Assembly this week

Apologies for the late notice - we have our first Team Akakura assembly this Thursday at 11.15am. It will at the VUW hall next door not the school hall. We are sharing some of the work we've been doing, receiving certificates and singing a song or two so we'd love to see you there.

Spelling sounds

Last weeks spelling sound was the "ai" pattern. It can be found in lots of different words and makes the long a sound. If you'd like to know more or want go over it again, check out the video below where Geraldine the Giraffe will help explain it.

Next week we'll be moving on and learning the "ee" spelling pattern. Here's Geraldine to explain how it's said and where we could find it.

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

Our inquiry this term is "Keeping Ourselves Safe". So we've been looking at being confident; what that looks like, sounds like and feels like. We've also discussed when we feel confident and when we don't.

We've been doing lots of art work lately. It's been linked to our inquiry work so we have focused on creating different self-portraits. 

We've been reading 'George's Marvelous Medicine'. This is a really funny book about a boy who creates a 'medicine' for his horrible grandma. 

We've been learning about how to write instructions as well. We've created instructions for how to make an amazing sandwich (for Angus the Alien who has never had a sandwich before), our amazing art work and most recently for our own marvellous medicine.

We've also been talking lots about different topics. Most mornings we'll discuss a problem, question or idea together. We try to listen carefully to others and to explain our thoughts clearly. Sometimes the questions are silly and we can be creative. Other times they are serious and we have to think a bit more seriously. Here's a few we've answered already:

What makes us different from other animals?

What makes a hero a hero?

The moon is made of cheese. How does that effect the world?

Let's graph

We've just finished a brief introduction to statistics. We learnt about tally charts, graphs, creating investigations and making statements from our findings.

Have a go at the activity below to practise your skills:

Let's graph

Homework

Homework will start this week. Every week you should expect to see the following:

Spelling
This will follow the spelling sounds we have learnt in class. We have finished our spelling assessment and all the children have been placed into spelling groups. If you'd like some ideas about how to help your child learn their spelling words, check out the link below.

Fun ways to learn spelling words

Reading

We've started our guided reading rotation up now so every week you should expect at least one book that your child has read with me. They may also take home library books and other browsing books. Don't worry if the book that's sent home is too easy - we often focus on the understanding and enjoyment of what we've read. 

Maths

Each week there will be at least 10 different basic facts to learn. These basic facts usually relate to what we've been learning in class. The aim is to be able to recall these facts instantly. For some of us, this will be easy, for others it may be a challenge. 

There may also be other challenges or activities to complete that I'll post up on the blog from time to time. 

Groups of the week

Every week in Room 17, we have a group of the week. This is the group that has worked hard to make Room 17 a happy, safe, learning classroom. The groups get a couple of special privileges as a reward - including having their photo on the class blog to recognise their achievement.

Week 1 - Congratulations to Miles, Emily, Leo, Pedro and Rory

Week 2 - Congratulations to Emily, Bethan, Nestor and Archie 

Week 3 - Congratulations to Antonia, Isabelle, Michael, Alex and Sienna

ICT user agreement

Karori Normal School believes in a Digital Citizenship model for supporting safe and responsible use of the internet in teaching and learning. An important part of this is that we are able to show others what that responsible use looks like while we are using technology in our learning.

We think a good digital citizen is someone who;

• is a confident and capable user of ICT
• will use ICT for learning as well as other activities
• will think carefully about whether the information they see online is true
• will be able to speak the language of digital technologies
• understands that they may experience problems when using technology but can deal with them
• will always use ICT to communicate with others in positive ways
• will be honest and fair in all of their actions using ICT
• will always respect people’s privacy and freedom of speech online
• will help others to become a better digital citizens.

We have discussed this as a class and come up some things that good digital citizens will look like, sound like and feel like. Here's what we came up with:

Before we can start using any of the equipment and go online we must sign the user agreement (which includes all the things we came up with above).

 Room 17 is doing things a bit differently this year and instead of having paper copies, we're trying to be digital citizens and sign this online. So we need parents & children to write their names in the padlet below OR in the comments section.

Created with Padlet

I understand that these guidelines for responsible user are to be followed when using any technology while at school or while on any school activity. I am aware that this may include the use of a device that the school does not own. I understand that if I do not follow this responsible use agreement, I may lose access to school ICT services including the use of the internet.

Welcome to Room 17s blog

Welcome to Room 17's blog. Here you'll find information, learning games and examples of what we've been doing in class. I'll try to update the blog a couple of times a week so please check back regularly to see what's going on.

First day nerves have all gone now!

*You might notice that if you scroll there's another class below - this is my class from last year. I've kept it so that they can come back and visit & as a record/portfolio for myself as a teacher.