Last week of 2012

Wow I just can't quite believe that it's that time of the year, where has the year gone? It's been a great year in the Junior Room! So many good times! This week I will make up a slideshow highlighting our year...keep an eye out.

Last week we had a fun filled week of Christmas activities, and I'm sure that you have seen what we have made and you should be proud of what your children have made, they did a fantastic job!

Well keep an eye out for more posts here this week as we move through the week to the end of the year.

More athletics pictures

Here are some more pictures from last weeks athletics day. I had to transfer them from my iPod to my computer and it took longer than I thought.
On another not, we are gearing up for a couple of busy weeks in the Junior Room. We have had visitors this week in the Junior Room. Rafi's cousins came in for today and they are coming in tomorrow and next week, they are also around for christmas week! Which isn't that long away either. The end of the year is quickly approaching and there is still SO much to do! We will have a have a huge finishing week in the last week of the term.

Also don't forget your togs tomorrow! With a break last week for the athletics we are back into it this week.

Anyway here are the pictures...

Louis & Sam

Evelyn

James

Harlan

Liam

Irie

Kutlo

Josh

Gus

James

Bella

Rafi

Reuben

Yum! Lunch

Bella

Josh

Sam

Junior athletic pictures

I've got heaps more pics, just need to get them off my iPod and onto here. Keep looking out for them! 

Also have you seen how many people have looked at the blog! 1315!!!! That's so many! Keep on looking.

Have a great weekend

Junior Athletics

It's that time of the year again, it's junior athletics time! or it was suppose to be junior athletics time. Due to the massive lake in the middle of  Palmerston Primary school field (which we don't think as gone anywhere) the athletics got post poned yesterday. We will let you know if it is on Thursday. Please keep your eyes posted and keep asking those little people in the junior room.

We hope that it's on as it's a good day out!

Writer and Poet of the week!

It's that time of the week again, it time to reveal writer of the week. This week was such a hard job because everyone is doing really good writing and they should be so so proud of themselves.
This weeks writer of the week is...

JOSH

Josh has come a long way this year in his writing and consistently writes really well. Here is a part of his story that he wrote...

In the weekend we put the cray pot and we left it over night and it was freaky and cool. When we pulled the cray pot up there....

What a great story Josh, sounds like you had lots of fun.

Now for the Poem of the week. I looked at all the poems this week (as I always do) and they were all very good. The poem that really caught my eye this week belonged to...

LIAM

I really liked his mice and how the boarder caught your attention. Well done Liam.

What a week!

Phew it's Friday tomorrow, I must say that we have a busy one on the cards! We are heading to the Library tomorrow which is always fun.
If the weather is like this tomorrow we are going to the the water play out again for choosing. I know that they loved it last week and if it is as hot tomorrow as it was last week then they will have a ball.

We are learning about fractions in the junior room at the moment. We have looked at wholes and halves and we have learnt that both halves have to equal so that it's fair. Next week we will continue to look at halves so if you could please talk about halves and wholes and any other fractions at home this would help to enhance their learning.

TOG DAY TOMORROW!

Well it's that time of the week again....please remember to bring your togs tomorrow, we have had some great success in the pool last week and hopefully again this week. I'll try and get a parent to take some pics of swimming so  that we have some on here.

TOMORROW'S THURSDAY - BRING YOU TOGS!

Week 4 Term 4

Well I can't quite believe how busy we have been in the Junior room, last week it was photo's, swimming, choosing as well as all the good stuff like reading, writing and math. Then this week was started by the Life Education Truck and Harold. We had a blast yesterday in the mobile classroom and we learnt heaps about our bodies and how to keep them healthy, which ties in so well with out topic this term.
Also it's that time of the week were I announce the writer of the week! This week is was someone who has come along way with their writing, they have started using their sight words in their writing and also looking around the classroom and finding the words that they don't know how to spell but they know what they look like. I was very impressed with the story that she wrote, as she wrote the whole thing by herself! Wow.
The writer of the week is....

ELLA

And this is her story...

I went to the pool yesterday and I played on the swing.

What a fab job she did on her story. Well done Ella.

I just wanted to remind you that we still have a book missing and I asked all the children to look at home, so can you please just have a look around the house for it. The sooner we get it back to the library the sooner we can get more books out. At the moment we (the junior room) aren't allowed to get any book for the class room, which is a bit sad. Please please have a look. Thanks

To finish with I took a couple of photo's of choosing on Friday, so here they are...

Writer of the week for week 2

The writer of the week for last week was...

NIKKI

Nikki has been doing some amazing writing in the Junior Room, she is able to use lots of sight words and her sentences and stories are great. She always puts in a lot of effort with her writing. This is her story of the week:

I went out to feed the Zebra and I had a cake.

Great imagination there Nikki, can't wait to read more.

Thanks

I just wanted to say a huge thanks to Haily for the amazing share lunch on Friday. The sushi went down such a treat with all that had some. I think that there was even some for Helen to take home to Ben. Thanks heaps.

This coming week is quite busy, due to the weather last week we didn't get the photo's done. We are hoping that Tuesday is a stunning day with no wind so that we might be able to do them then. So make sure you have your smiles on, on Tuesday if it's a good day.

There are a couple of other things as well but I will update you closer to the time.

Enjoy the beautiful Sunday.

LOST BOOK!

hey parents and students, we have a little problem in the Junior Room. We have lost a book and if it's not found we can't get anymore from the Library for our classroom.

The book is call...

FANTASMAGORIA: AN ATLAS OF FABULOUS CREATURES, ENCHANTED BEINGS AND MAGICAL MONSTERS.

If you could please have a look at home and bring it back if  you have it. That would be great...it would save us from having to get books from our library.

Here's what it might look like (although I can't remember seeing it in the classroom)

Painting, sandpit and puzzles...

As I have told you in a previous post, we have been exploring painting, building in the sandpit and also doing some puzzles. We do these when we have finished something or have some 'free' time (not that there is much of that!) I thought today I would go around and take some pictures of work that was being done. To encourage writing, I have got the children to write a sentence under/on their picture. Here are a couple that were done today...

Eliza's says "Here is the beach."

James says "This is a rocket."

I think they are fab pictures and I love the sentences that they come up with. I also asked the sandpit people to build me a town, here are the results...

I know that when I took the pictures it was a work in progress. These activities encourage oral language and also the key competencies like thinking. 

REMEMBER IT'S THURSDAY TOMORROW SO BRING YOUR TOGS!

Mid week

hey guys, well as you know it was suppose to be photo day today, but the lovely rain, wind and sunshine decided to make this a hard, so we posponed it. The date is in your newsletter and when I find out (I can't remember when it is) I will put it up.

I would like to say a HUGE thanks to Lynley for doing shared lunch and what a great surprise it was having the ice cream truck come along and all the students getting an ice cream. They looked like they really enjoyed it and I know that they enjoyed the party games that you played too. Here is a picture of everyone.

This now brings me to our reading activity of the week, this is part of our shared book and our reading. It helps the class to work independently as well as gain meaning from their books and read between the lines. Last week was the first week we did this and so the best activity was...

Liam

We also have lots going on this week. The seniors are away to athletics tomorrow, so the year 3's will be with the Juniors tomorrow. Haily is making shared lunch on Friday....sushi yummy! And as always there is swimming on Thursday, so don't forget your togs!

Book Sale

What a successful day at the Book sale today! We sold lots of books, lots of sausages and most of the raffle tickets, which we will draw on Tuesday.

I just wanted to say thank you to all our wonderful helpers! You guys were amazing, we couldn't have done it without you.

We also had some fab sponsors that donated some amazing prizes, we had Roller Derby tickets and two gift hampers to name just 3 or our 7 different prizes. Thanks to all how donated something, you really helped make the day!

Have a good rest of your long weekend and we shall see you on Tuesday :)

Friday Friday Friday oh....

Go on sing along you know the song!

Anyway onto tomorrow, we are having a shared lunch tomorrow. It's Pizza and a 'surprise' proudly made by Lynley. Thanks heaps Lynley we are really looking forward to it! Yummy!
Remember to bring a gold coin as a donation to say thanks for a wonderful shared lunch.

We had a fun swimming day today with lots of children learning lots over the term that we took off swimming. I will remind you to bring your togs each Wednesday night on the blog.

We are also off the the library tomorrow morning so remember to bring your library books and we will get new ones.

Now for what you all have been waiting for.....WRITER OF THE WEEK!

There have been many awesome stories this week, lots about birthdays and pets. It was a hard choice this week as everyone has come such a long way with their writing but the writer of the week is....

Louis

Here is his story...

In the holidays I went to Moana pool and I went down the hydro slide 12 times and Josh and Sam got on my back going down the hydro slide. It was fun going down. Josh, Sam, Kutlo and Gus came to my birthday.

Well done Louis sounds like an awesome birthday party.

IT'S BIRTHDAY TIME!

There are a few birthdays this month. I hope that they all have a fabulous time on their special day. I have heard a few stories about a couple of the birthday that happened in the holidays, sounds like they were a lot of fun!

Eva 

Louis 

Gus

HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY!

Term 4

First day of the last term over, what a great day it was! Was good to see all the Junior Room again and hear the stories about the holidays. There are just a couple of things that I need the children to remember...

 1 - PLEASE BRING BOOK BAGS DAILY, in these need to be their yellow book, any books that have been read and need to come back, their PINK spelling book and their sight word chart that they are working on. 

 2 - Although all the Junior Room have done very well with their reading this year, we need to keep up the good work. Please read with your child each night, this will help to secure their reading strategies. 

3- All of the class have a sight word chart in their book bag, these are pieces of paper that are laminated (or the ones that I gave out last term aren't laminated). PLEASE PRACTICE THESE WITH YOUR CHILD EACH NIGHT it will help with their reading. 

 Also we are back into swimming this term, if you can provide transport there is a roster on the notice board with a pen. Please fill in where you are able to provide trasport. You don't have to do it every week there are lots of spaces open. This also brings me to the book sale this weekend. There is a roster on the notice board for this also. I have managed to get some good raffle prizes so come along...more hands make light work is the saying. Well thats about it from me, if you have any questions please just ask :)

MAKE SURE YOU BRING YOUR TOGS ON THURSDAY'S

Book Sale...

Well as you all know it's half way through the holidays. I hope that you are all having a wonderful holiday and that all the Junior Room has had a chance to get out and about. As most of you know we are holding our book sale at Labour Weekend/20th October, if you have any old books can you please drop them off to Sue at the shop. The more books we get the more that we can sell! Also spread the word to all your friends and family about the sale and get them to come along. There will be great bargins, raffles and a sausage sizzle! Go on spread the word and enjoy the last week of the holidays...bring on Term 4!

Term 3 wrap

Here is the long awaited Term 3 wrap slide show. We have been up to so much, a trip the Museum, 3D shapes, golf coaching plus heaps more! Enjoy our wrap up.

Our Maraca's!

First of all let me say that I have been a bit slack when it comes to posting on here. We have been so busy in the Junior Room that I haven't found time to post, so here is a slide show about our Instruments that we made. We did plenty of other things too, so I will put more slide show's to show you what's been happening in our wicked little room...enjoy!

CLUBS!!!!!

It's that time of year again, clubs time!!!! 
All the children are now involved in SO many different clubs, there is mosaic, model making, sewing, fun & fitness, survival skills, Oamaru stone carving and cooking!!
We have been cooking - 
Cupcakes
Pizza
Pumpkin soup
Cheese rolls
corn fritters
Ultimate-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie-n-Oreo-Fudge-Brownie-Bar
Cheese and bacon scones
and there are many more things that we are going to make.

We will be using our pumpkin soup and cheese rolls for our shared lunch tomorrow!!!!! Bring along a gold coin and enjoy some Thai Pumpkin soup and cheese rolls! Nom Nom Nom

I will post photo's tomorrow of the amazing soup.

SPORTS EQUIPMENT!!

I don't know if you have seen the ad's or the little yellow flowers in the side of the milk, but we are collecting them!

The more you collect the more equipment we get as a school. Easy as!

We will be sending a collection sheet home on Monday in the Newsletters, once you fill it up just bring it back to school....it's that easy. You can find the flowers on the side of all Meadow Fresh milk and Meadow Fresh yoghurt.

Go on start collecting now!!!

If you have any questions feel free to ask me!

Have a great weekend

It's been a while!

Wow we can't quite believe it is Term 3 let alone August!!!! Where did the time go? According to Jodee there is only 4 months till Christmas...Mrs Williams says she can't even begin to think about that...not with so much going on in the Junior Room.

This Term we are making our own musical instruments and also making our own piece of music, which we will get on a CD at the end of the Term.

Mrs Williams has change the Room yet again! I'm sure that she changes it at least every two weeks...it's never the same. Not only that but Jodee has started painting the art cupboards and she says that she should have them finished tomorrow (It's going to be a surprise for Mrs P when she gets back from having the Flu)

Speaking of the flu..there is a lot of sickness going around lately, we only had 10 in our class on Monday, 11 on Tuesday and 12 today!!! That's just about as bad as when Mrs Williams gave us all chicken pox!! 

Mrs Williams also said that she is going to put lots more of our stories up here...she says she will start next week.

Hope everyone is having a good week enjoy the weekend :)

So here is the movie that was taken of our Kuapapa performance. We enjoyed doing it as much as you enjoyed coming and watching, for those that couldn't make it here it is!!!

Hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays and that your lounge hasn't been turned into a fort (yet) or is scattered with Lego.

Chicken pox has hit!

As you all know I was away with chicken pox a couple of weeks ago. It's not the best sickness to get but thank goodness you only get it once, or in my Jody's case 3 times.
It has now had it's incubation period and that means that we were only a class of 8 today...such a little class! Was a very interesting day with only half a class.
We have a busy time coming up too, this week we have some visitors in the school on Tuesday, Helen is away on Wednesday afternoon and next week we have someone coming in to help us learn our thing for the Kaupapa Festival, Tuesday we have our trip to the Gas works Museum and then Miss TeRaki is coming in for a couple of days so that we can do our reports...which come out soon too!

To finish this post off I just wanted everyone to know that I am very impressed with EVERYONE'S progress over the last two terms and and am looking forward to the next two to come. Well Done!!!

What you have been waiting for....

We have been super busy in the Junior Room, with Mrs Williams having chicken pox and last week just flying by, we kind of forgot about our stories.
We have been hounding Mrs Williams to put them up and so now she is doing it....FABULOUS!
Just a quick run down first, we all had the same thing to write about. These were Fairies and pirates.
(I have only chosen a few to put up. We are doing some instructional writing at the moment so will get those ones that don't go up now will go up in the future.)
So here we go....
Once upon a time on this island there were fairies and there was oversized mushrooms. The fairies lived in them. The pirates killed the fairy princess because they had taken all her magic. The fairies didn't like that the fairy princess dies so they killed the pirate captain. The pirates got angry and they sent the eagles out to hunt the fairies. The fairies used their magic to kill the eagles and the pirates. In the end the fairies made the princess come back to life and the fairies went back to their mushrooms and the queen went back to her mushroom palace.  Rafi

Once upon a time there were fairies who lived in a haunted house. Then there were mushrooms that had red tops and centaurs sat on the mushrooms. The centaurs went to kill the fairies and the pirates. The fairies used their magic to bring the pirates back to life and they learned to live together and look after each other. The also learned to ride the centaurs and train them not to be bad.  Josh

Once upon a time there was a mushroom  with some fairies how lived in them. The pirates hid from the fairies but the fairies saw the pirates. The fairies waved their magic wand and turned them into frogs.  Bella

Once upon a time there was a magic land and there was witches and fairies and pirates and a queen and a princess fairy. It felt horrible because the pirates were thing to kill the good things. Those mushrooms are call toad stalls but they are not poisonous. The fairies waved their magic wands to explode but the fairy queen got taken because the queen stole the pirates treasure. The fairies killed the pirates and so the fairies got their queen back safely.  Liam


Look out for more in the weeks to come..we are doing lots of writing in the Junior Room.

Our stories

Ok so I've been meaning to get our great Narrative stories up on the blog but I've been sick so wasn't at school for the last couple of days last week. This means that I haven't got the story books at home because the lovely cherubs of the Junior Room need them at school. I will put them up as soon as possible so that you can read them!

Have a good week.

Man we are on fire!

It's been a while since we last blogged, but we have been super busy in the class. We have celebrated 4 birthdays in the last 2-3 weeks, so I might say a BIG Happy birthday to those ones first....

Liam

Bella

Kutlo

Ella

Hope you all have had a fantastic day and had lots of fun with friends and family. 

It's also Mothers Day today as I write this so a HUGE Happy mothers day to all your mum's!! You know who you are!

We have been doing lots of cutting, coloring and making in our class. This happens every Friday, I choose an animal that goes with our letter of the week and we make that animal. So far we have made 

- Quetzal - a south American bird

- Ladybugs

-Tigers

- Viper snakes

and on Friday we all made Wapiti antlers, they looked great and here is a picture of what we looked like with them on!

I think that they look awesome!! I can see that the cutting skill is very much improved since we have started this and I am very impressed with how far they have come! Well done Juniors!

Also remember to look out for the stories that we are writing at the moment, I will try and pop them up here sometime this week! Have a brilliant week...I know that we will!

Term 2 already!

Wow Term 2 has started and is in full swing! We have been really busy in the Junior Room, so has Mrs Williams! She has been doing some cool stuff in our room. We have new areas and things are super tidy, and we like keeping it that way!

We have a new BINGO board in our room, we use it for behavior management, we get to put our name on the board when we are doing something good and then at the end of the day Mrs Williams rolls the BINGO dice and we go to the square that the dice landed on and the person who's name is there gets a dip in the treasure box! We love it!!! The BINGO board has been full everyday since the start of the term!

We also have classroom goals that we choose each morning. These are things like I will stay focussed and I will keep my work neat. There are heaps to choose from and we love making sure that we keep to our goals each day.

We also have a new clock! it's going to help us tell the time, which we are learning in maths soon. Here is what it looks like...

Mrs Williams got the idea off Pinterest and we think it's pretty cool! 

Keep looking for updates, we are back in business!!

Getting ready for Miss Trusler's wedding...

For choosing last week we decided that it would be a good idea to dress up ready for Miss T's wedding that is coming up!
We know that we aren't going but we really liked dressing up for it!
Here are some pictures of us...

Here are some seniors, Izzy & Jess

Here is Sam D looking fab!

Walking up the aisle...

Here they are, B'Kay, Jess, Izzy, Shianne and Sumon

This week Miss T also had a bit of a change around in the classroom, we noticed that Brook's cat, River, always manages to find the library corner. We decided that it was a good idea to name the library corner after him. Welcome to River's Library Corner!