The Serpell children performed with their own band..
Quickly followed up with a spot of cooking. We made Kiwi classics for the Serpell children to enjoy:
Then we looked at Maori myths with a focus on the creation story.. you know, the one about Rangi (the sky) and Papa (the earth) and how they were forever separated by their children; the children went on a Pou hunt around the school and then reported back on the linked between the pou, the message on them and the school's enviro aspirations.
Sharing back all that has been discovered...
Mr Ayson popped in to hand out the certificates that were unable to be handed out during the centenary assemblies.. well done to Alvin and Jessica..
Mrs Elmore then gave the children a detailed tour of the 'Garden' aspect of Garden to Table..
On Thursday we had a trip to the best place in Auckland.. Devonport (hmm.. who lives there, I wonder..).. Northhead first, for some fun on, around and in the tunnels..
Twas a tad windy..
Oh the horror...
Educational video all about Northhead's history..
And then the Navy Museum, for some fun in the classroom..
Note the blue gloves..
Action stations..
For our final day with the Serpell students, we worked on Maori art in the morning, then had a Pacific and aboriginal dancing session...
and finally, a game of Tapuwae..
So as you can all probably tell, we had very little time for much Maths or Writing revision work. Nevertheless, I think the children got a lot of educational benefit out of the activities that we did this week and had a lot of fun too. After all, learning takes many forms.. it doesn't all have to involve books and computer screens :-)
. REMINDERS
Tuesday trip to see the Godwits - we are leaving at 9am, so please ensure your child is not late.
Wednesday: E-asttle writing assessment.
Thursday: Gloss Maths testing begins - see Homework Page.
Waterwise starts on Friday - please get the money paid in at the office ASAP.
A difficult first couple of days for both myself and the children in terms of getting our heads back into school work mode... the hardest thing about teaching and being taught (I suppose) is the roller coaster nature of it.. i.e. full on busy, busy, busy and then total relaxation and then full on again... I'm sure you all feel VERY sorry for us.. I can picture you all tearing up at the thought of how tough life is for everyone in education.. :-)
This week we had 3 days in which we looked at aspects of life in the 1920s, 1950s and 1970s, as part of our build up to the centenary celebrations.. though we ran out of time to look at anything much from the 70s... do me a favour and ask your child if they can tell you when the Auckland Harbour Bridge was first opened, how much money was raised in tolls on the first day and how many men built it.
We were also lucky enough to hear a talk from John Maclean - Cooper's Uncle... see below.
In Writing, we continued some intensive work on explanation writing and in Maths, we focused on fractions to percentages and then on decimal subtraction revision.
I think this is a very useful clip, that explains the link between equivalent fractions and percentages:
I was horrified by the number of children who seem to have forgotten how to subtract decimals. See if your child can do this one with you:
11.8 - 8.79
We will continue revising the above next week.
This week is going to be another mixed bag as we have the Serpell children arriving and so have lots of events planned to make their visit to Meadowbank an exciting one. Fear not though, I shall still be shoe horning a spots of Maths, Writing and Reading revision in there somewhere.
Here are a few snaps taken with my brand new Samsung Galaxy S5.. :-)
Here's Augie telling us all about her exotic holiday in Vietnam..
Here are the children practising their 'javelin' technique as part of our athletics build up.
Here are the children during a running relays brain break with a twist.. your child can explain..
Here are the children having a go at 50s rock'n'roll dancing.
\
Here are the guitar group leaders teaching a te reo song to the guitarists who are going to Melbourne, so that they can perform it for the Australians.
Here is John Maclean giving his presentation on always trying your best and never giving up.
Here is probably one of the most inspirational moments I have ever witnessed.. John getting up out of his wheelchair to deliver the rest of his speech.
Here's John fielding questions from Room 26. Nathan Mansfield asked him if he had met his wife before or after he was injured; an excellent, unexpected question indeed! We were fortunate to have the extra time with John and it all happened because Cooper is in our class and John is Cooper's Uncle!
Here are the troops on centenary rehearsal day being addressed by Mr Ayson..
Here we are on Saturday, just before the off... thanks for the photobomb Miss Von Detten!
The cool, calm, collected guitarists look on as the maypole dancers do their thang..
Oh the stress.... NOT!
The masses amass..
Here are Peryn, Theo and Emily about to cut the cake with the eldest surviving Meadowbank pupil.. I think she is 93!
And finally... a snap of all of the old Meadowbankians.. at least, all that were there for that photo!
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..
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!
