The Homework Challenge "i"

This week we had a lot of 'ice-cream' projects.

The winner though was Emma, who did a great job of 'ice-cream' and 'ice-skating'. Great work Emma!!

Learning about Fairy Tales through "Stop Motion" animation

This term we have been reading and writing a lot about fairy tales, myths and legends.

This week Sally, Bridie and Shannon all wrote excellent stories about a princess who was kidnapped by a witch. It had all the elements of a fairy tale including characters, settings, drama and a happy ending.

They spent Thursday morning making their story into an animation using the app 'Lego Movie'. A great effort for their first time using this app!!

Great work girls.

Homework Challenge Winner "New Zealand"

This week saw a new topic for our homework challenge. rather than the usual letter, we had the topic of New Zealand.

Even so, we had a wide range of presentations. We had places, sports, aeroplanes, maps, facts, foods and animals.

This weeks winner was Bridie. Her challenge was a range of bullet-pointed facts about NZ, the flag  and a map detailing places. Well done, Bridie!!

The finished Paper Mache Dinosaurs!!

Kia Ora,

Welcome back to Term 2, 2014. We finished our paper mach dinosaurs on the LAST day of Term 1 and they are now on display in our class. Please come and take a look, the results of our hard work look GREAT!!!

Shannon/Jasmine:  it was cool and fun to make

Jahdae/Rico: It was fantastic doing paper-mache.

Santana/Robert: the fun part was the painting!

Chimari/Emma: It was fun panting the dinosaurs and it was fun putting vanish on.

Logan/Jah-Taea: the first part of paper and mache it.

Holly?Tenessy: we had to paint it two times so we couldn't see any white

Bridie/Ava:  We had to put varnish on it to make it very very shine.We liked painting.

Sally/Le'Kaia: the best part was putting our dinosaurs

Ben/Jai: the fun part was painting it with vanish.

Homework Challenge Winner 'H'

The first homework challenge of the term saw a lot of interesting topics.

There are a lot of Horse lovers in Rm 3 and also it seems the Hulk is as popular as ever too!!

However the winner this week was Tenessy, who showed her pride in Huia Range School with ther challenge.

Great work Tenessy, you are STRIVING for excellence!!

What we are learning about fossils . . .

We have started our inquiry groups again this term, and are asking questions about fossils. We found that before we can understand and answer our questions, we first need to know what fossils are. We found these videos which helped us.

After watching these we also discussed how the earth develops and changes over millions of years, we looked at the Ruahine Ranges and discussed how they might have formed and how earthquakes happen too..

Maybe you can help us with your comments??

STRIVE Time and Friday Fun

After much discussion, this term the Junior Syndicate have integrated the STRIVE Time concept with our usual Friday Fun afternoons. The format is as follows:

1) After lunch pack
2) Jump Jam in Hall
3) Waiata (singing)
4) Certificates
5) STRIVE activities & Friday Fun Activities

These will be run most Friday afternoons, and the students are expected to work hard all week to 'earn' the right to participate in these afternoons.

However, these are not just 'play time' for the students. The activities are well planned and thought through by teachers, and teachers will monitor and facilitate the students to develop the 'Values', 'Principles', and 'Key Competencies' as stated in the New Zealand Curriculum.

Below are just some of the skills being developed this week. . .

The above photo sequence is of young Connor starting to build his 'house'. Soon one other boy came and asked Connor "What's that you're building?". 'A house" replied Connor. The two of them worked together to build the first wall. Then all the others saw Connors vision of a house and they all worked together under Connors lead to build his house.

Vision: Our vision is for young people who will be creative, energetic and enterprising

Key Competencies: Relating to others is about interacting effectively with a diverse range of people in a variety of contexts. This competency includes the ability to listen actively, recognise different points of view, negotiate, and share ideas

Values: Students will be encouraged to value innovation, inquiry, and curiosity, by thinking critically, creatively and reflectively.

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Show & Tell - Term 2 Wk 1

This was our first week back to school so we only had a few students for Show &n Tell today.

Ava and Bridie showed their passions for craft activities by showing a range of key rings, bracelets and necklaces etc. All very beautiful and colourful. Sally showed us some toys she got from Wellington Zoo and her work on planets.

The boys were represented by Jai and Robert with very 'boy' toys like Bey blades and Transformer books.

It's great to see what our students passions and interests are and integrate them into our class activities.

(P.S. today's photo was taken AND uploaded by Holly)