Our first experience with Google docs

Hey family!

Today was a really exciting day!  After all the rain we had last night, Rob found two frogs in the school pool this morning!  He gave them to our class - we think they might possibly be Jeffery, and Jeffery Junior!

There is one that is really bright green, and the other one is dark green.

We used this as inspiration to do our very first research project.  We used our Chromebooks to find out facts about frogs, and centipedes, and bats.  Then we filled out this google form.  We learnt that when we finish filling in a google form it sends all the information to a different sheet for us to read about.

Kids - If you would like to find out some more information about frogs, centipedes, bats (or anything else) over the weekend, you can sign in to google with your school account and fill in the form HERE.  You can't access this form unless you have your school email and login.

Sophie brought in a giant centipede for us to look at!  It was super huge and scary. 

We learnt how to use Google to find information about frogs, centipedes, and bats.

It was really hard learning how to log on!

Working together in a group made our learning easier. 

It was really fun seeing our answers pop up on the screen when we hit enter!

Some other things from the week.  We practiced our spelling words using playdoh.

 Some of our kids practiced their handwriting using the white boards.

We have had a very busy week, and are looking forward to next week!  Share your highlights from the week in the comments below kids!

Ways to learn your spelling/reading words

Hey everyone!

So we've started this week taking home some spelling words.  For the next couple of weeks these words might not be 100% at the right level.  Some words might be too easy, some too hard.  Don't panic!  Your child will settle into the right level after a little bit of adjustment.

My expectation is that the kids try their best to learn these words.  I'll add some ideas later in this post for you :)

Spelling is a hard thing for some kids to master.  For other kids it comes naturally.  Really, the more exposure to words that kids have, the better they will be at reading, writing, and spelling.  So if you don't have time to practice words every night, don't stress - but please make sure that reading is a priority.

There are LOTS of ways to learn spelling words - you can check out this post HERE for 75 FUN ways to learn words.  I've outlined a few down below in this post so that you don't have to go anywhere.

10 Fun ways to learn spelling/sight words

• Spell with play dough
• Jump on the tramp and say each letter with a different jump (this is GREAT for those active kids that just love moving). The more of your body that you have moving when trying to learn something, the easier it is to learn it.
• Write the words on concrete with water 
• Write them out using different colours
• Use magnets/blocks or other alphabet shapes
• Write using white crayon, then colour over with dye 
• You could also write using lemon juice and make it show up by holding near heat  
• Write each word on a piece of card twice each and use to play memory
• Scramble the letters up and get your child to un scramble them
• Write a rap/song that shows how to spell the word

This is NOT an exhaustive list.  I'll share some more ideas next week to keep things interesting.  If you have any ideas that aren't on the list, share them in the comments below so that we all know about them!

Happy learning!

What a busy week!

Hello families!

We have had a crazy busy week here in Room 6!  With meet the teacher night, swimming sports, and our tadpoles, we have also fit in some learning.

Take a look at some photos!

 These photos are of a Basic Facts game set that we used in Maths this week.  If you would like a copy for at home, please just let me know and I'll send some home.

You can play memory, !snap, or a lot of other games 

Our favourite game was memory

Sophie brought in her guinea pigs.  Their names were Chocolate and Peaches.  They were so much fun to cuddle and they helped us with our learning because we had to stay really quiet!

Jeffery our first frog disappeared on Monday.  We think he might have gone down the drain.  Luckily we have another tadpole that is nearly a frog!  It's very exciting. We named him Jeffery Junior.

Here he is chilling out on the glass!

Next week is going to be another busy one!

Wednesday is MUFTI DAY!  We are going to raise some money for the Cancer Society.
Thursday is Bike Wise - Bring in your bikes ready to be checked for Friday
Friday is the triathlon!  A notice will go home today for everyone's information.

Check out the upcoming events page to find out more!

Basic Facts Homework

Hello Parents and families!

I sent home some basic facts sheets today to add to your child's reading homework each night.  How you structure this time is ultimately up to you.  I have a few suggestions that I'll put down below.

The way it works is this:
There are 8 stages for numeracy that your child will work through in their primary education.  The National Standard for the end of year 4 is Stage 5.
Your child will have one of 3 different sheets (eventually everyone will be working at their own level, but for now I've grouped them according to what I think they can do.  If the sheet is too hard, just let me know and I'll give them an easier one.  If it is too easy I'll test them and move them up!)

If your child has stage 2 - they are allowed to use their fingers, or counters, or any other equipment to work out the answer.  But the idea is to know these problems really quickly.

If your child has stage 3 - the questions will be the same as stage 2, but they are not allowed to use their fingers, or any other equipment to work out the problems.

Once your child hits stage 4 + they will have 2 minutes to complete the test (which will have slightly different questions, but the type of questions will still be the same).  They can choose to do the test by writing the answers, or saying them out loud to me.

When your child gets ALL the questions on the sheet correct in the time given they will move on to the next sheet.  They get harder as they go up.  Times table questions start at the beginning of stage 5.

I will test students as soon as they are ready to be tested, either before school, morning tea time, lunch time, or during their maths lessons.

If you have any questions about any of this, please just let me know!  I'll be in class every morning by 8:30am.

Happy learning!

Week two recap

We have had a really exciting first full week at school!  Our routines are getting easier to follow.  Class dojo has been set up and most of our parents have signed up to see what is happening with our behaviour.  Friday was a very exciting day and we had some visitors to our class.

We listened to the story "I want my monster" and then drew our own monsters - Loki

Some kids brought in some pets for show and tell.  Maybe we might keep some tadpoles and watch them grow up! - Alisha

We have to be quiet around the duck and the chicken so that they don't get scared - Izzy

I liked drawing my monsters - Regan

The duck had really cool wings - Dion

I think if I touched a tadpole it would be really slimy.  They really don't look anything like frogs but they will turn into one which is weird! - Finn

I like chickens because they lay eggs and then you don't have to buy them. - Lachlan

The duck was soft and cozy, a bit like a pillow. - Aliyah

The chicken laid an egg! - Ripora

We had fun making our monsters.  My one has achy eyes.  When you get sore eyes they get red. - Sam

When I grow up I'm going to be a fashion designer - Payton

I liked drawing the monsters - Cahlou

I liked designing monsters for art - Storm

I learnt how to swim a length in swimming this week - Xander

I brought tadpoles to school today.  They might live in our class fish tank until they are baby frogs. - Aaron

I brought a book to school on Friday and I read it to the class.  It was called "The Tiger Who Came To Tea." I has my name in it! - Sophie

We learnt about We Care this week - Jewel

This week in writing we wrote letters.  I wrote a letter to Santa to say thank you for all my present. - Lucas

I touched the duck and the chicken. - Vaydem

As you can see we had a VERY busy and exciting week.  I will be updating the "Upcoming Events" tab with all the things that are coming up soon over the next couple of days.  Keep a look out for them over the next few days!  I'll also get a few photos up over the weekend when I find my camera cable.

Also - please let me know what you'd like to see in the "Parent's Space" tab.

Thanks for the great start to the year!

Elephants by Montana

Elephants  have   big    ears.
They  also      have    a    long   trunk.  
Elephant     like    to     eat    trees.
How   elephant     have    showers.      They   get    water   into   their    trunks    then    they     spray    it    on    their   backs    the    same   with   sand.   It's     so    they   don't    get    sunburnt.

By Montana

Welcome to Learning in Room 6!

In Room 6 we go swimming, we do maths, and we like to play go noodle!

We started school on Tuesday and we already get a holiday tomorrow!  Tomorrow is Waitangi Day and we celebrate when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840.

On Tuesday we found a baby bird on the ground.  We gave it to Rob the caretaker.  Rob gave the baby bird to a teacher to look after.  The little bird was cute!

This is the bird we found

Thank you for reading our first blog post! Please write some comments below.

From Room 6