Best Karakia at PCS!

Go Rm 18!

Best recital of the karakia in the senior school. Announced in assembly on Monday and awarded Whaea Paea's special patu until the end of term.

Maori warriors used patus in combat. They struck in a downward motion with the leading edge of the weapon. The patu was used to hit the jaw, temple or ribs in close fighting.

Whaea Paea's patu is decorative and very pretty. It is made out of glass but the original patus were usually made out of greenstone.

 She told us that her patu was very special to her because it was from the heart of Nga Puhi in Northland. Her patu was given to her on her 21st from a good friend.

Here is Cialei (representing our class) being presented with the patu in front of the whole school.

Thanks, Whaea Paea, for choosing us to look after your very special taonga.

Fitness Fun Day

Wow, I don't know what they were worried about! The sun came out in bucket loads for the Y6s and their fundraiser the Fitness Fun Day.

Room 18 went out with the rest of the middle school after Break One. We had a fab time going from station to station with the very helpful Y6 children at each telling us what the activity was.

Our Highlight: The children loved the obstacle course where they had to do a sack race, quickly put on a netball bib, throw and catch a ball and do the hula hoop faster than their opponent.

Watching their teammates

Keira getting ready for her turn

Neck and neck

Cheering on their House

A beautiful day!

It's harder than it looks

Lotosina shows us her ball skills

 

 

 

Second activity was shooting goals into the football net.  Turns out we have few children with some skills in this area

Strike!

Too fast for the goalkeeper

Double attack

Listening to the Y5s explain the activity

All in all, another fun event at PCS. Thanks Y6 for your great organisation and your creative ideas!

The Inquisitive Mind of a Child

The Inquisitive Mind of a Child

Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?
Selling poppies in town today.
The poppies, child, are flowers of love.
For the men who marched away.

But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?

Why not a beautiful rose?
Because my child, men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?
Why are the poppies so red?
Red is the colour of blood, my child.
The blood that our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.
Why does it have to be black?
Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.
For the men who never came back.

But why, Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain.
My tears are my fears for you my child.
For the world is forgetting again.

Author Unknown

The Rm18 children are always asking to see my son William so here are a few pictures from our family Anzac Day commemorations. 

My son is three and a half and had a million questions about war and peace, death, the soldiers and the poppies and it made me think of this poignant poem.

For me, the most precious part of this years Anzac Day was, as many others noted, that as the years pass, the number of returned soldier grows less and less but the number of children paying their respects increases.

William's father pins on his first poppy

William walks with his Daddy who wears his service medals from 10 years with the NZ Army which included overseas peace operations.

For my own part, I have been so impressed with the sensitive and respectful way the children in Rm18 have approached our learning about the Anzacs and New Zealand's role in WW1. They are full of questions which they ask with tact and they have been so sympathetic when discussing the hardships our young New Zealand men suffered during the Gallipoli campaign.
Thank you, Rm18; your maturity and compassion has really impressed me.

Term 2

A quick post to let you know what we are up to this term in Room 18. It is another busy term with a packed timetable every day...

In Social Studies this first half term we are looking at NZ at War and after our Health unit in the middle of the term, Social Studies for the last weeks of T2 will be Community Heroes.

The children are enjoying the recorder lessons and looking forward to more skills teaching in sport with large ball sports.

Fractions

I have been thinking about how children often get muddled when learning fractions and find it an intimidating subject. I have found a couple of helpful explanatory videos online to share with the class to help them better understand some of the components to fractions.
So here is the one we looked at in class:
Remember: the numerator is never under and the denominator is down

And here is one from Mathletics about equivalent fractions.
Click here to open this video in a new window

Room 18, watch these videos to help you better understand fractions. Watch them a few times if you need to... we don't always learn things the first time... real learning happens when we find the things we don't know and learn them.

And don't forget to make the most of the Mathletics subscription your parents paid for by going online as often as you can to complete tasks on Mathletics.

Class Dojo in Class Term 2

Term 1 is done and dusted. Thanks, Room 18 for all your hard work this term.

Next term, we are going to start using Class Dojo and I have just been creating your class avatars. Aren't they cute? I can't wait to start using these! You will get individual or group points for things like mastery of learning, beautiful bookwork, working together or being ready to learn. At the end of the week we will have rewards for the highest scorers like extra minutes in Golden Time or "game time" on the iPads.
 

Have a happy and safe holiday, Room 18!