First Discovery 2018

Yeah, First Discovery  for 2018!

Super that swimming is now over, so that we are not squeezing reading into our afternoons. As Discovery has a big focus on the essential skills, we are looking at self managing. We talked about what this would look like while we are choosing our learning activities.

Great ideas:

• sharing equipment and resources (construction boxes)
• speaking respectfully if we need to use something
• clean up quickly when it is 2:40
• listen to Rachael if we are working in the garden
• use our listening manners at sharing time

We achieved most of these today - some will need a bit more practice but we all had such FUN!! A shame my phone decided to die, so thank you Olivia for taking photos on an iPad at sharing time. This even gave me the opportunity to learn something new - how to use airdrop to get the photos onto my computer.

 Thank you Jasmine for teaching us how to use paper to make talking puppets. The is also a special part of Discovery where we teach each other new skills.

 Great teamwork Milla and Michaela.

Fantastic crane Quinn, you are quite the engineer!

Hi All 

Sharing some photos from our Morning Programme line up on Friday.

Am so proud of the children that presented!!!

We were even treated to a cooking demonstration and scrumptious banana muffins😀

Our next Morning Programme session will be Friday 9th March and to present we have Findlay, Jedi, Eden, Aurelia and Tamai.

This Friday we have a library visit so remember your library cards if you have one (I am happy to keep these at school if easier).  

Week 5 Term 1

WOW nearly half way through the term already.
This last week we welcomed Jasmine Panganiban to Room 3. Jasmine does not speak any english yet, so we have all had to be a bit creative to help her feel at home in our room and our school. Thank you Varna for your special help. Jasmine comes from 'Mexico Pampanga' in the Philippines. We looked at what her classroom was like, and can see that school is so very different for her here in New Zealand. Jasmine nodded or shook her head when we showed different pictures of schools in the Philippines. Her classroom was about half the size of Room 3 and had about 40 students who sat at double desks with a chair attached,  like the ones in the classroom at the Arrowtown Museum. So school itself is very different - not just a different language. You might like to look together on the internet for photos of Mexico Pampangi.
Thank you so much to all of you who came and supported the school swimming sports. Without the wonderful help we have from parents events like this could not be run. Mr Yeoman is now asking for helpers for the school triathlon. Please email him ollieyeoman@stgerards.school.nz if you are available to assist. We especially need marshals  through the bike track in the pines.
As we will be training for the Triathlon this week, please wear school sports uniform until the triathlon next Tuesday.
Thursday: We welcome back Tessa from Football South, who will take a session on soccer skills. Tessa visited at the end of last year and we all had such fun while learning new ball skills.
Poetry books need to be back at school on Monday mornings - we glue our poem for the week into our books before school, so that we can work on these during the week.

Homework

• Reading: a book should come home each night along with the diary. Please remember to remind your child to record what they have read. These diaries are to assist with self management, and this is the year for your children to start taking over some of the responsibility for recording this. Thank you to those people who have sent a Reading Folder for taking these books to and from school.
• Fridge Words: compassion, tempo, visualisation. Remember that this is an oral language activity. On Friday we talk with our buddies and put these words into sentences. There were some excellent sentences last week. Keep working to extend your child's oral vocabulary.
• Triathlon Training: We will be taking a run each day at school for fitness, and our Big Book and Poem are based around bikes. Please take the time this week to check that tyres are inflated, brakes are working, chains are oiled and handle bars safe with no metal ends poking out. We will be learning about bike safety. Please bring your bike to school on Friday, so that we can practise the transition from the run to the bike at 1:30.

Discovery starts on Wednesday afternoon. If there was someone willing to help Rachael Baxter with small groups in the school garden that would be much appreciated.

Swimming Sports/Tamai's Togs

Help! Tamai misplaced her bag with her togs, goggles and towel and only realised this as we were getting off the bus at school. We have checked at the pool and the bus company with no luck. Wondering if someone has picked up her bag of swimming gear in error as they were getting off the bus.

In the meantime if there is anyone who has a spare pair of size 10ish togs - it would mean that Tamai can swim at the sports.

Room 3 Swimmers in Junior School Races 
for 6 year olds and 7 year olds.

These races are held in the therapeutic pool between 10am and 11am. Everyone else is swimming in the main pool races.

Liam Broome

Boston Irving-Dowling

Mark-Allan Shelford

Louisa Marsden

Michaela McGinnis

Lilli Saunders (6)

Arn Cuthbertson

Olivia Delport

Varna Sim

See you all at the pool in the morning by 8:55. Remember to say 'good morning' to Mrs Stratford when you arrive so that she can quickly mark the roll.

Have a great day of competition.

DO YOUR BEST, but most of all HAVE FUN AND ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER.

Week 4 Term 1

It was great to see people join us at mass on Sunday. Thank you to those people who contributed to a beautiful morning tea, which was held outside the staffroom this time.  Happy Birthday, Fin - hope you had an amazing party too.

• Poetry Books: these go home on a Friday and need to be back at school each Monday. Before school on Monday children paste the new poem for the week into their books. This year the poem is part of literacy, so we unpack various parts of the text each day, and an activity is part of the 'must dos' over the course of the week in the literacy learning block. Please have a look for the poetry books at home.
• Diaries: these need to be at school each day. From this week diaries will stay at school on a Friday, so that I can keep track of  nightly reading. On a Monday the fridge words will be recorded as will any important 'happenings for the week'. I have been shown some exciting learning happening with these books - family birthdays recorded in both the front yearly planner and on weekly pages further through the books. This week's information is on Page 37. Several people have written this important information on paper and I ask you to make sure that this is recorded into their diaries.
• Reading Folders: We have tried to mange without a folder this year, but there seem to be books everywhere. Please make sure that your child has a reading folder that they bring into the classroom before school each day. Diaries, poetry, and reading books need to be in these each day. Remember to record your reading in the blue lines at the bottom of each day.
• Swimming: a busy week here. Lessons Tuesday & Wednesday, with the swimming sports on Thursday morning.
• Swimming Sports: will be held from 9 - 12 at the pool on Thursday. Children need to be dropped at the pool by 8:55am, and will travel back to school  by bus at 12:10. Junior swimming sports will be in the therapeutic pool from 10 - 11am. Please come dressed in house colours and bring an extra towel. No crepe paper please. Entries are being taken for swimming races. Please contact me if you have concerns about what your child will be competing in. Entries can be either competitive or non- competitive. In a non-competitive race it is fine to stop for a quick breather. If your child is swimming in the main pool at lessons they will be competing in this pool on the day. I would still love to hear from anyone keen to help with timekeeping or to assist with having a cuppa available for staff and workers.
• Maths: cross class groupings has started this week. This allows us to provide the best possible fit for all learners. If your child is learning maths in either Room 7 or Room 4 you will have been notified.
• Mrs Laidlaw will be taking visual arts on Wednesday from after play until the end of the day.

Homework

• Managing ourselves: clothing and books. Be sure to check your diary and have your togs at school. Bring books and diary every day in a reading folder.
• Reading - as with maths, guided group reading has started this week, so there will be a book come home each night. As it is the beginning of the year, the levels of these texts are lower than where people were reading at the end of last year. Enjoy listening to the stories. Listen for 'reading like talking'. Don't forget how valuable it is to read to your child each night and talk about any interesting language in the texts.
• Triathlon Training: make a start on a wee run or bike as we get ready for our school triathlon in 2 weeks time. There are cups for Years 3 and 4. We can grow our ability to run and ride by practising. 

• Fridge Words: this week they relate to our illustrator visit.  illustrator    prolific    manure

We're up for a busy week once again. Thanks so much for the way you support your child's learning.  Such a creative bunch in Room 3.

Hi All

Just a quick update on Morning Programme.

Friday's have all of a sudden become busier.  

We are now having our Ukulele lessons on a Friday at 10:20 and every second Friday we are off to the Library.  

The class is really enjoying these opportunities!  

This means Morning Programme will be every second Friday.  

So the wonderful Year 4 boys that came prepared to present on Friday can present this Friday instead (Taine, Jedi and Findlay).

Which gives the Year 4 girls some more time to prepare (Eden, Aurelia, Bella and Tamai).
Presenting now on Friday 9 March instead.
If your'e super excited about doing it this Friday I'm sure we can accomodate you though😊

Mrs Bielby and I are looking at our Timetable to see if we can fit this in anywhere else and we will let you know if we come up with a solution.

  

Emma Stratford

School Mass Sunday 18th

Just a reminder that school mass is this Sunday. Please be seated with the teachers by 8:55. Full school uniform should be worn. As there is a morning tea afterwards, please bring a plate to share. These can be left at the staffroom. see you on Sunday.

Ukulele with Baz

Great to have Baz back again with us this morning just before play.

Lots of new learning today.

We know the names of the notes when we pluck the strings top to bottom. G C E A and to help us remember we say Good   Children  Eat  Apples.  These are called open notes because we do not need to use our left hand fingers on any strings.

Using just these 4 notes we were set a challenge to play the first line of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We have a few people who listened really carefully and Aurelia was really fast to have this sorted.
Here she is helping Baz to teach the class.

If you have a ukulele at home you can practise playing the tune (melody)  C C G G A A G

Remember that before you start playing it is a good idea to make sure that each string is in tune.

Children's Theatre - Pinocchio

Now who is this funny little fellow with the big nose?

"Hey Ho it's Pinocchio!"

Announcing...... Auditions for our Children's Theatre production of  "Hey Ho it's Pinocchio".

To be held on Sunday 25th February @ our club rooms 41 Enterprise Street Alexandra @ 2pm.

Primary School children aged 7 to 13 are welcome to audition.
The show to be staged May 9th to 13th.
For more information please call Pat Lines (Director) 4492773.

Year 4 Shared Lunch - Friday

Friday is Lily Adams last day at St Gerards before she and her family move to Invercargill. As is the custom when someone moves away, there will be a shared lunch for Lily on Friday. Please bring a small plate of healthy lunch food to share. This lunch is for Lily's Year 4 and 5 classmates, which includes the Room 3 Year 4's.

Bruce Potter - visiting illustrator

What a great afternoon we had today with our visitor.

Bruce brought us some examples of his work and it was exciting that he showed us right through his "Doodlebug" book on the screen where he could zoom in so that we could see the tiniest of features.  The Doodlebug is Bruce's imagination telling him to do something! He told us that he is very creative and he needs to be doing something creative all the time. "If you can dream it, you can do it!" He answered the questions that we had, and said that he started really illustrating texts when he was a stay at home Dad 18 or 19 years ago.
We asked when he became an artist and he told us that he was always an artist just like lots of us in Room 3 and he got better because he practised. We will be having 'doodling' as a 'can do' activity in our literacy time. First challenge will be to create a creature that people like. All it needs are: Big eyes and a big smile. I hope we can post some of these in the next few weeks because yes, we are all creative artists in our imaginations.

Thanks so much, Bruce.

Mrs Eastwood told us to buy his book, which we have done, and he has signed it with BEST WISHES. I'll share some doodles with Bruce towards the end of the term. We loved our learning this afternoon.


We know we are illustrators as well as authors.

MEET THE  TEACHER

8th  February 2018

Welcome to Room 3

• Homework – Reading. We are all using the new diaries as a reading log.  Could all children please have a reading bag – most have already brought theirs back. Thank you for sharing homework time with your child. To start with, all children will bring home texts that are easy for them to read while we re-establish some of the reading strategies. Please remember that reading to your child and talking about texts is very valuable as well as hearing their reading.  
• Maths: everyone is enrolled in Study Ladder and many people have spent time on this in past years.  Activities might be set from time to time to support learning, and sometimes there may be some maths written work to complete.
• Poetry – On Fridays, children will bring home their poetry books.  Enjoy sharing their poems with them, sign their poem and encourage them to complete any illustrations or activities.
• Library – We are thinking of visiting the library once a fortnight on a Friday morning. To do this we will need some parents to walk with us to the library and back  (leaving school just after 9:00 and returning to school at 9:45).  Children will need their own library card if they want to issue books.  If your child needs one you are able to register online QLDC Libraries — Alexandra Library  then pop into the library to collect the card.  You will need to bring either your own library card or photo ID to complete the final stages of the application and pick up the card. You are also able to use the Library computers if you want some extra help with the process.
• Spelling: Children will be tested to establish levels and the first practice sheets will be in homework books about week 6. This year our focus is oral language, so we will begin the year with “fridge words” a school/home activity, designed to widen vocabulary and encourage speaking in sentences rather than two or 3 word answers. “We learn to talk and talk to learn.”
• Morning programme – Approximately once per term your child will need to prepare a short oral presentation to present on a Friday.  Please refer to the timetable on the Room 3 Blog, children will also write in their Diary the date that they are presenting their morning programme ☺
• Term One Eisteddfod: Bible Reading – these will be presented with Year 4 on Monday 9th  April. Information about the criteria will be on the blog closer to the time. The School Eisteddfod assembly will be on Thursday 12th April in the church.
• Swimming: Swimming Sports 9:00 – 12:00 Thursday 22nd February. In term 2, the swimming skills programme will be provided by the pool.
• Maori – Kapahaka with Ms Tamati is for years 3 - 8.  This year the group will meet each week in school time. Every second Monday morning with Ms Tamati, and the other Monday afternoon with Mr Yeoman and myself.
• Blog Page: room3stgerards.blogspot.co.nz  I usually post on a Monday after staff or syndicate meetings with the main post for the week, but also add small posts as things come up during the week. Please use the box at the side to add your email address, this way you receive notification each time there is a new post.
• Emails to contact the teachers: chrisbeilby@stgerards.school.nz    emmastratford@stgerards.school.nz
• Worries – please make an appointment and come and discuss any problems early, we need to work together.  Likewise we will contact you if we have any worries.
• Questions?

Thank you for your time.  We look forward to a great year working with your children.

Week 3 Term 1

Congratulations Room 3 on an awesome assembly on Friday. So proud of how you worked together to lead the first assembly of the year. Not easy to stand up in front of the whole school.
This week:
Monday: Mrs Laidlaw will be teaching art from 11:40 while I am on release. Enjoy! 1:30 Mr Milford - Police Education Officer will be checking that we know the safe practices when travelling on a bus. Thank you to GO-Bus for providing a bus free of charge for this safety lesson.
Tuesday: We have Bruce Potter visiting us at 1:30. Someone asked about what an illustrator was when were were reading "The Tree House Treaty",  Bruce who lives in Alexandra was the illustrator. We will have questions to ask him. One big one is, "Are you Harry Potter's father?" Check out the underpass on the Rail Trail at Clyde - this is Bruce's latest work - quite spectacular. We are so lucky to have people like this in our community who are willing to come and share about their jobs and talents.
Wednesday: 9am Ash Wednesday Mass - please join us as we celebrate this important occasion in the church's calendar.
Thursday: 10:30 swimming. We leave by bus at 10:15. I would appreciate a couple of parents to supervise a group each in the therapeutic pool. Thank you to those who arrived to assist last week.
Friday: Library visit.

Once swimming has finished we will begin Discovery on Wednesday afternoons.  Hopefully this will include groups working in the school garden. Rachael Baxter is willing to help with the garden, but with Regina and Lily moving to Invercargill next week, she would love some others to help here too. Please let me know if you would enjoy sharing some gardening skills with us from time to time.  This is a perfect time for us to spend some time in the garden in small groups.

Year 3 & 4 Camp dates are confirmed. Wednesday 12th - Friday 14th September. 13/9 is our night at the Otakau marae on the Otago Peninsula. We have begun work on our mihimihi, which is in our homework books. These will come home once we have learned the first basic parts, so that they can be memorised. We will be absolutely confident with these by September. This year we are slowly unpacking each part with a story behind each statement. We should all be able to retell some parts of the Kopuwai story that was retold by Pauline Cartwright, a local childrens' author.


                                      
                                                                            The obelisk - the rock on top of the Old Man's Range

Homework

1. Diaries: we have all recorded this week's important information on Pg 35. Please encourage your child to use this to assist them to know what is happening each day. We are working on giving each child the skills to self manage what is happening day to day - this is a new skill area this year.
2. Fridge Words: these are written at the top of the page in the diary and relate to the statistics unit of the last 2 weeks. Please write these words onto your fridge words card and work through the suggestions. This activity is designed to develop each child's vocabulary - an oral language goal for us this year. If you were not at the Meet the Teacher evening please get your child to collect one of these magnetic cards. This activity is instead of Spelling for the first part of the year.
3. Reading: a book will come home from Tuesday. Please write the title into the diary on the blue line and sign this. This is the reading log part this year.

Hi All 

Just a reminder that we have a library visit this Friday so was after two parents who might be able to walk there and back with us.  We leave just after 9 and will be leaving the library to return to school at 9:45.

I am happy to keep children's library cards with me at school if that suits best.

Emma

emmastratford@stgerards.school.nz

Hi All 

We've had a great start to 2018!

We are all enjoying getting to know each other.

Below I am attaching a timetable for Morning Programme.  This is part of our Friday morning Oral Language programme.

For parents new to Room 3 there is an explanation of what Morning Programme is and it's purpose. 

This year we are trialling letting the students choose which topic they would like to present.  

Each child will present once a term so over the course of the year they will present on four different topics.

In the table below it lets you know when your child is presenting.

Our Year 4's are going to go first which will give our Year 3's a chance to watch and learn.

I don't want this to be an extra burden so please come and see me if you are having one of those weeks and don't know how to fit it in or if you are unsure of what to do.

The last two weeks of term are busy enough with Eistefolds and end of term happenings so there is no Morning Programme for these weeks.

Any questions or concerns please come and see me or contact me at

emmastratford@stgerards.school.nz

Room 3 Morning Programme Term 1

Morning programme will be part of our Oral Language programme each Friday.  The children will present once a term and can choose from the below topics.  Each term they can choose a different topic.  On the Friday I will make a record on what topic they have presented.  There is a table below showing when your child is presenting.  As part of our Diary use this year I will also get the children to record in their diary if they are on Morning Programme that week.

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 pinpoint 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.
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.

Week Two	Quinn	Taine	Jedi Findlay
Week Three	Eden	Bella	Tamai Aurelia
Week Four	Tane	Jack Mck	Claire
Week Five	Louisa	Bella	Arn
Week Six	James	Varna	Mark-Allan
Week Seven	Tane	Michaela	Boston
Week Eight	Olivia	Mckenzie	Lilli
Week Nine	Milla	Charlie	Johnny