The final week that was...

I trust you are all enjoying the holidays and the glorious sunshine. I certainly am - my tan is coming along a treat!

Last week was a bit odd for me in that I missed two days through illness and then we had all sorts going on.. ie. the final puberty talks, sports assembly, centenary assembly practice and of course our end of term packing up. The only things we managed to be consistent with were our maths revision and our explanation writing. As it was the final week, we also managed a spot of art. Using the basic idea of Kadinsky's concentric circles:


.. the children created trees using coloured paper..

As far as I'm concerned, it has been an excellent term. Firstly, the children had to exit comfort zones and perform their speeches, then they had to really step up for production and they did! They produced a production performance to be proud of. Finally, with very little time, they also managed to create a wonderful display for the science expo.

A small bit of preparation for week 1, term 4:

IMPORTANT: can the children please watch the following at some stage during the holidays as we are doing explanation writing about the water cycle in week one and this will ensure their memories are refreshed in terms of the technicalities of how the water cycle works.. that way we can focus more on the actual writing in class - don't worry if they don't get a chance to watch it as we will be doing a small intro/refresher in class as well.

BTW. if any of you parents out there would like to help your children with explanation writing, here is an example of the kind of planning we typically get them to do, to help organise their ideas:



Right, enough about that.. Roll on Term 4!

Here are some snaps of our centenary practice on the courts..

And finally, here's Michael Moore spinning a ball on his finger! Sorry Michael, not a very good clip..

The week that was...

Science expo came and went. Considering Year 6 only had a week to get something together, I think we did quite well. I hope you managed to come in and see the hall, all decked out in its scientific splendour.

In Maths, we revised multiplication strategies. Next week, we are revising division strategies. Week 1 next term will be fractions revision and then proportions and ratios to follow, just in time for the gloss test. Please email me if you would like your child to receive some Maths revision worksheets over the holidays.

In Writing, we focused on explanation writing and in Reading, the children all read explanations focusing on the tone of the writing and the technical language used. On Friday, we also had time for some plays..

The puberty talks are going well. The final 2 sessions are on Wednesday and Thursday. Please discuss the talks with your children.

The week ended with a great assembly where all of the performance arts groups at school had the opportunity to display their talents.

So one week to go. Don't know about you all, but I am totally cream crackered and really looking forward to the holidays.

Now here's another something from Mr R's memory banks...

Early start tomorrow for the big game.. GO THE ALL BLACKS!



And lest we forget... GO ENGLAND TOO!!!!

The week that was..

On Monday, due to yet more rain, we piled into the hall for a dodge ball session. 

We had one week to get our display ready for the Science Expo. So to inspire the children, I carried out an in class demonstration of how rocket propulsion works, firing a Sprite bottle across the class. The enjoyment was short lived, as I used this is as the basis for a couple of lessons on explanation writing.. oh the horror! Explanation writing will be the main focus for the rest of the term. 

On Tuesday afternoon, a Chinese dance group came in to give a performance to the school. We saw some excellent dancers, musicians and a singer. The children were 'oohing' and 'aahing' all over the place!

In Maths, we finished our work on calculating percentages. Next week, we will begin 2 weeks of multiplication and division revision. NB. in terms of Strand, working out area (length x width) and volume (length x width x height) is something a lot of the children continually forget, especially the unit of measurement to show these. Please go over this whenever you get the chance at home. Constant reinforcement really helps :-) 

 

We (well, the children really), worked hard on their Science Expo work, so do please find the time to drop in and see what they have been up to. The exhibition will be in the hall and is open from Tuesday to Thursday.

Puberty Talks. These begin this week. I know a few children have been sick or are on holiday and so have not brought the letter home about this. Please let me know if you object to your child attending these talks.

Rubric's Cubes are no longer welcome in class, so please don't let your child bring them in. Apart from the irritation of the children trying to covertly use them mid lesson, we also had 2 go 'missing' last week.. I hear they are worth $30. Please keep them at home. 

SOME MORE PRODUCTION PHOTOS..

And finally, Memory Lane for Mr R... 

Check out the program I used to watch, just before bed time..

The fantastic week that was...

So as you ALL no doubt know, last week Year 6 finally got to perform their Production. The entire cohort really rose to the occasion and gave us one of the best Productions ever. I was really proud of Room 26 for a number of reasons: 1. They all knew their lines; 2. They delivered the lines with clarity and expression and they remembered to face the audience when speaking; 3. They supported each other and worked as a team, whether setting up, packing up, moving props on and off stage or bringing in costumes for others. A special mention must go out to Rebecca Shen. Sadly, Rebecca had a temperature and was just too ill to perform, However, she still found the time to pop in and lend William B her rabbit onesy. Also AJ... without any real prep time, she took over Rebecca's role on stage and delivered her lines perfectly. So well done.

I was in the wings and so have a few rather bad Production pictures. If any of you have any good ones, please send them in. 

In Maths last week we looked at how to find percentages, we also did a separate session on how to multiply and divide by 10, 100 and 1000. IMPORTANT: please remember that the children should not learn, 'add a zero when multiplying by 10 and take it off when dividing' etc...

eg. 2.5 x 10

If you simply add a zero, you end up with 2.50.. the SAME number!

Rather, we are teaching them, if you multiply by 10, 100, 1000, you move all of the digits one place to the left 1 space, 2 spaces or 3 spaces.. and similarly for division, you move all of the digits, to the right, 1, 2 or 3 spaces... Once again, place value understanding is paramount for this..

This is explained very clearly here. Please watch with your child and discuss.

This week, we shall be focusing on getting our display ready for next week's science expo. So lots of explanation and report writing and, hopefully, some time to get out and do some experiments that capture the children's imaginations. Basically, I shall try to link reading and writing and some aspects of Maths to the science expo prep. work.

Zones Cross Country

Probably the muddiest zones XC for some time. The children were encouraged to run barefooted as those that wore shoes ran the risk of losing them in the mud or, more rather obviously, be weighed down by sodden footwear. Anyhow, Amity Drake came 2nd in the Year 6 girls' race.. a stellar effort and our teams overall had more higher placed athletes than any other school.. we managed 2 second and 1 third placed team.. So we shall be continuing with running club to the end of the year. 

Once again, I would like to thank all you hard working parents for your continued support. We always have so many volunteers to help out at sports events and we had heaps for Production too. So good on you. I hope your children appreciate all you do for them.

Roll on week 8...