Morning Programme

We have now finished Round One of the morning programme.  The children have well and truly risen to the challenge of presenting to the class and teacher.  They have been well prepared with supporting information, pictures, books, or props and this has added to the impact of their talks.  The WALTs for oral language have been aimed for and met.  These are:

We Are Learning To:

• Organise our thoughts and sequence information
• Speak clearly and with the appropriate volume
• Express our opinions
• Support our ideas with some details or reasons
• Listen carefully and thoughtfully
• Ask questions to gain more information
• Answer questions fully
• Identify and recall information
• Show respect to others

The role of the audience is just as important as that of the presenter. We are learning to be active listeners so that we ask pertinent questions. The children are buoyed by the fact that they get lots of questions which shows them that the children found their talk interesting and they want to know more.

Over the last four weeks we have been treated to a feast of information! We have learned so much more about Amelia, Lily and our two Charlottes, as they told us about themselves, their families, their likes, favourite things and so on. Such interesting people!

Zack and Bella D. have some recommended reading for us. Minecraft for Beginners Handbook, and 100 Facts about Planet Earth. Zack rated Minecraft 4 and a half out of 5, and Bella a straight 100 out of 100 for Planet Earth. These are Must Reads!!

We now know how to swim courtesy of Bella B. Tamai and her mum showed us how to make candy floss and we tried some. Yum! Liam has explained the intricacies of fishing, and Eden has tempted us (me) with the recipe and instructions for an easy chocolate tart.

Quinn has convinced us to visit Oamaru where his grandparents live. Jack can recommend Te Papa in Windy Welly and Findlay loves Queenstown, especially MacDonalds and the airport! Jada thinks Timaru has a lot to offer with Caroline Bay a must visit! The special features of these places have been extolled so well that we are in no doubt that we must visit when we can.

A lot has been going on in NZ lately! Tara told us all about the whales stranded up North and Savannah shared the story of the giraffe that was being moved from Auckland all the way to New South Wales! Sam kept us up to date with the fires that ravaged the Port Hills in Christchurch, and Pippa took to the television news reading role, with the latest in Alexandra's weather, the St Gerard's triathlon and the Omakau cavalcade.

Aurelia told us about a special and famous person, Rachel Carson whom she described as a famous writer, scientist and environmentalist who changed the way people thought about our environment. Taine is interested in the famous racing car driver, Peter Dickson and Ted told us about Queen Elizabeth who lives at Buckingham Palace in London. He visited there when he was younger.

Parents, you can be very proud of your children. They have done a great job and now we can't wait for Round Two! This coming Friday we're hearing from Amelia, Jay-T, Bella B. Quinn, Tara and Aurelia. Please check their homework book or the earlier post on this blog for their new topic. Thanks!