The year that was 2016!!!

As the very proud teacher of Room 19, I would like to say a few thank you to everyone that was a part of the Room 19 whanau this year. The following presentation is a very brief but beautiful snapshot of just some of the AMAZING highlights of our year.

BE RESPONSIBLE- our focus for the rest of the term.

During the year we have discussed and learnt how to be great members of our school and community. Our school wide focuses have been EXCELLENT ways to remind us of just how we can be positive learning citizens and the impact it has when we follow them.

I think that it is truly fitting that we finish our year with the following focus as it encompasses all of  the qualities of the other ones.

Kauri Team Athletics Day

What a wonderful day we had. Students were giving it their all in the effort to qualify for the Inter-zone competition held later on this month. Even those that didn't have that competitive spirit had the "going to give it my best try" attitude. Thank you to everyone that was involved and present on the day, that's what really made the day a successful one.

    

Caring for others and our environment.

Our focus for weeks 5 and 6 is;

This ties in nicely with our GREEN week for term four and reminds us all just how precious our beautiful planet is and how and why we should ALL be active care takers of it.

Focus for weeks 3 & 4

Playing fair is our current focus. We should all strive to play fair no matter what activity we are engaging in. Everyone involved experiences success and just has more fun when we all practice playing fair. Read the Play Fair ideas below and ask yourself "Do I follow these ideas"?

Welcome back to term 4.

Our focus for the first two weeks of this term is be organised. This is a great focus for the Kauri team especially as in week 3 we are going to camp. There is a lot to be organised if we are going to have a fun, safe and sensible time at camp. There are to important forms that need to be filled in; pink (medical) and green (consent), gear lists have gone home (blue form). It's all systems go!!!

Let's be ORGANISED Kauri team and enjoy our very special time at camp.

Green Week

Green week- A gift for Mother Earth.

During week 8, Room 19 students had the opportunity to learn more about 3 different ways in which they could make a difference to our community and our beautiful planet.

Some students decided to learn more about the difference and the effects of tagging versus a mural. They learnt to appreciate the power of a mural and began designing a personal mural that represented them. They had to think about what images to include, the message they wanted their audience to get from their art and most importantly, consider the impact of art on their community as opposed to tagging. 

Mural in the making.

The other learning choice was to discover more about the PLASTIC BOTTLE. The learnt about how the plastic bottle is made and also some creative ways in which we could re use it again and again before we actually recycled it.

Gumball machine- Project that is still in the making!!!

Trash 2 Treasure. There is an old expression "one mans trash is another mans treasure".  Well here is just one of the many great ideas or ways in which we can turn trash into treasure.

Yussra used GOOS (Good On One Side) paper to make flowers for her parents. 

Speech time!!!

Some students like to give speeches, for some, just the thought of speaking in front of an audience is scary. It is never easy to stand confidently and share your ideas with others as they all look at you. But, it is something that definitely gets easier the more you do it. So, I would like to say that I am very PROUD of all of the students in Room 19 for having the courage to deliver their wonderful speeches in front of their peers (29 other people).

For our Kauri team speech final competition I only selected 4 students from our class. I selected the following students based on this criteria; topic, content was persuasive, excellent eye contact, they spoke at a good pace and their main points were developed well. Grace delivered a fantastic speech about bullying, Annalisse shared very valid and persuasive reasons about why we should not keep dolphins or whales in captivity, Nahlah who is very passionate about felines gave us very good reasons as to why we should adopt a cat and Melinda provided us with great  ideas about why our school should have a tuck shop.

We, the members of Room 19 were very proud of all of these AMAZING young learners you see in the photo below. The results are as follows;

Nahlah received 3rd place along with another student and Annalisse came 1st place and will be representing our school in the upcoming Inter-school competition.

Speech time!!!

Some students like to give speeches, for some, just the thought of speaking in front of an audience is scary. It is never easy to stand confidently and share your ideas with others as they all look at you. But, it is something that definitely gets easier the more you do it. So, I would like to say that I am very PROUD of all of the students in Room 19 for having the courage to deliver their wonderful speeches in front of their peers (29 other people).

For our Kauri team speech final competition I only selected 4 students from our class. I selected the following students based on this criteria; topic, content was persuasive, excellent eye contact, they spoke at a good pace and their main points were developed well. Grace delivered a fantastic speech about bullying, Annalisse shared very valid and persuasive reasons about why we should not keep dolphins or whales in captivity, Nahlah who is very passionate about felines gave us very good reasons as to why we should adopt a cat and Melinda provided us with great  ideas about why our school should have a tuck shop.

We, the members of Room 19 were very proud of all of these AMAZING young learners you see in the photo below. The results are as follows;

Nahlah received 3rd place along with another student and Annalisse came 1st place and will be representing our school in the upcoming Inter-school competition.

Olympics day at Owairaka School

You could not have asked for a better day!!! Here are some of the reasons why;

1)  Our students or should I say our Olympic athletes demonstrated the 3 Olympic values perfectly. 
2) The organisation of the whole Olympic Games was phenomenal. The venue was pretty tidy and equipment was top quality.
3) The student ambassadors, whanau and staff that where running each activity (Olympic discipline) were very professional.
4) The opening ceremony was very enjoyable. Everyone proudly represented their countries with flags, banners, chants and SMILES!!!!!
5) Weather was spectacular.

Now I may be considered biased here, but I believe that Japan (represented today by Room 1 and 19) would have been number 1 in the medal tally (if there were medals given out). I was very proud of both groups today as they showed friendship, demonstrated excellence and respect for themselves and others. 

Citius, Altius, Fortius!  Faster, Higher, Stronger!

Owairaka Primary School Kauri team Cross country

What a wonderful day we had today. Everyone involved gave 100%  of their effort and enthusiasm during our cross country event. I am very proud of everyone who participated. Thank you to our whanau who came to  support the students. 

Here are a few photos of our overall winners. 

Year 5 Girls- Amy-3rd place, Rania-2nd place & Alla- 1st place.

Year 6 Boys- Sher- 3rd place and Harris & Kamal= 1st place

Year 5 Boys- Atlantis- 3rd place, Ahmed-2nd place & Ossian-1st place.

Year 6 Girls= Mahalia- 3rd place, Brooke- 2nd place & Millie- 1st place.

Watch out world, Owairaka is training the next
Olympic Gold medalists!!! 

All about us- Super learners in Room 19, 2016

Here we are world!!!

Term 3 has begun!!!!

The wonderful, magnificent, amazing and energetic members of the Room 19 have come back from the holiday break ready to learn. We have a lot on this term and so our first focus for the term really matters. Our new focus is 'Be healthy'. We need to be healthy in order to have energy to learn, play and enjoy life. Please remember that our school is a water only school, so don't bring juice or other drinks to school. Water is the best source of hydration and best of all it is FREE!!!.

H20 is the way to GO!

Weeks 7-10 Hockey lessons

We have been enjoying our hockey lessons. We have learnt how to hold the stick correctly, how to move with the ball and how to pass it. The most important skill is to use only the flat side of the stick. For safety reasons, we must ALWAYS remember to keep out sticks down close to the ground. 

You must use two hands to hold the stick. The left hand placed at the top of the stick and your right hand lower down the stick. This helps with controlling the stick and turning it over so that the flat side of the stick is always touching the ball.

Catch, set, dig and over the net!!!!

Over the last 4 weeks, Room 19 has been learning how to play volleyball. Beck's taught us all of the fundamental skills needed to successfully play a game.

Serve.  We had to consider how hard, high and just where we hit the ball to ensure it got to our partner
and not someone else in the line.

Dig! This is pretty challenging technique to master. 

Let's practice how we set!!!!
 (Setting the ball for your team mate to return it over the net)

Play fair!!!!!

It's not always easy, but it is definitely something we should always strive to do. Communication skills and actively listening to each is really important if we want to engage in Fair play.

Be RESPONSIBLE!!!

It's not always easy, but being a responsible person is always something we should strive to be.

Here are some ways or actions we can take to show we are responsible.

Spectacular science

This term, our inquiry focus is on Soil. So we are investigating the wonderful dirt beneath our feet and understanding just what it is all about. The students in Room 19 can't wait to 'dig in' and start learning.

Over the last two weeks we have learnt about how a scientist thinks and the scientific method they undertake when engaging in an experiment.

Just what do all these big words mean?

Let's divide and conquer!!!
Scientist work in teams, so why don't we.

Then the time had finally come..........    let's experiment!!!!

The students had the opportunity to engage in two or three different experiments during the week.

Experiments were called; Energy transfer, O-Wing glider, Parachute and Mini boomerang.

Energy transfer experiment and PE combined
(running after the yellow ball to retrieve it).

Reading and measuring.
Science= Literacy and Mathematics  

Be Confident!!!

Our first focus for Term 2 is 'Be confident'. This is definitely how I would like my students to feel about themselves, all the time. Having confidence or believing in yourself is vital to achieving in learning and in life. It is my goal to foster a belief that regardless of how challenging a task may seem, if you are CONFIDENT and believe in yourself you will experience success and a sense of pride.
Please discuss this focus with your child. Let them know about your achievements and the feelings/success you have experienced when you have felt confident.

Green Week Term 1, 2016

I know that after viewing this slideshow that you will be GREEN with envy. Please enjoy.

Green week 21st - 24th March

Have a look at what's to come this week.

In class, we will be exploring our school environment and the gardens etc that we have.  As a class we have discussed our future learning and every student has decided what they would like to learn about in the form of an 'I wonder .....' statement. The following things are what we wonder about.....

How can I be a good gardener?

How is worms pee good for the plants?            About flowers

 The butterfly garden       How worms make compost?   

About different plants      How bee’s make honey?                     How compost works?

How trees grow?                                   Why do we recycle?         

How do gardeners grow amazing food?                 

Race Relations Day at Owairaka

On Friday the 18th of March, we acknowledged all of the cultures that make our school and the whole of Aotearoa so wonderfully diverse. Our day begun with an assembly, so that we could show our cultural wear off to the rest of the school and members of our whanau who attended this special occasion. Room 19 was very fortunate to have Romena's dad share his greetings from around the world song with us. Then we went back to class, did some learning and eagerly awaited the shared kai that was to commence at 12:30 pm.

We are all very proud of who we are!!! 

Time to come together and enjoy different tastes from around the world.

Beautiful day made so, because we were surrounded by beautiful people that are proud of who they are.

Getting along

For weeks 6 and 7, we have been focusing on 'getting along'. This is a very big concept, and some of the students already get along really well with others naturally. Participating in games, peer discussions, Garden to Table etc, allow us the opportunity to engage in positive interactions with each other and practice our ability to get along.

                                                                          Getting along in Maths

Garden to table

On Wednesday, Room 19 had their first Garden to table session. Before we had our first session, we discussed the expectations so that we knew how to be organised and ensure that we demonstrate our best behaviour. Our class was split in to 2 groups; garden group and the kitchen group. The garden group, toured around the school investigating the tastes and smells of our school gardens. The kitchen group, read recipes and prepared our kai.

The garden group with our leader Laura.

The kitchen group

After about an hour, both groups gathered together so that we could celebrate. This meant both groups meeting in the Pohutakawa room, Jacob blessed our kai and we sat down to enjoy our meal.

New Chromebook Learners- What we want to know

In Room 19, there are several students who are completely new to using Chromebooks. We shared some of the things we would like to know. If you know how to do some of them, we'd love you to comment or leave your email address so we can get in touch!



Laycen "What's the difference between http and https?"
Essa "How to make an animation picture."
Lorenzo "How to make a video, and send a link to a video from YouTube."



Mohammed "How to make a website."
Maz "How to download songs and games from the internet."
Quinn "How to animate Google Slides."



John David "How to comment on Google Docs."
Andre "How to change the background on your chromebook."
Luke "How to make a website and how to download things."



Romena "How to use or make Google Slides."
Sadiyah "How to use your email."
Jacob "How to get an image onto Google images."

Manners matter!!!

During term 1, our whole school focus is about developing and demonstrating positive behaviours and attitudes towards others and our environment. Using our manners, being organised, caring, getting along and being persistent in our learning are all qualities that help us to achieve. This all connects very well to our overall inquiry theme for the year of 'making the world a better place'. Please encourage your child to demonstrate all of the above attributes/qualities when they are at home or out in the wider community.

Focus for weeks 1 & 2= Manners matter!  We have been practicing using our manners and gaining an understanding of why we should use them. We have come to appreciate that when we use our manners, we are developing positive relationships and respect for each other. A small, but very important contribution towards making the world a better place!!! 

                  Our next focus= organisation. 

 Thank you very much for reading Room 19's blog!!!. 

Our first learning day in Room 19

Very exciting day today!!! Our learning has begun and the students are full of enthusiasm and energy. We started our day by doing a 'people search' activity. This encouraged the students to meet others and see if they had things in common. We also discussed expectations for all members of the Owairaka whanau to follow. This tied in very nicely with our focus on 'Manners' and that they really do matter at our school. Students have begun their individual dossier sheet. When completed, they will be laminated and displayed in the class for the year as will inform our visitors of who the Room 19 whanau members are. Circle time was fantastic, students had the opportunity to practice using their manners while engaging in sharing their thoughts with their peers. We did a few more things today and I thoroughly enjoyed engaging with such wonderfully polite Year 5 & 6 learners.