It was Canada Day!

We spent the entire day learning all about Canada.

We started by flying from Kaikoura to Canada on ‘Google Earth.’

Mrs Chambers flew us to Vancouver because that is where she flew to when she visited.

Next we coloured in Canada on the world map and labeled Ottawa, the capital and Vancouver.

After play we looked at one of Canada’s most popular sports – ice hockey. We watched the highlights of an Olympic game on You Tube and then headed to the courts to play our very own game – it was a draw!

We came back to class and learnt about maple syrup and how it is collected from trees, again we looked at You Tube and watched a family collecting from their trees. Mrs Chambers told us that she would make us pancakes to have with maple syrup the next day – we couldn’t wait!

After that it was time to take a trip through the Rocky Mountains on the Rocky Mountaineer train – we went through tunnels saw moose, bears, waterfalls, mountains and learnt what a beautiful country it is.

Now we were excited to learn more about their animals. We googled National Geographic Kids and looked at Canadian animals.

Lastly we made animals masks – it was cool fun!

Here are some photos of us enjoying the yummy pancakes with maple syrup.

This maple syrup is yummy!

Delicious maple syrup and pancakes!

On Friday we enjoyed the first of many buddy reading sessions.

At Munch-time the senior  and middle school students moved to their younger buddies class to listen to and mentor them in their reading.

After their buddy had read to them they reciprocated by reading a book to the younger pupil.

Here is some reflections from both senior and junior students.

It was fun.  Taylor G.

It is good because we can share our reading skills with our buddy.  Gemma

It was good reading books. Solo

It is really good because you are helping them and teaching them strategies.  Zoe

Good.  I also think it would be great if I chose the books for my buddy to read to me. Tyler

Great! It let us connect with our buddy and have some quiet time together. Taylor

They especially love their ‘Friday fun day’ activity.Last Friday we painted the solar system on the concrete in front of the verandah. We made the sun and planets to scale and made sure that they were in the correct order.

We had so much fun and are really proud of the result.

It was cool when the Shearwaters and Pukeko’s came out of class. They gave us awesome feedback. Wow! They are amazing!

Everyone loves them so much that we are going to repaint them in permanent paint early next term so that we can enjoy them forever.

Listen out when you are near the planets. You can often hear a child singing the planet song.

What great learning we have achieved!

Here are some photo’s for you to enjoy. Please come and check the Solar System out.

At the end we gathered together and compared how much leaf space (area) our leaves took up, then we ordered our trees from the one that had the most leaf space to the one that had the least leaf space.

What did I notice?

As you worked I heard you discussing your trees, leaves, who had the biggest and smallest trees and who had the most leaves on their tree. You were using some great maths language. You were using all of the key competencies. You managed yourselves by being organised and focussed on your task. You were participating and contributing by discussing and sharing your observations. You were thinking, using language symbols and text and relating to others as you spoke to the class about your tree and leaf space. Well done, we now have some beautiful autumn trees on display in our classroom.

Our beautiful Autumn trees

Throughout this term we have been learning about simple machines. We have learnt what they are and how they help people make work easier. We have found out about levers, pulleys, wedges, screws, inclined planes and wheels and axles. We found out that simple machines help people to lift, pull, push, turn, split, cut or join things.
We now know that when two or more simple machines are used, they make a compound machine. Through all of our new learning we have been able to recognise how technology has changed from the past to the present and how much it has made life easier for all people. At the end of our learning about simple machines we had to make a compound machine out of recycled materials.

What was noticed?
I saw children very excited about being able to create a compound machine and the classroom was buzzing with ideas. The children used a bubble map to plan their creation. They drew pictures, wrote down their ideas and recorded what materials they wanted to use.

The time came for the children’s innovative ideas to be made. Our classroom was a hive of activity and everyone was very focused. If an idea didn’t work one way then another way was tried as real technologists do. WOW! Great reflection and problem solving was happening, stop and think, persistence, being organised, respect, communication, aiming for excellence and most of all fun! All of the key competencies were being used: thinking, using language symbols and texts, managing self, relating to others and participating and contributing. It was a fun filled morning. Everyone presented their machine to the class explaining the simple machines they had used to make their compound machine. Awesome work everyone!

Children’s Reflections:

Blake – I used ‘E’ for Excellence in “FORCE” and tried my best. I had a compound machine at the end.

Jack – I think I worked well with others sharing the materials.

Oliver – I used ‘C’ for communication in ‘FORCE’. I used my manners when I needed materials. I talked about my machine and I listened to others.

Rose – I worked well with others, shared materials and ideas and WOW! I had fun.

Bridget – I was ‘O’ for organised in ‘FORCE’ and I got my materials ready for construction.
I managed self.

Samantha – I used ‘R’ for respect in ‘FORCE’ and shared materials. I was careful when the hot glue gun was being used.

Alexander – I focused on making my machine. (Managing self.)

Maia – I was ‘persistent’ right to the end of making my machine. I used ‘stop and think’ to work out how I could use two or more simple machines to make my compound machine.

Seth – I used ‘Habits of Mind’ ‘persistence,’ ‘stop and think’ and ‘new ideas’ to make my compound machine. I was successful.

Timeka – It was a hard challenge. I worked out how I could use nearly all of the simple machines to make my compound machine.

Reuben – I had fun making every part! I got new ideas when I was working on my machine on how to put wheels on it.

Jacob – When something doesn’t work you change it. You use the ‘Habit of Mind’ ‘make it right.’

Our cool compound machines

What are Habits of Mind?
Habits of Mind are thinking habits that help us become successful at solving problems. They help us to develop our thinking skills, evaluate our learning and reflect on it. Habits of Mind complement Suburban School’s “FORCE” values in our classroom and in the playground, helping us to achieve the Key Competencies in the New Zealand Curriculum. These excellent thinking skills therefore help us to climb our mountain of learning for life.

The Habits of Mind that we are using in the classroom this term are: Persistence, Make it Right, Stop and Think, Listening, Work with Others, Create and Innovate. We have a rocket poem that inspires us to blast off into the success zone of learning every day. We hope you enjoy it.

Sunsmart Accreditation

Following this we made and ate lots of scrummy snacks – Vic made tortilla chips flavoured with sweet chilli sauce, a sprinkly of parsley sprayed lightly and baked, Chris made a tasty pasta salad, Livi made the tasty hummus ever – our own creation! Mere and Julia helped with the ham and cheese rolls.
To finish we each made a tortilla or pita wrap filled with lots of goodies.  We also sampled the cheese we made and snacked on the other foods we made earlier.
A special thanks to Vic for driving down from Blenheim and the parents who came to help and participate.  We hope lunch boxes will be even easier to create!

Eating our tortilla wraps