Swimming Slideshow.

Here are the pics I took last term of our class at the Papatoetoe Centennial Pools. See how much fun we had! Term 3 in the Papatoetoe Pool on PhotoPeach

Term 3 in Review

I am just looking through the homework books and reading the lovely comments from my class about the term we have just completed. I thought I would share some with you.

Joanna: My proudest moment was when I won two gold medals in inter-school chess. (Joanna, you are fabulous!)

Ritorya: My proudest moment was when I came 5th in inter-school cross country. (Ritorya, you are amazing!)

Gaylene: My proudest moment was when I came 1st in the school cross country. (Gaylene, you are very fast! I bet you will go to Zones next year)

Abhinay: My proudest moment was when I was selected to represent my school in the inter-school cross country. (Abhinay, you are a great sportsman with a super attitude)

Lucy: My proudest moment was when I competed in inter-school gymnastics (Lucy, your scores for the beam and mat were outstanding!)

Andy: My proudest moment was when I did the writing sample. (Andy, you are getting to be such an amazing writer!)

Paul: My proudest moment was when I got a better score in the PAT Maths test. (Paul, I am really pleased with your progress, too)

Phoenix: My proudest moment was when I got a Ka Pai for excellent number knowledge. (Phoenix, I am really enjoying seeing your confidence in Maths improve)

Manav and Sahibdeep: My proudest moment was when I performed in the Pacifica Showcase. (You guys were fab)

Mary: The funniest moment was when we were on the mat and my teacher's phone was like "Hello, hello, hel-lo-ow!" (My Minions are not supposed to call me during class time)

Damien-Joe: My favourite part of break time is when I go to the garden. (Damien, we love having you in the gardening group)

Puipui: My favourite part of break time is when I go to gymnastics training. (Puipui, it's really neat to see you making the most of the break time opportunities at PCS)

I loved reading about how much you enjoy playing with your friends at break times as good friendships make your days at school so much more enjoyable and rewarding. It is great to see you are still making new friends in Term 3 as well. (Raj, Mary, Balraj, Fazileen)

I love the goal setting I read from Fazileen, Nathan, Savyo, Raj, Balraj and many others. Keep up the good work, guys!

I just want to add... as a teacher, everyday I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing, talented group of kids. It is a pleasure to come to school each day and see you all progress in your own unique and incredible ways.

Keep up the excellent work as we head into Term 4.

So, how was school today?

This is a post for parents.
I was thinking the other day about how little I used to tell my parents about my school day and noticed that now I am a parent myself, when I ask my son about his day I also get very short answers. I went in search of some ideas on how to draw some decent answers out of children about how their day went.
I thought I would share these with you all. I know everyday in our class is different and fun and interesting and that every day your child is learning a little bit more... but when I hear the kids telling you about their day outside the class at 3pm, I can hear they too are giving you the boring answer. So how about giving a few of these questions a go to see if you can get a better answer than "Fine" or "Good"? Because I am very sure that if you ask the right question you will get the right answer.

1. What was the best thing that happened at school today? (What was the worst thing that happened at school today?)
2. Tell me something that made you laugh today.
3. If you could choose, who would you like to sit by in class? (Who would you NOT want to sit by in class? Why?)
4. Where is the coolest place at the school?
5. Tell me a weird word that you heard today. (Or something weird that someone said.)
6. If I called your teacher tonight, what would she tell me about you?
7. How did you help somebody today?
8. How did somebody help you today?
9. Tell me one thing that you learned today.
10. When were you the happiest today?
11. When were you bored today?
12. If an alien spaceship came to your class and beamed someone up, who would you want them to take?
13. Who would you like to play with at break that you've never played with before?
14. Tell me something good that happened today.
15. What word did your teacher say most today?
16. What do you think you should do/learn more of at school?
17. What do you think you should do/learn less of at school?
18. Who in your class do you think you could be nicer to?
19. Where do you play the most at break?
20. Who is the funniest person in your class? Why is he/she so funny?
21. What was your favorite part of lunch?
22. If you got to be the teacher tomorrow, what would you do?
23. Is there anyone in your class who needs a time-out?
24. If you could switch seats with anyone in the class, who would you trade with? Why?
25. Tell me about three different times you used your pencil today at school.

I found these gems on the Huffington Post website and just loved them. Give a few of them a try and let me know how you get on....

Jennifer

Spelling

Hi there, I am uploading our PCS Spelling lists for the parents that mentioned this would be helpful when assisting with homework. 

I have tried my best to upload them as clearly as possible but you may have a little bit of difficulty reading them. 

The children should all know which list they are working on and be able to spell any of the earlier lists if you decide to do a spot test on them. I apologise for the way they are out of order as well!

Writing Informal Letters

Writing, writing, writing... what fun we have learning the skills of being able to write in a range of genres! At the moment we are writing informal letters. This of course, is always popular with the kids as they get to write to a friend or a family member they haven't seen in a while, they don't have to use perfect language and they can write their news as well as ask the questions they want to of the recipient of their letter. Here is a little slideshow to give you some tips on how to correctly write an informal letter. Just remember, in New Zealand we put the address and date in the top left instead of the right. Room 18, you can practice your letter writing skills whenever you feel the urge to put pen to paper- and I am sure your friends will love to receive your letter and will hopefully even write back!

Steps of writing an informal letter from Ibrahem Abdel Ghany

Steps of writing an informal letter from Ibrahem Abdel Ghany

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Term 3

Wow, it is term 3 already! This term is another busy term in Room 18. We will be doing gymnastics all term every Tuesday morning- so we will be pretty flash by the end of the term! We are also going to swimming lessons from Week 3 to Week 7. This will tie in really nicely with our Health unit on Water Safety. Living in a country completely surrounded by water makes this a really important topic to teach. We also have Three Way Conferences in Week 3. The kids get to go home a little earlier but the expectation is that they will all come back with a caregiver or two to have a chat with me about how they are getting on at school. I am really looking forward to this as I love sharing the children's successes with their whanau. (Parents: you can book your interview time on the PCS website or at the school office) Later in the term, we are planning a trip to the Auckland Observatory- The Stardome which is pretty exciting, too. This ties in really nicely with what Miss Erakovich is teaching in her Science and Technology lessons. It's going to be another fabulous term at PCS.

John Britten- Backyard Inventor and Inspirational New Zealander

We have been learning about inspirational kiwis here in Room 18. We have been really taken with the story of John Britten, the man who built a superbike with his mates in his backyard and took on the world's fastest at Daytona in 1993. Check out our storyboards we made using Comic Life. Nice work Mary, Manav and Jackson!

We Live in Aotearoa

Term 2 is underway already and Room 18 are busy learning all about this beautiful country we live in. We began our Aotearoa adventures this week by starting to use atlases and the internet to find out about the geography of our country. Can you answer these questions? What is the name of New Zealand's biggest lake? What is the strait of water between the South Island and Stewart Island called? What is the name of the National Park in the southwest of the South Island? Who was the first European to visit New Zealand? When was the Treaty of Waitangi signed? What is the largest city in New Zealand? What is the northernmost point of the North Island? Who is the current Deputy Prime Minister? Where and when were the last Commonwealth Games held in New Zealand? What was the first, second and third capital city of New Zealand? We are feeling pretty please with ourselves because now we can all tell you the answer to these questions. We are looking forward to discovering more about New Zealand in the next few weeks.

The Write Way

It's nearly the end of Term One already. Room 18 have been working hard all term and it's showing in their work. We recently did our writing sample and so many children have moved on from their levels at the end of last year! We have been enjoying writing narratives and have written about being shipwrecked on an island, finding a friend in an abandoned dog and a mystery story. We also retold the story of Lily and Ermine and wrote our own endings. You can watch the Lily and Ermine story if you like- it might make you want to get writing like Room 18 did! And remember, if you practice your spelling every day, you will see your writing get a little better every day, too!

A Day at Auckland Zoo

Check out the pictures of us at Auckland Zoo. Click on the images to view the pictures as a slideshow

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2014

Wow, another year is well under way. Week 4 already!

Welcome to Year 4, children of Room 18! We are going to have a fabulous year- I can't wait to get to know you all better and to see you learn lots of new and exciting things.

This term we are focussing on our school wide theme of Being a New Zealander. We are going to spend some time finding out about our country's amazing native birds as well as learning about some of the famous people, famous places and the cities of this beautiful country we live in. And later in the term, we will be going on a trip to somewhere I am sure you will all love but I am not allowed to tell you about that, yet!

A big change for you guys this year is going to be homework. Homework is given out on a Monday with your spelling words and you have until Friday to complete it and hand it in. Then I can mark it over the weekend to get it back to you and ready for more homework the following Monday. We will have a spelling test on Fridays, too and there will be prizes at the end of the term for the boys and girls who have learnt the most words.

I look forward to seeing you all next week with you parents, if they have the time, when we have Meet the Teacher Night on Thursday.