Talking to Room 10 at TPS!

Today we talked to Room 10 at Tamaki Primary School using FaceTime. They wanted to see how their friend Wally the giraffe was doing and we wanted to check out their classroom/school environment. Here is a short clip of the highlights.

The Ladybugs reading group had a go at making Popplets today. They used the new information they learnt from reading the book Wood Storks.

Gideon and Nox

Jaiden and Ethan Lee

Quadblogging Aotearoa

We have joined an awesome community of bloggers in New Zealand.  Quadblogging Aotearoa is a project whereby you link up with other classes in Aotearoa to gain an authentic audience for your work. Each quad consists of 4 classes and over the course of four weeks each blog is in the spotlight for one week.

This week, the blog we will be looking at is this amazing blog Room 12 Kids at Work. They are a class of Yr 3/4 students from Dunedin - check it out and leave them a comment.

Writing to Wally

When Wally first arrived, we all wrote letters to him so that he could get to know us a bit better. We were really excited when we came into school the next day and Wally had written a letter back to us. 

Here is Rook reading his letter to Wally.

We Found Wally!

Yesterday something very exciting happened in Room 5, we found a lost giraffe named Wally! Our friends in Room 10 at Tamaki Primary School have been looking everywhere for him. Wally has been travelling all over the world and he has finally arrived back in Auckland. We asked Room 10 if he could stay with us for a little while.

To find out more about Wally and Room 10 click here: Room 10 - Where's Wally?

To see a video clip of Wally's birthday last year on Lina's old blog, click here: Wally's Birthday

The Many Languages of Room 5

Many of the children in Room 5 speak more than one language. Lucy and Koito have written stories both in their first language and in English. They have used Paint to illustrate their stories.

Lucy's story written in Chinese

Koito's story written in Japanese

Here is Lucy's story about a princess. She has recorded her story in English

Here is Koito's story about her Dad's birthday. She has recorded her story in English.

Bee Popplets

We have been exploring some apps on the iPad. Today the Frogs reading group used Popplet to show what they learnt from a non-fiction text they read called Honeymakers. Click on the popplet to get a closer look.

Popplet by Ebony and Andrei

Popplet by Dennon and Sam

We are learning to multiply!

We have been learning how to multiply numbers. Some of the children have been showing what they have learnt by taking photos and creating sums using Drawing Pad on the iPad.

How to Draw a Cat, by Bridgette

We have been learning how to write procedural texts. Bridgette decided to use what she had learnt to write an independent story about drawing a cat. She has used Educreations on the iPad to publish her story.

The Lion and the Mouse

The Frogs reading group read the fable, The Lion and the Mouse. As a follow-up activity they had to retell the story using Puppet Pals on the iPad. Here is their movie.

We have been learning about Aesop's fables and how they have a moral or lesson to be learnt. What do you think the moral of The Lion and the Mouse might be?

Making Pizza

On Friday, we went to the technology room to make pizza. We had to work in groups to roll out the dough and prepare the ingredients. We also had to decide in groups what ingredients we would like to have on our pizzas. Here is a book about what we did.

Exploring Narratives on Puppet Pals

Room 5 have been talking about the features of narratives. Ebony, Rory and Dennon have used their new learning to create a story on the iPad using Puppet Pals. Their story had to have a brief introduction, a problem and a solution at the end.

This is the first time the children in Room 5 have used Puppet Pals and they would love some feedback.

My Bright Smile

 Last Wednesday, we received a package from colgate that was full of toothbrushes, toothpaste and some great posters about how to brush your teeth correctly. There was also a little booklet inviting us to participate in a Worldwide Art Contest for Children. 

We took inspiration from past winners

The challenge was to create an original piece of artwork for the 2014 Colgate "My Bright Smile" Global Calendar. We were so enthusiastic, we got started straight away and here are the results.