Carey Park Camp 2010

What a great time we all had last week. Carey Park is an amazing place for new learning, new social skills and pushing your personal boundaries.

Before camp we set some goals, many of which were about persisting when times became tricky and hard and I am sure that most of you had one or two moments when you really had to focus on what it was you wanted to achieve.

For this post, use it as a place to describe the things you liked and the things that really challenged you. Did you overcome those challenges?

Tell us about the exciting times that you experienced at Carey Park Camp 2010.

Dance Term 2

Room 18 has been involved in creative dance as part of their arts focus this term. We have been focusing on learning some key vocabulary and skills associated with dance techniques.

In these videos you will see cannon, unison, levels, and body paths to name a few. Ask your child about what these words mean. The dances seen here are after one session with the song and are representative of around 45 minutes of work.

So far we have danced to a range of music chosen to highlight different rhythm selections. We have had 'Put your records on' by Corrine Bailey Rae, 'Heavy Cross' by Gossip - as seen in this video, and are now working on a slower song by Sinead O'Connor called 'Nothing Compares'.

We aim to work on one main dance to present at the end of Term 2, and will begin our work on that after we return from camp.

Note: Due to some children being absent one group is not shown here. However, they will be seen in videos to come.

ENJOY!!

Welcome back to Term 2

After our 2 week holiday break the Room 18 children are back with vigor and enthusiasm. It is great to see a great learning attitude and open minds ready to get busy with this new terms learning.

Here is what is happening in Room 18 this term:

Arts: We will be doing creative dance and learning many new dance terms and composition skills.

Writing: Narrative Myths and Legends, as you will see below this is a theme that runs through many of our core subjects this term.

Reading: to begin with we will cover Myths and Legends. The children are about to use 'Thinkers Keys' as part of their learning about a range of Myths and Legends from around the world. Wondering what 'Thinkers Keys' are .. click this LINK.

Oral Language: Story telling. Children will learn about techniques used in effective story telling and will tell their own stories in presentations to their class.

Mathematics: We are learning about statistics as part of our strand work this term and have already begun collecting data about our pulse rates. We will also be concentrating on Multiplication and Division as our number focus.

Rich Task: Is fitness worth all the fuss? That is our big question and children are learning about 5 key body systems -circulatory, digestive, respiratory, muscular and the nervous systems. The second half of the term will focus on body health and fitness. Ways to improve and maintain good health in the body.

Camp: Children will spend 4 days at Carey Park in Henderson Valley in Week 5 of this term. It will be a great learning experience for all involved.

Stay tuned for more updates and more awesome Room 18 learning!

Our Wonderful World

In Room 18 we are lucky to have had some contact with another teacher from Argentina, her name is Florencia.

Her students are wanting to know about New Zealand and Auckland - so it is our opportunity to tell them about our wonderful country. We live in a beautiful place, a place of freedom with so many wonderful and unique things about us and our culture. Be proud Kiwi's and share your country!

For our Argentina friends - can you tell us about your beautiful country too?

As an extension you can also choose one other country you are interested in and find some things out about it. Be sure you look where it is in the world on a map. Here is a link to Google Maps.

DO THESE THINGS FOR YOUR TASKS:

- Write some information about your life in New Zealand. What are some unique things that we do here that may not be done else where?

- Find out some interesting facts about another country in the world … At least 10 things. You could do it as a ‘Did you know?’ if you wish to.

Anti- Whaling

Last week we discussed the issue of Japanese whale ships in the Southern Ocean and their hunt to kill whales for 'scientific reasons'. Now, although it has been proven that whale meat does in fact make its way to Japanese markets, these ships still hunt and kill whales.



Since we spoke about it a New Zealand protester boarded one of the Japanese ships as part of his protest. He is now in Japanese custody as a prisoner, because he broke laws and trespassed onto the boat. He is now being called a 'pirate' due to what he has done.

For this post you have a few things to do. Answer the questions below after reading the article here.

What do you think of whaling in the Antarctic? Is it OK or not?
Is it fair that the New Zealand protester Pete Bethune is being held as a prisoner?
What should happen next?

YOU MUST also make a comment on something someone else said. For example: I agree with Johnny when he said ... OR Johnny I would like to ask you about what you said when ...

Keep up the awesome work Room 18, and we are looking forward to hearing about your ideas.

Welcome back to a brand new year!

Welcome back!

The school holidays have finally come to an end and I am sure that each of us had a great time and a well deserved holiday break no matter where we were.

This year, with a brand new class, Room 18 will continue to update our wonderful blog site, and continue to enhance our learning through the use of this online learning space.

There are a few rules to remember though ... here are our blog guidelines.

In working with this blog and any other webspaces, all students need to ensure that they follow these important guidelines. They are designed to make sure that you enjoy these spaces.

• Only ever use your first name or a nickname when you are writing on this or other blogs or wikis.
• Never use any other student’s last name.
• Never post any personal information–such as your home or cellphone number or home address on this or any other blog or wiki.
• Never share any of your usernames or passwords with anyone and never log in as another student.
• Always tell your parents or teacher right away if you come across anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.
• Remember the “grandma rule” that anything you put on the internet could be read by your grandmother so only write things you could say to the nicest of grannies.
• Be a good online citizen and never write or post anything that could hurt anyone else.
• Always check with an adult if someone asks for your phone number or to meet you.
• Never make arrangements to meet anyone over the internet. Always talk to your parents or teacher if this is an issue.
• Make sure you publish only your own work. Don’t under any circumstances use other people’s work and call it your own.
• Make sure that you read over your writing before you post it to check the spelling and that it reads okay.

If you wish to change or add to these rules please post a comment with details of our reasons.

Use this first post as a way to introduce yourself and your family. Include - your first name only, the suburb you live in, your year level, your interests and hobbies, what makes you unique and special, your family information - how many brothers and sisters you have, maybe even something interesting about your mum and dad, and of course tell us what goals you want to achieve this year in the wonderful Room 18!

Have fun and welcome to Room 18, 2010!!

Haiku

Room 18 is finishing the year with haiku.

They have been making some wonderful poems, with beautiful words and images.