Explanation Writing

As I write this blog, the Beachlands19ers are quietly writing to explain  'How do plants grow?'   We have been investigating through science and reading about plants the ways that plants grow.  Our inquiry has helped us to understand how seasons impact on growing, what gardeners can do to encourage healthy plants, why bees are so important and how seeds travel.  

We have carried out some whole class investigations (photos of these will be posted shortly) and the students are now carrying out their own science investigation, in pairs of by themselves.   The purpose of these investigations is to provide us with information that will support us with our own school garden.

Our next step is learn and understand companion planting, then make up two garden plans for our Year 5&6 garden - one for Term 3 and the other for Term 1.    Exciting stuff!  Can't wait to see what the Beachlands19ers come up with.

Mrs Croll

Week 6

Orienteering
We woke up on Friday morning to see, and hear, the rain pouring down in bucket loads.   This sadly meant that the orienteering at Te Puru had be postponed...  boo hoo :(

Now it will be held on Friday of Week 7... yay!! :)

Mihimihi Posters - Part 1

This term we have been learning about the mihimihi which is an introductory speech that takes place at the beginning of a gathering, after the powhiri.    We have learned that the mihimihi is a way to introduce ourselves in te reo Maori by sharing our whakapapa (family and ancestral ties).  Some of us have had to do some researching for Home Learning as we didn't know where our ancestors came from.  

We are learning how to recite our own mihimihi as well as make a visual mihimihi.   These posters will take some time to complete as they will be made up of many layers.  The first stage is to plan and paint or dye our background.    The next step will be to use three different mediums when we collage the detail.

We will post some photos each week so you can view our progress.   At the end, we are hoping to record ourselves reciting our mihimihi then attach this recording to a photo of our poster using something like Fotobabble or maybe Aurasma.    This will be very exciting!

Tree Planting

Today we went to Duders Regional Park to help plant some native trees.  Mags was the park ranger who gave us tips on how to plant these trees.  She was helped by Laura, Rebecca and Mr Duder.   We also had some amazing parents who transported us in their cars.   We planted manuka, flax, coprosma, and kanuka.  The land was quite steep which made it tricky in parts to not slip.

We worked really hard to plant heaps of trees - maybe over 100 in total so we were extremely hungry when we stopped for morning tea.  

It's going to be wonderful to walk through the park in 20 years time and say "I helped to plant all those trees."

Week 4

STRETCH
At the end of week 3, we had our first session of STRETCH.   The Year 5&6 group split up in to 4 groups to experience a wide range of activities.  They are:
Cooking - One group made lollyslice and the other group learned how to make 'chocolate surprise muffins'.   The surprise was gooey, melted caramel.
Sports - We played soccer.  The teams were evenly matched and we had really great goal keepers.  The final score was 2:2.  Next time we will be playing a different sport - it might be rugby, touch or netball.
Art - we are designing a stained glass window  and we also learned how to make music with our bodies.  We performed 'We will rock you' in front of our 'home' class.
Digital Design - we use Befunky to upgrade our camp photos.  Next time we will be taking photos of students in STRETCH then using Befunky to add detail to them.

ORIENTEERING
This was our ultimate test to see how fast, and accurate, we could complete the four school maps.  We can't wait to see who Mrs Croll will be choosing to represent our class in the inter-school orienteering tournament.

STU DUVAL
The amazing Stu Duval visited our school on Wednesday.  We were entertained with his story called Flax Cross.    It was about a person (Red McCallistar) who was trying to get out of jail, even though he was innocent.  He got out of jail by going on a seven day voyage, from Australia to New Zealand, as a potato boy, on a boat called Moana.   When he went looking for Sarah, Scree's niece (Scree's the evil guy in the story), he found a different Sarah who was 99 years old and was married to seven husbands!  There's a lot more to this story, but we can't fit in all in here.  Stu is a is a humorous story-teller who constantly made us laugh with his many character voices and fabulous illustration, which he drew while he was narrating the story.

Orienteering - Week 3

This week at orienteering, we did the whole school.  It was challenging, but fun.   We had to use 4 different maps - that was 12 controls altogether.    Mrs Croll is looking for the best 12 students to represent Room 19 in the interschool orienteering challenge in week 6.

Disco Dancing

Today we learned to do a 'disco' dance. We had to dance with a partner (girl and boy). Some of us didn't like doing this. Some thought it was okay. We had to do the disco pose - that's one hand on our hip and one in the air. We also had to hold hands with our partner and step around in a clockwise direction. Another move was to do the 'scissors' across our eyes. Also, we had to roll our hands while we stepped around in a circle. After dancing with our partners we all ran into the bathroom to wash our hands - well some of the girls did!