Would you buy this product?

Today the students of Room 13 (and some from Room 12) worked together in small groups with the aim to create a clever advertisement. To get inspiration we first watched these 2 clever ads and then discussed the ways in which they advertised their product.

The students then planned, filmed and edited their ads...all before lunchtime. The final results are below:

       

Whats your spark?

This is a question that was posed to the students of room 13. What is your spark? What drives you? Gets you up in the morning? Inspires you?

From there the students explored who their spark champions are; the people who help, support and nurture those passions. Here's what they had to say!

                      

Ready, set, go.

With another beautiful day in Wellington it was time to practice for the upcoming school athletics. The chosen disciplines: high jump, long jump, discus and vortex. The students overcame fears, improved techniques and aimed for personal bests.

Following instructions

This week we're looking at following and giving clear, easy to follow instructions. To kick start this off we followed some seemingly easy instructions to create origami creations. What we found out however was that not all the instructions were clear or easy to follow and that it pays to follow the right instructions...

What a Waste

This term we have been exploring waste and packaging that causes waste. The students have created flow charts showing what happens to our waste when we put it in the bin or on the ground. So what does happen to our waste?

The Term Ahead

Kia Ora Koutou!

Welcome to Term 4 of 2013. It’s hard to believe we are now in the final term of the year. Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who supported our very successful Wearable Arts show, ‘Lost Worlds’, at the end of Term 3. It was a huge undertaking for everyone involved, the children performed fabulously on stage and they thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

As usual, Term 4 is set to be another busy one.  Below is a run down of the term. Feel free to contact your child’s classroom teacher if there is anything you wish to discuss further.

Literacy

We will have a multi writing focus for this term, as our inquiry topic will encourage the students to write in a variety of ways.  They will be doing persuasive writing, where we will be exploring how advertising is used to persuade others. They will also explore explanations and Instructional writing as well.  Our Reading lessons will continue to focus on developing comprehension skills and will also be linked to our inquiry topic.

Numeracy

We start the term revising some key concepts from the year. We will be focusing particularly on the operational strategies of multiplication and division. We will also be looking at algebra and geometry as well.  Please continue to encourage your children at home with their Mathletics, particularly their basic facts.

Inquiry

Our big idea is: ‘The impact that packaging and technology has on our environment’.  All classes will be involved in an inquiry where each child will be ‘Designing…The Ultimate Package’.

Physical Education

An exciting term for PE is planned, starting off with Athletics. The children will be taking part in Long Jump, High Jump, Vortex, Shot put, Quoit and Sprints. This leads in nicely to our school athletics day (Monday 11^th November) and Zone competition (Tuesday 19^th November). We end the term with Swimming starting again on the 25th of November down at the local pool.

EOTC Week

EOTC will be in Week 9 (Monday 9^th- Friday 13^th December) and planning is currently underway. Activities will be finalized by the end of next week.  As usual, we will need a lot of parent support for these days. More information will be sent home once ideas and dates are confirmed.

Year 5 and 6 Camp 2014

There will be a meeting for Forest Lakes Camp 2014 on Tuesday 10^th December, more details will be sent out closer to the time. You might like to consider whether you would like to be a parent supervisor, preference will be given to parents who can attend the whole week.  The dates for our camp are 4th-7th March 2014.

*Important Reminders

Homework

Homework will be given out each Monday and is due back in on Friday.  The continued focus for homework is the basics: reading, spelling and maths – using Mathletics.

Syndicate Assemblies

In term 4 we will continue to have ‘informal’ syndicate assemblies.  We found that this has worked very well and we will continue to have these meetings on a fortnightly basis.  We will blog, on the classroom blogs, the minutes of each meeting.    

Class Blogs

The class blogs are a great way for you to capture a ‘glimpse’ of what is going on in/outside of the classroom.  We encourage you to visit often!  We would also like to see the students commenting on the posts that are made, as it is a great way for the students to reflect.

Stationery Check

Many students are missing pens, pencils and rulers. These are necessary for everyday class work. Can you please ask your child if they need any items and replace them. Thank you.

Sun Hats & Drink Bottles

It’s term 4 and each child needs a hat to wear everyday outside. It needs to be a wide brimmed hat, not a cap and ideally should be left at school in their desk for easy access.  Students not wearing hats will have to stay in the shade area by the junior rooms.  It is also recommended that the children have their own named drink bottle at school. As the days get warmer it’s important they are fully hydrated.

Footwear and clothing

This term we need students to wear clothing that is suitable for outdoor sport. Please ensure your child wears shoes that they can run easily in (especially on Friday’s as this is our syndicate sport (athletics) day.  Jandals and boots are not appropriate.

If you have any concerns or worries please contact your child’s teacher via email: teachers surname @ muritai.school.nz.

Mauri ora! Kia ora!

The Year 5 and 6 team,

What A Waste!

Each person at our school creates waste! This waste can take many different forms. We decided to have a look at the different types of waste we create. 

We took the rubbish and recycling bins from 5 classrooms and then sorted them into 3 different forms of rubbish.

• Paper - Which will be recycled
• Food scraps - Which could be composted but at the moment aren't
• Rubbish - Which will end up at the landfill

We then explored where our waste could end up. We created a class flow diagram that started to show step by step where our waste went...

A very busy couple of weeks...

It has been a very full on last couple of weeks with everything going on: Hockey and football tournaments, artsplash choir, spellathon and of course Speeches, Wearable Arts and Student Inquiries.

Speeches

The quality of speeches this year has been superb. With many students having spent a lot of time crafting and practicing their speeches it was great for the students to be able to stand so confidently in front of the class and present their topics. With such a great crop of speeches it was a hard choice to pick the students who would advance further and represent Room 13 in the semi finals.

The speech semi-finalists from Room 13 were:

Year 5 - Kai and Tessa

Year 6 - Macey and Riley

The speech finalists from Room 13 are:

Tessa and Macey 

Great work girls and good luck!!!!

Wearable Arts

The students have been busily finishing their costumes and rehearsing their dance moves for the show. With the staging finally up and lighting to go up on the weekend the students and their costumes will shine next week. It will be fantastic! 

Student Inquiries
The student inquiries are the end result of a lot of hard work this term in studying their chosen 'lost civilisation'. There is a wide range of chosen civilisations from Ancient Rome and Greece to the Vikings, Atlantis and even the Easter Islands. Each student has been working hard to keep up to date with the classroom work that has seen students exploring their civilisation and others in greater depth. With most students having completed publishing their work the inquiries are now proudly displayed for all to see.  

Syndicate Assembly Week 6

Wearable Art

·      We have our ‘finishing days’ on Wednesday and Thursday morning. You need to bring in your all your STUFF.  Even if you have finished your outfit you will need to bring it in. We have practices every afternoon, this week, for the ‘Lost Civilization’ groups to continue to prepare their performances. 

Artsplash Choir

·      The Artsplash Choir will travel to Wellington next Monday for their rehearsal; this will be during school hours. The Artsplash concert will be on Monday evening.

ASB Girls Football

·      The festival is on Friday and the training will be on Thursday at lunchtime.

CZ Hockey

·      The tournament is next Tuesday and the trainings will be held, this week, on Tuesday (for the girls team) and on Wednesday (for the boys team).

Mathswell Competition

·      Mr. McMillan will meet with the team sometime this week. The team for the Mathswell competition is: Pablo, Andrew, Eden, Rachel, Scott and Lucy

Y5/6 Speech Competition

·      The Y5’s speeches were presented today. Congratulations to the following students who have progressed to the speech finals which will be held in week 9 of this term: Evie R, Cameron S, Tessa TB, Rachel V and Samantha W

Homework Club

·      The last day of Homework club is this Wednesday. If you need extra time or assistance you can go to Room 13 from 3pm - 4.30pm.

C.A.R.E

·      This week is a BIG week. You will need to demonstrate great RESPONSIBILITY in all that you do. We are looking for you to display reliability and maturity throughout the week. 

Pai tu, pai hinga, na wai, na oti

One may work, another may act and yet the sum total is the completion of the work

Syndicate Assembly Week 4

Earthquake

·      Everyone did a great job on Friday when the earthquake hit during the school assembly.  Everyone remained calm, got into the ‘turtle’ and listened for instructions.  

Sport

·      Y5/6 Girls and Boys CZ Hockey Teams have been announced and a notice is gong home today.  The Boys’ team practice will be on Wednesday @ 1pm and the Girls’ team practice will be on Thursday @ 1pm.

·      ASB Girls Soccer Festival permission slips are to be returned to Mr. McMillan ASAP.

 

Speeches

·      Speeches are to be completed and practiced this week.  Students will be expected to present their speech to their class next week.  Make sure you have a copy of the speech at school so that you can practice it during writing sessions.

Wearable Art

·      Most students have made their mask and they look FANTASTIC.  Students need to start creating their wearable art next week, if not already.

Homework Club

·      Mr. Chadwick will be running a homework club each Wednesday from 3pm till 4.30pm.  The focus for the homework club will be speech preparation, wearable art and inquiry learning.  It will begin this Wednesday and will run for three consecutive Wednesday’s. 

Citizenship (C.A.R.E)

·      ‘Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua’

 Care for the land, care for the people, go forward

There have been issues, recently, at morning tea and lunchtime where students have been playing games e.g. soccer and the people have been ending up frustrated, upset or annoyed.  It is important to remember the whakatauki (proverb) that reminds us of our responsibility to be ‘good citizens’ and to care for each other.  You need to be more considerate of others, especially those that are younger.   This is the week of the ‘Citizenship award’.