Celebration of learning

On Monday 14 December we are going to celebrate the learning the students have been doing on their country's of choice. To celebrate we will share a morning tea and the students can wear something related to the country of their study.
Over the past 4 weeks we have had 12 students from Broadgreen Intermediate come across twice a week to work with the students in their inquiry topic. Their help has been invaluable in giving our class focussed attention in looking up websites and researching relevant information.
Below are some photos showing the students working together.

Superstars of Writing

As part of our writing programme in room 14 we try new and innovative ways of getting motivated to write. One of the most popular is for the students to be able to take on a new character and write from that persons perspective. Recently we did this with the students dressing up and writing in character. Here are some examples of their writing:

"Hi, I am princess fairy Katie. I have a black dress on and a pink halo too. I am going to an adventure in a mysterious cave. In the mysterious cave is one large dragon. He can breathe fire but I have a sword. I can hit him with all of my might. I cut his leg straight off him and I live happily ever after. the end."

"Hi, I am Amelia the Reindeer. I have a piece of fabric. I am going to have a sleep at the North Pole and eat carrots. My owner is Santa's wife."

 "Today I am super piggy and I have a cape. I can jump like a frog. I am going to kill super kitty because she is my worst enemy and she stinks like a hairy porpoise in a bucket of worms. When I kill her victory will be mine mwah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Hello I am Lachlan the pirate and I am the boss. I am wearing a pirate hat and a pirate suit. I am going to sail the salty seas and find some treasure. It is going to fly in the air and then we are going to take it back on the ship and go home and have a rest. The next time I won't be going because it will be the holidays and I am going to have a party. It will be amazing and I am going to have a good time. A very very good time."

"I am a beautiful princess, a pink princess. I have 2 pets.  One of my pets is a baby deer the other is a kitten. I love being a princess."

"Once upon a time there was a castle in the woods. There was also a scary monstrous dragon and it was terrifying to see. It was despicable and vicious. Then we move to the castle. The castle was a miracle. Inside the castle it was sparkly and charming. I hope you enjoyed my story."

"I am super Caleb and I am wearing a cape. I am going to save people from the robbers. I am going to use time travel to fly quickly so that I am there before the baddies get there. Then I can get the baddies."

The Mask Parade

Tomorrow...

Is the Mask Parade. It has all come together and the students are looking amazing! Today we had our dress rehearsal walk through. The AWA syndicate students with their colourful Truffula Trees and costumes really do look the part.

A BIG thank you to all the parents who have given their time to help make it so good. Here are a few photos from today.

Remember need to be at Montgomery CarPark by 4:30pm. The parade walking starts about 5:15 and we expect (although have no control over it) the finish will be around 6:15-6:30. Make sure you feed you child something before hand to help them get through.

Looking forward to the big day

Welcome Back

Term 4 is upon us. Hard to believe 3/4 of the year has now gone.
During this first week back we are focussing on the Mask Parade which takes place Friday night. Students need to be in the Montgomery Carpark at 4:30 pm. This is a one in 3 year opportunity and the students and parents (thanks particularly to the hunt family) have been working hard to put together a vibrant and fun presentation of The Lorax. Please support it by getting your child to the parade so they can participate.

In the classroom our writing focus is on using full stops and capital letters in the correct place. In Maths we are continuing to work on our counting on and counting back strategies to solve Maths problems and the use of skip counting to solve multiplication problems. Keep practicing at home problems like "If I had 6 scooters each with 2 wheels how many wheels in total would I have?" Students should be able to solve the problem by going 2,4,6,8,10,12.

Here are a couple of photos taken on the last day of term 3 with students dressed up in their book themed costumes.

We are looking forward to a fun filled term. Note your diaries for Wednesday of week 2 where we will be holding a focus on Maths evening with activities designed specifically for students in years    1-3.

We have gone to the Dogs

Mask Parade 2015

This week we have been getting into creating our Truffula Trees for the Mask parade which Nayland Primary will be marching in. The parade is held on Friday 16 October (the first week back of term 4). Below are some images of the students creating. Mrs Gulbransen even popped in to add some artistic flair.

PawPrints

On Tuesday afternoon room 14 was fortunate to have the paw prints team spend an hour and a half with our class. They spent the time introducing the students to 5 dogs. The students were taught about behaviour around dogs and dog grooming. It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to be up close with dogs and to build an understanding of dog behaviour. 

Suter Gallery Trip

Please get the permission slips and money back in for the Suter Gallery Trip. We must have permission slips in by the end of the week. Children who bring their library cards will be able to get books out from the Elma Turner Library in town. Books from the town library can be returned to the Stoke Library.

Calendar Art

Don't miss out not he opportunity to purchase your child's Art in calendar/diary form with our calendar art on sale now. Orders need to be in by the end of this week.

Science Fair and Calendar Art

As the term starts to wind up we have a number of exciting things happening.

Science Fair:

This will be held on Tuesday 8 September in the Multi Purpose space between 5pm and 7pm. Our class is presenting on balloon experiments between 5-15 and 5-30. there will be the opportunity to see work being done throughout the school as we celebrate science. if you wish to come along do so between 5-5-30 to catch some of what we have been doing in room 14.

Calendar Art:

On Monday the students will be coming home with an order form for calendar art. The art the students have created can be viewed in the classroom. Below are a couple of examples of their work. Each creation is made up of a collage of your child's own art as they have experimented with different techniques throughout the term. We have then chopped that art up for them to collage the art piece now created.

Class Trip:

In the last week of term we will be heading by bus into the Suter Art Gallery in town and the Nelson Public Library. The trip is an opportunity for the students to experience further art teaching and to visit the library where they can (if they bring a library card) get books out. Library cards for the Stoke library are valid at the town library. The cost of the trip is $4-00 and a permission slip will be coming home with the students on Monday.

Maths:

For the past few weeks we have been working on the students skills at making 10 and then 20. We are now moving to doubling and halving numbers from 1-20. Work at home could include getting your child to know their doubles and halves e.g. What is double 3? What is half 16 ... Students who are able to quickly recall these basic facts will find it easier as we use these strategies to solve more complicated maths equations. 

Science

This term we have started our with a focus on science. Students are learning to question like
scientists. Part of the understanding with science is that science is all around us and that we can all ask scientific questions in everyday life. Alongside this students have been learning the scientific method consisting of

Question - Ask a question
Research - Find out what you can
Hypothesis - What do you think you can prove
Experiment - Carry out testing
Analysis - Record your results
Report - What you have found out.

To kick of the topic we were fortunate to have Mr McLellan (Head of science at Nayland College) present to us about science.

In class we have been conducting our own experiment on growing alfalfa sprouts. We asked the question "Under what conditions would the alfalfa grow best." We have 4 test samples. One that has received light and water, one with light and no water, one with water and no light and one with no water and no light.
Our hypothesis is that the alfalfa will grow best with light and water.

                                  After 5 days this is our plants with light and water.

                 After 5 days this is the plant with water but no light

The test samples with no light have not grown at all.

Mask Parade

At the beginning of term 4 is the Nelson Mask Parade. Every 3 years Nayland Primary participates in the parade as part of its Art focus.  This year the theme is the wonderful wold of books. As a school we will be presenting the Lorax as the theme for our masks. The Awa syndicate will be the Truffula Trees.

In weeks 7-10 we will be creating our masks.  This is a great opportunity for parents to be involved. Watch this space....