Our latest tidy-up song: Happy

In M13 we always have a tidy-up song to dance along to as we tidy the classroom. For a long time we would get tidying as soon as we heard the first strains of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra's version of Cry Me A River.

But now we've changed over to HAPPY by Pharrell Williams. Just see if you can stay still while you listen to it (bet you can't!)

Happy
~
It might seem crazy what I’m about to say
Sunshine she’s here, you can take a break
I’m a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air, like I don’t care baby by the way
~
Chorus: Because I’m happy;

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof, because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth, because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you, because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do
~
Here come bad news talking this and that, yeah,
Well, give me all you got, and don’t hold it back, yeah,
Well, I should probably warn you I’ll be just fine, yeah,
No offense to you, don’t waste your time, here’s why
~
[Chorus]
~
Hey, come on (happy)
Bring me down; can't nothing bring me down
My level's too high
Bring me down; can't nothing bring me down
I said (let me tell you now)
Bring me down; can't nothing bring me down
My level's too high
Bring me down; can't nothing bring me down, I said
~
[Chorus 2x]
~
Hey, come on, bring me down… can’t nothing…
Bring me down… my level's too high…
Bring me down… can’t nothing…
Bring me down, I said (let me tell you now)
~
[Chorus 2x]
~
Come on

Jamieson's rocks and minerals

This morning Jamieson carefully brought two boxes of precious rocks to school.

Everyone chose their favourite one:

Francesca: "I like this one because it has patterns coming out from the middle"

Breea: "it's nice and smooth; really really smooth."

Amelie: "I like that crystal because it's quite shiny and I like the shape of it."

Breea wrote a poem about it:

Right and white
for everybody
sparkly and rough and hard
a pinch of red
of wool on the head.
I'm gonna call it Mark.
It's pointy on the bottom.
It doesn't hurt too much
a little grazed on the inside
a little grazed on the out.
It's middle name is Sassy
and it cannot be changed
by the law of Wellington's mayor.

 Joe: "I like them because they're quite shiny and they glow and the colour fades together and they're quite unique."

Aliya: "I like this because it's big and shiny and you can hold it easily. And it can't cut people and it's interesting."

Cody: "I like this one because it's shiny and pointy on the top and it looks like it has real crystal."

Noah: "I like all the details of both of the carvings of the mouse and the crocodile. They're both really cool."

Jamieson's dad carved this mouse when he was five years old, and he carved the crocodile when he was only eight!

From the left, we have obsidian, silver in the middle, and rose quartz on the right.

This is a Maori spearhead carved out of obsidian. Cody wrote a poem about it:

Jamieson's obsidian

Shiny and bright
all black, curved and Maori
off the top of a spear.

Luca also wrote a poem about it:

Knife

Its smooth surface
glints like the sea on a dark moonlit night.
I turn its crinkled lining up to the light
and it turns a pale milk colour.
The knife.

This is a fossil egg. Laila wrote a poem about it:

An old man, old and young
was having fun
today.

One day an animal came out
out came a dinosaur,
a triceratops.

Mel wrote a poem about this rock; it's a polished piece of amethyst:

Shining bright
under the light,
it curves and swirls.
Cracks widen
and let out
happiness of purple.
Shining bright
under the light,
swirly whirly twirl.

The ginormous crystal | by Quinn

The crystal shines in the sunlight.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.
I said to myself, who brought in this crystal?
It is amazing.

Cross country day | by Ella

I woke up thinking it was a normal day. Mum called, “it’s breakfast time, Ella!” I stumbled out of bed. Charlie was chatting away about his lego ship.

“It’s cross country!” 
I shivered.

“It… it… it’s… cro…ss… country?!”

I picked the last blueberry out of my bowl.

“Yes,” said Mum as I put my bowl up at the bench.

After I had gotten dressed, brushed my hair and was getting my shoes on I had butterflies in my tummy. We arrived at school, did the roll, and got our bags on. You can do it! I thought to myself.

The bus pulled up. The closer we got the more nervous I got.

3 hours later…

3…2…1… GO! Suddenly everyone zoomed past leaving me behind. 7…8…6…5…4! 4^th!  I have never run this fast before!

“Here come the bushes!” I was in the forest now. I stumbled over a big root and I hurt my ankle. I kept on going. The air smelt musty. I felt a pain going down my back. Then I saw a clearing and heard people clapping. Tenth now. In a few minutes I was over the fence and had crossed the finish line! I waited for Sophia and clapped when I saw her.

Kaitiaki of the stream - literature circle

One of our reading groups read Kaitiaki of the Stream, and then ran a literature circle discussion about it. Literature circles are a way to think about a piece of writing in different ways. Each person takes on a different role: Discussion Director, Connector, Illustrator, Word Master, Passage Picker, and Summariser. Then the Discussion Directors lead the discussion about the piece of writing. Have a look at some of our thoughts about this School Journal article.

Click here to download an MP3 of the article.

Peer mediator play: Mel, Laila, Jamieson, Sofia

Peer mediator play: Niamh, Brendan, Jamie

Peer mediator play: Cody, Breea, Dot