Week 10 Term 2

Kia ora Whanau

Te Papa Trip

What an exciting time we had on Friday at Te Papa. We spent 90 minutes at the Mountains to Sea exhibit looking closely at habitats in New Zealand and studying different animals. Unfortunately, some children were sick and so their parents were unable to accompany us but thankfully we were able to take the wonderful Claire - a teacher aide here - with us. Thank you also to Theo's mum, Claire,  for coming along and sharing the morning with us.

Taking a close look at NZ birds.

On the way back to school we came across some jellyfish!

Pānui TV

A HUGE thank you to Hana for making the awesome Pānui TV! When children share their pānui they have the option of standing behind the TV.  It is a great way to get the other students to keep their eyes on the speaker as well as helping some who feel a little nervous to share but mostly it is FUN :)

Inquiry

As part of our inquiry we have been looking at Clyde Quay School as a habitat. We have noticed many birds like to live here - so we have been learning to identify some of the commonly seen birds in the area.

We have decided to share our learning with the rest of the school by making named pictures to help others identify these birds.

This, coincidentally, corresponds with the annual land care research garden bird survey.

This is a chance to help out in a large science project at home.

If you'd like to take part in the survey, please follow the link below.

http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/science/plants-animals-fungi/animals/birds/garden-bird-surveys

It involves:
1 Choosing a day between 27 June and 5th July
2 Finding a comfy seat (inside or outside)
3 Sitting for one hour and looking for birds
4 For each species (type of bird) record the highest number seen at any one time. (Tip: If you see 1 blackbird at one time, then late see at one time, record this as 2. Don't add them up.)
5 Submit your survey results online: http://gardenbirdsurvey.landcareresearch.co.nz

There are also some paper recording sheets I will send home with children who are interested this week.

Week 9 Term 2

Kia ora Whanau

Star of the Week

I'm not entirely how I did this but I've missed a STAR! To catch up I have both this week and last week's Star Student pictures here!

TOM the STAR!
So many people approached me this week to tell me how they thought Tom was deserving of the honor of being the Star Student and I had to agree. 

Good on you, Tom! Thanks for your helpful nature and fun-loving attitude.

ALEX the STAR!
Alex has really impressed me with the way he has settled into Nikau and is taking charge of his learning. Well done, Alex and keep up the good work.

Alex is a super star!

Te Papa Trip

I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused over cancelling the trip to Te Papa on Friday. The horizontal rain made me think of how miserable the wet children would be dripping about the museum and I thought it best to postpone.

We plan to try again this Friday (26th June) at the same time 9:30am. You are welcome to join us.

Please ensure your children have warm clothing, a waterproof jacket and sensible walking shoes on Friday. Many thanks.


Inquiry

We have had some special visitor this week (you may have seen in the newsletter). Nick the Vet from Brooklyn and Bones the skeleton! There is so much learning happening about animals in our class.

Art/Visual Language
I have been on a course at Te Papa about helping children to appreciate art. With that in mind we have been looking at some of Frida Kahlo's self portraits with animals. We have been sketching ourselves with an animal. Stay posted to see some of the wonder pictures we have been working on. 

Week 8 Term 2

KIA ORA WHANAU

Star of the Week

Congratulations Carly! What a bright star you are! Carly is a fantastic listener. She is really great at following instructions and is a helpful person to talk to if you aren't sure what to do. Thanks for your can-do attitude and kind heart.

Special Guest Star

This week Sophie (Anne's dog) came to school. We have been writing character descriptions and it turns out that Sophie is quite a character :)

SOPHIE - By Sam G

Sophie is a sweet little corgi. She is Anne's corgi. A corgi is a type of dog. She is the 13th smartest dog breed in the world. Her ears are small and pointy just like two mini party hats. She has short legs and the bottom of her tummy comes right down nearly touching the flood. She doesn't have any knees or a tail. Sometimes she gets into mischief and runs around the room scaring cats and upsetting the neighbours. She says, "Woof, woof!"

SOPHIE - by Tom

Sophie is the colour of golden honey. She has had her tail cut off. She is 84 in dog years. Sophie really like food. Her feet are like pencils. She pants a lot and she is very little and quite heavy.  Sausages are her favorite food to gobble up.

SOPHIE - by Rashmi

Sophie like food A LOT! She looks like a puppy but she is a dog. She is really cute and little. She says, "Roof, roof, ROOF!" Her legs are short and she is really smart and feels so soft. She likes to play with people who are kind.  She likes books that have pictures of dogs in them. She roofs along when Anne is reading the dog book to her. She looks like a sausage dog. She is a Welsh Corgi. Sophie likes tummy rubs and people who are gentle.

Week 7 Term 2

Kia ora Whanau

Star Student

Congratulations to Iris on being our Star Student this week. Iris is a caring and considerate member of Nikau. We enjoy her fun-loving attitude and willingness to help. She is certainly a person who is loyal and shares.

Winter Poems

This week the children wrote some poems with Cherry about winter. The instruction was to use your senses to create a picture in the readers mind. Here are some of the poems ...

WINTER by Toby

I can see the rain.

I can hear the wolves.

I can smell the smoke.

I can feel my heart vibrating.

I can make a snowman.

WINTER by Alex

I can see the snow coming down on the roof.

I can smell the warm carrot soup.

I can feel the rain coming down on me.

I can have a snowball fight.

I can hear the hail coming down on the roof.

WINTER by Mira

I can hear the Morepork talking outside

I can smell the fire ashes

I can see my cat trying to get out of the snow

I can feel the drowning marshmallows burning

I can hear the oven cooking pumpkin soup. 

 PE - Ball skills

We have been working on our big ball skills. Here are some pics of us practising our dribbling. Aren't we FAST!