Room 16

The Awesome Room 16 Team!!

2011-12-13T14:09:00.000+13:00

Today we took some final class photos for the year, as well as some pics in the playground with our friends. Here they are:

Xmas on the Beach!!!

2011-12-13T13:36:00.000+13:00

Hot sun, sand burning our feet, fizzy drink, popcorn and christmas crakers - what could be better?? Perhaps a real beach, but we did our best and had our christmas beach party in the sandpit today. It was very hot so it was a great day for the beach.

Early Maori Inquiry

2011-12-13T10:43:00.000+13:00

This term we have been finishing off our inquiry into Early Maori. We decided that we would share our learning by making posters. Each poster had to include a title, a sub title, two pictures and two text boxes. Here are the fabulous results.

By Max and George

By Sophia and Niamh B

By Caitlin and Palm

By Emily and Swastik

By Jake and Will

By Ben and Te

By Niamh M and Emma

By Chloe and Bella

By Ashley and Olivia

By Charles and Kahn

By Jordyn, Bradley and Finn

Catch Up TIme!!

2011-12-12T20:15:00.001+13:00

Ok so we haven't updated the blog in a wee while so here is the latest Room 16 antics.

Last week was Book Week. On Wednesday we had the book parade. Everyone came to school dressed as their favourite book characters and they all looked great!! We had Santa, fairy's, witches, Zac Power, Harry Potter, Robin Hood, Slinky Malinki, super heroes and much more! Clifford the Dog made an appearance at the parade. It was fun. We had a "best dressed" competition in our class. Here are some pics of us in our outfits.

Best Dressed Girls


Best Dressed Boys

Today was celebration day and we had a christmas magic show from El Gregoe. He was very funny and he had two birds and a giant bunny as part of his magic tricks. Jake and Bella got to go up and help with the tricks. Jake got a balloon animal and he had one of the real birds on his head!! It was a cool show.

Today we also we had a giant bouncy obstacle course at school. We all got a turn on it this afternoon and all of whero house got to play on it at lunch time. It was good fun racing eachother through the tunnels and down the slides.

A & P Fun!!!

2011-11-12T22:41:00.000+13:00

On Wednesday the whole junior school went to the Canterbury A & P show!! Miss Archbold had a rough night at the after hours doctors and was very disappointed about having to miss her favourite trip of the year. Nevertheless, Miss Davies did a wonderful job covering for Miss A, along with some of our wonderful parents. The class had a great time watching the horses, seeing woodchopping, shearing, viewing farm animals, climbing on awesome farm machinery and becoming country kids for the day. Even the rain held off until everyone was back at school. A big thanks to Vicki and Cindy for the great photos.

Let's Celebrate!!

2011-10-25T20:19:00.000+13:00

Go the All Blacks!! Yesterday after school Miss Woods and I hoofed it down to Bealey Ave to join the 50,000 other Cantabrians waiting to see the All Blacks. We must have had good luck on our side because we got a spot right up the front. As the trucks went past I got to shake hands with Mills Muliaina, Keven Mealamu, Adam Thomsom, Richard Kahui, Cory Flynn, Ali Williams and Graham Henry!!! It was very, very exciting. Here are some of the photos that I took from our spot.

Holiday Antics

2011-10-18T20:55:00.001+13:00

This is where I'm staying during my holidays! Down the hill by the water is my brother's house and I have come to stay along with my sister Anna and my cousin Nick. He is 11 and he goes to Halswell School. We have been tailing some lambs today. That's when you take their tails off to stop them getting dags and getting sick when they get older. We have lots more lambs to do during the rest of the week. If you are doing something fun these holidays then send me some pics and I'll put them on the blog too. Happy holidays!

Anna and Nick at the beginning of the very long driveway.

The system for quickly feeding the pet lambs.

This is Earl, Munter and Zoe.

Certificates - Week 10

2011-10-11T15:55:00.000+13:00

There was no Year 2 assembly in the last week of term but that didn't stop us giving two wonderful Room 16 super stars a certificate. Congratulations girls.

Caitlin - Achievment in Sports Education (Market Day)
Bella - Values Award

Last 3 Days of Term

2011-10-09T17:14:00.004+13:00

The last 3 days of this term have been crazy but also a lot of fun. On Wednesday we shared some of our learning in the classroom, and then we had a concert to share our learning in Te Reo Kori. Room 3 welcomed everyone into the hall with a haka powhiri and then sung a waiata. This was followed by Room 10 with folk dancing, Room 15 with Poi, Room 16 with more waiata and Room 13 with rakau (stick games). The children performed wonderfully. Thanks to the family and friends who came along to watch.

On Thursday we finished off our Sports Education for the term with our fundraising Market Day. All teams have been working very hard over the last few weeks making posters, signs and products to sell at the market. We were originally only going to invite Room 15 to come to the market, but after counting up all of the items for sale on Thursday morning we ended up being able to invite 4 other classes! The market was a great success with nearly all products selling out. The teams all made over $100 (of pretend money). The Chipmunks topped off their very sucessfull term by raising $158. Well done to all the teams and thank you to all the parents for the yummy baking donations.

We finished the term on Friday with a trip to Clip n Climb. Everyone (Miss A included) had a great time climbing the different walls and overcoming fears of falling and heights. Thank you to the parents who drove us there. Once again, your help was very much appreciated. Here are some pics from the trip.

Finally on Friday afternoon we had a popcorn party and said goodbye to Oliver. Oliver and his family are off to Wellington for a year. We have loved having Oliver in Room 16 this year and we are really going to miss him next term. We wish him and his family the best of luck for their time in Wellington and we hope they will be back at St Albans School in the future.

Auzzie, Auzzie, Auzzie

2011-10-05T12:04:00.000+13:00

Yesterday Room 16 jumped the ditch and became Australians for the day. Here we all are in our Auzzie outfits, although we did have a few All Black loyalists who refused to wear Australian colours!

Certificates - Week 9

2011-09-30T14:09:00.000+13:00

Here are this week's certificate winners. Congratulations boys. You have worked hard this week.
Swastik - Achievement in Writing
Anton - Values Award
Jake - Heart of Achievement

Oliver's Russian Inquiry

2011-09-30T14:02:00.000+13:00

Over the last few weeks Oliver has been attending a inquiry class with Mrs Howison. He decided to find out all about Russia. At first he wanted to find out about all sorts of countries, then he realised that he might need more time for that! He choose the biggest country instead. He made a plan of things he wanted to find out and then searched for information and pictures on the internet. You can click on the link below to see his presentation about Russia.

Oliver's Presentation

Well done Oliver. Emma and Caitlin are in the next group to have a go.

Halswell Quarry Trip

2011-09-30T13:51:00.000+13:00

Here are some pics from our trip to the Halswell Quarry. While we were there we made friends with trees, became bug detectives, turned from children into birds and bugs for a while, turned back into children and then joined in a story with native bug and bird finger puppets. We learned lots about our native environment and how to look after it. At school we talked about this as the environment that Early Maori lived in. It was a fantastic day. Thanks to all the parents who came along.

Certificates - Week 8

2011-09-28T16:57:00.000+13:00

Here are last week's wonderful certificate winners. Congratulations!
Emily - Achievement in PE
Niamh - Achievement in Writing
Ben - Values Award

Athletics

2011-09-24T10:12:00.000+12:00

Over the last two weeks we have had two athletics sessions with some students who are doing a diploma of sport and fitness at polytec. We did activities to help us get better at running, jumping and throwing. It was good fun and it was a perfect lead up to our own athletics programme. Here are some photos from the two days.

Super Haka

2011-09-23T08:33:00.000+12:00

Our whole school has been given a challenge to learn the Christchurch Super Haka by the end of Term 4. We will be using these videos to learn the actions.

Australians all let us rejoice!!!

2011-09-22T18:09:00.000+12:00

In week 10 the whole school is having a Rugby World Cup/Top Town day and yip, you guessed it, Rooms 16 and 27 got AUSTRALIA!!! So start schooling up on facts about Australia, finding your yellow and green clothes and practising your Australian accent! We will make flags and badges with our buddy class. Click on the Aussie flag at the side of the page for a list of links to find out more information.

Sports Ed - Dodgeball

2011-09-22T16:27:00.000+12:00

Today we finished our dodgeball competition. We discovered that dodgeball is a much faster game than hockey and soccer, and that it is not as much of a team sport. Here are the results and the winning team - Chipmunks!!! Well done to all teams. Keep an eye out for a notice as well as some posters around the school about the final part of our Sports Education. It's going to be fun!!

Track the Games

2011-09-22T08:12:00.000+12:00

I have added a new link to our blog. From there you can follow each RWC team, check out the up and coming games and check for scores you might have missed. Look for this picture on the side of the page:

Happy Birthday Mrs Warren!!!

2011-09-21T12:43:00.000+12:00

Today was Mrs Warren's birthday. The whole school snuck outside before morning tea to sing her happy birthday. Every child had a balloon and one child from each class took her a flower. The children from TTRR did a haka for her as well. She thought it was the best birthday present ever!! I think she even had a tear in her eye. Enjoy the rest of your birthday Mrs Warren!

Certificates - Week 7

2011-09-16T13:40:00.000+12:00

Congratulations to Kahn and Bradley who have recieved the class certificates this week. Top effort boys. Well done.
Bradley - Values Award
Kahn - Heart of Achievement

Sports Ed - Hockey

2011-09-13T11:04:00.000+12:00

Over the last two weeks we have had our class hockey tournament. Some of the games were very close with many children stepping up to lead their teams to victory. There were some excellent hockey skills shown, especially from some children who have never played hockey before. Well done to all the teams. The final was held yesterday between the All Blacks and Go Fire. The first half was extremely close with Go Fire getting the first goal and the All Blacks sneaking in one of their own just before half time. In the second half the All Blacks showed determination and skill and came out with a 3-1 victory. Well done! Here is the results table and the champion team.

Milo Cricket

2011-09-10T09:18:00.001+12:00

On Wednesday we had a session with the coaches from Milo Cricket. We practised throwing and catching and then we played a game called two-ball smash. It was good fun. Afterwards we played a great game where Miss A throws a bucket of balls in the air and we have to get them all back in the bucket. She keeps throwing them out until someone catches one on the full. Some of us played the games during discovery time on Friday as well. Remember to check out the registration form in the milo packs if you are interested in playing club cricket.

Certificates - Week 6

2011-09-09T13:40:00.000+12:00

Congratulations to this week's certificate winners. We did not have a Year 2 assembly this week so we celebrated this achievement in class. Well done girls.

Sophia - Achievement in Writing
Niamh M - Values Award

Certificates - Week 5

2011-09-04T20:29:00.000+12:00

Here are our certificate winners for Week 5. Congratulations!

Ashley - Heart of Achievement
Max - Achievement in Sports Ed.
Oliver - Values Award

Junior Poetry Competition

2011-08-30T15:18:00.001+12:00

Today Caitlin, George and Oliver recited their poems in the Year 2 poetry recital. All three children did a superb job and should be very proud of themselves. Several parents and teachers commented on how well they all did. Oliver did especially well and came second out of all the Year 2 children. Congratulations Ollie and well done!! Niamh M also represented our class as one of the four announcers. This was a big task and she did a wonderful job. Thanks Niamh.

The Year 0, 1 and 2 winners.

Sports Ed - Day 2/3

2011-08-26T12:21:00.000+12:00

Yesterday we had the last round-robin games for our soccer tournament. The teams with the most points were the All Blacks and the Chipmunks. Here is the results table for the competition. The teams could get a maximum of 10 points per game (5 for the win plus 5 fair play points). Points are lost for poor sportsmanship and poor behaviour.

Today we held the final between the All Blacks and the Chipmunks. It started off as a very close game with the score still on 0-0 at half time. In the second half the Chipmunks stepped up to take a 3-0 win. The team picked Max and George as their best players. Well done boys. Next week we start our hockey tournament.

Soccer Champions!

Poetry Champs

2011-08-26T12:10:00.000+12:00

Yesterday we had the Room 16 Poetry Recital. Wow - the performances were fantastic!! It was incredibly hard to choose 3 children to go through to the Junior recital next week. Well done to all children and thank you for your all your hard work. Here are the results:
1st - Caitlin
2nd - George
3rd - Oliver
4th - Niamh M
5th - Max
Caitlin, George and Oliver will recite their poems next Tuesday morning at the Yr 0-2 recital. Good luck! Niamh M will be an announcer at the recital and Max will be a back-up in case anyone is away on the day.

Week 4 Maths Challenge

2011-08-24T08:47:00.000+12:00

Here is our maths challenge for the week. Good luck!

Maths Challange - Week 4

New Book

2011-08-23T11:08:00.003+12:00

Check out our latest book "The Big Snow" by clicking on the story jumper link on the side of the page. This book has fantastic snow stories as well as winter landscape paintings done by the class. Remember to get the username and password off the whiteboard in the classroom. A note will also be sent home today with this information on it.

Winter Writing

2011-08-19T19:58:00.000+12:00

I put our winter stories into wordle and this is what it it produced. What fantastic snow words! Well done.

Amazing Alliteration!

2011-08-19T18:31:00.001+12:00

This term we have been working on using alliteration to improve our story writing. Last week we came up with adjectives and things we liked that started with the same letter as our name. We used wordle to publish our writing. Here are some excellent examples. The rest will go up on the wall in the classroom next week.

Caitlin's Cool Couch!

2011-08-18T21:53:00.000+12:00

Here are some pictures of Caitlin's fun in the snow. I love the snow couch. It looks very cool!

Week 3 Maths Challenge

2011-08-18T14:55:00.001+12:00

Every week we will put up a new maths challenge. This can be done at school during maths time or at home. Please make sure that the children are only supported to work out the answer. It is not a challenge for adults!! Good luck.

Maths Challange - Week 3

Story Jumper

2011-08-18T12:55:00.000+12:00

I have added a new link to Story Jumper at the side of this page. It looks like this:

You can click on the link and it will take you to a login page for story jumper. The username and password are on the whiteboard in Room 16. Some of the children already know it. You can login and click on "My" at the top and then on "My Books". This will show books that the children can read as well as books that we make at school. You can check out our book about Wheelie Day.

Learning at Home

2011-08-18T12:48:00.000+12:00

Oliver did some work at home during the snow days. I love how you used a simile in your writing. Thanks for sharing your work Oliver.

Guess What??

2011-08-17T14:43:00.001+12:00

We have a new addition to Room 16. Use the clues on the link below to guess what it might be.

Guess What??

2011-08-17T07:27:00.000+12:00

School closed today - Wed 17th August

Today is your third day off school this week!

Let's get writing at home and see how many stories we can get on the blog.

Remember to send in photos too or just post a sticky note on the snow link further down the page.

You could do a book review on the book you are reading at home. If you send it to me I will add it to our favourite books down the side of the page. Remember to tell me:
- the title
- the author/illustrator
- what it was about
- did you like it (rate it out of 5)

Play some maths games by clicking on the "Kids Zone" link at the side of the page.

We would have been working on place value (10's and 1's) at school this week. So click on "busy bees" in the kids zone and try out these place value games:

Keep warm and hopefully I will see you all at school tomorrow.

Snow Fun

2011-08-16T14:37:00.000+12:00

I woke up to a new day. I looked outside and saw what looks like marshmallows floating from the sky. It is like a winter wonderland with the snow outside. I feel so so cool and am excited about going out and playing in the snow. Our snowman is bigger than the one from last time it snowed. It is very, very FREEZING as I go out in all my ski gear. I am looking forward to having a hot chocolate to make me toasty warm!

By George Allen

Thanks for the great story George. :-)

More Snow!!

2011-08-15T19:08:00.003+12:00

School is closed again today.

Here are some ideas for things to do today:
Click on the link below to post a note about what you have been doing in the snow
Read a book
Help someone bake
Take some photos of you in the snow
Write a story or a poem
Play a board game
Pracitse for the poetry recital
Make a badge or poster for your Sports Ed team
Email photos and stories to Miss A
Keep a watch on the blog for more posts and updates.
Keep warm!

Snow!!

Week 2 Certificates

2011-08-13T20:56:00.000+12:00

Well done to the winners of this week's certificates. Congratulations on your achievements.

Ben - Achievement in Sports Ed
Charles - Values Award

Sports Ed - Day 1

2011-08-11T16:40:00.000+12:00

Today we kicked off our sports education programme with the first 2 rounds of the soccer round robin. The teams played very well. They are learning about working together, rules of sport (including before and after the games) and fair play.
Here are today's results:

Go Fire v All Blacks: All blacks won 1-0
Crushers v Chipmunks: Chipmunks won 2-0
Go Fire v Crushers: Draw 1-1
All Blacks v Chipmunks: Chipmunks won 3-0

Next Thursday's games:
Go Fire v Chipmunks
All Blacks v Crushers
Finals

Teams will be having a team practise on Tuesday and making team badges on Wednesday.

Maths Week

2011-08-11T08:17:00.000+12:00

This week has been NZ Maths Week. Every day the children have been given maths challenges to try and solve. On Monday they had to guess the amount of lollies in a jar. The winner gets to keep the lollies! We have also been having basic facts races and learning to write on squared maths paper. Below is an extra challenge for the day. We will be doing this in maths time. Clink on the link below after lunch today and you will see the children's answers to the challenge.

Maths Week Challenge

Read, Read, Read!

2011-08-11T08:13:00.000+12:00

Today in reading time we are learning to use "Lino". This is an online tool where the children can post their ideas using virtual post-it notes. Today they have to post a comment about the book they have read. Click on the icon below from 11.30am onwards to see their ideas.

Today's Reading

Toy Story Lego

2011-08-06T10:11:00.000+12:00

Wow how lucky are we?! The Salvation Army donated 450 boxes of Toy Story lego to our school - one for each child. We will be writing letters next week to say thank you. I'm sure that by now most of the lego has already been put together!

Week 1 Certificates

2011-08-06T10:03:00.000+12:00

Congratulations!! What a great start to Term 3.

Te - Heart of Achievement
Emma - Values Award
Finn - Achievement Award

Another Milestone

2011-07-31T20:17:00.000+12:00

We have hit 3000!! Keep up the viewing folks.

Emma's Hanmer Holiday

2011-07-27T19:33:00.000+12:00

Here is a photo from Emma of her in front of the fire at the house she stayed at in Hanmer springs. She and her family went to stay the night on Sunday but had to stay for two nights because they got snowed in. Emma's Dad knew someone who had room for them to stay. Lucky! They made a snow man, had a snow fight and went to the hot pools in the snow. It sounds like they had a great time. Thanks for the photo and the email Emma.

Snow Angels

2011-07-26T13:16:00.000+12:00

Anton has been busy making snow angels at his house. Good work Anton!

Snow Fun

2011-07-25T11:53:00.000+12:00

Here's what we get up to at my house on snow days! Make sure you take some pics of what you have been doing in the snow and bring them along to school next week, or email them to me to put on the blog. Have fun and stay warm!

Big Day In

2011-07-14T16:15:00.000+12:00

Congratulations Room 16 for becoming the Year 2 Dodgeball Champions!!! You also put up a fantastic fight against the parents and the teachers. Well done. Thank you to the parents who came along today to share some work in the class, watch/play dodgeball and help with the shared lunch. We had a great day.

Gymnastics Recounts

2011-07-13T12:50:00.001+12:00

Today we wrote recounts about our trip to CSG Gym yesterday. Here are some of the children's stories.

Yesterday we went to the CSG gym. First we went on the tramp. We did star jumps. Then we did an obstacle course. After that we went to another obstacle course where we jumped on another tramp. Then we went to the pit and swung like a monkey on the rings. Then we went to the bars. I was very good on them. I did circle overs. It was fun. I felt happy. By Jake.

On Tuesday Room 16 and Room 10 went to gymnastics. We went on a bus. It took a long long time. When we got there we took off our bags and shoes and do not forget socks. We sat on the blue carpet. We went down to the navy blue carpet. Then we did some warm ups. After that we played a racing game. Then we headed over to the trampoline. I was the first one in line. We did some normal jumps. Then we jumped on the orange thing. After that we jumped on a green thing and we did some star fish jumps and some sit down jumps. Next we headed over to an obstacle course. I jumped on the spring plank. It was an exciting trip. By Olivia.

On Tuesday we went to gymnastics by QEII. We did super swinging and we did jumping jellybeans and we did high hopping on one leg. We did hard handstands and then we went to the bus and the bus took us to school. The bell rang and we went home. It was a fantastic day. By Palm.

Yesterday our class and Room 10 went to the gymnastics. I heard a knocking noise from the floor. It was because we were jumping like jellybeans. When we got there I was feeling really happy. The rings were as high as a dinosaur! On those I was feeling scared. My friend Pheonix got a letter. The long trampoline was bouncy. We really had a fun day. By Sophia.

On Tuesday we went to Gymnastics and we went on the rings. I dropped in the sponge pit. It was hard to get out but I got out. The second thing we did was go on the trampoline and we did big bounces on the tramp. I smelt sweat. I was really excited to go to gymnastics. My favourite thing was the rings. By Niamh B.

On Tuesday we went to gymnastics. When I got there I went on the rings. They were scary but I had to do it. The fun part was the ride on the bus. By Kahn.

Yesterday I went to gymnastics. I liked the rings. I fell in the pit. My favourite part was when I went on the tramp. It was fun. I like gymnastics. By Swastik.

Christchurch School of Gymnastics

2011-07-12T20:53:00.001+12:00

Today we went to CSG for our big day out. The coaches helped us to use the bouncy floor, bars, beam, spring boards, mats, tramps and rings. When we had a turn on the rings we got to land in the foam pit. That was heaps of fun. Room 16 has some expert gymnasts who go (or have been) to gymnastics lessons before. Jake was our best expert. He recently came third in one of his gymnastics competitions. The coaches could all see that he knew what he was doing. Go Jake! The whole class had a great time and finished the day worn out but very happy.

Red and Black Day

2011-07-11T15:15:00.000+12:00

Last Friday we had a Red and Black mufti day to support the Crusaders in the Super 15 final. Donations for the day went to the Red Cross. Unfortunately our support didn't help the Crusaders to win, but we had a great day. TV1 news came along and filmed us doing jump jam and cheering for the Crusaders. Some of us made it onto the news on Friday night!! Niamh M won a signed Crusaders ball and got interviewed by the reporter, but that didn't make it onto the news. It was lots of fun and everybody looked great in their red and black outfits.

Certificates - Week 10

2011-07-11T15:08:00.000+12:00

The winners of the Week 10 certificates were:
Niamh M - Achievement in Writing
Olivia - Values Award

Also, well done to all of the children who led our Maori Language Week assembly. You did a great job.

More Te Reo

2011-07-06T11:40:00.000+12:00

In the last few weeks we have been learning our new school waiata - Maranga Opani Kura. You can practise using this clip sung by the wonderful children of Te Tikanga Rua Reo.

We are also learning the song - A Ha Ka Ma. It is a fun song that uses the 5 vowels and 10 consonants in the Maori alphabet. We will be singing some Maori songs in assembly this week so let's get practising.

Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori

2011-07-05T14:40:00.005+12:00

Kia ora and welcome to Maori Language Week. This week we will be using as much Te Reo in class as possible. We will be focusing on greetings, days of the week, commands and counting. Here are some simple ideas that you can use at home:

Greetings:

Morena - Good morning

Kia ora - Hello

Tena koe - Hello to one person

Tena korua - Hello to two people

Tena koutou - Hello to all

Haere ra - goodbye (to someone who is leaving)

E noho ra - goodbye (to someone who is staying)

Commands:

Whakarongo mai - Listen to me

Titiro mai - Look at me

Korero mai - Speak to me

Haere mai - Come here

The whole school is learning to ask and respond to the following question:

"Kei te pēhea koe?" - How are you?

Some possible answers...
Kei te pai ahau                      I’m good
Kei te ora ahau                    I’m well
Kei te ngēngē ahau               I’m tired
Kei te koa ahau                     I’m happy
Kei te hiakai ahau                 I’m hungry
Kei te hiainu ahau                 I’m thirsty
Ka nui te ora                          I’m great
Me koe?                                And you?

Kore rawa e rawaka te reo kotahi - One language is never enough.

Sickness and Art!!

2011-07-04T14:43:00.001+12:00

This morning when the 9am bell went we only had 13 people on our mat! By the time the 3pm bell went we only had 10 left! The children who were still here in the afternoon got to see the Real Art Roadshow. There was some very cool art inside made in lots of different ways using different materials. Here are some pics of some of the art and of the children who were left at school!

KNOCKOUT!!!

2011-07-01T16:44:00.000+12:00

Today we all went to Waitbait Studios to be in the crowd while Miss A battled the Teachinator! It was a pretty tight finish but the teachers came out with a win!! It was very cool to see how TV programmes get filmed and edited to become what we see on TV. We realised that it can take quite a long time to get it all done. Keep an eye on What Now for the next few weeks. You might see Room 16 in the crowd quite a bit and at some stage you will see Miss A defeat the Teachinator (just)!! Some film footage will be posted at a later date.

Certificates - Week 9

2011-07-01T16:37:00.000+12:00

Congratulations to this week's certificate winners!! Well done.
Bella - Heart of Achievement
Kahn - Achievement in reading and spelling
Sophia - Values award

Jane Buxton

2011-06-28T17:46:00.000+12:00

Today, author Jane Buxton visited our school. She told us about her writing and read some of her own books to us. The first one she read was a great book called "Harry's Hair". There were lots of laughs as she read it. She also read a new book called "A Very Good Lunch" and one of her big books called "Stepping Stones". We asked her lots of questions about writing. She told us that she was about 6 or 7 years old when she knew that she wanted to be a writer! I think that we might have some budding young writers in our own class.

Solubility Stuff!

2011-06-27T16:32:00.001+12:00

Last week we went home and asked what the word "solubility" meant. Lots of children did some research and some even did experiments at home. We found out that if something is "soluble" it means that it will dissolve in water. Today we tested the solubility of six different subtances. We used our own experiences, and our knowledge of solids, liquids and gases to make predictions. Here is what we thought:
Sand - is not soluble
Salt - is soluble
Sugar - is soluble
Cornflour - is soluble
Honey - is not soluble
Lego - is not soluble.
Next we tested each substance in cold water, then hot water. Here were our results

All of our predictions were correct except for honey. Everyone was surprised when the honey dissolved so quickly in hot water. We decided that it worked better in hot water, because it made the honey soften so then the particles could dissolve easily.

Certificate Winners - Week 8

2011-06-27T16:11:00.001+12:00

Room 16's super stars last week were:
Palm: Achievement in reading
Chloe: Values award
Well done to you both.

Super Writers

2011-06-24T08:15:00.002+12:00

This week two fantastic members of our class went to writing extension with Mrs Howison. Their aim was to paint pictures using words. They have both chosen a colour and written wonderful poems about that colour in the world around them. Well done Jake and Oliver.

The sky is blue shining in the atmosphere
Water is blue bubbling in your mouth.
Windows are blue shivering in the sun.
A screen is blue,
Waiting, excited to be used.
The ocean is blue with the fish
Leaping in the sea.
The smurfs trotting around their village.
Aqua, navy, turquoise.
By Oliver

Blue
Blue pens writing
Planets floating around in the atmosphere
Night skies with dazzling stars.
Blue slides coming from steep places.
Blue buildings almost touching the sky.
Blue birds fluttering.
Tears pouring from blue eyes.
Shimmering oceans filled with water life creatures.
By Jake

Post Earthquake Creativity

2011-06-21T17:37:00.001+12:00

Here is a clip to lighten the mood a little bit. You have to love how times like these bring out the creativity in so many people!

St John Safe Kids

2011-06-17T18:12:00.000+12:00

When St Johns visited our school we learned that we need to know our full address and phone number in case of an emergency. Here are the fantastic people in Room 16 who already know this information. They all recieved a St John Safe Kids certificate. A few people were away today, and some people are going to learn their information over the weekend. I will post a photo of those children once they get their certificate.

Certificate Celebrations

2011-06-17T08:24:00.002+12:00

Last week our Room 16 superstars were:
Caitlin - Achievement in handwriting.
Te -Achievement in PE.
Niamh B - Values award.
Congratulations, you have made us proud.
There will be no Week 7 certificates due to the short week.

And we hit 2000!!!!

2011-06-14T21:19:00.000+12:00

Well done everyone. 2000 page views. We went from 1000 to 2000 in just 6 weeks. Let's see how soon we can hit 3000.

An Unfortunate Event

2011-06-14T17:17:00.001+12:00

There has been some bad news following yesterday's quake. Gizmo the frog (who was Room 2's frog last year and has been living at my house this year) got squashed by his wee house. He is now buried in my back yard. He was a frog just like Sophie (Room 15's frog). We think he was a Southern Bell Frog. Now I have a container with no pet in it. We could use it for a class pet. If you have an idea for a good class pet that could go in a frog tank then leave a comment, or let me know when we get back to school. Hopefully we will be back on Thursday.

Well Done Everyone

2011-06-13T20:23:00.000+12:00

Once again you all did the right thing in today's aftershocks. You stayed calm and helped eachother out while you waited to be picked up. Thanks to the parents and caregivers for arriving so quickly and helping out with other children as well as your own. School will be closed tomorrow. Keep an eye on the school website for updates. Stay safe. Love Miss A.

Certificate Celebration

2011-06-06T14:08:00.000+12:00

From now on the winners of class certificates will be celebrated on the blog instead of the school newsletter.
Our Week 5 winners are:
Values: Max Ansell
Heart of Achievement:Oliver Smith
Congratulations on your efforts boys.
The person who was recieving the achievement certificate this week was away. It will be handed out next week instead.

Balloon Blow-Up

2011-06-06T13:58:00.001+12:00

Last week we mixed baking soda and vinegar in a bottle with a balloon on the top and watched the balloon blow up from the carbon dioxide that's produced. Some of the class wanted to know what would happen if we added more vinegar, so we tested this the next day. We put 1 cup of vinegar in a bottle, 2 cups in the next bottle and 3 cups in the last bottle. We added the same amount of baking soda to each one. The balloon on top of the 3-cup bottle popped off and the mixture flowed out of the top of the bottle. The other 2 balloons stayed on, with the 2-cup balloon getting the biggest. This told us that more vinegar = more carbon dioxide. This is another experiement that is easy and fun to try at home.

The Oobleck Trail!!

2011-06-02T15:57:00.001+12:00

We had a visit from our buddy class (Room 27) this afternoon. We had re-generated our oobleck from yesterday so we took turns playing with it outside. Oobleck is a crazy mixture that looks and behaves like a liquid, but when you pick it up it feels like a solid. This is the oobleck trail that was left when the bell rang!!

This is the kind of mess that good fun makes. If you want to make some oobleck at home, here are some instructions that we wrote for writing this week:

How to Make Oobleck

You will need:

Cornflour
Water
Food Colouring
A large container

What to do:

First, put 6 cups of cornflour into the container.
Next, add 2 cups of water.
After that add 1 capful of food colouring.
Then stir it all up.
Finally, enjoy playing with it.

This recipe makes plenty of oobleck so you may want to halve it for use at home. Try adding more cornflour or more water and see what happens. Have fun!

Year 2 Sing-A-Long

2011-06-01T16:12:00.001+12:00

Today the year 2 team had our sing-a-long to farewell the old hall. We invited our buddy classes and lots of family and friends came as well. All the children welcomed our guests with one of our school waiata - Anei Ra te Kura. After that each class had a turn on the stage singing 2 songs on their own. To finish the concert we all sang some of our favourite songs together. It was fantastic to see so many people in the audience. Thank you for coming. Here is a video of our two songs. The children can be proud of themselves for doing such a great job on stage.

Year 2 Sing-a-Long

2011-05-30T16:24:00.004+12:00

On Wednesday we are having a concert in the hall with the other year 2 classes. It begins at 2pm and all family and friends are welcome to come along. One of the songs we will all be singing is Build me up Buttercup. You can practise the song here:

You can also practise A Whole New World using the video that is already on the blog.

Disco Fever

2011-05-26T19:13:00.000+12:00

Last Friday we had a "dis-go" to farewell the old hall before it is upgraded. The junior disco was HUGE!! There was dancing, singing, running, glow sticks, sausages and general chaos! A good time was had by everyone. Thanks to the PTA and the teachers who manned the lines at the door, sold sausages and glow sticks, and checked that everyone left in the safety of a parent. We can't wait till the next disco in our brand new hall.

Let's get Skipping!!

2011-05-25T10:15:00.001+12:00

This week the school recieved a very generous donation from JB Anderson and Zumba Fitness to say thank you for the use of the school hall after the earthquake. This money was used to buy two class sets of skipping ropes. Room 16 are the first class to test them out. We are going to keep using them in fitness this term so that we can all become fantastic skippers. A huge thanks to JB and Zumba Fitness.

Science Science Science

2011-05-22T17:07:00.005+12:00

This week we began learning how to carry out a science investigations. On Monday Miss Archbold showed us an experiment using milk, food colouring and dishwashing liquid. We put 3 different colours into a bowl of blue milk. Next we added a drop of dish washing liquid. The food colouring showed how the dishwashing liquid races around looking for the fat in the milk. We used this experiement to come up with our own investigations.

This is what we had to do:

1. Ask a question.
Our question was: "What would happen if we used a different liquid?" We decided to try green milk, flavoured milk, soy milk, cream and lemonade. The blue milk was used as our control.

2. Make a prediction.
We all made a prediction about the liquid that our group was going to test.

3. Make it a fair test.
We had to make sure that we kept everything except the liquid the same. We had to use the same amount of liquid, food colouring and dishwashing liquid. We also had to use the same sized container for each test.

4. Measure the results.
We decided to time how long it took for the food colouring to return to the middle of the bowl.
Here are our results:
Blue Milk - 2 mins, 53 secs.
Soy Milk - 3 mins, 35 secs.
Green Milk - Over 7 mins
Flavoured Milk - over 7 mins.
Lemonade - No movement at all.
Cream - No movement at all.

5. Analyse the results.
We decided that the colour moved for longer when there was less fat, because the dishwashing liquid had to hunt for longer before it found enough fat. This meant that the soy milk had a little bit less fat than the blue milk, and the green/flavoured milk had a lot less fat than blue milk. The lemonade had no movement because it has no fat at all. We know that cream has fat so the reason it didn't move was because the cream was too thick.

You could try an investigation of your own at home. You might change the amount of liquid, the size of the container, or the amount of dish washing liquid. Remember to keep the test fair by keeping all of the other ingredients the same.

Fun with Clay

2011-05-14T09:05:00.006+12:00

On Thursday we had our first play with clay. We talked about where clay comes from and what we have to do to be able to work with it. We found out that it is much easier to work the clay when our hands are wet. Some people had their science minds switched on and were asking lots of questions about turning clay into a liquid and what happens once it has been fired. We experimented with the clay by pushing, pulling and twisting to see what happens.

Next we made the surface of the moon and used the tools in our clay kits to add texture. After that we added moon men. Here are some very funky results.

Crumpet, the Cat

2011-05-06T18:07:00.003+12:00

This week we have been reading Crumpet, the Cat for our big book. We have been working on reading together, looking carefully to make sure we are reading without mistakes, and using expression. We made a podcast of our reading.

Pirate Day I.T.

2011-05-06T17:34:00.003+12:00

On pirate day last term we all had a go at using a green screen. Ms Dowd filmed us in front of the screen and then used her awesome I.T skills to put in some pirate backgrounds. This is exactly the same as what you see on the news every night when the weather comes on. Very clever! We also had a play with photo booth on the laptops. Here is the result of our work.

1000!!!!!!!!!

2011-05-03T07:54:00.004+12:00

We have hit 1000 pageviews on our blog in just 1 term. It's great to know that people are having a look to see what's happening with the amazing children in Room 16. Our next target - 2000!!

Holiday Time

2011-04-16T11:43:00.004+12:00

What a crazy term this has been. I think you are all ready for a break after the huge amount of learning and fun that we have cramed into our disrupted term! Here are a few reminders for the break:

1. Look at your goal setting sheets in your home/school books and work on your goals at home. See if you can find some fun ways to practise.

2. Write down everything you read for the Reading Crusade. You can register your reading at http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/readingcrusade/ or keep a record of your reading and I will register you next term.

3. Help out at home where ever you can.

Have a fantastic break, stay safe and enjoy your easter bunny treats.

End-of-Term Mini Concert

2011-04-16T11:11:00.003+12:00

On the last day of school we performed a concert for Mrs Warren, Room 15 and some parents. We sang "Morning Town Ride" and "Mr Clickety-Cane". We also sang "A Whole New World". We have been practising this song for weeks to get it right, because there are parts in the song where the boys sing different lines than the girls, but at the same time. It's pretty tricky stuff!! We filmed our practise earlier in the day to put on the blog, but unfortunately they were accidently deleted from the camera. Woops! However, when it came down to the real performance the class sang 100 times better than the practise. You were absolutely fantastic. Mrs Warren thought that you were amazing. You even bought a tear to Jeannie's eye! It was a great way to finish the term. Here is a video of the song so you can sing along at home.

Year 2 Pirate Day

2011-04-16T10:52:00.004+12:00

Ahoy there me hearties! To fit in with out pirate theme in class, the Year 2's had a Pirate Day on Thursday. The whole school came out to watch us parade around the turf in our fantastic pirate attire. During the morning our class moved around 4 fun pirate activities: pirate games, pirate crafts, pirate ICT and lastly a pirate treasure hunt!! Then we had a shared lunch with the other year 2 classes. It was an awesome way to finish off our pirate theme for the term.

Treasure Maps

2011-04-16T09:59:00.004+12:00

Earlier this week we finished our treasure maps. To make these we first drew a compass and the shape of an island. Next we added details around the island, e.g. waves, sharks, a ship and rocks. The next step was to put in the detials on the island, e.g. mountains, rivers, beaches and forests. Finally we added an X for the treasure spot and drew a trail from the ship to the treasure. To make them look old we covered them with cold tea. They were heaps of fun to make.

A Balancing Act

2011-04-12T19:05:00.004+12:00

Anton has been learning to balance around the playground. Last year he could shuffle his feet and needed somebody beside him to help him. Now he can zoom around the playground putting one foot in front of the other and correcting himself when he gets off balance. Check it out!

Monkey Antics

2011-04-08T17:22:00.004+12:00

During fitness for the last two weeks we have been building up our upper-body strength and learning to climb the pole. Lots of people have been using their lunch times and play times to practise, practise practise. We have some very determined young people in our class. Well done to those who have managed to do it so far. The rest of us are going to keep practising next week.

Ahoy there Mateys!!

2011-04-02T17:12:00.010+13:00

News Ahoy!! This week Room 16 was not a class of 6 and 7 year old children. It was a ship full of pirates. Shiver me timbers they were a fearsome crew to behold. During the days of old the ship mates and crew wrote some scrawlins to describe other pirates they have met on the seven seas. These were put onto 'wanted' posters to put up in the sheriffs offices in each port t'was docked in. They created masterpieces of their ships so they might gloat to other pirates. In the days to come they will be recording the way through the seas to their stolen treasure. So grab yer eyeglass and have a peek on yonder at their work.

The Ant and the Grasshoppers - Take 2

2011-04-02T17:01:00.004+13:00

Yesterday we finally got time for the last 3 groups to share their plays of The Ant and the Grasshoppers. They were focusing on using expression and following the story even when it was not their turn to read. They did a great job.

X-Country 2011

2011-03-31T19:01:00.004+13:00

Today was the 2011 X-Country. We have been training at school every day for 2 weeks, and lots of the class have been doing extra training after school. Earlier in the week we all set goals for the race. Today we achieved our goals. Everyone put in a top effort and ran their very best race. Room 16 came out with some great results. Chloe is the 2011 Year 2 X-Country champion, and Niamh M came third. Well done Chloe and Niamh for earning a spot on the podium. We also had other fantastic results. Niamh B came in fourth. Te, Jake, Max and Kahn all finished in good positions for the boys, as did Caitlin, Ashley and Emma for the girls. Everybody completed the race and got a free ASB bank drink bottle. Well done!! I was very proud of you all and so were all the family and friends there watching. Here are a few photos of the day. Sorry if you were missed - some of you were just running too fast!

The Ant and the Grasshoppers

2011-03-25T18:18:00.002+13:00

This week we read a big book called The Ant and the Grasshoppers. It is a play. Yesterday we got into groups and decided on who would play each part in the play. Next we practised reading the play out loud. Today we had one more practise and then one group got to perform. Here is a video of their efforts.

Next week the other groups will have their turn. Keep an eye out here for their videos. As we do more plays we will work on volume and using expression.

Lynley Dodd Character Descriptions

2011-03-25T17:58:00.001+13:00

This week we have been learning to write character descriptions. We had to use describing words to put a picture in the reader's head. First we described ourselves. Then we choose one of our favourite Lynley Dodd characters and wrote a character description about them. We are also learning to start our sentences with different words. Here are some of our stories. See if you can guess which character the description is of.

I am a cat. I am black. My eyes are yellow and my ears are orange. At the end of my tail it is blond. Who am I? By Caitlin

I'm skinny and black. I like to steal stuff at night time and I am mean. Who am I? By Palm.

I am as big as a horse. My coat is brown. I have long legs. Also I have a lot of friends. Who am I? By Emma.

I am yellow. I have orange feet and I have an orange mouth. Who am I? By Te.

I'm low. I am brown. My coat is rough. I have a sausage tummy. My collar is blue. My tag is green. Who am I? By Olivia.

I am a black cat and I am mean. I have sharp claws. Who am I? By Kahn.

My coat is fluffy. Very very fluffy. I have a white coat. It keeps me warm. My fur is scruffy. Who am I? By Bella.

I am yellow and I have yellow feathers and I have orange feet. Who am I? By Swastik.

I am a black dog. I have a long coat and I am a bit naughty. Who am I? By Ashley.

I am strong and tough. I am angry. Who am I? By Finn.

Doubles

2011-03-25T17:17:00.002+13:00

We have spent this week working on our doubles song every day during maths time. We are getting much better at knowing doubles to 20 out of order. The circles maths group are learning to use doubles to solve problems. E.g. 6 + 6 = 12 so 6 + 7 = 13. We filmed the song so everyone can practise at home. Thanks to Mrs Ashby and Room 17 for the background music on their blog.

Spy Week

2011-03-17T15:34:00.002+13:00

This crazy week of spy games all started last week, when Miss A told everyone that she was a teacher in the day time and a spy at night time!! She said that she had seen a St Albans teacher creeping around our school at night. So this week we wrote our own spy stories. We had to guess which teacher was creeping around the school, and what they were up to. Then Mrs Simmons came into our room with a note taped to her back that said: "Mrs Simmons is a Spy". Then she accidently dropped her spy notebook in our class!!

Next we collected up all the evidence we had gathered during the day and put it all on the whiteboard.

The Room 16 spies worked out that it was Mrs Simmons who was here at night and she had hidden something under the trap door in her cloak room. So we, (being the super spies that we are) distracted Room 15 and had a look. This is what we found:

It was a package with a note for the Room 15 children. Mrs Simmons had left them a present for having such great ideas in their story writing. It was nothing bad at all!!

On Thursday Miss A told us that she had been at school again the night before, and that there was another teacher who had snuck into our cloakroom and put something under our trapdoor. We wrote stories about what we thought was under there and who we thought had done it. Then we opened it.

This is what we found:

It was chocolates, lollies and a note from Secret Spy Agent J!! It could only be June Sutherland, Judy Calder, Julie Worthington or Jeannie. Miss A thinks it's Jeannie because she has been very secretive all week. And also, Jeannie does think that Room 16 children are awesome!! We will try and find out next week.

Thursday was also St Paddy's Day. We had green balloons, made shamrock hats and found out about St Patrick - the Patron Saint of Ireland. Miss A painted shamrocks on our cheeks. What a day! Lucky that we have 3 days to get ready for another great week next week.

Funday Friday

2011-03-11T18:17:00.002+13:00

Wow we have had an action packed day of fun today. To start with - it was Bradley's birthday!! Happy birthday Bradley. He bought his new Bay Blade in to show us. Next meanie Miss A made everyone do their spelling tests!! But even after having an earthquake and some days off the results were good. Keep it up. Then we got to finish our pig paintings. They were fun to make and they are super cute. Here is a slide show of us finishing them and of the final products. Check it out.

Next we had singing with Mrs Toohey and Room 15. After that we had discovery time. We got out the playdough, stickers, construction and games. After we had packed up all of that we headed outside for a Funky Monkey's show!! There was singing, dancing, stories and bubbles, bubbles, bubbles! So many bubbles!! It was so cool. There was even a TV camera filming it so keep an eye out for us on TV. Here are some photos of the show.

After lunch we read our big book - The Gardener's Maze. Then we had a go at all sorts of mazes. We couloured a maze from the book, tried drawing our own mazes on whiteboards, and had a good time making mazes with our construction things. Have a look.

By 3pm we were all tired out after an exciting funday Friday and were ready for the weekend. See you all again on Monday.

Words of Wisdom

2011-03-03T18:04:00.001+13:00

Here are today's words of wisdom from the brilliant minds of Rascal Flatts. I was listening to this song in the car today and thought it seemed appropriate.

You find your faith has been lost and shaken,
You take back what's been taken,
Get on your knees and dig down deep,
You can do what you think is impossible.
Keep on believing, don't give in,
It'll come and make you whole again,
It always will, it always does,
Love is unstoppable.

Keep looking after eachother. Kia Kaha. xx

Let's get Learning!!

2011-03-01T13:16:00.000+13:00

Ok it's time to get those brains working again. Here are some things you could do while school is closed:
Writing
Write something for me - this could be about the things happening at home, a fairy tale, a superhero story, a song, a poem . . . anything. If you can email me your writing I would love to read it. If you want your writing published I can post it here for you.
Reading
I'm sure you are all doing plenty of reading with your family. If you have read a great book recently then you could do a book review about it to share when school starts again. Remember to tell us the name of the book, the author/illustrator, what it is about and why you think we should read it too. If you need some more things to read, try this website http://www.magickeys.com/books/ .
Maths
This website is great for practising your basic facts: http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/mathfact/default.htm . Playing board games at home as also a great way to keep up your maths.
Spelling
You can practise some spelling words using this website http://www.spellingcity.com/ . Just get an adult to enter in some spelling words and you can play games and do activities that use your words.
Other Ideas
You can go to http://www.selwynridge.school.nz/kidszone.html to play the games that we play on our classroom computer. Remember to click on "Small World" or " Busy Bees".
Ask if you can do some cooking or baking and then write some instructions about the things you make.
Check out the newspapers and choose an item to share for current events when school starts back.
Illustrate a story that you have written. Remember that a great illustration will show us things that the story doesn't tell us.
If you have some earthquake photos, or photos of things you are doing at home then email these through to me. I can post them for others to see what you are up to.
You could simply send me an email to say hello and to let me know how you are doing. Try asking some questions and I will email you back to answer them. Reminder - my email is jodi.archbold@stalbans.school.nz

Remember to help out at home where you can. Big hugs to everyone. I am missing you all and hope to see you again soon. Love Miss A.

Earthquake Support and Donations

2011-02-28T15:50:00.000+13:00

Hello again. As school is closed for at least another week I know there are a lot of people who are doing ok themselves and are looking for ways to help others. If you are in this situation then here is an idea for you: Rangiora Earthquake express are in need of donations of non-perishable food, water bottles (full or empty), nappies, baby formula, bread, razors, rubbish bags, glad bags, life-long milk and bathroom/sanitary items. If you would like to make a donation, but are not able to take it to Rangiora then I can do that for you. I will be in the St Albans area tomorrow (Tuesday) and again later in the week. I can collect goods from outside the school and take them out for you. Please email me (jodi.archbold@stalbans.school.nz) if you would like to do this and I will let you know a collection time. Please also let other people know who may like to do the same thing. The Rangiora Express are doing a fantastic job getting this food to the eastern suburbs by truck and helicopter.
Also, I have some connections with a St Albans based church group who are keen to help where they can. So if you or your neighbours/families/friends need help digging, cleaning up, moving furniture etc or you simply need some support, please let me know and I will organise some help for you. Take care and look after each other.
Jodi xo

Earthquake Tribute

2011-02-26T15:57:00.000+13:00

This is one of many tributes posted on you tube recently. It is a great reminder of how we can come together during trying times to create the strength needed to get through. Stay safe. xx