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Wednesday, 21 September 2016

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: 



Thursday, 15 September 2016

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.









Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Down the Back of the Chair by Mahutonga Matariki, credit to Margaret Mahy

 Down the Back of the Chair!

Today we read “Down the Back of the Chair” by Margaret Mahy. We all really enjoyed it! We discussed what poetic devices she had used and, using our creativity, wrote verses in small groups to add to her book. It’s such a shame we didn’t have time to draw pictures to represent our poetry!

Our success criteria were to:
  • Write a verse of at least 4 lines;
  • One line must have alliteration
  • Another must have rhyme
  • The other can include either more of these or another poetic device like assonance, personification or repetition                                                                       
  • The last line must end with “down the back of the chair.”

Here's what we imagined finding DOWN THE BACK OF THE CHAIR...

A digger a dog an army squad.
A pie a guy and a mexican fly.
A figger a trigger a critter's ipod.
A tie some die the toy that crys.
Down the back of the cair.
[By Joel.S, Flynn.M, Alex.G and Rylan.B]                 

Down the back of the chair,
We found rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
A pint of beer,
A smelly sock,
A weird rock.
A mouldy fish down from the dock.
Down the back of the chair.

Down the back of the chair,
We found something covered in hair,
Could it be a lollypop?
Maybe it was,
Uncle louie’s old teddy bear?
 But no it was a five million dollar bill.
A nintendo gameboy,
My bird called Roy,
Down the back of the chair.
We found lots of cash
Freezer too such a fortune enough for year supply of steak and cheese pie

We just pull things out there’s nothing to miss
Oh that reminds me last night i found a fish
A lollypop Some liqour A pice of likrish
Down the back of the chair
A cook A crook A book
Down the back of the chair
A rocket A builder a pocket full of glee
Down the back of the chair
Have you been down this marvelous chair it
Will make you rich
[by Thomas Ben blake and Lucas]

Down the back of the chair.

I found a bottle of beer,

down the back of the chair

there was no one there.

apart from Rudolph, the rednose reindeer

Down the back of the chair.

I found a book and gave it a look

Then Captain Hook, flew out of the book

Down the back of the chair

There was a snake who felt an earthquake

Down the back  of the chair.

[Ben B, Theo, Oscar and Max]

A flame, a crane and a paper plane
A book of alliterations and a box of medications,
Down the back of the chair.
A mat, a Mona Lisa and a minecraft creeper,
A bottle, a bee and a balancing tree
Down the back of the chair!
[By Stephanie, Sylvie and Sophia]

My pea’s, my pins, my edible grins down the back of the chair.
My hoop ,my loop,my poop down the back of the chair.
My peas, my wees, my mouldy cheese down the back of the chair.
A bird, a nerd, a turd down the back of the chair.
My cat in a flat, on a mat, being slack down the back of the chair.
[By Greer T ,Greer W , Milla]

Donald Trump’s walls of stone.
Your mum playing the xylophone.
An alien clone, a traffic cone.
Down the back of the chair.

A bat that’s fat.
A cat with a rat.
Old grannies mat.
Down the back of the chair.

A dinosaur, the president’s law.
A boar, A door, A lion’s snore.
Ugly witches magic core.
Down the back of the chair.
A dandelion, a baby crying
An airplane that’s barely flying
A meteor whose relieved and sighing
Down the back of the chair
A sea sick chicken
A dog thatś licken
A bat  that's clik en
Down the back of the chair

A log a hog that lived in a bog a guy named bob
All of this and more!
Down the back of the chair
                                                           
                                              A dragon's claw,
                                           A aniln door,
A boar with an apple cour
Down the back of the chair
                                          
                            A spark some bark from a cinnamon tree
                                                      A Santa ford
The singer Lorde
A cheetah called bored
 Down the back of the chair.

A cord,
A shall that belongs to nan
Down the back of the chair                             
                                                  
McDonald’s chips
Some pink tulips
Acrobat’s flips
Down the back of the chair

A pig a wig  down the back of the big old chair!                           
  A antelope,
A stot...
[By Charlie, Elliot and Bella]
                                                           
Some crumbs,buns and a Drum.
A peer of socks a little box .
A strawberry straw.
A cup a cop.
And a red ruler eating red rocks down the back of the chair.
[By Daisy,Orla and Maddie!]

A dragon having a snooze in a race that we lose
A car having a grump because there was a bump on its rump
A rocket in space landed in my face
Down the back of the chair
[By Caitlyn, Alba and Charlotte]

I found a pair of underwear under the chair
What else could I find?
I found a clown, a town and a big frown
I found a bear bringing beer and he jumped back
Down the back of the chair

[By Parker, Cody and Haare]












Friday, 9 September 2016

Interzone Swimming

Interzones swimming!


On Tuesday we went to Interzones swimming. We were so excited that we had got through! As we took our seats, waiting for our turn, butterflies appeared in our tummies. We listened, as the first stroke was called up, 50m freestyle. She was ready to jump up and GO.

She was walking down to the pool getting ready with a towel around her.
As she got put in her heat group waiting till her race, one girl was trying to see where the other was!

Then the magic happens, her race was up. She got ready and got in position.Off she went! Coming second at the moment and then finished in second place. But then she realised that she got into the finals!

We were both really happy!

(to be continued... check in later to hear about the 25m butterfly race)