We are learning to find fractions of a set...
Monday, 28 July 2014
Wednesday, 23 July 2014
Mahuri Term 3 Newsletter
Kia ora parents,
caregivers and children,
Can you believe we’re
in to the second half of the year already?! We’re looking forward to next
week’s Parent Teacher Child conferences when your child will lead us through
their learning and we can set goals together.
Student agency
The teaching staff has
been thinking and talking about student agency this year. During the holidays we had an excellent
professional development day exploring this with Kath Murdoch, an Inquiry
learning expert from Melbourne. Here’s one of her blogposts on How do inquiry teachers… teach? that gives a sense of her approach. We
are keen to support children’s independence and self-determination in their
learning as much as possible, and are exploring ways to do this. This may take
the form of independent mini-inquiries or passion projects, allowing kids to
pursue a particular area of interest, and to consciously develop their
independent learning skills (like time management, researching, collaboration,
communication, etc.) at the same time. Other ways we aim to develop children’s
agency are through learning reflections, learner licences that offer greater autonomy
and independence as students demonstrate their self-management skills, weekly
learning goals and class reflections. If you have any ideas, suggestions or
feedback please let us know.
Student teacher in M13
We are lucky to have a
student teacher working with us this term. Megan Lindsay is a qualified early
childhood education teacher who is now training to be a primary school teacher.
She will join us from 11th August until the end of term.
Inquiry
Building on last term’s
wonderful inquiry into Changes to the Land, we are moving on to a design and
innovation inquiry this term, exploring how we can be Kaitiaki of the Land.
Children will identify a need and create designs for protecting and taking care
of the land in our local environment. If you have, or anyone you know of has,
expertise in design, landforms, erosion, local government, or the changing
environment, and would like to share this knowledge with us, we would love to
hear from you!
Our maths focus
areas this term are Number: Multiplication & Division and Fractions, Proportions
& Ratios, Problem Solving, Basic Facts, Geometry, and Measurement.
In reading, we
will continue to develop comprehension strategies through reading texts about changes to
the land, design, and other interest areas. Our writing programmes will
flow from this as we write reports, explanations, procedures, and scientific
investigations, interspersed with ongoing recounts, character writing and
poetic writing.
PE
Our focus this term is
striking and catching. We will develop these skills through games and
activities using small and large balls and different strikers: hockey sticks,
cricket bats, etc. Let’s hope for some good dry weather to get outside and get
active!
Parent help
If you can support our
class programme with either regular or one-off parent help, we’d love to hear
from you. Spelling testing and reading with children are particularly useful
ways to help. We always welcome parents visiting to read a favourite book or
share some knowledge or expertise; even if you’ve already read to the class,
we’d love you to come back again!
Home learning
A reminder to return
home learning folders to school on Mondays. Each Monday children will
bring home a new list of ten spelling words, an updated Reading log (if needed)
and basic facts to be learned off by heart during the week.
Dates this term
Monday 28th
July:
Speak
Easy performance for Y4-6, 9am in the hall
Tuesday 29th
July:
Y4-6 swimming sports
Wednesday 30th
July: Powhiri 9am
Parent Teacher Child conferences
(Y4-6)
Thursday 31st
July:
Parent Teacher Child conferences
(Y4-6)
Friday 1st
August:
Freedom Friday begins
Monday 25th August: ICT Parent meeting
Friday 12th September: Dancesplash
performance, 5.30pm, Michael Fowler Centre
Thursday 18th
September: Mahuri
Celebration of Learning, 9.15am in the hall
Tuesday 23rd September: Parent
Teacher Child Conferences (NE-Y3)
Friday 26th
September: Last day of Term 2
To be confirmed: a school trip to the landfill
Thank you for your
ongoing support. As always, if there is anything you would like to discuss
about your child’s learning, please get in touch to make a time to talk.
Nga mihi,
Shanon, Adele, Ximena
and Amy
Friday, 4 July 2014
Friday, 27 June 2014
the ride | by Niamh
wheels zooming
trees blurring
waves passing by
crashing against the breakers
a rough and tumbling ride
trees blurring
waves passing by
crashing against the breakers
a rough and tumbling ride
Tuesday, 24 June 2014
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Writers' journals riddles and poems
Every Wednesday we start the day with observational drawing and writing in our writers' journals. There's a fad for riddles going on at the moment, along with our usual passion for poetry...
The helicopter
by Francesca
The helicopter falls around and around
in circles
and flutters in a slight breeze.
It got rumpled
rain's sliding down the base of the wings
it cracks and crackles
in the breeze
fluttering downwards.
Colours
by Peta
There are colours
that nobody can name
it has patterns of all kinds
slippery like silk
it has some bumps
that can only be felt
they can't be seen
but they can be touched
the vampire teeth
want to hurt the people
the taste buds
want to taste some more blood.
The shadow's shadow
by Ella
My shadow has a shadow
and the shadow is me
we are exactly the same
but when he goes away
I am all alone...
Guess what I am!
By Mel
I sparkle
in the sunlight
I glow
the colours of the rainbow
I also can crack again
in any shape
What am I?
... paua!
I swirl around
like a tornado
I'm sharp
at the end and
I get fatter
at the bottom
at all times
I can hear
the light
waves of the sea
What am I?
... a shell!
I twirl
and twirl
around as
I get down
like a helicopter
I am light brown
and I have veins
that you can see.
What am I?
... a maple tree seed!
As I hit the ground
I go
thump thump
thump and
sometimes crack.
I can be found
nearly everywhere
in different way.
What am I?
... a rock!
As I fall I land in heaven and turn
from green to yellow to orange
to red and finally to brown
and lie there
but I can still
travel around the world.
What am I?
... a leaf!
Morning
by Luca
feet frozen,
cheeks tingling, zip tightened
hands shoved into pockets
I trudge up the alleyway
My hair flying back into the wind
Fuzzy figure
by Dot
It's fluffy like a toy dog
it's brown like chocolate
it's warm in my hands
it's fuzzy and fuzzy and
fuzzy!
Clock
by Dot
tick tock tick tock
it's a clock
now it's 6 o' clock
Untitled
by Dot
A smooth
rich caramel brown triangle
on my grey hard desk
stripes of light,
bright and white
looks like a yellow lemony colour
on the back
Untitled
by Aliya
one small cut shell
with a hole
shaped like the sea
one little shell with lines curved
like the calm sea
The frame
by Aliya
It's a mini frame of shell
as white as snow
sitting on my dull grey desk
and it looks magical
The shell
by Amelie
the wavy swirly pattern on the shell
pale orange, skin colour, creamy white,
a blob of colour on the beach,
plainly the colour of bleach!
Who am I?
by Tama
It's in the middle
but with more than one
it's very quiet
but only when told
it has a clown
that's upside down
but all of them
are really stars.
Who am I?
...M13!
Changes
a found poem by Joe
The north wind doth blow
Dragon smoke rain wind
who has seen the wind
to a red kite
windy nights stopping by woods
on a snowy evening.
Untitled
by Saoirse
the orange egg rubs against my palm
making me quiver
all over.
The flappy thing
by Mahinaz
the flappy thing is
if you throw it up
it comes down
like a helicopter thing
at the top
and it goes light to dark
and there's a circle on it
and at the bottom it is little
and beautiful
What am I?
by Jamieson
I look like gas
I live under the water.
I am tasty to eat.
What am I?
A piece of paua.
I am black and white
and like a stick.
What am I?
A tiger snake.
I am black and yellow
and I am venomous.
What am I?
A black and yellow frog
that is venomous.
The helicopter
by Francesca
The helicopter falls around and around
in circles
and flutters in a slight breeze.
It got rumpled
rain's sliding down the base of the wings
it cracks and crackles
in the breeze
fluttering downwards.
Colours
by Peta
There are colours
that nobody can name
it has patterns of all kinds
slippery like silk
it has some bumps
that can only be felt
they can't be seen
but they can be touched
the vampire teeth
want to hurt the people
the taste buds
want to taste some more blood.
The shadow's shadow
by Ella
My shadow has a shadow
and the shadow is me
we are exactly the same
but when he goes away
I am all alone...
Guess what I am!
By Mel
I sparkle
in the sunlight
I glow
the colours of the rainbow
I also can crack again
in any shape
What am I?
... paua!
I swirl around
like a tornado
I'm sharp
at the end and
I get fatter
at the bottom
at all times
I can hear
the light
waves of the sea
What am I?
... a shell!
I twirl
and twirl
around as
I get down
like a helicopter
I am light brown
and I have veins
that you can see.
What am I?
... a maple tree seed!
As I hit the ground
I go
thump thump
thump and
sometimes crack.
I can be found
nearly everywhere
in different way.
What am I?
... a rock!
As I fall I land in heaven and turn
from green to yellow to orange
to red and finally to brown
and lie there
but I can still
travel around the world.
What am I?
... a leaf!
Morning
by Luca
feet frozen,
cheeks tingling, zip tightened
hands shoved into pockets
I trudge up the alleyway
My hair flying back into the wind
Fuzzy figure
by Dot
It's fluffy like a toy dog
it's brown like chocolate
it's warm in my hands
it's fuzzy and fuzzy and
fuzzy!
Clock
by Dot
tick tock tick tock
it's a clock
now it's 6 o' clock
Untitled
by Dot
A smooth
rich caramel brown triangle
on my grey hard desk
stripes of light,
bright and white
looks like a yellow lemony colour
on the back
Untitled
by Aliya
one small cut shell
with a hole
shaped like the sea
one little shell with lines curved
like the calm sea
The frame
by Aliya
It's a mini frame of shell
as white as snow
sitting on my dull grey desk
and it looks magical
The shell
by Amelie
the wavy swirly pattern on the shell
pale orange, skin colour, creamy white,
a blob of colour on the beach,
plainly the colour of bleach!
Who am I?
by Tama
It's in the middle
but with more than one
it's very quiet
but only when told
it has a clown
that's upside down
but all of them
are really stars.
Who am I?
...M13!
Changes
a found poem by Joe
The north wind doth blow
Dragon smoke rain wind
who has seen the wind
to a red kite
windy nights stopping by woods
on a snowy evening.
Untitled
by Saoirse
the orange egg rubs against my palm
making me quiver
all over.
The flappy thing
by Mahinaz
the flappy thing is
if you throw it up
it comes down
like a helicopter thing
at the top
and it goes light to dark
and there's a circle on it
and at the bottom it is little
and beautiful
What am I?
by Jamieson
I look like gas
I live under the water.
I am tasty to eat.
What am I?
A piece of paua.
I am black and white
and like a stick.
What am I?
A tiger snake.
I am black and yellow
and I am venomous.
What am I?
A black and yellow frog
that is venomous.
Friday, 13 June 2014
The process of weathering, erosion, and deposition | By Harry
First weathering: weathering is when wind or water weakens rock or soil. For example, the sea wall was weakened by the wind. The wind blows the water which creates a wave and brings tiny rocks with it. The water is wearing away at the rocks.
Over hundreds of years the rocks disappear as they become sand particles. This happens to all the rocks in the sea.
Second, erosion. We can erode the land in mines. You would find the rock or crystal and then it would go into a mine cart, travel all around the mine and go back to the start.
The wind can be very strong so it picks up dirt. The water is strong because anything that goes near it can be picked up and washed away.
Mostly dirt and sand is eroded by water or the wind. Then rocks can be deposited down a creek and end up in the sea and then they may be never found again. A delta is a rivermouth that's been building up with sand a lot. When sand builds up because it's come from somewhere else it is called deposition.
Over hundreds of years the rocks disappear as they become sand particles. This happens to all the rocks in the sea.
Second, erosion. We can erode the land in mines. You would find the rock or crystal and then it would go into a mine cart, travel all around the mine and go back to the start.
The wind can be very strong so it picks up dirt. The water is strong because anything that goes near it can be picked up and washed away.
Mostly dirt and sand is eroded by water or the wind. Then rocks can be deposited down a creek and end up in the sea and then they may be never found again. A delta is a rivermouth that's been building up with sand a lot. When sand builds up because it's come from somewhere else it is called deposition.
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