Week 5 Term 1

Thank you Maria and Regina for offering to walk with us to the Alexandra Community Garden tomorrow afternoon. We will be leaving the school at 1:30 if there are any other people who wish to join us. Remember to have a jersey or jacket in case it is cooler and also your hi viz vest, which is part of our risk management for outings around Alexandra.  No sandals, please wear runners.

On Wednesday we will be spending time in our school garden with Mrs Brydges and Mrs Adams.

This week we will be doing our first PAT test, which is Listening Comprehension.  This is the only PAT test that year 3 children do.

Triathlon Training: We will be working on our endurance running over the next couple of weeks at fitness and as part of the PE programme. Please wear running shoes over this time. I would prefer that these are worn to school so that we are not trying to match up sandals at the end of the day. One item of footwear per person is enough for us to keep track of.

Religious Education: this week there is an activity for you to share about the Last Supper and the link to the Eucharist.  Please help your child to complete the worksheet. Good News = Saturday Night there is a picnic tea, games and evening mass starting at 7pm in our church.  A perfect opportunity for your family to share in our learning about the celebration of the Eucharist with the Parish family. This is a new word for us to understand. How is everyone going on learning the Children's Suscipe that was on the Catherine McAuley bookmark.  This is one of the prayers that we need to know this year.

Spelling: we all conducted, tooled and checked out the hard parts of our lists on Friday. This is the first week of people working at their level (well almost as I still have levels 4 & 5 together while I check the skills of listening and tooling).  Remember that we are practising the strategy of listening and recording not learning spelling words by heart, so remember to cover the word each night then listen, tool and record.

Reading: great to see so much reading happening - remember the more you read the better you write!

Hopefully there will be some photos of us starting our inquiry on the blog over the next couple of days.

Please remember to pop in and see us if you ever have any concerns - after school is the best time to make an appointment.

Visit to the Community Garden

As  a start to our Inquiry "Where Does Our Food Really Come from?" Room 3 will be visiting the Alexandra Community Garden on Dunstan Road on Tuesday afternoon 1st March.  We will leave school as close to 1:30 as possible and will be back at school in time for Mason's bus.  To meet the ratio of adults to children, we need 2 parents to walk with us.  Could you please email if you are able to help with this?  Please wear sturdy shoes suitable for walking on the Rail Trail.

This is is the first part of the Inquiry which we call 'tuning in'. After this visit we will think about what we already know and what we want to find out, and will learn to use a KWL.

What we Know  

We will write questions: What we Want to find out

At the end of all our "finding out", we will complete What we have Learned and then comes the best part of an inquiry where we 'take action'. One thing already suggested by a student is to make a scarecrow for our school garden to keep the birds away.  We will need to discuss this with our school enviro group, Mr Yeoman and of course Mrs Brydges and Mrs Adams.

We have taken up the offer of having a small part of the school garden to look after this year, and will be spending time on Wednesday afternoon with Mrs Brydges and Mrs Adams learning about our garden.


Please be sure that if your child has been issued with a hi viz jacket, that they have it at school to wear on this excursion.

Morning Programme 26th Feb

These people did a fantastic job presenting their Morning Programme topics

This week:

Jack - described a famous NZ sportsman - can you see him?

Payton - made us giggle with her book review about Roald Dahl's "The Twits"

Quinn - told us some interesting facts about our biggest city, Auckland.  His Dad thought the Blues might win the Super 12 rugby because Tana Umaga is their coach... (maybe his Dad is forgetting about the gold that goes with the blue!!!)

Otis - explained to us how to make candy floss, using a candy floss machine.  Yum

Alia - Told us how to make scrummy hokey pokey biscuits.  She trialled two recipes, one from her school journal and one from the trusty "Edmonds" cookbook.  We got to try one - delicious!

Jelena - was the current events reporter.  She talked to us about the devastation Cyclone Winston has caused in Fiji and gave us a run down of how one family prepared for the cyclone.

Welcome to Ioritana (Tana) Lemuelu

Quinn is very proud to share with you all that he is an excited big brother.  What a huge help you are going to be to Mum and Dad, Quinn.  Congratulations to The Lemuelu family from Room 3.

Term 1 Week 4

What a huge week we had last week, (especially me who had been away for the weekend), with swimming sports and the New Zealand Playhouse production "The Fairest of them All", which was based around characters from fairy tales that we knew, who used social media. A great opportunity to talk about how much more fun it is to play with friends, and use the outdoors rather than spend all our time on devices. The children found it very funny when one of the characters didn't know how to have a conversation with someone at a table. Great learning themes at different levels for throughout the school.
Swimming Sports: thank you so much to all of you for your support with this event - time keepers/parents who were there to encourage our young swimmers.  I was especially proud of several of our class members who found the courage to swim in the big pool. Great to see everyone participate and do their best in such a variety of races, and great to hear you encouraging each other too.
Meet the Teacher:  super to see so many people there even though the weather wasn't that flash for a picnic. For those of you who were unable to make the evening I have sent home the information that parents received - many of you have had children in my class before and I'm sure that you all know to be in touch early if there is anything that you need clarified.
Father Pat visited our room last Wednesday afternoon to talk with us about prayer.
Release time and Mrs Flannery: this week Mrs Waldron or I will be out of the room on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning while Mrs Flannery begins our ICT learning. A sheet (contract) will come home for you to sign - please check the back packs.  Once you have signed these they will be glued into the back of our topic/inquiry books. Mrs Flannery explained what she was doing in relation to being safe on devices at the beginning of the Meet the Teacher Evening. If there are any questions please contact her.
Beatrix Potter: oh my goodness, what beautiful books have been brought to school - thank you. As part of our reading this term we are going to look at an 'author study' and it will be based on Beatrix. At present we are all enjoying listening to her writing, viewing her illustrations and getting to know her many characters. We are dipping our toes in! Later we will move into 'finding out' as we begin to focus on what we each of us wants to know. Mrs Flannery will be teaching some specific skills so that we can use our technology effectively for this.
Assembly: 2:10 in the hall this Friday.  Room 6 will be leading this.

Homework

1. Reading: every night, please record your reading in the log at the back of the homework book.
2. Maths: Study Ladder - Mrs Waldron has set some tasks on here.
3. Spelling: practice sheets are in homework books this week.  Some people are completing theirs with Loretta until they are secure in how this is done.  Spelling should be an independent homework activity. Homework books need to be at school so that Loretta can work on the sheets. If anyone is unsure as to how the sheet works please make a time so that I can run through this with you - very simple once you know how the Spelling Alive programme works.
4. Morning Programme: some exciting programmes are being worked on - check the timetable for your presentation date.
5. Triathlon: the date set for the school event is Monday 14th March 12 - 2:30. Now that swimming is over, it is a good idea to keep your practice up so that the swim leg will be a breeze. We will begin to practise our running as part of our PE programme next week, so bring a pair of running shoes, and closer to the event will bring bikes to school so that we can practise the transition from the run to the bike. Time to get your bike checked to make sure that it is in working order and safe for riding. Perhaps you may want to begin a run or a bike at home, to get fit for the big event. Great outdoor homework.
6. Dance Mat Typing: has anyone had a go?

19th Feb Morning Programme

Fantastic job today from these three well organised and prepared ladies for Morning Programme:
     
     Casey gave us a review of the book "Timmy in Trouble" and has decided that perhaps a dog might be a fairly big responsibility!
     
     Greer told us all about herself and her family and shared some lovely family photos.
     
     Lily told us how some red and yellow crowned Kakariki birds that were raised in captivity have been released into the Abel Tasman National Park, near where she was born.  We listened to their parrot-like sound also.

R.E. Learning

Today in Religious Education we used drama to learn about friends, and how they listen, talk to and help each other.  We then related this to how we can talk to God in prayer as He is a special friend.

Learning to Type

This year Mrs Flannery is going to be teaching ICT skills while we are released from the classroom. So that we can all get the most out of this it would be really great if we could all get a little faster on a keyboard.
A few years ago the Resource Teacher of Literacy showed me a typing site which is fantastic for all, as we can practise identifying letters and where we can find them on the computer, practise spelling words without looking at our fingers once we know where the 'home' keys are.  All this while learning to type.  I am envious of the typing skills of our staff who learned to type as part of their journey through high school - Latin hasn't been quite so helpful when writing reports!
I have not been able to find the exact site I was given which was part of the bbc education site, however try:  BBC Bitesize Dance Mat Typing when you search.
Good luck, it is made fun for kids so hopefully this may help some of us to get faster on the computers.
Our first sessions with Mrs Flannery will be on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning 23rd & 24th February.

Hi Everyone, I am very much a 'learner driver' when it comes to blogs, so I'll apologise now for any hiccups! 

Today the children have glued into their homework books an explanation and timetable for "Room 3's Morning Programme" which is an oral language programme we will operate on Friday mornings.  It will require the children to be prepared with a short talk around a particular topic,  2-3 times a term.  It would be really helpful if you can check when your child is due to present, so that you can ensure they are organised and ready.  I will endeavour to include this information on here also, so you can check if need be.

As Chris has already mentioned I will be in the classroom from 9.15-11.15am daily and every second Wednesday.  I will be teaching, Maths and Written language, along with Fitness, Oral Language and Library.  Speaking of which there are a number of children who have books overdue from last year.  It would be brilliant to get these back to school asap so that your child can get new issues each week.

I have had a great first week, getting to know the children and learning lots of the protocols that make St Gerards such a special school.

My email is:  adelewaldron@stgerards.school.nz

  Room 3 Morning Programme

Morning Programme will be part of our Oral Language programme and will operate each Friday.  The purpose is to practise speaking and listening skills and to question others to gain more information or clarify the 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 stuck 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 and making the presentation interesting (this may include showing items, photos/pictures, etc 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 family, pets, likes, dislikes, hobbies…
Book Review	Choose a favourite book you have read.  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.  This might be 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, 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 New Zealand or another country.  Find out why they are famous and some interesting facts about them.

Morning Programme Groups
Group 1		Group 2		Group 3		Group 4
Greer Casey Otis Adam Lily A		Payton Dusty Alia Quinn Jelena Jack S		Amelia F Lily M Archie David Lars		Amelia K Charlotte Jack O Hayvin Mason Sophie
Topic	19th Feb		26th Feb		4th Mar		11th Mar
	Group 1		Group 2		Group 3		Group 4
About Me	Greer		Dusty		Amelia F		Amelia K
Book Review	Casey		Payton		Lily M		Charlotte
How to…	Otis		Alia		Archie		Jack O
Our Place	Adam		Quinn		David		Hayvin
Current Events	Lily A		Jelena		Lars		Mason
Famous Person			Jack S				Sophie

Topic	18th March	1st April	8th April	15th April
	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
Book Review	Greer	Dusty	Amelia F	Amelia K
How to…	Casey	Payton	Lily M	Charlotte
Our Place	Otis	Alia	Archie	Jack O
Current Events	Adam	Quinn	David	Hayvin
Famous Person	Lily A	Jelena	Lars	Mason
About Me		Jack S		Sophie

If there is anything you are unsure of, please let me know.

Adele