Busy start to term

Term 3 Week 4

We haven't posted up anything for a wee while- sorry about that but we have just been sooooo busy!

Here's what we have been up to....

• In maths we have been learning about statistics. We are learning how to interpret and understand graphs and data. We are also continuing to strengthen our multiplication and division skills. 
• In literacy we have been writing persuasive speeches and this week we started presenting them to the class. Already we have listened to some amazing speeches on animal cruelty, having a balanced life and what the true meaning of beauty is. We cant wait to see and hear the rest of the classes speeches! 
• In inquiry we have been learning all about dance, we even had a disco back in week one! This week we formed our dance inquiry groups and formed our big question, now we are going to make up a dance to show the answer to our question. 
• We have also started tech this term with Whaea Dagmar. We are redesigning the Hall! It is going to be so cool to 'make our mark' on the hall for students to enjoy for years to come.  

Art with Dagmar

Term 2, Week 9

Today Whaea Dagmar came to our class for art. We learnt about an incredible artist called Chuck Close. 

Chuck Close was born on July 5, 1940, in America. Suffering from severe dyslexia, Close did poorly in school but found solace in making art. After earning finishing universityYale in 1964, Close took his place atop the American art world by creating large-scale, photo-realist portraits that have creatively blurred the distinction between photography and painting. He uses a grid technique to create amazing artworks. 

Self Portrait of Chuck Close

Whaea Dagmar explaining the art task.

Sione, Saia and Adrian practising drawing techniques and patterns.

Leah adding patterns and symbols to her photograph. 

Adrian photograph with added patterns and symbols. 

Tracing our photograph and patterns onto grid paper. 

Saula's artwork- onto the colouring stage.

Room 19 is still working on finishing their artwork. We aim to get them all done and up on the wall by the end of the first week back in term 3. We will post up a photo of the finished pieces then. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Inquiry Presentations

Term 2, Week 8

To finish off our Inquiry topic of being a positive digital citizen each student in room 19 formed their own inquiry question to research further. The students came up with some great questions that dealt with things like cyber-bullying, internet etiquette and identity theft.

After the students did all their research they put together a presentation of their findings to share with the class. The students made posters, Power-points, short films and animations.

Here are a few examples of the students great presentation:

Ariana's Presentation

Makaydyn's Presentation

Mele and Ngalu's Presentation

Daley and Saula's Presentation

Ripper Rugby

Term 2, week 7

Today we had our 2nd session of Ripper Rugby with Nick. We had a lot of fun doing running, throwing and catching drills and playing a game of bull-rush. When it started to rain half way through the lesson we didn't let this ruin our fun and simply went to the hall and played a few games of flinch. Taina was the ultimate champion!  

Doing running, throwing and catching drills.

Playing bull-rush.

Tufui side stepping opponents in bull-rush, did she get through?

Playing a game of flinch. 

What we have been up to this week!

Term 2, Week 6

This week room 19 have been focusing on their learning and working really hard to complete all assigned tasks. Here is a run down of what we have been up to this week:

• Maths- we have started learning about the different multiplication and division strategies.
• Reading- we are continuing to strengthen our reading comprehension skills. 
• Writing- we have started writing character descriptions by first creating/ drawing a character then writing about them.
• Inquiry- each of us formed a 'juicy' question to inquire about in regards to being a digital citizen and leaving a positive digital footprint. We have started our research and next week we will put together our presentations. 
• P.E.- we started learning how to play a new sport- Ripper Rugby. We learnt the basics of rugby passes and how to side step our opponents. 
• Milk in school- also this week we started the 'Milk In Schools Programme'- for more information on this click on the link: Milk

Wow- what a week! We cant wait for next week where we will learn even more! 

Being a Digital Citizen

Term 2, Week 5

This term for Inquiry, we are learning about what makes better citizens for a digital today and how we can leave a positive digital footprint.

We have learnt what traits a good citizen posses and used this understanding to determine what makes a good digital citizen. Our definition of a digital citizen is: someone who understands the rights and responsibilities of in habiting cyberspace.

For the next couple of weeks we will be inquiring about the dangers of using the internet and how we can keep ourselves and others safe.

Here are a few links that have lots of information about cyber safety:

http://www.netsafe.org.nz/

http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/net_safety.html

Camp

Term 2, Week 3 and 4

In week 3 the year 8s loaded up a bus and made their way to Lakewood Lodge Camp for four days of challengers and fun!

The year 8s were taken out of their comfort zone and for many of the students it was the first time they had tried things like kayaking,  flying fox, rock climbing, archery and horse riding. The night activities were also lots of fun- we played night games like spot light, survived the scary Burma Trail and danced the night away at the camp disco!

One of the main highlights for most students was 'Survivor Day' where students had to complete challenges out in the wild that tested their strength, endurance, perseverance and co-operation skills. It was great to see students getting fully involved (no matter how muddy the activities got) and helping each other in completing each of the tasks!

My personal highlights of the camp was seeing my students grow in confidence as they overcame their fears when doing the challengers, Villiami smashing the rock climbing record by scaling the wall in 1.21 mins and of course seeing the girls beat the boys at tug-of-war! Even after two rematches!

This years camp was AWESOME! Not only did the students learn about themselves and what they are capable of achieving but they also learnt how important team work is; and for many students new friendships were formed!

In week 4 is was back to normality- back to routines, back to maths, literacy, PE and inquiry- and back to the year 7s who we all missed dearly while on camp!

Check out the camp website for more info on what we did:
http://www.lakewoodlodge.co.nz/

Mele and Clara battling it out on the mud run challenge! 

'Wonder Pets' building a wonderful fire to cook their dinner on. 

Horsing around at Horse games.

Saula after conquering the rock climbing wall. 

Sylvia Park School- Camp of 2014! 

The awesome year 8s of room 19!