Our Book Recommendations

Here are some of the books that didn't make it onto our padlet a few weeks ago. Check it out for some holiday reading:


Team Truffula's Book Recommendations 2014 on PhotoPeach

A winter christmas narrative

Thanks again for the idea Literacy Shed:Christmas Shed!

It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas...

This week, we are going to use some music to inspire us in our writing.

This is another great idea from the Literacy Shed: The Christmas Shed
Click on the link and scroll down to the part of the page that looks like this:

Thinking Questions for Sound Clip #1 

1. What time of year does it remind you of?
2. Is the song quick or slow?
3. What do you expect people to be doing if this was background music?
4. Why do you think this?

A Taniwha in the Garden

Look what we found in the Maori medicinal garden this afternoon...

Reading the News

This week, we are going to be having a look at what's in the news and how we can use our comprehension strategies to find key information and understand what we read.

Newspapers are a huge source of information from World News, Sport and even advertising; there is lots of read.

Often nowadays News is published online, as well as in an old-fashioned newspaper.
Kiwi Kids News is a great Kid's news site with loads of interesting articles.

Book Reccommendations

It's getting to the time of year, I'm thinking about my holiday reading list. Along with a few school books I want of read about teaching, I have a long list of fiction that are on my christmas wish list.
Throughout the year, I make a list on my phone of all the good books friends and family recommend to me.

 It got me thinking, all of room 3 have read a huge range of books this year and it's time we shared our recommendations with each other. We have been completing Book Recommendations in class and sharing them with each other.  I have created a Padlet for us to add our favourite books we have read this year so we can get ideas from each other for holiday reading.

This is on our must do list this week, so watch this space.

The Dragon Slayer

Check out our new Literacy Shed inspiration:



In a time when dragons threatened mankind, there was only one man who fought against them all.  His name is Tarragon and riding on his brave battle horse Black Bull, he is on his way to work. But things don't always turn out as they should…and one day.

5 Sentence Challenge

It's a busy week this week, so here's something else to keep us busy: a 5 sentence challenge

If you publish your 5 sentences on your blog, I can add them to the 5sc website.

This time we are looking at this scene from a village in Wales. Look carefully at the colours as well as the shapes and things you can see.

Tiny Dragon

Today we are going to look at an image from the Literacy Shed for writing. Here it is:

Where is it from?

Why is it so small? 

Are there more like him?

Where does he live? 

How will you look after it? 

Will you keep it a secret?

Synonyms and Antonyms

We are always looking to expand our vocabulary!

Looking for synonyms (words with similar meanings) is one way to make our writing more interesting.

Knowing the antonym (words with opposite meaning) can also help us find interesting adjectives to add detail to our writing.

Thanks to GrammarSongs by Melissa - here's an easy way to remember which is which!

Pet Day

Some highlights -  thanks to Mr T!


Pet Day on PhotoPeach

Court Theatre Trip Tomorrow

We are pretty excited about our trip tomorrow, we ran out of time to write down any questions we can ask our actor/actress/guide! Leave a comment below if you have got a question you'd like to ask tomorrow.

My Question: What skills do you need to be an actor/actress?

Here are some questions from Kenzie ( I like the way you used the pic collage app - very creative!)

One Voice

We have been learning about different types of entertainment. Music is a very popular type of entertainment, it's around us all the time - on the radio, in the car, in the supermarket.

Here is a young Kiwi musician, Nakita Turner, who wrote a song called "One Voice." We are gonig to have a closer look at the lyrics this week.

Dream Giver - writing our own dreams

Last week, we watched the short film 'Dream Giver' to inspire us in our descriptive and narrative writing.

This week, we are going to create our own narratives, what dream would we have if the dream giver visited us? What might go wrong? How would the dream end?

Athletics Day Tomorrow!

School Athletics Sports

Senior and Middle Teams

Tuesday 21 October pp Wednesday 22 October

Next Tuesday is athletics day for the senior and middle team. This year we are going to be traveling to Brookside Park (between Brookside and Lowes Roads, Rolleston) and using the Selwyn Athletic Club facilities and equipment.

The cost of the bus will be $7 and needs to be paid to the school office in a named envelope.

Students will need to be at school at 8:45 a.m. to catch the bus and we will be returning before 3p.m.

Children need to wear shorts and t-shirt (house colours would be great) plus suitable footwear for sports activities. They will also need their sunhat, sun block and a jacket if weather is cooler. They will need food for the day and also a drink bottle.

Parents are most welcome to join us for the day. The events will start at Brookside at approx. 9:15 a.m. and continue throughout the day. We would love some help so if there are any parents who would like to help with measuring or scoring at an event please let Wendy know.

Many thanks

Homophones - End the Confusion!

I have noticed lots of room 3 writers taking risks and getting creative in their writing! There are a couple of words (homophones- words that sound the same but mean different things) that some of us keep tripping up on, here's a catchy tune to end the confusion!

Athletics - Next Tuesday

School Athletics Sports

Senior and Middle Teams

Tuesday 21 October pp Wednesday 22 October

Next Tuesday is athletics day for the senior and middle team. This year we are going to be traveling to Brookside Park (between Brookside and Lowes Roads, Rolleston) and using the Selwyn Athletic Club facilities and equipment.

The cost of the bus will be $7 and needs to be paid to the school office in a named envelope.

Students will need to be at school at 8:45 a.m. to catch the bus and we will be returning before 3p.m.

Children need to wear shorts and t-shirt (house colours would be great) plus suitable footwear for sports activities. They will also need their sunhat, sun block and a jacket if weather is cooler. They will need food for the day and also a drink bottle.

Parents are most welcome to join us for the day. The events will start at Brookside at approx. 9:15 a.m. and continue throughout the day. We would love some help so if there are any parents who would like to help with measuring or scoring at an event please let Wendy know.

Many thank

Is this Drama?

That's not fair!

This week in maths we have been playing probability games, discussing if they are fair and what likely outcomes might be. We played the Bunny Hop game in class and we would like to share this with you.

Bunny Hop Game
1. Each player needs a counter and a coin. 
2. Place the counters on zero. 
3. Take turns tossing a coin. If it shows tails, 'hop' (move) one space to the right, if it shows heads, 'hop' move one space to the left.
4. The winner is the player who is on the highest number after 10 tosses each. Before you play, talk together about where you think the counters are most likely to be after 10 tosses each, and you think that. 

Enjoy the game!

Too easy... check out this website ((Maths is fun) if you read down to the bottom, there is a Quiz to try.  

Narrative Writing Song

This term, we are learning to write narratives (stories!). I found this clever song to remind us what makes interesting, descriptive stories. Have a listen and see what you already knew:

Home Learning Term 4

The holidays are over and I hope you all had a chance to relax because we've got a busy and exciting term ahead!

Here's is this term's Home learning challenge. There are 5 challenges to choose from, check out the details below.

Instructions

Task 1: Write a movie Review. Pick and watch a movie.  Before watching, have a look at the movie review questions. After watching the movie, complete the review. Make sure you write in full sentences. These reviews are a good copy, which we will display and share on the blog, so make it presentable!

Task 2: Write a biography or profile of your favourite actor/actress. Research about your favourite actor or actress. Where are they from? How old are they? What they did to become famous? Complete the template, you can print a picture of the person or draw them. These reviews are a good copy, which we will display and share on the blog, so make it presentable!

Task 3: Write a story (or read a short story/play) and film it.  You can do this in a small group of no more than 3 people. If you need more characters, you can use props/costumes to play different parts. Don’t forget to ask people at home to help if you need it. Before filming, make sure you have practised your story, what you are going to say, where you are going to stand etc. Allana and Whaea Alice have some scripts if you need inspiration.

Task 4: Create a movie poster using ICT. Research some popular kid’s movie posters. What do they have? Title, catch-phrase, actor’s names etc. Create a poster advertising the release of your favourite movie or one you have seen recently. This is an ICT challenge, so you can use different apps and programs, such as drawing apps, Pages, Microsoft Word (templates), comic life, or pic-collage. Come and talk to Allana if you need ICT help.

Task 6: Learn your mihi by heart Practise your mihi so you can say it without looking at the words. Record your mihi for the blog but remember to leave out your whanau and parent’s last names so we don’t have your first name and last name on the blog. Come and get some help if you are stuck with the pronunciation.

Life Cycles

Today we are going to look into the life cycle of humans and the changes we go through. Here's a great game to discover more:  Human ageing game.

Here are some other interesting sites about the human body:

easyscienceforkids.com - Human Body

Sciencekids.co.nz - Human Body Facts

Life Cycles

Today we are going to look into the life cycle of humans and the changes we go through. Here's a great game to discover more:  Human ageing game.

Divisibility Rules

Thanks to Katie's internet search today, we have found a good trick to figure out whether large numbers like 2456 can be divided by a number like 2.

Here are the tricks (some are easier than others):

Te Reo: Mihi

We have been learning to talk about where we are from and who are in our whanau:

Here's a great talking map, I found on Waka Endeavour's Blog

NZ Place Names: Te Reo and English - click on the te reo maori names to hear the pronunciation.

What to do in a Flood - By Talia, Amy and Caitlin.

What to do in a Volcano - By Baxter, Ollie, and Logan R.

Independent Learners Licence Survey

This term we have been working on being A+ Independent. We decided what an Independent Learners looked like and how to earn a Licence:

For the past 8 weeks,  we have been setting class A+ targets, talking about our reading and writing goals and reflection on what worked and what didn't.

Now, it's time to review what we have done and look at how we can make it better than before! To do that I'm testing out a google form. It's a survey that you fill out online. So come on all you independent learners - be adventurous have a go (we'll do one together in class)

WOW Poetry

This week, we are exploring some poetry in our reading and writing. Here is one of my favourite New Zealand authors and poet: Margaret Mahy reciting one of her poems "Down the Back of the Chair."

What is a poem? 

What makes something poetic?

What kind of language can you hear?

Does it have a structure? 

Are the sentences the same? 

Friday Night at the Cultural Festival

Wow what a night!

Before the show with the Lorax.

Waiting backstage.

YouTube stars!

Monsterous Maths Week

Disastrous Home Learning

This term, we have had several different tasks to complete for our home learning, related to our inquiry into disasters and what to do in a crisis. There have been some fantastic examples of creative and adventurous learning being done at home. From movie making, e books, to a historical disaster diorama.

Check these out:

Jump Jam for Star Jam

On Friday 15th August, we participated in Jump Jam for Star Jam an event I've talked about on the blog before. Last week, some room 3 studnet helped me edit and collage some of the best photos and videos from the event. Here they are to share:

 

Websites we like: Disaster Research

Don't forget about our 'Websites we like:' tab down the right hand side of  the blog. I've just added a website full of natural disaster facts, games and videos. It might be useful for your Information Report.

School Disco - This Friday

Here is the notice about this week's Disco. Us, Year 4's, are lucky we can choose to go to either the junior or the senior - so talk to Mum and Dad.

Our Digital Kowhaiwhai

Digital Kowhaiwhai on PhotoPeach

Maths Week

Check out this great website for exciting new maths challenges this week!

http://www.mathsweek.org.nz/

Have fun!

Term 3: Team Truffula

Mihi

On Friday we are going to start learning about our Mihi - how to introduce yourself and your story in te reo Maori. Allana is a great ako teacher and so we are going to use her blog post to help us get started:

Te Reo: Mihi

Kia Ora, Allana and Waka Endeavour - we love ako learning!

Risk vs Hazard

Today we talked about Hazards verses Risk - What is a hazard? What is risk? We watched this video off youtube:



 After identifying some hazards (at school, at home or in the community) we placed them on a risk continuum (from low risk to high risk?)

What makes a hazard a risk you might ask? We decided you needed to ask two questions:

1. How likely is it to happen?
2. How bad are the consequences?

Here's our continuum.

Room 3 - comment on this post and tell me what were some of our hazard and were they low risk or high risk?

Hazards

Click on each picture to make it bigger.

What are Hazards? on PhotoPeach

Symmetry!

This term we are looking at geometric patterns. Today we reviewed flipping, turning and sliding shapes. Next we are going to see what we know about lines of symmetry, here's a video to get us thinking:




Here's a rap about symmetry too!

Home Learning Term 3 - Crisis

Here is a copy of the Home Learning Sheet that will go home on Monday, outlining our Crisis inquiry this term. We are going to be looking at what is a crisis or disaster, as well as how to prepare for one. All of the home learning tasks are linked to what we will be reading and writing about at school. 

So have a look, pick one task from each box and get planning. 

As Baden Powell (founder of Scouting) said 'Be Prepared.'

REMEMBER: If you complete your home learning you will earn a prize for you and your team in the middle school 'Disaster games' later in the term...

Maori Language Week - 21- 27 July 2014

This week is  Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

In recognition of this, we will continue to practise our favourite waiata every morning and be learning (at least) one new word each day - thanks to this great resource kupu o te ra (Word of the day).

Here's a new waiata we will have a look at this week to help with our pronouncation:

Jump Jam for Star Jam - Friday 15th August

Here's an exciting event that is happening this term in week 5 (Friday 15th August). Starting with the first Jump Jam session this Tuesday at third break (in the back of the library). Hope to see you there!

Mad Scientist Afternoon - This Thursday

Just a reminder that our Mad Science Learning Celebration is this Thursday Afternoon from
3 - 6pm. Our classrooms will be open for you to come and see some of our learning, how we made our science movies and what we have been doing in maths and writing that's all related to science too!

Clean Coins Science Inquiry

Rubbery Egg Science Inquiry

Floating Egg Science Inquiry

Coloured Milk Science Inquiry

Chocolate Science Inquiry

Experiment Explanation

On Thursday we are going to write an explanation of this spectacularly explosive science experiment. Here's two videos to help explain the science behind it.

Invisible Ink Science Inquiry

5 Sentence Writing Challenge

This week we are going to join an online writing challenge, called the 5 sentence challenge.

Here's the link: fivesc.

This is how it works:

1. We get a picture prompt like this one:

2. As a class, we brainstorm what we can write about: 

3. We write 5 sentences about the prompt. 

4. After editing and publishing our 5 sentences, we publish them on our blog and share the link on the 5sc website. 

5. Hopefully lots of people view our writing and comment so we can improve our writing for next time! 

Fun Run Tomorrow!

Fun Run Time this Friday

This Friday (tomorrow) we will be holding our annual School Fun Run at the Springston Pony Club. Parents are welcome to join us for this event.

Children in the Senior and Middle Teams will be leaving to walk to the Domain at 12:30 p.m. Junior classes will be leaving at 1:30 p.m. If any parents are available to help with walking children  please contact your child’s teacher.

Senior and Middle Team events will start at 1:00 p.m. with the Yr 7/8 Girls, followed by Yr 7/8 Boys, Yr 4/5/6 Girls and the Yr 4/5/6 Boys.

Junior Team events will be starting at 2:00 p.m. with Year 2/3 Girls, followed by Year 2/3 Boys, Year 1 Girls and Year 1 Boys.

Students can dress in their house colours for this event – they will need shoes for running in. Please provide a jacket and it may be helpful to include a change of clothes as we think the grounds will be muddy after this rain