Samoa # 2

Well done Rhianne!!  Samoa's two main islands are Upolu and Savai'i.

That's 2-0 to the girls. What's going on boys?

The next question is an easy one. What are the main colours of the Samoan rugby team's playing shirt?

(parents no help - I'm sure they can find this out for themselves)

Samoa

In Room 1 we have adopted a country for the Rugby World Cup - Samoa.

We will have a series of questions over the next few weeks to test the students' research skills!

Congratulations to Amelia who was the first to tell me the capital of Samoa this morning - Apia.

Todays question: What are the names of  the two main islands of Samoa?

(Hint: A good way of getting in first is to post your answer as a comment on the blog)

Snow!!!

Oh wow! It's started snowing! Room1 runs outside to take a look.

What a fantastic experience we have had this week - snow at Normandale. We have had the chance to play in the snow, build snowmen and have snowball fights - even a day off school!

Everyone was so excited!!

Not just the children either.

Soon our school looked like this.

For anyone reading this in other parts of the country, or the world, this is almost a once in lifetime experience for us. Many of our students have never even been to the snow much less seen it falling. The last time it snowed like this was about 50 years ago so it was an exciting experience for all and not just for the children.

If anyone has some pictures of our students enjoying the snow to share please send the to me at dhaste23@gmail.com so we can share them with everyone.

Thinking - What Else?

Our thinking focus for this week is What Else?


Patrick said - "Is there another way I can get the answer?" It might be a better, faster or more accurate way to solve a problem.

Anton said - "Is there something else I can do?" What else should I be doing now - Making Choices.

Amelia said - "Is there another answer?" Not every question has only one answer.

Rhianne said - "Is there another word I could use?"

Thinking

Our Key Competency for this term is Thinking.

Week 1 we talked about Taking Time.

Caleb said "It's not a race to get an answer, you might only get part of an answer."
There is no penalty thinking hard and taking time and there is no reward for being the first person with your hand up.

Antonia said "Think before you act - before you say or do something."
Sometimes taking time might only be a few seconds!

Finally a couple of thinking quotes.

Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there! ~Will Rogers


Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?  ~Winnie the Pooh


948 visitors - who will be number 1000?

Macro Photographs

This week we learnt about taking photographs using the macro function on the cameras. This means we can get really close to what we are taking the photo of. It also means that the background is out of focus (all blurry).

Once we have learnt these skills then we can use photographs to tell stories. That is why a lot of the photographs are taken looking over the shoulder of the characters. Can we see what they are looking at? What might they be thinking?

Term 3

Welcome to term 3!

It is great to see everyone back looking healthier than the end of last term. Everyone has enjoyed catching up with their friends again in Room 1. We have a new friend, Jackson, who will be with us for the next two weeks.

Another busy term on the way, for both teachers and students.

In maths we will be starting with Statistics, then moving on to Fractions, Proportions and Ratios part of the Number strand.
For writing we are beginning with recount writing - telling stories about ourselves. Later this term we will use what we have learnt to write factual reports/recounts.
A big focus will be swimming which begins at Huia Pool in week 3 (15 August) for two weeks. We will be swimming every day.

I will also look to use some of the skills I learnt at the ICT conference the staff went to in the first week of the holidays in class.