Year 3/ 4 Sleepover

Happening now: The Year 3/4 sleepover! Sleep well!

Character Day: Nic, Kaths and John's Base Group

Today was Character Day!

Nicola, Kath and John's base group worked together to create some art and music. We made kindness and gratitude cards. We also made some trees for someone that we love.

We made music to go together with a story that we read about bravery and courage:

We learnt this song:

Character Day: Shona and Hamish's Base Groups

Today was Character Day!

In Shona and Hamish's base groups we did all sorts of things to learn about character strengths. We made buscuits for a friend in the group to show kindness. We wrote stories based on character strengths. Ask us what else we did...

Character Day: Scott and Gabrielle’s base groups

Today was Character Day

Scott and Gabrielle’s base groups worked together today. We started the day with a bridge challenge. Groups were given materials to build a bridge suspended between two chairs.

It was great to see students forming new friendships, taking the lead, showing bravery, and there was loads of creativity in the air!

I really liked working together to build our bridge. - Greta

I enjoyed working with the seniors - Gina

I liked how we could work with people we don’t really know - Tommy

I really liked doing something with new people - Charlotte

The quiz about character strengths was good fun - Tommy

Flynn's Poem- When you are sleeping

Today in Tautoru, for their reading, they read Flynn's poem, "When you are Sleeping". "We liked it because he chose the best words for the purpose. It also paints a picture in our mind. During Independent writing, some of us decided to write our own scary poems. Thank you for the inspiration Flynn!"

When you are sleeping...

When you are sleeping, sneaking through streets,

Snatching, eating, gobbling, slithering, he whispers,

In Parseltongue “kill, kill, kill, KILL!”

                          

Cats meow, dogs bark, wind flows, rain flies,

Trees drip, no one sees the monsters,

Roaming feet thudding, houses crushing,

Water rising, trees falling, ground ripping.

People growing, ideas flowing, time spinning,

Coming, going in and out, blackness falling over,

Mountains growing, trucks towing,

Rivers Flowing,

Things Roaming.

By Flynn, WBS,  (Year 4)

Kitchen chemistry

What a week! In small groups students have chosen a food product to explore the chemical changes that happen when they are made or cooked, and over the last couple of days they have made the products themselves. Products made include:
 - ginger beer
 - oreo ice cream
 - banana ice cream
 - smoking warehau
 - cooking meat
 - bread
 - souffle
 - meringues and
 - dried apples.
Another group has explored whether food is acidic or alkaline, and what happens when two types are combined.

There's been a development of reading skills, focusing on the method of the recipes, development of culinary skills, development of taste buds and development of curiosity (wondering how they could have improved their recipe), as well as lots of fun. Things haven't always worked out exactly as expected but, like all good cooks, we've learned lessons along the way about the importance of following a recipe, measuring and careful observing.

The Dot: A story about creativity and bravery

We read a story called "The Dot" Schools across the globe will be reading, "The Dot" by Peter H Reynolds. The author has challenged us to make our mark. This story links to the character strengths of bravery and creativity... 

 "The Dot is the story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “make her mark”. What begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confidence and courage, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing, which has gone on to inspire countless children and adults around the globe."

Here is some of our art: 

EZ Minball

On Wednesday we headed off to EZ Miniball at the Stadium. We took three teams, two competitive and one social. We used our character strengths of teamwork and perseverance; especially when up against some pretty tough competition. Great to see all our teams supporting each other with one of the best moments being when out two competitive teams faced off against each other; with the final result being a 14- all draw.

Thanks again to all the parents who helped us out with transport and looked after and supported our teams.

Andy Griffiths' talk

This morning we walked down to Seatoun School to listen to Andy Griffiths talk to us about writing. There were students from other schools there too: Kahurangi School, Scots College, Holy Cross and Seatoun School.

He was really funny!

"I liked where he told how he writes the books and gets ideas. Like when he was talking about the treehouse and the 13th floor and he just wondered about making it bigger and keep going up" - Steph.
He really knew what kids liked and he told us really funny stories about his books" - Nick.
I like how he usually used the opposite of things to make it more interesting for the reader so he does what you least expect"  - Rico.
"I liked that's he really funny and has lots of jokes and has lots of humour, like that joke about the mother throwing the fridge at the kid, and he actually signed all our books" - Raiha.
"He was really silly and hilarious" - Josie.
"I liked the brown blob story... "- Lucas.
"I really liked the spy cow and what could happen to you when you were in the shower. I also liked when he was talking about Terry and Andyland" - Hana.

At the end Andy took the time to sign one book each for anyone who wanted his autograph. Thanks Andy!

When we got back we drew our own treehouses. There were some really creative drawings and ideas of what we would have in our treehouses if we could have anything at all... Later we wrote about what one level of our treehouse would look like.