Maths Term 2

Hello again.  I trust you have all had a very good break from school routines for the last two weeks, and that you've enjoyed this time together.  Just a few notes about maths, and our Oral Language programme for the coming term.

For the first couple of weeks, we will be working in the Geometry and Measurement strand, learning about position and orientation.  At level one this entails giving and following instructions for movement that involve distances, directions, and half or quarter turns. At level two, the children create and use simple maps to show position and direction.  In both levels the children describe their position from different views and pathways.  They will learn about the points of the compass and use this vocabulary in their work.  At home, you could encourage the children to make up directions that you can then follow e.g. take two steps to the North, make a quarter turn to the East, take 8 steps in that direction, then make a quarter turn to the South, take 6 steps and stop.  Make a half turn to the North and you're finished.  And so on.
Following this strand we will be moving onto multiplication and division.  More on that later.

The new schedule for our Morning Programme will begin the second Friday of the term, 12th May.  See below.  This was so successful last term and once again the children spoke on a range of topics, keeping us interested and well informed!  And once again they received many questions which shows that the audience was truly interested in what they were hearing.  Well done everyone.   We've heard about great books from Amelia, Charlotte O, Lily and Charlotte K.  These titles are: The Country Bunny; The Search for Sunken Treasure - with Geronimo Stilton; The Hare; The Princess and the Pea.  Good to see the 'old' stories are included as favourites as well as current works.
Jay-T, Zack, Bella D. and Jedi gave well thought out instructions and demonstrations for drawing dinosaurs, cultivating kowhai seeds, making pavlova and a paper plane! The children were well prepared for this, and we were impressed at their ability to teach us these skills.
Moving on, we found out about special places for special reasons.  Bella B told us about the attractions in Christchurch, notably the Margaret Mahy playground.  Tamai talked about Napier/Ahuriri, where her family comes from, Eden fishes at the Poolburn Dam and Liam has fun at Papatowai.
There are so many things happening but the current events we heard about were the death of Murray Ball, the cartoonist, by Quinn. Jack told us about a teenage cyclist who was injured; Findlay was interested in the inter-schools triathlon and Jada reported on the Maadi Cup rowing competition.  Each child supported their talk with pictures either from the paper or the internet.  It makes it easy for us to relate to what has happened.
And the famous people!  Tara, Savanah, Sam and Pippa told us all about Sir Edmund Hillary, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Richie McCaw and Leilani Read. These people are famous for very different reasons.  There was a mountain climber, a rock musician in the 60's, a rugby great, and a netballer. Three have sadly died and Richie, thankfully, is still very much alive!
Lastly, we have heard more about the fascinating lives of Aurelia, Taine, and Ted.  It is always wonderful to find out more about our great class members. Aurelia loves art, Taine loves fishing and Ted likes a good holiday!
Thanks parents for ensuring that your children are ready for their turn, with supporting information.  I keep all the accompanying pictures and scripts for our big book, or photos of book covers etc when it is not possible to keep those items.  Here is the new schedule for Term 2:

Room 3 Morning Programme Term 2

Morning programme will be part of our Oral Language programme each Friday.  The purpose is to practise speaking and listening skills and to question others to gain more information, or to clarify information.

Morning programme topics will need to be prepared at home prior to the presentation date.  They can be prepared on a piece of A4 paper, so that once they have been presented they can be glued in a class book as a record.  As this is oral language and not simply a reading task, it is a good idea to practise speaking clearly with a suitable volume and making the presentation interesting (this may include showing items, photos/pictures, or demonstrating).

Topic	Description
About Me	Prepare a short talk about yourself.  This may include your full name, where and when you were born, places you have lived, information about you and your family, pets, likes, dislikes, hobbies . . .
Book Review	Choose a favourite book. Tell the class the title, author, illustrator, suitable age level, what the story is about and why you enjoyed it.  Show a favourite picture or read a favourite paragraph.
How to . . .	Choose something you know how to do and describe it to the class in a logical order or numbered steps e.g. a favourite recipe, an experiment, instructions to make or do something . . .
Our Place	Select a place in New Zealand.  Be able to pin-point it on a map of NZ.  Find at least 5 facts about it.  This might include where it is, (which island) population, attractions etc . . .
Current Events	Present news in your own words from the newspaper, television, internet or radio.  You need to be able to understand what the news is about so that you can keep the audience interested. (It is harder for the children to present if they are having to read out excerpts from the internet, or what you have written for them. Much better to let them tell it in their words. So a good chat about the event at home prior to presenting is really helpful. This goes for Famous Person as well. )
Famous Person	Choose someone who is famous either in NZ or in another country.  Find out what they are famous for and some interesting facts about them.