Monday, 31 March 2014

Ted Hughes

This morning we were introduced to Ted Hughes, a former poet laureate. We analysed one of his poems and hitch-hiked on some of his ideas. A real focus is to improve our vocabulary, please leave a comment below to tell us how we are doing.

Capturing the Summer
Ruairi

The crawling summer, the crawling summer
I got up in darkness 
With all the fog and cloud
To hunt her and catch her
The fan of the bird blowing wind.

The sun setting the land alight
As day continues with the dim light
Discovering the grey world
It sluggishly moves over
Continuing its journey.

The quiet summer, the quiet summer
The sun hiding in behind the alps
Bringing darkness upon the world again
As I ride back home
Into the darkness.

http://sciencelakes.com/data_images/out/16/8819366-mountain-sunset.jpg


The Last Days of Summer
Isaiah

The sun seems grey in the early morning
The ghostly summer, the ghostly summer 
The sun ascending to the sky
Sun casting its light on the late summer flowers
The fading summer, the fading summer
Drifting lazily toward the mountains
To begin its descent
As the moon climbs slowly from the ocean
The fleeing summer, the fleeing summer.

http://www.jogjis.com/stock/beautiful-sunrise-beach-wallpapers.jpg


The Fading Summer
Fritha

I got up at dawn
In the still, cold morning
As the clouds try to overtake the sun,
But the sun wins.

The bright sun settles in the sky
As it tries to stay there
It wriggles and squirms
Like it's trying to fight something.

Finally it gives in and slowly descends
Behind a peak and falls asleep
The moon ascends from under the sea
And awakes from its deep slumber.

 http://www.findnaturewallpapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/sunrise-beach-wallpaper-135.jpg

 
The Fading Summer
Bonni

The fleeing summer, the fleeing summer
I got up at dawn
It was still
The shimmering light
As it got brighter and brighter.

The bright summer, the bright summer
The sun was glowing
Behind the red, pink and blue clouds
There is an amazing sun.

The creeping summer, the creeping summer
Going down down down
The hills are pushing it down
And the moon is rising up.

 http://asparkofmoonlight.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/moon-stars-and-clouds.jpg
 

The Silent Summer
Adam

The majestic summer, the majestic summer
I awaken to diminishing light
Glistening dew dances with the light
A ghostly glow appears with the early morning light.

The dark summer, the dark summer
As the sun ascends, it smiles
The sun's rays heat a spider hiding in the grass
An exhausted little beatle
Stops under a yellow rose
As the light starts to fade.

The silent summer, the silent summer
A quiet evening dusk
Seems magic at the sight
The sun hides behind the hills
And the sea spits out the moon.

http://ayay.co.uk/backgrounds/nature/beaches_and_coasts/Moon-over-Sea.jpg
 
The Fading Sun
Sophie

The fleeing summer, the fleeing summer 
I wake in early morning
Dark, misty mornings
Dew glistening from the beams of light.

The ghostly summer, the ghostly summer
Sun rising above the sea
Creating a pale glow
Over the mountains.

The fading sun, the fading sun
Light creeping away behind the crimson clouds
As the sun descends
The moon creeps up on you.

 http://homepages.which.net/~rex/bourne/photos/gallery14.jpg
 

The Fading Summer
Braeden

The fleeing summer, the fleeing summer
I awoke at dawn
I see dew on the grass
Still in the morning light
Coolness on my arms.

The creeping summer, the creeping summer
The sun was brightening up
The clouds came up
They sky is blue.

The clouds fade away
The sky darkens
The sun gets gobbled up
By the mountains.  

http://vionnaswatching.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/morning_dew.jpg


The Fading Summer
Louis

As the sun triggers the silk - like clouds to alight
A fish bathes in its pond
Trying to get the last of the summer sun.

The fresh dew evaporates
As the sun rises high in the sky
Although the day is bright and sunny
It's colder than the last.

As the sun drifts into the almighty jaws of the alps
The moon arises from hiding.

http://m9.i.pbase.com/o3/96/635896/1/137918619.Bex9ETT3.settingsun_ilview.jpg

Zones Swimming

Last Thursday Emily, Louie, Louis and Chloe represented St Martins at Wharenui Pool for the zone swimming competition.
All three swimmers did themselves proud and Emily and Louie have qualified for Canterbury Champs!!

Results:
Louie - 1st 10yr boys breaststroke
          - 2nd backstroke
          - 2nd freestyle relay

Emily - 2nd 9 year girls breaststroke

Louis - 3rd 10yr boys freestyle
          - 4th breaststroke
          - 2nd relay

Chloe - 10yr girls breaststroke - unfortunately disqualified after losing her goggles.

Congratulations Team, these are awesome results!

Thursday, 27 March 2014

Maths Club

Four of our maths whiz kids in Room 12 have started attending Mr and Mrs Roberts maths club at 8am on Tuesdays. Louie, Jake, Findlay and Adam have come to school buzzing after being challenged with different maths problems such as factors of numbers

http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/beginning-algebra/section_04/91b8000d88f296d482d96a6482a5b21e.jpg 
fun soduku type problems

 http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/12/6/1354799979333/Sudoku2366easy.jpg

and loads of other challenging yet fun maths that they cooperate to complete. These boys love the challenge of this club.

Congratulations boys on taking up this challenge and being the only Year 6 boys in our school that have. I am very proud of you!!

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

More Swimming

It was great to see a couple of parents come along today to check out our progress.

Nguts is getting way more confident in the water, Findlay is swimming really smoothly, and it is great to see most of the children listening attentively to instructions.

Listening to instructions

Maia getting a little help on her back

This group is learning the kicking technique for sidestroke

This group was looking to add to the amount of freestyle strokes they could swim in a row


Our best wishes go to super swimmer Louie, Louis, Chloe and Emily who are representing us at Zone swimming at Wharenui Pool tomorrow. Swim fast guys!!

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Swimming Lessons Day 2

Some of Room 12 are beginning to get tired already with their intense daily swimming lessons. Please keep an eye on this at home. One group had to tread water for a whole minute!
Parents, you are more than welcome to come along and watch our lessons - this week they go from 12.30 to 1pm each day, next week they are from 2pm to 2.30.
Check out the pics below and see who you can recognise.









Monday, 24 March 2014

Swimming Lessons

Today we began our swimming lessons at Pioneer Pool. We will be going each day for the next two weeks.

This afternoon the class were split into three groups - two were in the main pool and one in the lesson pool. I saw Chloe and Louis confidently swimming backstroke lengths at a speedy pace, I saw Amelia diving into the pool with great style, and I saw Isaiah and Jaden competently showing off their freestyle stroke.

It is great that so many of our class already attend swimming lessons - it is such a crucial part of our New Zealand lifestyle. I am sure that all children will benefit from this intense period of tuition.

Awesome effort today Team, I was proud of you!

Ms Saxon.

http://resources.ccc.govt.nz/images/cityleisure/recreationsport/facilities/pioneer/RSUPioneerswimsmart-sml-ls.jpg

Life Education Session Two

This morning Amanda at Life Ed gave us our second session. We focused on food groups, looking at labeling, and what our bodies need to be best ready for learning and life.

We had just had our morning fruit snack before we arrived so were primed and ready! We had a chat about fizzy drinks and a few of our children admitted to drinking too much of this and eating too many lollies! It was interesting as this is quite evident in our classroom learning environment. I know it is difficult as a parent to keep a lid on this - especially with them so readily available as we leave the supermarket! It is great to see so many of our children having daily physical exercise and great lunches while at school. Keep up the great work parents!

The children have been asked to be 'supermarket detectives' while shopping to see what is contained in certain items.

Thanks to our Room 12 superstars for showing such great interest and manners during our Life Ed visits.

http://www.lifeeducation.org.nz/site/lifeedutrust/images/basic_theme/logo.gif

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Life Education Session 1

This morning we visited the Life Ed van for our first session.
We learnt about the three body systems - digestive, circulatory and respiratory. We learnt which body parts were associated with each one and what they did.
Room 12 showed great enthusiasm towards the competitions and loved singing along to Harryoke!!
We do our second visit on Monday morning.




We borrowed a gorgeous book called I Want To Be  by Thylias Moss. We started doing some cool art related to it.

 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5107ETST8WL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
We already knew that our bodies need three things to survive:
  1. Water
  2. Food
  3. Oxygen 
 http://aspanational.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/water-drop.jpg
http://www.danny.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/healthy-food.jpg

     





http://www.clements.net.au/cms/store/categories/categories_48_1.jpg

    Monday, 17 March 2014

    Maths in Room 12

    At the moment in Room 12 we are focusing on addition and subtraction, however we have very different learning happening within that.

     http://www.abcteach.com/free/c/circlergb.jpg
    Our circles group last week looked at adding by splitting tens and ones.
    Like 32+16 = 30+10 = 40 and 2+6 = 8
    then 40+8 = 48

    Today we 'borrowed' numbers to jump to tidy numbers to help our adding.
    Like 7 + 15 = 15 + 5 = 20
    20 + 2 =22

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Animated_construction_of_Sierpinski_Triangle.gif
    Our triangles group has learnt a new subtraction strategy called 'jumping the number line'.
    If we have 256 - 84 =
    We can start at 84 and jump to the tidy number of 90 (this is +6)
    Then jump to 100 (this is +10)
    Then jump to 200 (this is +100)
    Then jump to 250 (this is +50)
    Then jump to 256 (this is +6)
    We can then add up all our addition to make 172.

    This group has clicked onto this strategy really, really well!

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Ski_trail_rating_symbol-blue_square.svg/600px-Ski_trail_rating_symbol-blue_square.svg.png
    Our squares group are working on adding and subtracting decimals to two decimal places.  They are able to use a range of strategies like borrowing or algorithms. All these maths whizes have a great range of strategies to call on which is fantastic.

    Wild Ideas

    This morning we read a poem by Ashleigh Young and talked about imagination, being daring and creative.
    Check out our fast improving writing below.

    Into the Beyond
    Chloe

    They are wild my ideas
    You can see them
    But you will never be able to catch them
    As I sit on the bench and watch them
    As they trot into the unknown.

    The damp grass I try to dodge
    As I try to find them
    The unknown streets out in from of me
    They could by flying, jumping or galloping
    Into the beyond.

     http://www.worldculturepictorial.com/images/content_3/horse-galloping.jpg
     

    Nguts

    They're wild my ideas
    Fast and smart
    Taking me to a jungle
    With a swamp
    Full of alligators
    Wanting to eat me
    I run away
    To a safer place
    And look for food
    Apples, bananas, grapes and pears
    I eat them
    Feeding my wild ideas
    So they can take me home.

     http://www.whateats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Alligator-Matthew-Field.jpg


    Into the Beyond
    Allan

    They're wild my ideas
    Bright and colourful 
    Taking me on a horse
    Into a spooky forest
    Where I see broken trees
    Old
    And broken by the wind.

    I search for a lake
    To jump into
    Fresh water
    Cold on my tongue
    Drinking it in
    Making me excited
    Getting lost
    I turn back
    I run
    Towards my wild ideas.

     http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/10909890.jpg
     

    Desert of Ideas
    Ruairi

    They're wild, those things
    They speed around
    Throwing you off and racing away
    There's only one colony
    You catch them and they pull you away.

    Through the depths of my imagination,
    Over the hill of my creativity,
    Under the ocean of my uniqueness
    Above the clouds of my daring
    Round the desert of my ideas.

     http://www.desertroseracing.com/wp-content/themes/desertrose/images/bg-dunes2.jpg
     

    The Wild Winds
     Ruby

    They're wild my ideas
    You watch them glisten in the sun
    You can see them gallop with the breeze
    You never touch them if you try
    Their mane flows in the wind like a river
    They never stop once they start
    As you gallop in the wind. 

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Cirrus_clouds2.jpg


    Into the Beyond
    Sophie

    They're wild, my ideas
    You can watch them skim across the filed
    But you can't go near them
    They'll flinch and twist trying to get away
    I grip them tight
    As they take me into the unknown.

    Handing me endless options
    I can leap, fly, climb or run
    Into my wildest dreams
    And beyond.

     http://www.earth-photography.com/photos/Miscellaneous/Nature/Germany_OnTheRoad_Fields1.jpg


    Braeden

    They're wild my ideas
    They take me to the beach
    They twist and try to throw me off
    But I hold on tight.
    They gallop on the wet sand
    I see the sea crashing on rocks
    I see surfers falling off boards
    Where do wild ideas go when they gallop home?


    http://img.wallpaperstock.net:81/wild-beach-wallpapers_31180_1920x1080.jpg


    Into My Dreams 
     Ngaire

    My ideas are wild
    They call, reaching out,
    But you could never catch them,
    All too soon, they disappear into the distance
    A swirling mist, strong and fearless.

    Someday I think I'll ride one,
    Hold on tight,
    Allow them to take me,
    Take me into my dreams,
    Lose myself in joy,
    Drowned by my happiness,
    Riding into the unknown.


    http://welcometothebigleagues.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dream21.jpg


    Into the Beyond
    Adam
     
    I spectate
    Shadowy figures
    Frolicking on the ancient ground
    As their vile horns flinch
    You can try
    But you'll never catch them
    Once I snatched the tail of the wildest one
    It dragged me into the unknown.

    Riding through the dusty plains
    On a hunt
    Up above the small small ones run
    As we reach our destination
    The bridge to beyond has begun
    And we wander into the darkness.

    http://walipaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Imagination-Wallpaper.jpg

     


     

    Wednesday, 12 March 2014

    Canterbury Triathlon

    Huge congratulations to Louie and Chloe who are representing us at the Canterbury triathlon today at Pegasus.
    Awesome effort guys! We can't wait to hear how you do.


    In breaking news - Louie placed 36th out of 123 in the ten year old boys and Chloe placed a remarkable 21st out of 94 in the ten year old girls!! Goooooooooo!

     
    https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-qhng7CRV8lCWyvbCtQ_XWDs_pLg71ROwePdOPs6NTpfslXMLaCyeN73AicrRtiuCTeRl8iLM8xMwcj6R6_TyCfYzPP_kU_lJ3nJ6c0DTpdLGL2CTcfqVehJreYs26VIejbzUCVTq63U/s1600/triathlon+pic1.jpeg






    Tuesday, 11 March 2014

    Weetbix Tryathlon

    Congratulations to Emily, Claudia and Fritha who competed in the Weetbix Tryathlon at the weekend. The race was at Jelly Park and they had to swim 100m, cycle 4km and run 1km.

    Did you know that they are part of the biggest children's triathlon in the world?!!

    Awesome effort girls, we are proud of you.


    Monday, 10 March 2014

    Weather Poems

    This afternoon we looked at a storm poem and talked about personification. Can you spot some of our super language in the poems below?

    Emily

    Winds hurry across the deep blue sky 
    The sky darkens
    Grey rugged clouds loom.

    Bombing thunder rolls against the sky
    Torrential rain cracks in the distance
    The incessant lightning strikes across me.

    Tropical rain flees across the sky
    Grey clouds lighten
    Dark sky fades
    Sun rises from its habitat.

    http://captainkimo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dark-looming-clouds-over-juno-beach-floirda-hdr-pier-beach-lifeguard-tower-4.jpg


    Adam

    Wind howls in pain
    Clouds become lured in by the sound
    A flash lights the night sky
    A boom echoes off the valley walls.

    A flash strikes the hill
    The sky roars in anger
    Fear grows inside
    The sea swells.

    Wind calms down
    Clouds back off
    Stars appear
    And the moon slides out from its hidey hole.

    http://biocycle.atmos.colostate.edu/~marek/storm/nightstorm_4a.jpg


    Ngaire

    The sky darkens
    Twists and turns
    The wind howls.

    Lightning displays fury
    Bursting through the black
    Accompanied by a boom,
    A crash.

    But the ferocious scream starts to fade
    The sky stretches and yawns,
    As if waking up from a dream
    Clouds wander away,
    Exposing a beaming sun.

    http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2011/079/5/0/dark_sky_by_modestc14w-d3c442h.jpg