Flying over the Southern Alps

We flew over the southern alps today - it was cold! The flight was a bit bumpy but we arrived safely. The children then wrote about what they saw.

Week 4

Parent Meeting
This week is a very important week for us as we build up to our Restorative Parent Meeting on Wednesday night.  The students should of brought you home an invite today, please check their book bags for the invites.  

Spelling
Please check your child's homework book for the list of spelling words this week, be creative and play a game of hopscotch with the words in the squares.

Reading
The students will bring home their reading each night, please continue to support them in their reading. They might have some questions or words that they need to re-visit, lots of discussion around the text they are reading helps them connect with what they know and what they are reading.


If you have any questions about the parent meeting or homework please come in and see me.

Numbers in the Sun

A group worked outside on their numbers with a couple of games of hopscotch. They mixed up the numbers so they had to think about what they were hoping onto. You could also use the spelling words from their homework books.

Naabi Hill

Olivia and Thomas P are reading about Naabi Hill which is in Serengeti Park in Africa. It is in the north of Africa in Tanzania. There is an enormous crater there and adds to the difficulty of getting around. There are many animals such as gazelles, hippos, elephants and lots more. They stay in tents but the guide told them that there are no lions, but they learnt that Naabi actually means lion!! Go to Serengeti park website and learn more about a wildlife experience! Or go in and see Olivia's Dad at House of Travel and book a trip!

Swimming at the Pool

On the 3rd of June we will start our 30 minute swimming lessons at the pool. There will be more information going next week but because it is after Queen Birthday weekend I wanted to make sure the students were talking about it and know the right day! We will have 30 minute lessons on a Tuesday and a Friday until the 4th if July.

Twister with Spelling Words

Our activity at school today we played twister, we wrote words onto masking tape and stuck it to the colours. After a spin we had to say the word and put our foot or hand on the colour!! Very tricky!!!

PMP and PE

We have been put into teams today so that we know which activity we will be doing.  The students that are with Mrs Moors for PE will stay in this group and those that are in PMP will continue with Mrs Flannery and our wonderful parent helpers. There are some students in Room 3 who are leaders of their groups and we hope that they really think about good leadership.   If you are in a PMP group you will also have the opportunity to participate in the PE with Mrs Moors at some stage.  Later in the term there is swimming in Week 5 and Week 6 for all children in the junior school who are 6 and above. There will be details regarding swimming later in the week.

If there are any questions please come in and speak to Mrs Flannery.

Week 3

Week 3!

Spelling 

Spelling will be going home as usual this week, we will be having our test today as I was away on Friday, but I know that they have been working hard on their words and the sounds that create the word.  Homework will be set up on Mondays in class, please email me or come and see me if you have any questions.


Reading

Reading is going really well, some students are coming home with some words or questions to start talking more about what they are reading.  There might be some research so that they can really link new found information to what they know or find out.  It is really important for them to have connections to what they read and then ask questions and discuss what they understand or need to know.

Mathematics

We have had a lot of fun with measurement and will be finishing our understanding of what we have learnt this week.  Then moving back into number, watch for supporting activities in their homework.

Hockey
We will have another session with Mrs Flannery this week, and the students will be reminded to bring suitable shoes.

Will keep you updated!

The Twits by Roald Dahl [OFFICIAL AUDIOBOOK] Part 1

Sully and his adventures in the weekend!

Spelling Magic In Room 3!

Thanks to Thomas M, Zaria and Charlie! More nice ones coming your way for your commitment to your learning.  Everyone is being really creative about what they are sharing! Awesome work team!

Thomas M used loom bracelets.

Charlie used pipe cleaners to create the word rose - long o 

Charlie used his Dad's pack of cards to create the word close - long O

Zaria was very creative in using something the duck might fear!

Spelling Words!

Thanks Cait and Sully - you both received a nice one for your commitment to learning.  Commitment is our school focus for this term! What a great start!

Hockey Skills with Mrs Flannery

We are learning new skills with Mrs Flannery tomorrow afternoon. If you have a hockey stick bring it along to practise with, also bring suitable footwear.  This will be from 1.30pm until 2.15pm on Thursday.

Ana's Homework

Inspired by Grace and her homework, Ana went home and created SNOW using straws! I can't wait to see more over the week! Another Nice One given for commitment to learning.

Pears

We ate a pear last Monday and then wrote about our experience. we thought about how a pear tasted, felt and sounded like when we ate it! Come in and see our stories.

What do teachers do after school ?

We read the book 'what do teachers do after school?' - we then worked in groups of three talking about what it sounds like and looks like. We are then going to share our ideas and then write our stories. Watch this space!

Thanks Grace!

Grace went home and made 2 of her spelling words by using stones and crab apples. Amazing! And a nice one was her reward for taking on the challenge to get creative !

Young Vinnies Hot Chocolate

Using PVA to make words for Spelling

Write words in PVA glue so that the word is raised so once it is dry they can put paper over top to rub the word through.

Spelling Homework

We are writing our words, making our words with letters and then saying our words. If you have letters at home then use them to make a word from their spelling list.

Smelliest Flower!

The flower of the refflesia,or stinking corpse lily measures almost 1m across and weighs 11kg.

It is also one of the world's smelliest flowers,with an odour like rotting flesh

The smell attracts flies which pollinate the plant.

This flower is found in south east Asia & doesn't have any root, stem & leaf.This plant is parasite.

Sounds amazing! We learnt about this flower from the book we were reading, I can't believe how big it is!

Week Two

I can't believe that Week One has been and gone. The students worked really hard and I hope they have shared their mother day gifts that they made.  We had a lot of fun learning about measurement,  and we have started looking at the new strand for Religious Education - The Holy Spirit.  We read a really fun book this week about lots of smelly things - especially smelly sneakers! The students enjoyed learning some smelly facts!

In week 2 it is going to be very busy and there will be updates throughout the week.  Mrs Flannery will start her hockey coaching this week so they will be reminded to bring suitable shoes during the week.  

Spelling
Week one was the first time the students have brought home spelling however they have been working on it in class over term one.  They did really well today with their spelling tests , showing me their understanding of the LONG O sound in particular.  

One thing they can do at home to practise the 'focus' sound or digraph (which is two letters representing one sound) for the week is to use play dough or plasticine and create the sound in the same colour.  So that they can have a visual of the word as a whole and the 'focus' sound or learning.

They will be bringing home spelling again this week so please help them work on the spelling lists that they have, even though some of the words might be known to them it is really important they focus on the clean sounds and the digraphs that are being learnt.

Reading
The students worked really well in their reading groups this week, they might be coming home with some supporting tasks to go with their reading books, it could be a list of words, play dough to create a certain word or a research task.  

Maths
We are going to be focussing on measurement over the next couple of weeks and the students have been sharing with us who is the tallest or shortest in their family.  We will share more of this over the next couple of weeks! They have had lots of fun learning to use rulers and wool to measure height! 

Have fun with the winter sport this weekend and keep warm!
I will share more of the students work over the week.

Week One Term Two

Hello and welcome back to Term Two, it is a short term but it will be busy in the class, in the school and on the courts or fields for the many winter sports that the students are playing.  I am sorry this is late this week but please always feel welcome to send a note to school, email or pop in and see me at school.  My email address is rachellemoors@stgerards.school.nz which is the same as it was last year.

I am really excited to be back on board at St Gerards and especially with some of the students I had last year.  I have lots of exciting learning planned as this will be updated as we go!

Spelling has started this Term, Mrs Beilby has been working with the students in class so that they were able to then consolidate their learning at home. If there are any questions please pop in and see me at school.

Reading is the same, however there might be some word lists or activities coming home, we will be looking at this in class also. If you have any questions please pop in and see me.

Please check the newsletter for upcoming events and sporting times for the weekend!
there will be more updates this week.

Have a great week!