Room Totara

Goodbye

2010-12-18T17:15:00.000+13:00

Thank you to all the parents who have supported our blog for this past year. We have certainly enjoyed being able to show family, friends and people from overseas all our hard work throughout the year.

I will only be at East Gore School next year in a relieving role.

Thank you again and I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and all the best for 2011!

Tanya

Planting Sunflower Seeds

2010-12-03T19:21:00.003+13:00

Today we each planted a sunflower seed to celebrate the beginning of Summer on the 1st of December.

We are going to give our sunflower to someone special as a Christmas present.

We wrote recounts about what we did to plant our seed. Check out the writing page to see what we wrote!

Our Mihi's!!

2010-11-25T15:34:00.007+13:00

This term, we have been learning about Tangata Whenua and as part of our oral language we prepared and practiced our own Mihi to share in front of our class and on our blog.

Check some of them out here, they take a while to load, so it could take a while to get them all on here, so please be patient while Miss McLean gets it all sorted.

Aaliyah

Alisha

Ella

Ellie

Hannah

Jordyn

Josh

Marshall

Mikaire

Rebecca

Sam K.

Oral Language - Mihi

2010-11-22T15:51:00.002+13:00

Today we had our "practice" reading our mihi in front of the camera.

We then watched it and decided what we needed to work on for when we do it again on Wednesday.

Please help your child learn their mihi's at home. In class we have been working on the pronunciation of the Maori words.

Once we have the "final" one done, we will be putting them onto our blog for you to check out and comment on :) so watch this space!

Miss McLean has been super impressed with the effort some children have put into learning their Mihi's. Ka pai!

Smartkiddies

2010-11-17T14:32:00.002+13:00

Remember to go onto the Smartkiddies website - www.smartkiddies.co.nz and play the games that Miss McLean has chosen to help you with your maths learning.

If you are a year 1:

Username: year1roomtotara

Password: coolkids

If you are a year 2:

Username: year2roomtotara

Password: coolkids

Then click on your name and put in your special password.

If you don't know your password, ask Miss McLean.

Happy maths learning!

Miss McLean

Our Photostory - Crumpet the Cat

2010-11-17T09:07:00.002+13:00

Together we made a photostory of Crumpet the Cat, our big book.

Jordyn and Hannah took the photos.

Tell us what you think.

Crumpet the Cat - Big Book

2010-11-15T15:08:00.003+13:00

We have been reading "Crumpet the Cat" as our big book.

Today we looked at FACTS ABOUT CATS

Habitat (a habitat is where a cat lives):

* houses

* SPCA / Pound

* Pet shop

* in the wild

Do we have them in New Zealand?

Yes (but only domestic cats, not tigers and lions)

What do they look like?

They have: whiskers, tails, sharp claws, 4 legs, pointy ears, wet nose, sharp teeth and can be: black, white, ginger, brown, tabby.

What do they do?

* Lie in the sun

* walk around

* fight with other cats

* sleep

* eat jellymeat, cat biscuits

* catch mice / fish / birds

Then we did a Venn Diagram to show things that Cats do that is different to what we do.

Differences:

Cats -

* have fur

* eat birds / mice

* lick themselves

* don't like water (baths/showers)

Us -

* wear clothes

* eat vegetables

* shower/bath

* go to school

* use a knife and fork

* have skin

Similarities:

We both like to:

*sleep

*walk

*eat

*eat icecream

*play

Jordyn and Hannah took some photos that we will use this week to make into a photostory to share on our blog - so watch this space!

100 Day Party

2010-11-11T12:04:00.002+13:00

Public Library Visit

2010-11-10T10:14:00.002+13:00

Thank you so much to the wonderful people who drove us to the library and back yesterday.

Rebecca's Nana - Doreen,

Marshall's Mum - Vicky,

Hannah's Aunty - Maree,

Mr Gentle

Ms Mckewen (who kindly came back after she had finished work).

We really appreciate you taking time out of your day to take us there and back.

We enjoyed listening to some Maori myths and legends that Jenny had to read us. Some children did not have a public library card, so they were sent home with an application to get one (it's free!)

Jenny was telling us about the wonderful Summer Reading Programme the public library will hold over the Christmas holidays, so keep an eye out for when you can enrol - this would be a fantastic opportunity for your child to keep reading over this break.

We were sad that it was our last visit this year. But look forward to seeing Jenny again next year.

Ice Cream Sundaes and Milkshakes

2010-10-28T18:34:00.001+13:00

On Friday's we will be selling Ice Cream Sundaes and Milkshakes at lunchtime.

This is a camp fundraiser for the 2011 camp.

All orders need to be to Room Kauri in a named envelope before school starts.

Ice Cream Sundaes - $2

Milkshakes - $1

Marae Visit

2010-10-26T08:21:00.003+13:00

Room Totara are off to the Marae this Wednesday (tomorrow) as part of our inquiry this term "Tangata Whenua"

We are really excited about this trip.

Your child will need a packed lunch, water bottle and warm jacket to take with them. We are travelling by bus. Thanks to the parents who have offered to help, we cannot make these trips happen without your support.

Welcome back to TERM 4

2010-10-12T13:07:00.002+13:00

Welcome back to Term 4.

We have lots of new faces in our class this term. We welcomed Shontaye, Crystal-Rose and Alanah from Room 1 and we also were lucky to get 2 more groovy kids - Ryan and Kyla.

Ooops!! Miss McLean must've been half asleep when she made this weeks homework word-find!! Lots of letters were missing! So if you have been trying to work this out - Sorry! Don't worry about doing the word-find!

This term we are learning all about Tangata Whenua - our big question is: Why is Maori culture important to New Zealanders?

We are very lucky to be off to the Bluff Marae in Week 3 - remember there is a small cost for this, so make sure you pay this before the trip!

We have a busy term planned and it's great to be back into the swing of things!

Term 4

2010-10-06T10:53:00.002+13:00

Hey there groovy Room Totara kids!

I hope you have all had a fabulous holiday! There is only a few days left before we are back to school for term 4.

This term we have 3 cool kids from Room Kauri joining us - We welcome Crystal, Shontaye and Alannah. We are looking forward to having them in our class!

I hope you have been busy reading over the holidays - we will be straight back into our reading programme on Monday!

Enjoy the last few days of the holidays, get lots of early nights! See you all on Monday :)

Miss McLean

Our Fabulous Production - The Wizard of OZ

2010-09-23T15:24:00.002+12:00

Room 4 performed a "scary tree dance" in the production of the Wizard of OZ

Held at the St James Theatre, Tuesday 21 September 7pm.

Here is a photostory of our dance.

Wizard of OZ tickets

2010-09-16T10:22:00.001+12:00

Tickets to the Wizard of OZ production are selling quickly!

Get your tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment!

Tickets:

Family (2 adults, 2-3 children) $20

Adult $8

Child $4

Available at the school office NOW!

Miss Fisken's dogs come to visit

2010-09-14T08:23:00.002+12:00

Chloe

Jade

Yesterday Aaron brought Miss Fisken's dog Chloe and her puppy Jade to school for a visit.

Jade is a black labrador puppy. Her head felt smooth and soft and her back felt rough and coarse.

Chloe is a golden labrador and she is 6 years old (the same age as some of us!) She was very happy and we know this because of her very waggly tail!

Wizard of OZ Songs to Learn

2010-09-13T15:13:00.000+12:00

If you look under the Songs page on our blog, you will find all the words to the songs we need to learn.

It's really important we know these well to be able to sing our best at our production next week!

Get Mum and Dad and sisters and brothers singing them too!!

COSTUMES PLEASE!!

2010-09-13T15:06:00.001+12:00

We need all children to bring along their costume for production before Wednesday for a full dress rehearsal!

Room 4 kids need:

Black or brown t-shirt (it doesn't matter if it has something on it)

Black or brown pants/tights.

Please send these along to school ASAP in a named bag.

Thanks!

Mrs Hook's Lambs come for a visit

2010-09-10T14:36:00.004+12:00

Mrs Hook kindly brought in some lambs to visit us at school.

Here are some pictures...

The lambs checked out our playground!

So cute!!

Mrs T helps Jante feed one of the lambs.

School Blog

2010-09-10T13:44:00.002+12:00

East Gore School has a brand new blog!

www.eastgoreschool.blogspot.com

Go and check out all the fabulous things about our school.

This is a great way for parents to keep updated with things happening in our school.

School Production!!!

2010-09-10T10:38:00.004+12:00

We have been so busy practising our dance and learning all the songs

for the upcoming school production of

The Wizard of OZ.

Tickets are now for sale at the school office:

Family (2 adults, 2-3 children) $20

Adult $8 and Child $4

TUESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER at 7PM

DISCOVERY TIME!!

2010-09-07T08:48:00.003+12:00

Last week we started Discovery Time on Friday mornings. Thank you so much to Jante's mum, Grandma and Aunty, Sophie's mum and Belinda who have helped out so far.

We love Discovery Time and being able to do new things. So far we have had... the water tray, magnetics, painting, colouring, drawing, ooblek, games, popcorn sound, computers, puppets, letter of the week activities, creating a spring tree, playing with balls... we can't wait for this Friday to see what fun activities Miss Fisken and Miss McLean have planned for us!!

Check out some photos of the first week of Discovery

Daffodil Day!!

2010-08-25T12:54:00.003+12:00

Wear mufti to school on Friday - try for something yellow

Daffodil day this Friday is Friday the 27th August. Many of us will know someone whose life has been affected in some way by cancer.

We'd like to support the Cancer Society with their ongoing research and support for those who have cancer by wearing yellow on Friday and making a gold coin donation. Miss McVicar has kindly organized Daffodil day at East Gore School.

Smartkiddies - Maths website!

2010-08-21T17:47:00.002+12:00

We are going to be using an exciting new maths website during maths in class and you will also be able to use this at home (for up to 2 activities).

www.smartkiddies.co.nz

You may need to get an adult or older brother or sister to help you get in with the passwords.

I am looking forward to seeing this tool in action!

Miss Mclean's Chooks

2010-08-18T08:03:00.002+12:00

We got to see some pictures of Miss McLean's chickens this week.

We thought they were quite funny!

Fraction Fun and The Orchestra Visit

2010-08-13T15:17:00.000+12:00

Make sure you have a look at our Fraction fun we had today - it's under the maths page.

We also wrote some great stories about the orchestra that came to school today, so check out the writing page to read them!

Have a happy and safe weekend, see you all on Monday!

Miss McLean

Miss McLean's Calves

2010-08-13T12:43:00.002+12:00

Miss McLean took some photos of the calves on her farm to show the kids. We thought they were very cute and liked the video she had that showed the calves skipping and playing with each other.

Here are some pictures of her calves:

Cupcakes!!!

2010-08-10T10:38:00.003+12:00

Cupcakes are for sale every Friday for $1.50 each! This is to raise money for the 2011 Senior Camp.

Don't forget to get your orders in to Miss Fisken before school on Fridays. She is also selling delicious Milkshakes for $1.00 on a Friday (also a camp fundraiser).

PRODUCTION - The Wizard of OZ

2010-08-09T19:30:00.001+12:00

We will be starting to learn and practice our dance for our Production.

Thank you very much to Rachel Ferguson who is choreographing our "Tree Dance". She has volunteered her time to help us.

Remember - if you can help out with something for our Production, don't forget to let one of the teachers know ASAP.

Public Library Visit

2010-08-09T19:24:00.002+12:00

We had a wonderful visit to the Gore Public Library today.

Thank you very much to Jenny, she had a fun activity planned where we hid 5 children around the library and then had to find them and mark where they were on a map of the library.

After we found books to get out and take home, Jenny read us the "kiwi" version of The 3 Little Pigs - this one was called The 3 Little Lambs - it was very funny! We love stories being read to us!

Thank you also to Rebecca's Nana, Hannah's Mum, Alisha's Mum and Mrs Hook who each took their car with children to the library.

We look forward to our final visit this year next term.

Don't forget if your child brought home books from the public library today, they need to be returned back to the public library before 30 August 2010.

Some children were unable to get books out due to overdue books or not having a card - please return overdue books ASAP and if your child hasn't yet got a library card, call in to see Jenny at the library to get an application form - it's FREE to join!

READING

2010-08-01T20:28:00.002+12:00

We are all very excited about the new way of teaching reading we will be trialling in the junior school starting this week. Some children will be working with Mrs Heaps in room 3 during reading time.

It is VERY important that all children remember to bring their reading book back to school every day as they will be required to read it again during our reading time. They also need to remember to bring their home reader (yellow book) every day as well. This helps them record what they are reading and aim towards gaining the certificates for a certain amount nights of reading.

Remember the best way to learn to read is getting plenty of reading mileage! This is reading lots of familiar books with lots of different people. We need to become really confident when reading, and by reading books we've already read, this helps us to do so.

Welcome!

2010-07-29T19:21:00.001+12:00

Welcome to Mikaire to our class.
He joined us at the start of term 3.
Coming all the way from Christchurch, we are very lucky to have Mikaire as part of our class.

Five Little Monkey's

2010-07-29T13:38:00.001+12:00

Wizard of Oz Song to Learn

2010-07-27T15:03:00.005+12:00

New "Our Writing" Page

2010-07-24T21:05:00.003+12:00

We are working hard on using our tool hand during writing.

Check out some our writing by clicking on the tab at the top under our name.

Don't forget to leave a comment as we like to know what you think of our hard work.

2010-07-08T15:27:00.003+12:00

I hope you are all having a well deserved relaxing holiday!

Remember it's important to keep reading over the holidays.

Make sure you also check out all the cool reading and maths games that are linked to our blog.

Enjoy the rest of the break, I'll see you all in term 3!

Miss McLean

LAST WEEK OF TERM 2

2010-06-27T12:34:00.002+12:00

Hello there Room Totara children and families!!

Well I know that the children had an awesome week with Mrs T!

I had a great week up in Palmerston North, the weather was sunny for a couple of days, then it rained. Never mind, I'm back now and the sun is shining down here!

It was quite cool in the plane on the way home as we flew into Invercargill airport, so I got to see my house from up in the plane - it's so funny how everything looks so little (kind of like wee toys!)

I am looking forward to catching up with most parents at the interviews this Monday and Tuesday!

Our blog competition is just about to come to an end, you have until Friday 9am to get those comments in!!! So far we have one child that's managed to get 6 comments posted by friends and families - so get commenting!!! There is a cool prize up for grabs!! So far we have 6 girls in the running to win the prize - so come on boys!!!

Enjoy the sunny weekend and I'll see you all on Monday!!

Miss McLean

Mrs T

2010-06-17T14:36:00.002+12:00

Miss McLean will be away from Tuesday next week (week 10) and will only be teaching in room 4 next Monday and then Mrs T will be filling in for the rest of the week.

Miss McLean's partner has won a national award for showing dairy cattle and we are off to Palmerston North to collect the trophy.

Mrs T is very excited about teaching in Room Totara!

Miss McLean will be back for the last week of school and is looking forward to catching up with some parents at the Parent/teacher interviews on Monday (28th) and Tuesday (29th) June.

Your child will bring home your interview time tomorrow (Friday 18th). Please return your child's National Standard's clear-file and learning journal at the interview or by the end of the term. The learning journals will be sent home at the end of the year for you and your child to keep. The National Standards clear-files will be kept at school and will follow your child through until year 6. It is important for these to be returned as soon as possible so they can be added to.

Miss McLean :-)

Swimming

2010-06-17T14:35:00.001+12:00

Remember, we only swim Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as we get quite tired after 3 days so need a few days to recover!

Don't forget your togs and towel next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday for our last week of swimming!

Skype

2010-06-16T08:57:00.002+12:00

We are learning about a cool new tool - Skype.

This is video calling.

We are practicing using this by Skyping Miss Fisken's class during reading time.

We are excited about this as we hope to be able to Skype our Buddy Blog class in Australia - Room 2KJ.

Swimming!!!

2010-06-15T16:22:00.010+12:00

Well, we are certainly enjoying our Swimming so far!!

Our first day of swimming was sorting out who could do what so the teachers could group us. We are now in our groups and the groups are learning; water confidence, floating and kicking!

We are certainly very lucky we have such a fantastic swimming pool here in Gore! Here are some photos of us in the pool!

Taison's Gold Guitar Story

2010-06-05T19:56:00.000+12:00

I like the Gold Guitar Queens. They were pretty.

Ellie's Gold Guitar Story

2010-06-05T19:55:00.002+12:00

My class got to see the Gold Guitar Queens today. We had to go down to room one. On their hat they had a crown. It was pretty.

Josh's Gold Guitar Story

2010-06-05T19:52:00.003+12:00

Today we went in to room Kauri to see the Gold Guitar Queens.

WINTER

2010-06-01T09:54:00.003+12:00

Today is the 1st of June and the first day of WINTER!

We thought that it would snow today because we get snow in Winter, but we talked about how it's more likely to have snow in Winter because it's colder weather.

Welcome

2010-05-28T15:53:00.006+12:00

Welcome to Taison who is new to Room Totara!

We hope you have enjoyed the first couple of days at East Gore School.

MONKEY'S SHOES - Shared Reading Week 6

2010-05-28T15:14:00.007+12:00

For shared reading this week, we read Monkey's shoes.

We have been learning to use a clear voice (not mumbling) and not speaking too quickly.

We found that our next step is to keep working on using the right volume as some of the reading was hard to hear.

Taison was our Monkey.

Sophie was our Parrot.

Tyler was our Man.

All the children in Room Totara were the narrators.

Here are some other focuses during shared reading of Monkey's shoes this week:

Predicting (these were our predictions):

A monkey with shoes
A happy monkey who likes shoes
A monkey who finds some shoes.
A monkey in the jungle.

Start:

Monkey found some shoes.

Middle:

Monkey wore the shoes, he climbed in the trees, danced in the trees and hopped in the trees.

End:

The monkey fell out of the tree and the shoes fell off. The man took his shoes back.

We also focussed on the language used in the story:

Dancing - moving around to music

Stomping - thumping your feet noisily

Screeching - making lots of noise

Bruise - blood under your skin which makes your skin go black, red, brown, purple, yellow.

Synonyms (words that mean the same thing)

SCREECHING - screaming, shouting, loud, yelling

2010-05-27T20:47:00.004+12:00

We're starting to feel the winter chill creeping in! We've been talking about how it is just about the end of May and with the month of June, comes the start of our Winter Season!

We talked about all four seasons and how each season lasts for 3 months. We also discussed the seasons and how they keep rotating in a specific pattern. We are looking forward to Spring when all the baby animals are born (and it starts to warm up)!

We have begun creating our art for this inquiry - "A tree through the seasons" we've made our Autumn tree and Winter tree. Come and check out these on the wall in our class!

We've been keeping snuggly and warm in our class - thank you to our wonderful new caretaker Mr Scott! Miss McLean had snowflakes falling onto her car this morning when she left home to come to school! Brrr!

Remember, if you have any DVD's, games that you no longer need (or don't mind us borrowing), please bring them into school as with the wet/cold weather we are stuck inside during break times!

Don't forget warm jackets, hats, shoes and socks too!

Day and Night

2010-05-25T19:24:00.003+12:00

We learnt about day and night. We brainstormed all the things that we do during the day and all the things we do at night. Come and check out our displays in class!

We all recorded one fact we learnt about day and night, this is to share with our parents/grandparents at the end of the term on a "sharing day".

We also recorded 2 kids showing how the earth spins around (this takes 24 hours which is one day), as it is spinning around it moves slowly around the sun, this takes 1 whole year to get right around!!

We learnt that when New Zealand is closest to the sun it is day for us - but it is night on the other side of the world!

Days of the Week

2010-05-25T19:14:00.005+12:00

Earlier in the term, we learnt the days of the week.

We learnt which days are "school days" and which are the "weekend"

Cross Country 2010 - Friday 14 May

2010-05-17T16:46:00.007+12:00

Wow! What a great Cross country we had last Friday!!
The weather turned out just perfect (a shame it had been a bit soggy a couple of days before which made the grass a bit mucky!)
All the children put a lot of effort into their run and I was proud of all the Room Totara kids!

Here are some pictures of us starting off!

Term 2 - Swimming

2010-05-15T08:32:00.003+12:00

**Reminder**
We will be off to the Gore Multisports complex in weeks 9 and 10 for our swimming lessons. The cost for juniors is only $15, please make sure you've paid this before we go. Thank-you!

Our Cool Student Teachers

2010-05-14T10:08:00.000+12:00

This is Miss Owen and Miss Dickison, our cool student teachers from the University of Otago, College of Education in Invercargill. They have been working in room Totara for the last 2 weeks, Friday 14 is their last day in our class, they are back to the University in Invercargill to continue studying. We hope that they pop in to see us again. Thanks for all your hard work.

Numeracy 13.5.10

2010-05-13T12:05:00.013+12:00

Working together in groups we moved around a couple of "stations" where we had to use cards to answer the questions. The questions were: find the largest number, put in order to count backwards, put the cards from smallest to largest, Largest to smallest and find the number that comes before; 5, 3, 6, 8, 9.

Here are some photos of us:

Gore Public Library Visit

2010-05-13T07:52:00.002+12:00

We went off to the Gore Public Library yesterday for our Term 2 visit.

Thank you to Marshall's Mum (Vicky), Ellie's Mum (Sue), Mrs Hook and Miss Dickison for taking their cars so we could get there and back. We really enjoy our trip to the library each term and appreciate those parents that help out with transport as it saves the school money as getting buses all the time is quite expensive. So thank you for taking time out of your day.

Jenny read us some books with a "seasons" theme and a book about books which was quite funny!

There were a couple of children who don't have a public library card, they have taken home a form to complete and return to the library so they can get one (it's free).

If your child brought home a public library book, there should have been a slip to let you know when this is due back. Please return all books directly to the public library.

TJ's Car read by Sophie

2010-05-07T13:59:00.003+12:00

Term 2 Week 3

2010-05-03T19:40:00.002+12:00

We are well underway with all our cool learning this term. Unfortunately the weather is starting to get cold and yucky! Some kids have been bringing their slippers along to wear in the class - this is an excellent idea and stops our carpet getting all wet and mucky.

We are very lucky to have 2 super cool student teachers in our class for 2 whole weeks!! They are Miss Katie Dickison and Miss Amy Owen. We are looking forward to getting to know them and we are also looking forward to participating in some of the groovy learning they have got planned for us!

Don't forget if you've got any DVD's or board games you no longer need, we'd love to take them off your hands (either to have or borrow) so we can use them on these yucky wet days when we are stuck inside.

Disaster Zone!

2010-04-15T13:38:00.002+12:00

Our topic for Term 2 is Disaster Zone. We will be learning about different weather that explains disasters. Then we will be exploring different disasters and what we can do to prepare and keep ourselves safe.

Term 2

2010-04-14T16:08:00.002+12:00

Hello there groovy Room Totara kids!
I hope you have had a great holiday and are all ready to come back to school next week! I've been super busy over these holidays, but I'm looking forward to seeing all your happy smiley faces next Monday morning!
I hope you've remembered to keep up your reading for the past couple of weeks.
Please remember to bring back all the books you took home for the holidays as it's important to get these all back so other children can read, enjoy and learn from them.
See you on Monday!
Miss McLean

Hey groovy kids...

2010-04-02T18:10:00.001+13:00

Check out the numeracy games - I've added some new ones for you to have a go with over the holidays.

Don't eat too much chocolate!! :)

End of Term 1

2010-03-31T18:28:00.002+13:00

Well, the end of Term one is here. Mmmmm... I'm looking forward to Easter Bunny's visit!

Sadly we say goodbye to 6 cool kids in room Totara as they move up into Room Tawa. We say goodbye to Kiera, Kieralee, Olivia, Eva, Cameron and Ryan. We have very much enjoyed having you as part of Room Totara and hope you enjoy the rest of the year in Room Tawa - don't forget to come and say hello to us!

Miss Fisken's class has grown so much over the term, so we are excited to welcome 5 cool kids from Room Kauri to our class starting next term, we are lucky to have Hannah, Lydia, Josh, Kayla and Jordyn joining us!

I hope you all have a safe and relaxing holiday and look forward to seeing everyone back safe on Monday 19th April 2010.

Remember to keep reading over the holidays and a good way to keep your maths learning up is to play the games we have on our blog under the numeracy link.

Miss McLean

Firewise Home Activities

2010-03-26T08:02:00.001+13:00

Please complete activities 3, 4, 6 and 9 in the Get Firewise Family book that was sent home with your child last week over the weekend. Thanks.

Tanya McLean

Notices

2010-03-23T15:51:00.003+13:00

Hello :)

Wow - it's hard to believe that it is week 8 already! One more week to go and it's the end of the term.

We are now working hard on our FIREWISE unit. Your child received a FIREWISE home work book with a DVD. Please ensure that you have completed activity 1 (watching the DVD) and activity 2 (talking about safety with lighters and matches) with your child.

All children need to read the book they bring home every night, then whoever they have read to needs to complete their home reader (the yellow booklet) with a comment and your child needs to draw a face, as they do this they accumulate a running total of nights they have read and they earn certificates along the way. Every night your child reads they will also receive a sticker. Well done to the children who have achieved their 25 nights certificate! Keep up the hard work!

I have a few children who have not brought back their poetry books, these are sent home every Friday with a poem for you and your child to read together (sometimes they may also need to complete the activity that they did not get finished in class time). All poetry books should be returned on a Monday along with library books.

Homework - please remind your child to bring this back every Friday so it can be marked and a new homework sheet will be put in every Monday. If your child should find one of the activities too difficult, that's ok, just leave it for me to see.

I am also waiting for a few slips to be returned in response to having your child's photo posted on our blog. Please remember that it is only their first name that will appear, we are dedicated to ensuring your child's safety. Even if you don't want your child's photo to appear, please return the form with the appropriate comment circled.

Don't forget to send back the form for our trip to the emergency services in Gore next week ASAP if you can help! We'd love to have you there!!

Thanks! I hope you are all enjoying our blog and we would love your comments!!

Tanya McLean

The Fire Engine Visits East Gore School.

2010-03-19T13:54:00.004+13:00

The firemen from the Gore Fire station came to East Gore School to show us their fire engine.

We got to sit in the driver seat of the fire engine. We got to have a hold of the hose and it squirted water onto the grass.

Fireman Stretch and fireman Steve talked to us about being a fireman. Miss McLean got dressed up in the fireman suit and she looked funny! She said it was very hot and very heavy! She even had to put the helmet on!

Ratty Tatty Cat - Shared Reading

2010-03-18T08:40:00.002+13:00

My Ear

2010-03-18T08:39:00.002+13:00

I cut my ear and it started to bleed and I had to go to the hospital. And they had to give it an injection. I had to put peas on it.

By Ryan

Room Totara think Ryan was very brave!

My Earrings

2010-03-18T08:38:00.003+13:00

Yesterday I was going to get my hat off, but my earring fell out of my ear. It was my favourite, but I found the diamond part.

By Kieralee

Firewise

2010-03-18T08:28:00.004+13:00

Check out our Firewise display in our class.
We looked at different "fires" we have in our homes and what they are used for.
We also grouped some pictures, we grouped them as fire, keep us warm and people being safe around fire.

FIREWISE Programme

2010-03-15T13:36:00.003+13:00

We are starting our FIREWISE programme this week.

Check out the link on the right hand side of the blog to the New Zealand Fire Service FIREWISE for kids website.

Our Term One visit to the Gore Public Library

2010-03-11T10:52:00.000+13:00

Yesterday Room Totara enjoyed their first visit to the Gore Public Library.

PJ showed us around the children's section and showed us the books we can read and enjoy.

We found a book to take home, some children didn't have their own library card so we got them a form to take home so they can get one.

Thank you very much to Kiera's mum Rachel, Catherine's grandad Andy and Ellie's mum Sue for taking us there and back!

It was a fun trip and PJ told us that we were the best class she's had there this year!

Thinking using the 5W's and H

2010-03-04T11:20:00.001+13:00

We are using our thinking skills to ask good questions.

Using pictures that are current events (things happening in Gore) we look carefully at the picture and ask at least one question using each of the 5W's and H (What, when, where, why, who, how)

Inquiry Term 1

2010-03-02T13:27:00.001+13:00

Our Inquiry this term is

ME ME AND MORE ME

We have been doing lots of learning about ourselves and how we learn.

We made handprints to put on the wall because our handprint is unique (the only one).

Our New Blog

2010-02-24T15:13:00.000+13:00

Miss McLean has just been away in Rotorua to an ICT conference and she learnt heaps of cool things we can do in our class!

We have our own blog site where we can now share our learning with family/friends here in New Zealand and all over the world!

Please check out all our fantastic learning and share your comments with us.

Please also be patient while we learn these new things!

Room Totara