Building huts

Last week we had a fantastic time building rope and tarpaulin huts outside. The children have written little reflections on the experience and we finished publishing them today. 

IT in the classroom...

This term we acquired a set of 5 Chromebooks for our class, to supplement the iPads and iMacs that we already have. The children have been using the Chromebooks and iMacs to create slides that introduce their family members in te reo Maori. Here are a couple of examples! The rest will be up in the classroom by the end of next week.

On the iPads, everyone has been using an app called Book Creator to write little book reviews. I'm afraid the video playback doesn't seem to show them in very good quality, but I hope you can get the general idea!

As we all get more skilled with using the app and our google accounts, everyone will be able to save work directly to their accounts so they can look it up and share it either as a pdf file or a video at home. 

Mad Hutters, part 1!

Today we got started with our new unit of inquiry, Mad Hutters. Using sheets of different fabrics, plus chairs, desks and pegs, the children experimented with making huts in and around the classroom. Here's a few shots of how it went...

Hongbao Time!

There has been excitement in our Chinese class lately, as we exchanged letters with children from Remuera Primary. The letters were written partly in English and partly in Chinese, and they were delivered in "hongbao" - handmade red envelopes used on special occasions. Here are some photos of the class opening and reading their hongbao...

Alongside the fun of reading real information about other kids in Chinese, Guan-laoshi used the hongbao to teach us some useful Chinese language. Oliver has written a little report about this...

Chinese

by Ollie

Today for Chinese we were learning how to say when we do have a hongbao envelope and how to say when we don't have a hongbao envelope. We also learned how to say "Do you have a hongbao envelope?". I hope everybody in the class loves Chinese. We got 3 minutes of game time.

and here's some video of speakers in action!

A long day at Long Bay!

On Tuesday we visited Long Bay, to learn more about the ecosystems on the rocky shore. In addition to sea creatures we saw pukekos, bunnies, ducks and a white-faced heron! Here are some excerpts from the children's stories about what they saw, and some photos - kindly shared by our fabulous parent helpers. 

When we were at the rock pools we were looking for some interesting sea creatures when out of the corner of my eye I saw a starfish. It was blue and on the bottom of it it was all spiky. It was alive and I even saw it move. I didn't touch it because it was really spiky.

by Ava

When we finally got to the rock pools the first thing I saw was a tiny crab. The crab was greyish black with tiny spots on it. It had claws that were very tiny. I also saw a shrimp. The shrimp was translucent with red stripes all over it. I saw it camouflage. It camouflaged with the rock.
by Alannah

On Tuesday my class went to Long Bay. First we went to the rock pools but on the way there we crossed a river. We can't go over it, we can't go under it, we have to go through it! Splash, splosh, splash, splosh.

by George

The sea snail looked black and there was water inside the sea snail, and it looked like it was vomiting on me. We were putting the sea snails back because they were meant to be wet so they don't die.

by Jacob

We headed to the rock pools across the river. When we went across the river I sprinted like a lion was chasing me across the Long Bay river, and it was long! When we got to the rock pools I instantly wanted to climb but first I had to dry off. My feet were drowning in salty, sandy water from the sea.by Cosmo

I saw the shrimp darting backwards and forwards. I saw a starfish slowly moving down. The shrimp looked whitish. The starfish looked like it had orange tentacles with pink! I was really interesting!by Paea

Next I was looking in a shady place when I saw something shaped like a star. It did not do anything, it was frozen on the rocks. I felt it...it was spongy. Suddenly I realised it was a starfish! They were so amazing, I wanted to stay longer.by Zara

I could hear everyone screaming then we got into a big stream. I could hear all the water splashing up into my shoes and the mud squelching into the little holes, squelch, squelch. I went to the other side. The mud had got in.by Flynn

Gala Art

Here's our class canvas for the upcoming auction. It's called "Kowhaiwhai Variations". We also have other examples our printmaking displayed in the classroom and in the corridor of the senior block, so do drop in and have a look!

Down in the Park (2)

Here are some more reflections on the trip to Waitaramoa Reserve...

At Waitaramoa Reserve I saw a little blue bird called a pukeko and a butterfly. A black thing surprised me.

By Takumi

The first interesting thing I saw was a bee.It had black stripes and a little tiny tail. I think bees are primary counsumers. The bees wrere making honey. Thesecond intresting thing Isaw was a eel. The eel was eating fish.I t was long and brown and fat. I even saw a tiny mouth.

I think they are secondery consumers. I want to learn more about eels.

By Kingston

When I went to Waitaramoa Reserve I saw a feather. It was dark black. It had bugs on it. It had white on the bottom right. It looked like a heron feather. The leafhopper was brown with little dots. It eats plants. It is a primary consumer. I was surprised that they dart fast.

By Ethan

Yesterday we went on a trip. I saw a pukeko. It was blue and black and his beak was read. The pukeko has wings. He was at the top of the tree. I also saw a ladybird. It was blue with black spots. The ladybird was on the leaves and I saw a moth!

By Fiona

The first thing I saw was a leaf hopper. I think they are primary consumers in the food chain. Nother interesting thing I saw were ducks. I reckon they are secondary consumers because they eat insects and plants. I wonder what eats ducks?

By Holly

The first thing I saw was a butterfly and a fish. The fish was swimming really fast and the butterfly was sitting on a daisy. The thing that surprised me was the fish. I never knew that fish could swim in swamps.

By Lottie

When we were walking across the wood I saw fishes in the water and an eel. The fish is eaten by the eel.By William

On the trip I saw a swan plant with no caterpillars on it, and only wasps. I thought that the wasps had eaten all the caterpillars. A caterpillar is a primary consumer and a wasp is a secondary consumer. I was surprised by a spider because he made an amazing web. It nearly looked like a net.

By Atalia

The interesting things that I saw are an eel and a bee. Something that surprised me was that I saw a very black bird and that its wings were long. I wonder how bees make honey?

By Francesca