Being a Rimu Kid in the playground and on school trips

We are making great headway with what it means to be a RIMU kid while at the same time using SOLO to help us take ownership of our own learning (Click on images to enlarge)

SOLO Taxonomy

We use SOLO in Room 4 to help us take ownership of our own learning. The following slide show helps explain this. We use SOLO for helping us know where we are up to and what we need to do next. SOLO can be used for putting our school bags in the right place in the morning, how we behave in group lessons, how we use our reading strategies, for how we get on with others - all sorts of things! I love the way it allows the kids to take responsibility for their own learning and helps them find the next step of what to do.

Community Picnic

After some very needed rain during the week it was lovely to have the sun out again for our community picnic tonight. Great to see you all- hope you liked our produce grown in our school vege garden!

Cleaning up Tawa!

We had another great session at the swimming pool today and thankfully no rain on the way back up the hill to school.
Instead we practised being Manaakitanga by looking after our environment and picking up rubbish along the way.
Great work Room 4!!

Swimming - Day 1

We had our first day of swimming lessons down at Tawa Pool today. The class is showing great promise and determination already with their tutors. This first session was an evaluation time and some kids may find themselves in another group on Wednesday. 

Below is a copy of what gets taught - you may be able to get to the pool and do some reinforcing of what has been taught so far. (Click on image to enlarge)

A huge thank you to the parents who helped us walk down and back today. We all got absolutely soaked walking back up the hill to school as a heavy shower came through! (Probably should have stayed in our togs!)

Portrait Stories

We have had fun drawing our own portraits - discovering that our eyes are in the middle of our faces! Have a look at some of these - and some of the fabulous autobiographies that went with them

My name is Ruby and I am six. My favourite colour is red. I like red because l like apples. In my family there is my mum, dad, Jake, Dane, Cole and Chip.

When I grow up I want to be a hairdresser. My favourite thing to do is play with Mia because she is my best friend.

Hi. My name is Noah and I am six. My favourite colour is red. I like red flowers and volcanoes. I spend most of my life playing video games. I’ve just finished one. When I grow up I want to be in the army

My name is Mika and I am 7 years old. My favourite colour is orange.

My favourite thing to do is playing tag. When I grow up I would like to be a wrestler.  My dad is a teacher and does funny dances. My mum is fabulous. I have 3 brothers and a sister.

 My name is Ava and I am 6 years old. My favourite colour is blue because I like the sky and the sea. I like playing at the pool because it is good to practise so you don’t drown. In my family I have mum, dad, Eli and me. I would like to be a vet when I grow up because I love caring for animals.

 My name is Ivy and I am six years old. My favourite colour is green because I like the forest. My favourite thing to do is playing in the river. In my family there is Dad, Mum, Zion, Aria, Dash, and me. Dash is my new puppy.

When I grow up I want to be a hairdresser because I like being creative.

My name is Daemon and I am six. My favourite colour is black because I like webs and spiders. They are my favourite thing. My family is mum, dad, Phoenix, Crystal, Seth, Nina and me. I like to play games because I am a Lego man. When I grow up I want to be a scuba diver because I want to see fish.

Thriving Trees

Our School Mission statement is "Growing People to Thrive"
We looked at what that means for each of us in Room 4. Ideas that came up were things like having quiet times to think, knowing they are safe, having fun, being creative, being scientists, being loved and encouraged. Our school values (RIMU) fitted in really well in our discussion - about learning to be resilient and show integrity, practising manaakitanga, and recognising the differences we all have as strengths in unity.

Thriving Trees on PhotoPeach

A moment in Time - Writing

I saw the Phoenix kicking the ball.

I smelt hot dogs and hamburgers – yum!

I heard people singing.

I tasted lollies in my mouth.

I wondered how good the Phoenix were at soccer?

By Gia

I saw the water park.

I heard the water splashing on the splash pad.

I felt the water splashing on me.

I wondered how it stops?

By Hana

I saw water splashing

I smelt food on the big slide

I heard water rushing

I tasted water in my mouth

I felt scared and wet.

I wondered if I could really do this?

By Ashton

I saw my friends.

I heard some boys jumping.

I tasted some yummy food.

I felt excited throwing water balloons at Mika’s dad.

I wondered if he minded that he got wet?

By Murray

Name Art

Spelling City

Here are the Spelling Lists that we are working through this year. These words are the most frequently used words we use in our writing. Each week a list of words comes home to learn - they are recorded in the back of our reading notebooks.

Lists 1- 7

You can use Spelling City to help learn them. Most spelling comes out of what we write at school. These words however are compiled as common words we use. (The higher the list, the trickier the spelling)
The important thing is not only to learn these words but to transfer that knowledge into our writing.

Observational Surveys

We looked at what was on the Bank as a statistical investigation. Then we took our data we collected and put it into a bar graph. We used a small quadrat to do our observations - a great way to focus in on a small area.

Scientists use quadrats to know what is in a particular habitat.

Observational Surveys on PhotoPeach (If making a comment- please write it here instead of on the photopeach site - thanks)

Plants changing colour

We have got our "Wonder Table" all set up and have been looking at how plants get a drink,

Most plants "drink" water from the ground through their roots. The water travels up the stem of the plant into the leaves and flowers where it makes food. When a flower or vegetable is cut, it no longer has its roots, but the stem still "drinks" up the water and provides it to the leaves and flowers.

Welcome to our new blog!

Hi there,
We are excited that you have visited our blog! This is the first of many posts that we will write to share about the awesome things that are happening in our class this year. Feel free to comment any time- we love to hear from you! How about becoming a follower by sharing your email address over on the right side here.

How about having a go at our class jigsaw here - post your time as a comment! 35 Class pic Feb