learning new soccer skills on PhotoPeach

Our poem last week was The Owl and the Pussy Cat. This well known poem 2 forms of the long o vowel sound, 'oa' and 'o-e'. Listen to this clip from YouTube and see if you can spot these sounds

In week 8 we will be continuing our inquiry unit on solids, liquids and gases by carrying out a series of science experiments. In literacy we will be looking at alternatve ways of writing the long 'i' vowel sound e.g. smile, fry, time and high. We will also be learning about common nouns and writing an information report about dinosaurs. On Wednesday we are off to the Suter to see the Diaspora exhibition and represent the art pieces through drama. All helpers welcome. Finally our social skill for this week is 'Doing Our Best'.
Reminders
Wednesday: Walk to school day.
Thursday: Library Day
Wednesday 8th September: Suter Gallery Trip, Diaspora, 9-11.00, helpers needed
Tuesday 21st September: Museum Visit: Stained Glass window workshop, 9.10-11ish, helpers needed

Library Visit Week 6

2010-08-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Last week in Room 11 we enjoyed a class trip to Nelson Library. Viv, the librarian read us loads of stories, taught us some new dances and explained how the library worked. Then we looked around the children's library and chose books to take out. If you are not a member of the library you can join up online at: http://www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz/library.htm
Here is Abby's recount of our visit:
Today we went to the library. First we went to it. Then we got stories read to us. Viv read them. She was supposed to read us 3 but she read loads to us. I went with Tahlia. I’d like to go again. Then we went home.
Take a look at what we got up to on this slide show and join in with our favourite Kiwi Kids library song.

On Wednesday we learnt about warm and cool colours in our art lesson. Red, yellow and orange are warm colours, green blue and purple are cool colours. We used this knowledge to paint stripey pyjamas with one part in warm stripes and the other in cool stripes. You can check these out on our Kidzstuff blog or come and see them in Room 11.

Our poem for last week was Rain and Play. How many times can you hear the 'ai' and 'ay' sound in this poem? Thanks to Hannah for the lovely picture.

In Week 7 we will be starting our calendar art work continuing the idea of warm and cool colours. In maths we will be focusing on counting in 5's. In literacy we will be learning the alternative ways of making the sound 'oa' e.g. road, snow and bone. On Wednesday we will be having our second soccer skills session with Jordan....if possible please send a change of footwear for your child as we did get rather muddy last time! Our inquiry unit 'What Matters?' is underway and we will be learning more about the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas.

Have a safe and healthy week and we hope to see many of you at the reading workshop this Tuesday evening. Great ideas for supporting your child's reading at home for all levels.
Reminders
Wednesday: Walk to school day. Soccer Skills, please send change of footwear
Thursday: Library Day
Tuesday 31st August: Parent Reading Workshop 7-8.30
Wednesday 8th September: Suter Gallery Trip, Diaspora, 9-11.00, helpers needed
Tuesday 21st September: Museum Visit: Stained Glass window workshop, 9.10-11ish, helpers needed

Fire Truck Visit

2010-08-17T02:19:00.001-07:00

Last week we completed our 2 week unit "Get Firewise" by having a visit from the local fire truck. An enormous thank you to all the fireman who gave up their time to help us stay safe.

We used our newly acquired fire truck knowledge to help write information reports. Here is Hannah's report:

A fire truck is a kind of transport that stops fires and saves people. It has red stripes. Fire trucks are cool.

Last week's poem was about firefighters. Thanks to Ben for the lovely picture.

We had a fabulous, energetic and rather muddy first soccer session with Jordan. Have a look at us playing Foxes Tail. We have 2 more sessions later in the term.

On Friday we spent the day warm and snuggly in our pyjamas. It was all in aid of raising money for the orphanages in Cambodia. Find out more about the fun we had by reading Ed's recount and watching our slide show.

At school it was a pyjama day. It was fun, everyone wore their pyjamas. I have Lightning McQueen, they look cool. Lightning McQueen is red and yellow. His number is 95. I felt warm when I went to school in my pyjamas.

In week 6 we will be starting our new inquiry topic called "What Matters?". It is all about solids, liquids and gases and the effects of heating a cooling on these. In maths we will be focusing on skip counting in 2's. Our phonics for this week looks at the different ways of making the sound 'ai' as in 'rain', 'ay' as in 'day' and 'a-e' as in 'game'. We will start our work on the Jolly Grammar program with a look at the names of the letters and how to write capital letters. In art we will be looking at warm and cool colours when we paint stripy pyjamas to accompany our information reports about pyjamas. On Tuesday we have a special trip to Nelson library, all helpers very welcome.
Reminders
Wednesday: Walk to school day
Thursday: Library Day
Tuesday 31st August: Parent Reading Workshop 7-8.30
Wednesday 8th September: Suter Gallery Trip, Diaspora, 9-11.00, helpers needed
Tuesday 21st September: Museum Visit: Stained Glass window workshop, 9.10-11ish, helpers needed

Firewise

2010-08-10T01:14:00.000-07:00

On Monday in ICT we tried reproducing the wiggle pictures that we have been painting over the last few art lessons, but this time using the computer. Most of us agreed that the black line was harder to do on the computer but the fill option made the painting much easier and we could change our ideas easily. Take a look at our paintings and digital pictures on the Room 11 kidzstuff blog.

This week was the start of our 2 week unit "Get Firewise" run by the New Zealand Fire Service. We learnt about what to do if we find matches or lighters and how to get out of a smoke filled room safely.

All families have received a copy of the Get Firewise Family Book and DVD. Please take time to share this with your children. Take a look at us practicing how to 'Get down, get low, get out.'

In literacy we wrote information reports about teddy bears. Have a read of Seren's great piece of information writing:

A Teddy bear is a toy. People hug teddy bears. Lots of teddy bears are cute. All teddy bears are furry. I love all my cuddly Teddy bears.

Later in the week we painted fluffy teddies using a steady hand and a fine paint brush. We were so pleased with the end results we are going to share them next time Tracy does a Kowhai assembly. Take a look at these 2 examples by Ed and Caleb B.

Our poem for last week was part of the Firewise program and reminded us not to play with matches, candles or lighters. Thanks to Charle for this week's picture.

In week 5 we will have the chance to learn about the firetruck when it comes to school on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday we will have the first of three special soccer training sessions with some visiting experts. On Thursday Tracy will be running an evening workshop on Jolly Phonics for any parents who missed the first one in May of this Year. On Friday the whole school is having a pyjama day. Come to school in your pyjamas and donate a gold coin to help children at the CCH orphanages in Cambodia.

Our sounds for this week are 'er' and 'ar' and the tricky words are 'came' and 'time' which both use the 'magic e'. In maths we will continue to have a whole class focus on doubles to 10 and using this knowledge to help us solve addition problems.

I wish you all a safe, healthy and happy week.

Reminders

Wednesday: Walk to school day

Thursday: Library Day, Parent's Jolly Phonics Workshop 7-8.30

Friday 20th August: Pyjama Day, gold coin donation

Tuesday 24th August: Nelson Library Visit 10.45-12.15 cars needed

Tuesday 31st August: Parent Reading Workshop 7-8.30

Wednesday 8th September: Suter Gallery Trip, Diaspora, 9-11.00, helpers needed

Tuesday 10th September: Museum Visit: Stained Glass window workshop, 9.10-11ish, helpers needed

Bouncing Buddies

2010-08-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Last week in Room 11 we added the final touches to our wiggle pictures by using black and white paint to create a variety of textures. Next week we will be making another version of the wiggle picture, this time on the computer with tuxpaint. I wonder which one will be easiest to do?

As part of our P.E. unit this term we are developing our skipping skills. Here we are being helped by our Room 5 buddies. We surprised ourselves at how well we did. Thank you Room 5, you were great teachers.

Bouncing Buddies Room 11 and Room 5 on PhotoPeach

Our poem last week used the digraph 'ar'. Count how many times you can hear it in our recording of the poem. What do you think is in the box? Thank you Austin for a lovely picture and a clever "lift the flap" idea which you added yourself.

In week 4 we will be starting a 2 week unit called Get Firewise. This is organised by the New Zealand Fire Service and will involve a visit from the firefighters this week and another one next week when they will bring the fire truck as well. Check out the kids part of the Get Firewise website. You can work together as a family to make an escape plan for your home. http://www.getfirewise.org.nz/Back_Up/index.html

In literacy we are continuing to tune into different digraphs by sorting words containing the digraphs 'ou', 'oi,' 'ie' and 'ue'. Our tricky word this week is 'have'. We will be writing information reports about teddy bears as well as painting teddy bear pictures. In maths our whole class focus is on instant recall of doubles.

Hope you all have a happy and safe week.

Reminders
Wednesday: Walk to School Wednesday
Thursday: Library Day

Saturday August 14th Food For Thought Challenge

Thursday 19th August: Jolly Phonics Parents Workshop 7.00-8.30

Wednesday 8th September Suter Gallery Trip, Diaspora, 9.00 to 11.00, helpers needed

Tuesday 21st September Visit to Nelson Museum to study the stained glass window installation 9.30, helpers needed

100 Days of School

2010-07-31T00:20:00.000-07:00

In Week 2 of Term 3 we had a our first visit to the Life Education truck to meet Harold the giraffe and learn the things we need to keep us alive and healthy. These included oxygen, water, food, shelter, exercise and love. Next week we will be having another session to learn how to look after Harold's friends.

Our main focus of last week was the build up to our 100 Days celebrations on Friday. We used tuxpaint and kidpix in ICT to make our own 100 pictures and used these to accompany our performance of the poem '100 is a Lot'.

On Friday we spent the day thinking about 100, making 100 Days crowns, performing our poem in assembly as well as sharing our 100 days work from home. We counted and sorted 100 jelly beans and made graphs of our results. We shared 100 day biscuits and a 100 cake and ended the day with a 100 day ukelele/mandelin sing-a-long led by Ed and Charle's dads. Take a look at all the fun.

100 Days of School on PhotoPeach

In week 3 we will be learning the final digraph from our Jolly Phonics 42 sounds. The digraph is 'ar' as in 'star'. Our tricky words will be 'use' and 'make' and we will be learning how 'magic e' works. In maths we will be focusing on instant recall of number facts to 10. Remember to check out the Central Links wiki in the side bar of our blog. It has loads of cool maths games that we use in class. We will be learning a new dance in folk dancing and, if the rain stops, further tuning our skipping skills. In art we will be completing our 'wiggle' pictures and in ICT we will be learning to use 'Wordle'. What a busy week we have ahead!

Thank you for looking at our blog, please leave a comment. I wish you all a safe and healthy week.

Reminders
Scholastic Book Fair all week, view before or after school
Tuesday: Life Education Bus
Wednesday: Walk to School Wednesday
Thursday: Library Day, no books being issued this week due to Book Fair
Wednesday 8th September Suter Gallery Trip, Diaspora, 9.00 to 11.00, helpers needed

Further Adventures of Inky Mouse

2010-07-20T07:41:00.001-07:00

Hello all our Room 11 friends. Inky has been very busy since we last spoke to you. Here she is trying out a jigsaw puzzle that she has bought as a present for you all.

She has been to see Tracy's little niece at her playgroup graduation ceremony.

She has even had a private drum lesson with Tracy's older niece.

Today Inky is having a rest before getting back on the plane tomorrow and flying all the way back to New Zealand and Room 11. See you all very soon.

Inky's Holiday Adventures

2010-07-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hello friends. I thought you might like to see some more photos of what Inky has been up to on her holidays. Here she is doing some shopping in Australia at Sydney airport.

She had a big cup of coffee at Heathrow airport when she finally arrived in England.

Inky has been exploring lots of old villages in the Cotswolds in England. These houses are in Tewksbury. How many differences can you spot between these and the houses in Nelson?

Yesterday she went paddling in a crystal clear river in the town of 'Bourton on the Water'. Her paws were icy cold!!!

Can you find the places Inky has been by using a map, atlas or Google Earth?

Enjoy the rest of your holidays and let us know what you have been up to by leaving a comment on the blog for us to read. Inky and I look forward to seeing you all in Week 2 of Term 3.

End of Term 2

2010-07-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

Last week we completed our maths unit on measurement by learning about capacity and weight. Take a look at how we used sand, water and blocks to help us with our problem solving.
Capacity and Weight in Room 11 on PhotoPeach

On Friday as an end of term treat instead of having toast we learnt how to make pikelets....yum. Thanks to Toby's mum for her cooking skills this term.

In week 1 of term 3 we will be learning about the digraphs 'ou' as in 'house' and 'oi' as in noise. Our big book is the John Burningham story 'Oi! Get Off Out Train'. You can watch an animated version of this story on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GTQmm9AzFE. Our tircky words will be 'with' and 'some'. In maths we will be looking at 2D shapes and their properties. Our P.E. in term 3 includes skipping and folk dancing and our art focus will be on painting.

As you know I am currently in the UK visiting my family and will be back in Room 11 on Monday of week 2. Sam will be teaching the class in week 1. Meanwhile keep a eye out on the blog to see the adventures that Inky mouse is getting up to on our UK visit. Here he is waiting at Nelson airport and going through the x-ray machine at Christchurch.

Reminders

Remember to book interview times for week 2 parent teacher meetings.

Term 3 starts Monday 19th July 8.55am

Wednesday: Walk to School Day

Thursday: Library Day

Friday 30th July Room 11 100 Days Celebrations

Week 10 Magic Magnets

2010-06-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

In week 10 we continued to think about the Matariki story of the star fishes. In ICT we used tuxpaint and kidspix to draw pictures of the fish, giant and stars. We had lots of fun exploring the range of stampers and textures available to use and produced some great end results even though we all agreed it was much harder than drawing using a pencil and paper! Take a look at this picture by Jasper.

In art we experimented with another print making method to make the same picture. First of all we inked up a square of card, next we drew the picture into the ink using a pencil and finally we transferred the picture to paper by turning the inked square upside down on a piece of paper and pressing down on it with roller. Pop into class to view the finished results

We continued to develop our skills of predicting and observing in our 'Magic Magnets' inquiry work. Our first investigation was to explore which materials were magnetic or non-magnetic and the second one looked at materials that a magnetic force would pass through. Take a look at the Room 11 scientists in action.

Out poem last week was the tricky tongue twister "She Sells Sea Shells". Take a listen to how we did and see how many words you can hear containing the 'sh' sounds. Thanks to Toby for the picture.

In Week 11 our sounds are 'th' and 'qu' and our tricky words are 'were' and 'where'. We will be writing about our teacher as part of our descriptive writing focus....I look forward to the results! In maths we are continuing our unit on measurement by learning about capacity and mass. We will be using the knowledge gained through our magnet inquiry to design and make some magic magnet tricks and games as well as finishing off our fridge magnets. In art our final printing session will involve exploring making prints from junk.

As most of you know I will be away in the first week of term 3, visiting family in the UK, Sam will be taking the class. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday and look forward to seeing all my Room 11 friends again in week 2.

Reminders

No library books will be sent home this week due to end of term checks

Term 2 ends Friday 2nd July 3pm

Term 3 starts Monday 19th July 8.55am

Friday 30th July Room 11 100 Days Celebrations

Matariki Week 9

2010-06-17T00:20:00.000-07:00

In week 9 we have been busy celebrating Matariki, the Maori New Year. We started off by experimenting with our own star designs on tuxpaint. You can check out more of these on our Room 11 Kidzstuff Blog.

At lunch time Kowhai Syndicate enjoyed a shared kai. Thank you for all the delicious food that was sent in and to those parents who helped set it all out. This was followed by a round-a-bout of Matariki activities including sponge printing stars and traditional Maori games.

We have been learning about and retelling, the story of the Matariki Star Fish and will be publishing these along with digital illustrations. In art we made salt dough fridge magnets in the shape of stars Later in the week we completed our pois that we started at the Suter. Before taking them home we made an art feature of our own by arranging the poi around a photo of all our Room 11 friends.

Our poem for this week also had a star theme. Thank you to Gemma for the clever illustration.

In week 10 we will be continuing to acquire knowledge about magnets by predicting and testing objects to see if they are magnetic. In literacy we will be learning about the sounds made by the digraphs 'ch' and 'sh' and practicing the tongue twister "She sells sea shells". The tricky words are 'when' and 'what' and our big book will be Mrs Wishy Washy. In maths we will be starting a 2 week unit on measurement focusing on length and weight to begin with.

We wish you all a happy and safe week.

Reminders

Wednesday : Walk To School Day

Thursday: Library Day

Term 1 ends: Friday 2nd July 3pm

Term 2 starts Monday 19th July 8.55pm

Parents' interviews for Room 11 are on Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th July

Friday 30th July Room 11 100 Days of School Celebration

Magic Magnets Week 8

2010-06-09T02:29:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday Stirling very kindly helped us to set the scene for our Magic Magnets inquiry topic. We had great fun exploring and discovering what magnets can do. Afterwards we made a list of all the things we already know about magnets and put togther some inquiry questions to help us find the answers to what else we want to learn. Thank you to all those families who are being magnet detectives at home this weekend, remember to send your survey results back on Monday.

On Wednesday we had our final visit of the term to the Suter Art Gallery. There we saw and explored the amazing light and sound installation called Paopao ki tua o Rangi by artist Ngaahina Hohaia. Then we made our own poi and decorated them to represent something important about our families. If you would like to learn more about this exhibit visit www.thesuter.org.nz or pop along on Saturdays when all viewing is free.

Also on Wednesday Sarah Langi came to talk to us and our parents about zero waste lunch boxes. We are all continuing to do a marvellous job at making sure our luunch boxes are plastic free. Well done Room 11.

On Thursday our international friends from NMIT came back to see us. They helped us with our poem for this week and taught us a new cat and mouse chase game...take a look at how we did.

In week 9 we will be exploring and discovering the answers to the inquiry questions we wrote as part our Magic Magnets topic. We are all learning alot doing the home survey. In literacy we will be looking at the sounds 'y' and 'x' and the tricky are 'all' and 'out'. In writing we will be describing Nelson Central and taking some photos of our favourite things around the school to illustrate these descriptions. This will be our last week of numeracy focus this term and our knowledge hot spot will be instant recall of addition and subtraction facts to 10. In P.E. We will be practicing our large ball skills and our art will have a Matariki focus to it.

Have a happy and safe week.

Reminders

Wednesday: Walk to School Day

Thursday: Library Day

Last Day of Term 2: Friday 2nd July

Term 3 starts: Monday 19th July 8.55am

Week 7 Room 11 Friends

2010-06-07T03:01:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we made some new friends. They are all studying English at NMIT and come from South Korea, China, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Take a look at this slide show to see us learning words in new languages, studying the Sri Lankan flag, dressing up in a Korean karate outfit, being entertained by a paper trick from Myanmar and sharing our learning through ICT.
Friends from NMIT on PhotoPeach

Despite rather damp weather last week we finally managed to hold the school cross country event on Thursday afternoon. Well done to everyone in Room 11, you were all winners with your great "I can..." attitudes. I was very proud of you all.
Room 11 Cross Country 2010 on PhotoPeach

On Friday afternoon we spent time exploring the big adventure playground with our Room 5 buddies. Thanks Room 5 for helping us to 'have a go' at some of the more scary bits of apparatus!
Buddy Adventures on PhotoPeach

Our poem last week was Hey Diddle Diddle. Thank you to Gemma for the lovely picture and to some of our Room 12 friends who helped us with the voice recording. How many times can you hear the digraph 'oo' that we learnt last week?

This week we are looking forward to another visit from our new NMIT friends when we will be using our questioning skills to find out more about them. On Wednesday we are off to the Suter Art Gallery and will be making our own poi. Thanks to all the parents who have offered to come along and help with this. We will continue the theme of Maori design in our printing this week. In literacy we will be looking at the sound 'y' and the tricky words 'they' and 'then'. We will continue our focus on descriptions in our writing sessions. In maths we will be learning to instantly recall addition and subtraction facts up to 5. Now that cross country is over we will be developing our large ball skills in P.E. On Thursday afternoon Sarah Langi from environmental education will be coming to talk to all our Kowhai families about zero waste packaging in lunch boxes...see you in Trinty Hall at 2.30.

Have a fun and safe week.

Reminders

Wednesday: Walk to School Day.

Suter trip 10.20ish

Thursday: Library Day

NMIT students visiting

Sarah Langi zero waste talk

Week 6 Term 2: Robyn Belton Visit

2010-05-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Last week when Tracy was away on a course we had a visit from Robyn Belton. Robyn illustrates many children's books including the Greedy Cat stories. As Tracy missed this visit we wrote her a letter to let her know what we learnt:

Dear Tracy
Today we had a special visitor. Her name was Robyn Belton and she is an illustrator. She told us some of her special tricks. She hides words in pictures. She uses models to help her draw the pictures. She drew her picture with her finger first, then used pencil and colours. 'Katie' is Robyn's daughter. She showed us how to get a goldfish into Greedy Cat's tummy.
Take a look at this movie to see Robyn drawing Greedy Cat:

As part of our maths we also did a mini topic on the cats in the Hairy MaClary stories to help us learn about position. Keep an eye out for our pictures and captions appearing later this week in the classroom.
In ICT last week we finished off our inquiry unit on water by making digital pictures of our ideas for saving water at home.

Our poem last week was Sing a Song of Sixpence. Listen to it here and count how many times you can hear a word containing the 'ng' digraph.

Next week we will be starting our new inquiry topic on magnets. We will be using the SAUCE model to help us . We will be setting the scene when the Kowhai teachers put on a magnetising magic show!

Our sounds for this week are 'v' and 'oo' as in 'book' or 'moon' Our poem is Hey Diddle Diddle the Cat and the Fiddle. The tricky words are 'made' and 'little' In maths we will working in our maths groups on number strategies and exploring some new ideas in our maths boxes. On Wednesday afternoon we are meeting some new friends who are all studying in the NMIT School of Language. We will be finding out where in the world they are from and learning some songs and games from their countries. Don't forget that Tuesday afternoon is our school cross country event...fingers crossed for a sunny day. After the event there will be some time before school ends when you are very welcome to come back to class and share some maths activities with us. We look forward to seeing you all there.
Reminders
Wednesday: Walk To School Day
Thursday: Library Day
Tuesday 1st June: School Cross Country Event, afternoon
Monday 7th June: Queen's birthday, no school
Wednesday 9th June: Suter visit 10.25 Poi making ...lots of helpers needed!!!

Good Bye Natasha

2010-05-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

Well done to all our Room 11 families who sent in ideas and diaries about how they had been saving water at home. You can see all these ideas on the 'Splash" display in our classroom. Watch out on next week's blog for our digital pictures showing these ideas.

On Wednesday of week 5 we set off to the museum for a workshop about Maori myths and legends, lots of fun was had by all and everyone learnt something new. Thank you Cindy for a great morning packed with memorable experiences. Take a look at some of the activities involved.

Sadly Friday was Natasha's last day. She has been working with us for 7 weeks and has become an important member of our Room 11 family. We will miss her very much but I know she will pop in to see us often. We had a popcorn party to say good bye.

One of the projects that Natasha helped us with was digital photography. We learnt how to use the flash, zoom and macro and how to be creative directors. Take a look at the pictures we took for counting to 20 and next time you are in class please share the counting book with your child.

In week 6 Tracy will be on a course Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and Sam will be teaching us. In maths we will be doing a fun unit on position and using the book Scatter Cat from the Hairy MaClary stories to help us. Our sounds for the week will be 'ng' as in 'song' and 'w'. The tricky words are 'too' and 'you'. Cross Country training will continue as usual, this is the last week of practicing.

Hope you all have a great and safe week.
Reminders
Wednesday: Walk To School Day
Thursday: Library Day
Sam teaching us Tues, Wed, Thurs
Tuesday 1st June: School Cross Country Event, afternoon
Monday 7th June: Queen's birthday, no school
Wednesday 9th June: Suter visit 10.25 Poi making ...lots of helpers needed!!!

Week 3 and 4

2010-05-13T01:46:00.000-07:00

As Tracy was away last weekend doing a very long walk all our news from week 3 and 4 is combined into this one blog....enjoy.

As part of our inquiry topic, 'Splash', we went to the Maitai Dam and learned all about how our water is stored and cleaned ready to come out of our taps at home and at school.

Back at school we carried out an investigation to see how much water is wasted when using the drinking fountains. We all agreed that using our water bottles was a much better way to care for water...well done Room 11.

Some of us were wondering how the water gets into the lakes and rivers. Natasha helped us answer this question by teaching us all about the water cycle. We enjoyed working as a team to make our water cycle jigsaws. Then we all decided on one thing we could do at home to save water and we are looking forward to seeing the results of this challenge on Monday morning.

As part of our art unit on printing we have been making prints of the giant autumn leaves from Nile Street.

Our poem in week 3 was also about autumn leaves. Thank you Ed for the picture, we loved your autumn colours.

On Wednesday we were part of Nelson Central history as we gathered to celebrate the opening of the new Room 12a. This is the first new building on the school site since 1956 and will be used for the next new entrant class.

Our final piece of news is about the much welcomed return of the Room 11 Friday toast day. Toby's mum is going to help us make toast each Friday morning and at the same time we can develop our conversational skills in small groups. A big thank you from all of us! If you have any topping ideas for toast please let us know.

In week 5 we will be celebrating what we have learnt in our Splash topic by making some videos of ways to save water. As part of our Maori studies we will be off to the Museum at 9.30 Wednesday morning to enjoy a workshop on Maori myths and legends...all helpers are much appreciated. Our sounds for this week are 'z' and 'w' and our tricky words are 'said' and 'some'. In maths we will be working on special pairs of numbers that add to ten. Take a look in the side bar at a great game we have been using to practice this. In cross country we are progressing to 2 laps around the school field. Sadly on Friday we will be saying good bye to Natasha who has been teaching with us in Room 11. I know we will all miss her very much and hope she comes back to visit us often.
Reminders
Wednesday: Walk To School Day
Thursday: Library Day
Wednesday 19th May: 9.15 Museum Maori legends workshop.
Friday 21st May: Natasha's last day
Tuesday 1st June: School Cross Country Event, afternoon
Monday 7th June: Queen's birthday, no school
Wednesday 9th June: Suter visit 10.25 Poi making

Speakers for the Environment

2010-05-01T23:37:00.001-07:00

As a whole school we have all been aiming to be more environmentally aware when packing our lunches. Have a look at some of the Room 11 lunch packaging. The packaging in the first photo

could take up to a million years to rot down in the landfill.

The packaging in the second photo is much more environmentally friendly as it is in the form of natural packaging, such as the banana skin, reuseable packaging such as zip lock bags and containers and paper packaging that can go into garden composts.

By Friday of week 2 we were all very proud to say that Room 11 was totally gladwrap free...WELL DONE!

In our "Splash" inquiry unit, we have also started looking at ways to care for the earth's natural

resources with a particular focus on water. Have a look at how Quinn and Toby used Inspiration on the computer to help sort natural and man-made resources.

This week we will continue to think about caring for water when we visit the Maitai Dam on Wednesday morning, all helpers are welcome and you will get the chance to walk through the tunnel! In maths our class focus will be on counting backwards from 10 and then 20 and also learning the special numbers that go together to make 10. Our digraphs for this week are 'oa' as in 'goat' and 'ie' as in 'pie'. Check out the link in the side bar to BBC Words and Pictures which has a range of poems and activities about the digraphs that we will be learning. In P.E we are starting cross country practices and in art we will continue our focus on printing.

Reminders

Cross Country starts this week, please send sensible shoes

Wednesday: Walk to School Day

Thursday: Library Day

Wednesday 5Th May Maitai Dam visit 10.20-12.00

Wednesday 19th May: Museum visit Maori Myths and Legends

Wednesday 9th June: Suter Visit Poi Workshop

Welcome Back to Term 2

2010-04-26T01:43:00.000-07:00

Term 2 got off to a very bouncy start as we spent Wednesday thinking all about bubbles as part of our work on the sound 'b'. We blew bubbles.............

....made prints from bubbles.......

......and wrote stories about our bubbles. Check out this work in our room and on the Room 11kidzstuff blog. Whilst you are there also take a peek at the colourful folded butterfly prints we have made.

We started setting the scene for our new inquiry topic 'Splash' which is all about looking after the earth's natural resources. Here we are learning about natural and man-made resources with our friend Natasha.

This week we will be focusing in on water conservation and starting to acquire some knowledge to help us find the best ways to save water. Watch out for some water questionnaires coming home to gather top tips on water saving from our Room 11 families.

We will be celebrating Pink Shirt Day on Wednesday by spending time thinking about how it feels to be bullied and ways in which we can stop this happening and help all our frinds feel safe at school. Please wear something pink if possible.

In literacy we will be learning about the digraph 'ai' as in rain and 'j'. Our tricky words will be 'was' and 'put' and our poem for this week is Jack in the Box. In maths we will be continuing our whole class focus on number addition facts to 10 as well as working on knowledge and skills in our own maths groups. In art we will be looking at Autumn leaves and using them to do some leaf rubbings and observational sketches. Our P.E. focus will be on small ball skills until week 3 when our cross country training starts.

Reminders

Wednesday: Walk to School Wednesday and Pink Shirt Day

Thursday: Library

Week 3: Cross Country starts, please send suitable footwear
Wednesday 19th May: Museum visit for Maori Legends workshop 9-11, helpers needed.
Wednesday 9th June: Suter visit to Maori Poi workshop

Life Cycle of a Frog

2010-04-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

Our inquiry topic for the second half of Term 1 was to look at classifying different animals into groups. We learnt about the characteristics of living things.........

.......how living things are divided into smaller groups.....

.....and how vertebrates can be sorted into different groups.

We learnt that we are

living things
animals
vertebrates
mammals
humans

We chose to focus the last part of our inquiry on frogs from the amphibian group. Here is the movie we made to answer one of our many frog questions.

We are animals !!

2010-03-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last week we continued the acquiring knowledge stage of our topic " Is This An Animal?". Some of us were very surprised to learn that we are actually animals, and we also learnt, that we are vertebrates , because we have a back bone, and we are mammals. Here is the video we watched to help us with this learning.

On Wednesday we went for our second visit to the Suter Gallery and Esther retold the story of "The Wreck of the Delaware" using the art works by Sally Burton. We started developing our portrait skills drawing characters from the story and will continue this learning when we draw self portraits back in class this week.

Room 11 at The Wreck of the Delaware on PhotoPeach

Our poem for last week was Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and focused on the sound 'r'. We also learnt some extra verses including one about pushing your teacher over board!! Thank you to Seren for the lovely picture.

On Wednesday all the Kowhai children were invited to preview the 11 acts that will be performing in "Central's Got Talent" at the school gala this Sunday. The standard is very high and everyone has worked extremely hard, so make sure you come along at 11.15 to check out all the fun.

Next week our sounds will be 'g' and 'o' and our tricky words are 'me' and 'are'. In topic time we will be looking at the questions we came up with about frogs, grouping them into categories and thinking of possible sources to use to answer them. In maths we will be focusing on saying and recognising numbers to 20 as well as working in our own maths groups. In P.E. we will be looking at throwing skills and also have a special rugby coaching session with visiting experts on Tuesday. We will be joined this week by Natasha who has had lots of experience teaching in the UK and will be helping us out in Room 11 for a few weeks. Don't forget it is not too late the register for "My Greatest Feat" project and receive a free pedometer. Please return permission slips to Room 11 by Friday 26th March.

Have a great week. I look forward to seeing you all at the gala on Sunday and I know my Room 11 friends are all very excited about the chance to soak me with a sponge..hmmmm.

Reminders

Sunday 21st March: School Gala 11.15-2.30

Parent interviews Mon-Wed eve, children welcome, bring a memory stick

Wednesday: Walk to School Day

Thursday : Library Day

Friday: Last day to register for " My Greatest Feat". Tracy on IWB course, Sam is teaching us.

Is This An Animal?

2010-03-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

Last week we were busy setting the scene for our new inquiry topic, " Is This An Animal?". First of all we worked in our inquiry groups to decide which things were living or non-living. We watched a video clip to that told us about 5 things all living things do:
1. Grow
2. Feed
3. Move
4. Have babies
5. Breathe
You can share this again with your child by clicking on the Living vs Non-living link on the side bar.

On Tuesday afternoon we went to Nature Land and saw examples of animals from different groups. We will be using the knowledge acquired on this visit to help sort other animals into their correct groups this week.
Room 11 at Nature Land on PhotoPeach

In maths we have been practicing working in our maths groups on share activities such as bingo and sequencing numbers.

On Friday we worked with our Room 5 buddies to add the finishing touches to our k-k-k-kites. Watch out for them in the reception area of the school.

We also published our poem " Old Mother Hubbard". Thank you Ruby for your lovely colouring and we have added a link to a video clip of the poem in our side bar.

This week our sounds are 'h' and 'r' and the tricky words are 'this' and 'for'. In numeracy we are working on counting backwards from 10 and before and after numbers. On Wednesday we are off to the Suter Art Gallery to look at the 'Wreck of the Delaware" exhibition as part of our focus on drawing. Swimming has finished for this term and we will be concentrating on throwing and catching skills, starting with beanbags.

Have a great week and thank you all for your continued support.

Reminders

Wednesday: Walk To School Day, Suter visit 10.45-12.30, helpers needed.

Thursday: Library Day

Sunday 21st March: School Gala 11.30am

Parent Interviews: Mon 22nd March - Wed 24th March book online at www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

Our first trip to the Suter

2010-02-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

Last week we made our first trip to the Suter Art Gallery to look at the Janice Gill exhibition. We saw lots of places we recognised in Nelson in her pictures and had a go at using oil pastels to draw our own pictures of Nelson events. We will be completing our pictures this week so keep an eye out for them in Room 11. Meanwhile you can check out our trip on the slide show below. Remember the Suter Gallery is free on a Saturday.

Room 11 at the Janice Gill exhibition on PhotoPeach

In ICT this week we continued to familiarise ourselves with the Tuxpaint program by drawing c-c-c-c-c-cuddly cats. I loved seeing pictures last week that the children had made at home using tuxpaint with their families. Here is Toby and Charle's picture, check out the rest on our Kidzstuff blog and have ago at your own using the link to Tuxpaint in the side bar.

It was very exciting for Seren and Jasper when they proudly became the first Room 11 friends to complete and take home their dinosaurs. They were soon followed by many others. Dots are given for our dinosuars when we have worked hard, made good choices or been responsible, caring citizens of Room 11 and Nelson Central School. Keep up the great work everyone.

Our poem this week was also about cats, focusing on the 'c' sound we were learning. Have a listen and read along with this digital clip.

This week our letters sounds will be 'k' and 'e' and the tricky words are 'see' and 'like'. In maths we will be learning to use maths games on the computer and starting to work in our maths groups. We will be finishing acquiring the knowledge to answer our questions in the Busy Body topic and starting to set the scene for our next topic " Is this an Animal?" Swimming will continue with an additional lesson on Friday afternoon and Library day has now changed to Thursday.

Have a great week and stay safe.

Reminders
Monday: swimming
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Swimming, Walk to School Day
Thursday: Library books due back
Friday: Swimming
Tuesday 9th March: Natureland trip 12.30-2.45
Wednesday 17th March: Suter Gallery Trip. Wreeck of the Delaware. 10.15-12.30
Saturday 20th March: School Gala, we are collecting items for a baby bundle to be auctioned.

Pigs, Pancakes and popcorn

2010-02-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

Last week we focused on the sounds 'i' and 'p' and enjoyed a variety of activities linked to these including making and writing about popcorn.......

.......and learning to use the paint brush, fill bucket and shape functions on Tuxpaint to draw a pink pig with our friends. You can check out our individual pictures on our KidzStuff blog link and try out your own digital drawing skills using the link to Tuxpaint.

Our poem of the week also used the 'p' sound, how many times can you hear it in this recording?Thank you to Austin for this week's picture.

In our inquiry topic we learned how to ask effective questions using the seven servant words: who, when, why, where, how, which,and what. We were able to put these skills to the test when we had a visit from a group of Vietnamese and Cambodian officials who are studying at NMIT. They taught us how to say hello in their languages and shared some children's songs from their countries.

Afterwards they gave us some gifts of p-p-p-postcards and a Vietnamese pig painting. Thank you to all of them for sharing part of your culture with us.

On Friday morning we had another special visitor, Ben's 4 week old baby brother , Oscar. We were able to look at how our bodies have changed since we were babies and again practice our questioning skills. Thank you Oscar for being so good on your visit to Room 11.

This week are letter sounds will be 'n' and 'c' and our tricky words are 'me' and 'we'. In maths we wil be looking at numbers that come before and after a given number and recognising numbers to 20. We will be starting the 'acquiring" stage of the SAUCE model in inquiry as we look for answers to the 11 body questions we came up with. In art our focus is drawing and we have our first Room 11 outing on Wednesday morning to the Suter Art Gallery. We will view the Janice Gill exhibition:Telling Stories of Ourselves, where we hope to further develop our portrait skills. Carers and parents are welcome to join us on this visit.

REMINDERS
Monday: library books due back, swimming
Tuesday:
Wednesday:Suter visit 9.29-11.00ish, swimming
Thursday: swimming
Friday: Tracy on First Aid course, Kim will be teaching us.

New Friends

2010-02-13T23:30:00.000-08:00

Last week we began to learn how to use our Jolly Phonics Sound Cards to help us with our writing. Everyone is working very to get 5 ticks next to their personal writing targets and looking forward to picking a treat from the target box.

We have been making new friends in our class through co-operatve play and have also teamed up with our big buddies from Room 5. We will be spending half an hour with Room 5 most Friday afternoons. Have a look at us with our buddies on our photo wall in Room 11.

We love using our classroom computer to help learn our weekly letter sounds. Check out the Starfall program using the link in the side bar of this blog.

We have also made 'About Me' posters as part of 'Setting the Scene' for our inquiry topic: 'Busy Bodies'. Here is Ed's poster. You can check out everyone elses by clicking on the link to Room 11 Kidzstuff on the sidebar. If you want to make your own poster there is a link to the Life Education site that we used.

We focused on the letter sound 't' in our weekly poem which was about trees. Thank you Quinn for the lovely picture.

This week our letter sounds are 'i' and 'p' and the tricky words are 'to' and 'my'. In maths we will begin learning number games to help recognise numbers to 10 and then to 20. Our topic work will be about asking effective questions using the seven servants: who, why, when, where, which, what and how. We will then work in our inquiry groups to come up with questions to help us find out more about our bodies. In art we will look at the different types of lines we can make with a pencil and in P.E. we will continue our swimming lessons with Renwick 3.

Reminders

Monday: Library Day, swimming

Wednesday:Walk to School Day, swimming

Thursday: Swimming

Wednesday 24th February visit to the Suter Art Gallery 9.20-11.00, all helpers welcome.

Welcome to Room 11

2010-02-07T00:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to all our new Room 11 friends. We started the Room 11 2010 class last Wednesday with 12 children. Here we are in our first blog photo of the year.

We are very lucky to be able to watch the daily progress in the construction of a new classroom right behind Room 12. On Thursday the digger arrived to make the first hole in the acorn field. We will watch with interest how the bulding grows over the next term.

This week we have learnt about the sound 's' and painted some very s-s-s-scary s-s-s-spiders. Come and take a look at them crawling up our classroom wall.

We have also been thinking about probability and what kinds of thing Little Red Riding Hood would or would not see on the way to Grandma's house. Take a look at our class decisions.

Our poem this week was about friends. Take a listen to our first digital poem recording. Thank you Jasper for this week's picture.

This week we will be learning the sounds 'a' and 't' and the tricky words 'the' and 'a'. We will continue to develop our emergent writing skills by writing story about what we did at the weekend. In maths we will be learning about pictographs and developing our counting skills. As part of our "Busy Body" topic we will be adding names for parts of the body to our inquiry display and learning about asking good questions using the 7 servants: who, where, what, why, when, which, and how.

REMINDERS

Monday: library day

Wednesday: Walk to School Wednesday

Swimming on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday