Groups are named!

We have three group tables in Room 19, and at last each one has a name.  Each group table brainstormed some names and then voted on their favourite.  Let me introduce the Wonderful Wekas, the Marvellous Meerkats and the Delightful Dragonflies.  As you can see, Hoover helped with the voting.

Cross words

Everyone has a chance to make a crossword with a buddy using the magnetic letters.

David and Jiny's crossword

Luke and Shaun's crossword

Popcorn Friday

On Fridays, we check our basic facts and home reading, and test our spelling.  If everyone remembers to hand in their home learning book and reading log for marking, we have popcorn Friday.

We pop our popcorn right here in the classroom, which makes the room smell delicious.

Middle School Swimming Sports

Year 3 and Year 4 students all competed in the Middle School Swimming Sports on Wednesday.  Competitive swimmers raced first, followed by the non competitive races: Dolphin Push, Flitter Flutter and the Wheelbarrow.  Everyone competed in two events, except our relay team (Kylie, Luke, Paula and Samuel) which also competed in the Year 3 inter class relay. Congratulations to everyone who raced, and a special mention to Samuel who came first in the seven year boys' competitive race.

Competitive girls under starter's order.

Competitive boys under starter's orders.

Dolphin push

Flitter flutter

Wheelbarrow

Lining up to record swimming results

Room 19's swimming relay team.

Keeping cosy between races.

Gallery clapping and cheering competitors.

Winners of the competitive girls' races

Winners of the competitive boys' races - special congratulations to Samuel from Year 3.

Working with tens

Travis practised making tens using a number line on an ipad.

The Jet Streamers made all the numbers with ten up to 20 using peg boards - great co-operative work.

Learning about Chrome books

Mrs Nicol came our class to teach us more ways we could use our Chrome books.  We learned how to use Google Drive to find our own folder inside the Room 19 folder so we could save our work.  We learned to use different fonts, colours and shapes in our computer writing.

Next week we will make posters for our Butterfly Garden using these skills.

Sounds of Summer poems

In Ready, Steady, Go we have been learning to use our senses.  We wrote a poem about Summer just using our sense of hearing.   We found there are hundreds of sounds that you can hear in Summer. We will read these poems again in cold, wet, rainy winter so we can remember what our hot, sunny Summer was like.

Here is David's poem, but go to the Writing Page to read all our other poems.  Remember to scroll through all the Summer holiday stories before you get to these poems.

Class photo shoot

It has taken a long t-i-m-e for us to be able to take a class photo, as we waited until everyone was at school on the same day.

Can you pick out the really wild students - of course, we have to keep them in a cage!

Here we all are, looking super smart in our full school uniform.

Here is our class treaty - we wrote it together as a class and then everyone signed it to show that we had read it, understood it and promised to keep it true.  We used feather quills to sign it, just like the people did in 1840 when they signed the Treaty of Waitangi.

Our Butterfly Garden

We have converted the tub outside Room 19 into a Butterfly Garden.  Come and have a look at the Monarch caterpillars as they grow bigger and bigger.

First we spread the new garden soil evenly over the garden.  We checked that is was 3 centimetres all over using our rulers.

Then we spread the sheep pellets evenly over the new soil.  We measured the garden with a metre ruler and found that it was 1 metre wide and 2 1/2 metres long. Mrs Bear bought a 8kg bag of sheep pellets to make the soil super healthy for the swan plants.  Some strong people lifted it up to see how heavy 8 kilogram felt.  The instructions on the bag said we had to use 2 kg of pellets for each square metre so we used 5 kg.  Mrs Bear said that there was enough left over the make some tasty sheep pellet sandwiches, but we said that was OK, we would keep them to use in our next garden instead. 

After we had planted the swan plants we searched for caterpillars.  We had to use our eagle eyes and magnifying glasses because some baby ones were only one centimetre long.  We counted 22 altogether.

Our job now is to water the swan plants and keep the caterpillars safe, by using our eyes and not our fingers to follow their progress.

Character maps

In Writing and reading, we use mind maps to display our understanding, not just worksheets as in Year 2.  Our work has gone up a level!  Here we are making a character map about a good friend.  Great focus, Room 19!

Feelie Box

We have a feelie box on the Science table where we can check our sense of touch.  Shaun had a go and felt around using just his fingers to work out the secret object - he guessed "An acorn" - what he correct?

Science in the classroom

Daniel showed us how to find horizontal using a cardboard tube, thread and sticky tape.  When he looked though the tube, holding it straight across, he could see the straight line which shows the horizon.  If he held it straight up and down, he would see the vertical.

This inquisitive praying mantis paid us a visit.  We kept it safe in our tube with breathing holes along the top, and then let him go at the end of school time.

Class councillors - voting

After lunch, everyone had a secret vote to decide who they thought would make the best councillor. The votes were stored in a sealed box and counted when all votes had been made.

On Monday, Mrs Bear announced the results:  Daniel got 5 votes and will be Class Councillor and Bianca got 3 votes and will be Deputy Class Councillor.  Congratulations to everyone who took part in the speeches and voting.  Congratulations also to Bianca and Daniel, who I'm sure will do a great job this year.

Travis casting his vote.

Class Councillor speeches

In Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 every class selects two class councillors who run class meetings and attend class councillor meetings with Mr Lomas and Mrs Gartland, where they represent the class.  They give their class report and bring back information to the class.

We brainstormed the characteristics of a good class councillor, and then everyone wrote a speech explaining how they would be an excellent class councillor.  When we had finished writing and editing the speeches, people who wanted to be considered gave their speech to the class.  All those people listening were a very respectful audience, listening carefully and clapping at the end.

Here are all the people who gave a class councillor speech - well done to you all.

Hedgie and his friends listened from the little whiteboard.

Teddies listened from the library.