Whealy Wednesday

That is, concerning wheels.

Good afternoon,

And what a lovely afternoon it is too. So much so that...


...outside. With the Resurrection Eggs.

Now, for 100 House Points...


Funnily enough, we started today's learning outside as well.

We first decided what questions our statistical investigations would answer...


...and then...


...went outside to answer them!



Later in the morning also saw some outside activity with our daily fitness lessons.


Tomorrow will be a fairly relaxed one.

We're starting and finishing the day with an Easter Liturgy (practice @ 0900, Liturgy @ 1430 - that's 2:30 p.m. for you non military types). In between will be filled with Easter type activities and, well, some free time to boot! It's been a short but very busy term.

As for the rats, thanks for the offers of accommodation over the break, between those on the roster I'm sure the boys will be well looked after!

I think that's it. CU in the morning,

Mr Grant

Tuesday...

...I-can't-think-of-an-appropriate-alliteration day. 100 pts for a good one!

Good afternoon,

Well, back into the fray for the day.

We started with a bit of car stats. We watched a clip that I recorded outside my local fish and chip shop last night, part of which is here...


...and then discussed first what categories the cars could be counted as...


...and then what questions we could ask that counting these cars would answer...



...which they dutifully did!



Later, we ran and skipped...


...we sang...


(I thought this was kinda funny - as the children sang the line

They keep out the water, and they keep in the smell...

they all held their noses...for the rest of the song!)

...and P.E.'d.


And a good time was had by all.

CU in the morning,

Mr Grant

Frantic Monday

Good afternoon,

I have little idea of what went on in Room 2 today, Mary, Liz and I have been flat out planning for next term. We've discussed and decided upon a heap of stuff!

Yours in an out of breath type fashion,

Mr Grant

Opps, looks like Galoop didn't go home tonight. That's ok, he can keep the rats company this evening and head home with...someone...tomorrow.

Ah, now here's a starter for 50 House Points...


Well done to Elliot, who so far was the only one who answered the question our Avitar asked in the weekend. Go Green House!

Newsletter for Term 1, Week 9

Good morning,

I should be getting ready for church, but I'm laid up with day 2 of a migraine. Bother it. And I've got so much to do yet at school before the week starts...

Here, in all it's technicoloured glory, is the newsletter for Term 1, Week 9.


Mr Grant

Funday Friday

Good afternoon,

And, although I've said this before, what a glorious afternoon it is!

Well, we pretty much started the day with a test! We undertook our summative assessment for our Me in My Environment unit. The children all did very well.

Then it was off for fitness...


...and they're off!


After morning tea, the children put away, and then got out their lunch boxes to see where their food came from. I am pleased to say that almost all of it came from En Zed. We then discussed why this is a jolly good thing...


...and a bit of levels related movement...


...before rushing out to assembly...


(Turns out, we weren't!)


After lunch we just chilled out with some singing and free time.




Have a good weekend,

Mr Grant

Thoughtful Thursday

Good afternoon,

And another lovely afternoon it is. There was a bit of thinking going on in Room 2 today. First with Maths, where the children had to think of a question or two about the qualities of the cat pictures they drew at the beginning of the week, such as...


To do this, the children sorted their data into categories and, well, counted the results.




Then, after a bit of exercise to pump up the brain...


...before Reading.


After lunch, and a game of Statues...


...it was time for the Year 1s to think and share what they had learnt about God as The Creator. They did jolly well! :-)

Last off, I tried to teach how the values we hold effect what we do, specifically when it comes to looking after our environment.

What you think is what you do!

I tried to get this across by having them pretend that they were fishermen whose fish stocks were getting low. Just like yesterday. 'Cept, instead of having them discuss the problem from a fair, and then selfish perspective, they had to take an argumentative approach this afternoon.



So far so good.


Getting the children to make the transition from a hypothetical situation to 'caring for the school' could have gone better! Next time I might just say 'the values we hold effect what we do, specifically when it comes to looking after our environment' and then carry on with the role plays!

Have a nice evening,

Mr Grant

Small Ball Skills, Part 2

Wednesday Wednesday

Good afternoon,

Another good day was had here in Room 2. A bit of maths...


...and the other usual stuff.

After lunch the Year 1s came into Room 2 for a bit of R.E. to talk about Angels.


Turns out that the first part of the Hail Mary is what the angels told Mary.

Hail Mary, full of grace,
The lord is with you.
Blessed art thee among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Tena koe. Ma Te Atua koe e manaaki

Bye for now,

Mr Grant,

And the rats!

Terrific Tuesday

Good afternoon,

And what a lovely afternoon it is. Which is just as well, really. The A Team were finally able to go and have their aquatic trip. I think today was Plan F!

Anyway, we all had a good time here in R2. A little Writing...



(this was taken at the end of writing when the children were sharing their work with each other)

...some Fitness...




...some Reading...


(Thankfully Tracie was able to step in and read the narrators roll when one of the children had to step out for a bit)

After lunch the whole J Team came hither, and dung sung us some songs...



...before throwing some balls around outside.



And a jolly good time was had by all!

CU in the morning,

Mr Grant

Absent Assessment Monday

Good afternoon,

Well we, the staff, have had a busy day learning about the writing proficiency indicators for each curriculum level, which was pretty cool, and I've read some pretty clever ways of teaching persuasive arguments next term.

In the meantime, Room 2, and the Room 2 children in Room 3 for that matter, carried on with their normal learning routines...






Jolly good!

CU in the morning,

Mr Grant

By the way, Rat and Rattie had a great time at Lucy's house in the weekend. Indeed, they seem all tuckered out!

Newsletter for Term 1, Week 8

Good evening,


And so starts the newsletter for Term 1, Week 8.

Bye for now,

Mr Grant

Flexi Day Friday

Good evening,

Well, today was a pretty much on-the-fly kind of a day. No maths today, we shifted books back into the library instead.

No Topic (there wasn't enough time left in the first morning slot), as we had to go out for fitness...


...so we tried to learn Wobbly Donkey.

He was a spunky, hanky-panky cranky stinky dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey

No Big Book or Art, we had Mass...


(...I'm still learning where Room 2 sits - we had to move to the other side of the church!)

No Assembly (the seniors were out, as indeed is Mr Earl), we had Rob The Nest...


The afternoon did run as planned, however. Singing and Free Time!

Don't forget I'm out of the room on Monday (all the teachers are getting Assessment Professional Development).

I'll hack out the newsletter some time before then. Along with Reading, Writing, Maths, Topic, R.E., and P.E. planning, and Inquiry planning, updating the class description and a reading...

Ah well, have a good weekend anyway,

Mr Grant

J Team Mass Tomorrow

Good evening,

I forgot to remind yo'all - J Team Mass, 11:15 tomorrow morning.

Mr Grant

Roll Over

Good evening,

Blue group are happy to present Roll Over.

CU in the morning,

Mr Grant

And for 100 Points...

Here-But-Not Thursday

Good afternoon,

Since I was out of the room all day today planning our Serving Our Country Inquiry Unit (thanks Mrs Cullen), I have only a vague idea of what went on in the room (!). I'm sure the children all had a great day.

I personally had quite a productive day working with Mr Atherton and Mrs Campbell sorting out bits and pieces of our afore mentioned unit. (We're planning to end the unit with a bang!) And I've organised a trip to the Air Force Museum for Wednesday, the 28^th of April. It'll be cool! And I quote...

Programme 6 - Bombing Raid & Air Sea Rescue Simulation

Step back in time to 1943 and discover the Pacific during active WWII. Learn about the jobs that Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel undertook, and the risks they faced, before experiencing a simulated bombing raid.

Then jump into a life raft and learn about the Air Force’s role in Search and Rescue.

A very interactive programme that will have students so engrossed that they won’t even realise they’re learning!

Social Sciences; Identity, Culture, and Organisation, Place and Environment, Continuity and Change

Technology; Technological Knowledge

English; Listening, Reading, and Viewing

Key Competencies; All

60 minutes, $6.50 per student.

(The total cost will most likely be around $10 per child once you factor in the cost of the busses.)

The whole J Team will be going together. While one class is in the Bombing Raid & Air Sea Rescue Simulation, one class will be in the restoration hanger and Andover experience, while the third class will be doing an information scavenger hunt around the museum itself. After an hour, the classes will swap. It'll be so coool!

Parent helpers will be asked for closer to the time (Room 2 will need about 4 or 5), but, as there will be no cost for any accompanying adults, the more the merrier!

I'm really looking forward to it!

CU in the morning,

Rattie


Oh, and by the way, if anyone has contacts in the Army or Navy and think they can swing a visit by an LAV or Frigate to the school, please let me know!

Winky Wonkey Wednesday

Good afternoon,

And a 100 points to the children who can tell me what kind of donkey he was at the end!

Well, it's been another very busy day here in Room 2. (By the way, I finally figured out how to tell the rats apart - the one with the diamond on his back is Rat, the one with more of a stripe on his back (and who is far more inquisitive) is Rattie. Boy these two are distracting!)

This morning, after a bit of sharing of our writing...


...we did a bit of Jump Jam. It's Raining Men. Not my cup of tea, but there you go...


Then we continued with Reading.


After it cleared up in the afternoon, we popped outside for a quick blind stroll down the drive, 'till we opened our eyes, turned around, sat down and talked about how we could make this part of the school look better.



Just a quick reminder that Mrs Cullen will be in the room tomorrow as Mr Atherton, Mrs Campbell and I go about planning for next term's Armed Forces inquiry. Cool!

So I'll probably see you in the morning, but not for long!

Mr Grant

Small Ball Skills

Good evening,

For 100 House Points...


Let me know in the morning.

Mr Grant

Terrific Tuesday

Good afternoon,

And what a lovely afternoon it is too.

This morning we did a bit of this...


...a bit of that...

Rob the nest is cool!

...and generally had a great, if slightly exhausting, time!


CU in the morning,

Mr Grant