Learning about Dinosaurs

Dino Hunt

We had a Dinosaur hunt in our classroom last week!
We were given clues to try to guess the Dinosaur under the paper. We found a  T- Rex, Spinosaurus, Diplodocus, Triceratops and many others. We read interesting facts about each Dinosaur and drew a picture of each of them.

Buddy Class

Small Ball Skills

This week we got together with our buddy class to practice some small ball skills.  We practiced throwing and catching with our Room 5 buddies, who were awesome teachers.

Dinosaurs

Dino Art

We have started our unit on Dinosaurs and the children are so engaged. We brainstormed what we already know and came up with questions about things we would like to learn.  We are reading books about Dinosaurs and researching information from kid friendly websites, some of these are on our Blog.

On Friday we did some dinosaur art.  The children used pastel and dye to produce some dazzling dinosaurs, these are displayed in the classroom so stomp on in and take a look!
Also we learned how to sketch a T Rex, here are some pictures of their wonderful art!

Mathletics with our buddy class

On Friday room 5 came into our class to teach us how to use Mathletics on the ipads.  Many children hadn't been on Mathletics before so this was very exciting for them.  Thanks room 5 you are awesome teachers!

Cycle safety

Learning about Cycle safety

On Friday Police Officer Cree came to our school to talk to Rooms 1 and 2 about being cycle safe.  The children were taught how to correctly fit their helmets and learnt some great tips for riding safely on the road.  They really enjoyed the learning experience and had fun biking at school. Thanks Officer Cree.

Buddy Reading

Buddy reading with room 5

On Friday room 5 came into our class to do some buddy reading.  They have been learning how to be good reading coaches. Thanks room 5, we really enjoyed reading with you.

Our Maths

A typical maths lesson in our class would look like this...

This is what we do at maths time in room 1.  We are engaged in our learning and work hard in groups and individually.  Awesome maths room 1!

Learning how to Manage Ourselves

Managing Self

We have been learning to manage ourselves in room 1.  We have talked about keeping our classroom running efficiently and how this looks and what it sounds like. So this means we have been practising how we set up, play and pack away our activities.

We are doing a great job. 

Our Awesome Beach Trip

Beach Day Out

What an amazing day.  We all had so much fun from the moment we got on the bus.  When we arrived we played different beach activities in our teams.  We had a fun paddle in the sea. Some of us got very wet but we didn't mind because it was a hot day.  After lunch we did an activity in our class groups.  Room one made the most magnificent sandcastle.  It had about 12 bridges, but who's counting! We packed up, brushed off the sand and made our way back into the bus.  The journey home was a lot quieter as some of us fell asleep.

Meet the teachers bbq

 Fun night at school

What a great night.  The sun shone, the sausages were sizzling, the swimming was sensational!

Thank you to all the families that attended the BBQ, it was great to meet you. A huge thanks to the parents and PTA that made this possible.

Buddy Swim

Friday Buddy Swim

We had a great time on Friday with our buddy class.  Thanks room 5 for helping us learn to float on our backs.

A Busy First Week

Our First Week Back

What a busy first week.   We spent a few days getting to know each other and learning the class rules and routines.  Here are a few photos to show you what we have been doing...

Welcome to Room 1

Meet our class

What a crazy bunch!

Welcome back to school!  We have been busy getting to know each other and learning how our classroom runs.  We have been swimming every day, which has been a huge relief in this heat.

If you haven't popped in to say hello, please feel free to drop by before or after school as it would be great to meet you all.

Aaron Smith Surprise Visit

Aaron Smith at Halcombe School

A few lucky boys from Room 2 had a wonderful opportunity to meet All Black Aaron Smith when he came to visit Halcombe School yesterday.
The boys got to ask him questions and had a photo taken with him. Thanks Aaron, you are awesome and such a wonderful inspiration to our keen rugby juniors!  A link to the video of their meeting is on our blog.  Here is a photo 

Buddy Class Picnic and Games

On Monday Room 2 and 5 had a shared lunch.   We played rounders and capture the flag, as well as a series of fun relay races.  We finished with a wonderful feast of delicious  goodies!  Thanks Room 5, we have had so much fun this year being your buddy class.

Slip, slop, slap and slide!

Room 2 had so much fun on Friday morning.  Room 6 kindly set up a fabulous water slide and room 2 had a blast running and sliding across it.  Thanks so much Room 6, it was awesome!

Athletics

What a great day!

Our Class Trip

Trip to the Farms

We had a wonderful day out on Wednesday. The first stop was Blunden's ostrich farm.  The children saw the incubators, held ostrich eggs and patted the baby ostriches.  Then we drove on to the Thompson's goat farm.  After washing their gumboots and hands, they were allowed to climb into the pens and play with the kid goats.  The goats were nibbling their clothes and jumping up at them.  After a wonderful picnic lunch on the Thompson's lawn, we drove up the Abbiss' sheep farm.  The children had a turn at shearing and drenching the sheep.  It was a fabulous day out!  Thank you to all the parents who kindly came to help make this day so special, we couldn't have done it without you.

Writing

Information and explanation writing

We have been learning to write information reports and explanations.  We have written reports on sheep, using facts we have researched in books.  We drew flow diagrams and wrote  explanations about baby ostriches hatching from their shells. We are hoping to see some baby ostriches when we visit Blunden's Ostrich farm on Wednesday!

Learning about Ostriches

Ostriches

In preparation for our class trip, we have been learning about different farms in New Zealand.  We have studied sheep farming and this week we researched ostrich farming. We have read books and watched clips about ostriches.   Lily bought in her ostrich egg for us to examine.  We can't wait until we see a real one !

Here is some of our wonderful Ostrich Art

Dodgeball with Room 5

Buddy Class

On Friday Room 2 had a game of dodgeball with our buddy class.  We had so much fun, thanks Room 5!

Athletics training

Athletics

Room 2 has been busy training for athletics day.  We have been practising shot put, sprints, hurdles, long jump and high jump.

Cricket

Friday Cricket

On Friday, we had two visitors from Manawatu Cricket come to teach us some wonderful cricketing skills.  The children had fun catching and batting.  Check out our skills!

Maths

Maths

This week in maths we have been studying time.  We have been timing ourselves doing activities and have been learning to tell the time using analogue clocks.  Please encourage your children to read the clock at home.  We have been learning o'clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past.

Dyeing Wool

Learning about Wool

This week we had a go at dyeing a piece of wool different colours. The results were fabulous and the next day we glued the piece of wool onto a card and drew a sheep outline around it. 

Firewise

Learning to be Firewise

This week we had a visit from Fireman Kevin Darling.   We talked about fire safety and what we need to do if there is a fire in our home.  He reminded us to check our smoke alarms and make sure that we all know where our safe meeting place is.  The children were sent home with their fire safety activity books and it would be great if you could keep talking to the children about fire safety. 

To learn more about the Firewise programme please visit this web page

Get Firewise

All About Wool

Sheep and Wool

For our inquiry this term we are studying sheep and how wool is made into clothing.  For our EOTC we will be visiting a sheep farm in the next few weeks and the children are very excited about that.  This week we had a visit from Sue Dawson who kindly demonstrated how wool is spun on a spinning wheel. The children smelt and touched other types of fibre such as goat and camel hair!

Pet Day

Pet day

What a fun day it was. Luckily the weather held out and the animals all behaved themselves!  Congratulations to all the children that entered Pet Day.  It is a huge commitment to look after animals and you all did so well. The children really enjoyed the day and here are a few photos.

PET DAY UPDATE

Pet Day Art Update

I am still sourcing some spare old gumboots please!  I now have 18 but still need 5 more by this Tuesday morning (27th October).  So please, please, please check around home, ask friends, relatives etc , etc to see if you can bring in a couple of pairs by this TUESDAY MORNING. We are painting and decorating them and it would be nice we could have enough for one  each child to decorate.  Thank you to those who have kindly donated pairs. (adult boots are fine too).

Also, could you please pick some flowers (wild flowers in paddocks or flowers from your garden) and bring these to school this TUESDAY MORNING. I need these to go inside the gumboots, so please make sure the stalks are left long (about 20 cm).  Any flowers donated will be fantastic.  

Thank you

Mrs B

cross country

Cross Country Day

Luckily the weather held out and we were able to run the cross country on Friday.  Here we are before our race.

The year 2 and 3's were first up, so we didn't have long to wait before we were off. The children did really well, they all tried their best and did a great job of avoiding the prickles and the muddy creek!

Here are a few photos from the day.  Great running room 2!