It is expected that each night your child will, for around 20 - 30 minutes total:
- Practice maths basic fact (with basic facts rocket)
- Read independently or with a family member
- Practice spelling words (these will be stuck into homework notebooks and posted under the spelling tab)
This is due back in class by the following Friday. Could you please sign your child's homework to say that they have completed the above tasks.
____________________________________________________
Term 4
Week 7 - November 24th
Autobiography
This week we have started writing
autobiographies. We learnt that an autobiography is a story about a person’s
life written by that person.
To start with, we are writing about the
beginning of our lives. Interview your families using the below questions and
see what helpful and interesting information they can give you.
The
story begins.
1.
Where
was I born? (City, Country, Hospital, or if not a hospital then where?)
2.
What
time was I born?
3.
How
heavy was I?
4.
How
long was I?
5.
What
is my birth sign and what does it mean?
Week 5 - November 10th
World Kindness Day!
Thursday 13th November is World Kindness Day. In class we will be participating in activities to promote kindness.
Have a look at the below websites to learn more about World Kindness Day and get some ideas about different ways you could show kindness.
Week 4 - November 3rd
Algebra
Can you see what the pattern is?
How many tiles would there be in the 4th ‘plus’ shape?
How about the 10th ‘plus’ shape?
Which ‘plus’ in the sequence would you be able to make with 25 squares?
How many tiles would there be in the 4th ‘plus’ shape?
How about the 10th ‘plus’ shape?
Which ‘plus’ in the sequence would you be able to make with 25 squares?
Are there other questions you could pose?
Athletics
Reflection
We had a fantastic day on Thursday at our
athletics day. It was awesome to see everyone showing off their running,
throwing and jumping abilities. Think about how your day went and use the questions
below to help you reflect on your athletics day.
1.
What
was your best moment from the day?
2.
What
was your favourite event and why?
3.
What
was your least favourite event and why?
4.
Write
a compliment that somebody gave you?
What was a compliment that you gave somebody
else?
Week 3 - October 28th
PERSUASIVE WRITING
Over the past two weeks, we have been learning about persuasive writing. Our first persuasive writing activity was “Monster for Sale”. In this activity, we had to convince another purchase to purchase our monster. Talk to your family about how you tried to persuade someone to purchase your monster. See if they have any helpful tips for you, as the sale is next week.
INQUIRY – BE THE CHANGE!
In class we have discussed what we are not okay with. We had some incredible ideas, but so many of them were related to places outside of our community. We had a very difficult time identifying needs in our community. Talk to your family and see if they have anything they are not okay with in our community. See if they have any ideas how you can be the change!
PERSUASIVE WRITING
Over the past two weeks, we have been learning about persuasive writing. Our first persuasive writing activity was “Monster for Sale”. In this activity, we had to convince another purchase to purchase our monster. Talk to your family about how you tried to persuade someone to purchase your monster. See if they have any helpful tips for you, as the sale is next week.
INQUIRY – BE THE CHANGE!
In class we have discussed what we are not okay with. We had some incredible ideas, but so many of them were related to places outside of our community. We had a very difficult time identifying needs in our community. Talk to your family and see if they have anything they are not okay with in our community. See if they have any ideas how you can be the change!
Week 3 - October 28th
PERSUASIVE WRITING
Over the past two weeks, we have been learning
about persuasive writing. Our first
persuasive writing activity was “Monster for Sale”. In this activity, we had to convince another
purchase to purchase our monster. Talk
to your family about how you tried to persuade someone to purchase your
monster. See if they have any helpful
tips for you, as the sale is next week.
INQUIRY
– BE THE CHANGE!
In class we have discussed what we are not okay
with. We had some incredible ideas, but
so many of them were related to places outside of our community. We had a very difficult time identifying
needs in our community. Talk to your
family and see if they have anything they are not okay with in our
community. See if they have any ideas
how you can be the change!
Week 2 - October 20th
GEOMETRY
Please select one of the geometry activities
below to complete for your homework this week.
You may choose to complete more than one or all of them, if you’d like.
o Find examples of polygons in newspapers or
magazines, glue them on the back of this paper, and name them.
o This week we did a range of activities to
practice identifying shapes including build a polygon, the polygon hunt, and
pick a polygon. Make up a game or
activity that could help students to continue learning about polygons.
o Find a website that supports you in learning
about polygons and put the name of it below so people can use it in class.
o Challenge yourself to find some additional
information about polygons that we haven’t discussed in class. It might be information about polygons with
more than 10 sides or something else interesting you mind find. Write the information on the back or print
out the information from where you found it.
INQUIRY
– BE THE CHANGE!
Talk to your parents about something that has
inspired you this week. Also discuss the
three questions we’ve talked about in class which are listed below.
1.
What
are you not okay with?
2.
What
do you have?
3.
What
can you do?
Term 3
Week 9 - September 15th
Statistics
Week 8 - September 8th
Production
Preparation
This week we have spent time preparing for our
school production, A Breath of Fresh Air.
The production will take place on Wednesday, 17 September and Thursday,
18 September at 6:30.
For the production, we come after a weather
forecast about a heatwave. For the dance
the students will need to wear a Hawaiian (or bright patterned shirt), dark
bottoms and a white t-shirt.
Your homework this week is to make sure you are
prepared for production. This means you
must do the following:
·
Make
sure you have a Hawaiian shirt (or a bright patterned shirt), dark bottoms and
a white t-shirt. These must be at school by Monday, 15 September.
·
Practice
the dance at home.
· Bring in any sunglasses or any other summery
accessories. Please do not bring in
anything that you consider too valuable.
Week 7 - September 1st
Reflection Letter
A lot has happened since Term 1 and having just had or just about to
have our student-led conferences, now is a good time to think back over the
year we have had so far. Write a letter
to the Term 1 you, telling them about what has happened since then. Here are
some questions to help you:
· What has changed since Term 1?
· What have you learnt?
· What are you proud of?
· Is there anything you wish you had done?
· Is there anything you wish you hadn’t done?
· Is there any advice you would give yourself?
Week 6 - August 25th
Electorates
We have been learning about how voting works and learnt that there
are 2 votes to make: one for the party you like the most and one for the person
you want to represent your electorate or area.
Find out as much as you can about the electorate that Maungaraki is
in.
Here are some questions to help you:
· What electorate is Maungaraki a part of?
· What other suburbs are in that electorate?
· Who are the candidates for that electorate and what parties are they
in?
· What policies do the candidates value?
Word Fun
How many different words can you make by rearranging the words Maungaraki School?
Week 5 - August 18th
Parliament
We had a fantastic trip to Parliament and learnt so much! Tell your
family 5 things that you have learnt about Parliament so far this term.
Here are some questions to help you:
· What does Parliament do?
· What is the Governor General’s job?
· How do the members of parliament get their jobs?
· How do they make decisions?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
During our tour we also learnt about the
different people in Parliament and their roles. If you were part of New
Zealand’s Parliament which role would you like to have and why?
Maths Week
It was Maths Week this week. We have been doing daily maths
challenges in class. If you haven’t already, take a look at www.mathsweek.org.nz and try some of their challenges or have a go at some of the maths
games.
Week 4 - August 11th
Having a Voice to
Make a Choice
This week we discussed some vocabulary related to government. We played the Seven Point game with the
vocabulary. To play the game, each
student received a vocabulary word and gave it a point value out of seven based
on how important he/she thought the word was in relation to government. Next, the students paired up and had to give
to words a total value of seven. To do
this, the students had to decide which word was more important. The two words could total seven in any
combination (1 and 6, 2 and 5, 3 and 4).
After giving the vocabulary words values independently and with two
partners, the students totalled up the value of the words. Then the words were ranked based on the value
they received.
Next we had a conversation about how the words were ranked. We were surprised by how high some of the
words were ranked and how low some of the words were ranked. Take a look at some of the vocabulary words
from the game with your family and decide how important you believe they are in
government.
Parliament
Right
Prime
Minister
Responsibility
Labour
Party
National
Party
Green
Party
Mayor
Vote
Elections
Member
of Parliament
Decisions
Community
Personal Narratives
·
Explain the different
between a watermelon story and a seed story to your family member.
· Tell your family member what topic you selected for your seed story.
· Tell your family member what you are working on as a writer.
Tell
your family member what it means to have a strong lead, why a strong lead is
important, and techniques you can use to include a strong lead on your story.
Week 3 - August 4th
Fractions
We’ll be studying fractions in Term 3. This week we did different activities to
introduce fractions. Tell your parents
three interesting things you learnt about fractions this week. You can use the statements below to help get
you started:
· A fraction is…
You
can use the fraction below to help you talk about these topics.
Making Decisions
This week in class we talked about who makes decisions in our
classroom. We listed decisions that were
only made by the students, decisions that were only made by the teacher, and
decisions that were made together. With
your family, think about who makes decisions at home. Who decides what’s for dinner? Who decides what time to wake up in the
morning? Who decides whose job it is to
do the dishes? Who decides on
bedtimes?
Complete the Venn Diagram on
the back of the page.
Week 2 - July 28th
Probability
In class we are learning that probability is the likelihood of
something happening. We have learnt to
describe probability in words and in numbers.
Please talk to your parent about the probability line below and the
vocabulary we can use to express probability.
Discuss some events that could be placed on the line and where they
belong. Also, explain to your parent
some of the probability experiments we did this week and how we can use numbers
to explain probability.
Check out our experiments here.
Personal Narratives
In the first half of Term 3 we will be writing
personal narratives. This week we learnt
three different strategies we can use to generate ideas for writing when we are
stuck. Talk to your parents about those
three strategies and explain how you’ve used one of them.
Check them out here.
Class Expectations
On the first day of Term 3 we received our class
expectations. Please tell your parents
at least three things that are expected in the classroom. Also explain the positive and negative consequences
in Room 8.
You can review them here.
Term 2
Week 9 - June 30th
Term 2 Reflection
This is
the last week of Term 2 and we have been learning lots of different things
throughout the term. Think back over the things we have done and write down 5 things that are the most memorable
for you.
To get you
started, some of the things we have been learning about include energy (sound,
heat), explanation writing, writing instructions, fossil fuels, renewable
energy, character traits, inferencing, context clues. There was also electives,
syndicate singing and cross country.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How to Project
This week we
have been learning about instructions and have started writing our own
instructions to teach the class how to do something. We will be presenting
these to the class in the form of a video, photo presentation, drawings, live
in front of the class or any other way you can think of.
Week 8 - June 23rd
Character Traits
In class we are learning that authors don’t
always directly tell us about a character’s traits. We know that great readers can infer character traits by reading about
what the character says, does, and feels.
We have learnt that we can provide evidence from the text of these
traits. Complete the character trait boxes
below with a character from a book or movie that you’ve read or watched with
your family.
Character: ______________
Character Trait 1
|
Character Trait 2
|
Character Trait 3
|
The
character is _______
because in
the story or movie he/she says
|
The
character is _______
because in
the story or movie he/she does
|
The
character is _______
because in
the story or movie he/she feels
|
Maths
This term our maths learning has been about
multiplication and division. Our
learning has been different due to cross grouping. Spend some time telling your family some of
the things you have learnt about multiplication or division in your maths
class.
Some conversation starter ideas:
· I know that multiplication is…
· I know that I can solve multiplication problems by…
· I know that division is…
· I know that I can solve division problems by…
· One thing new I learnt this term is…
· I have been really successful at…
· I can continue to work on…
Week 7 - June 16th
Renewable Resources
We have learnt that because there are limited amounts of fossil fuels they are non-renewable resources. This week we started learning about renewable resources, the alternative to non-renewable resources. Talk to your family about some of the renewable resources that we have discussed in class. See if you can find any other types of renewable resources. You are welcome to include information you find here or just have a conversation with your family.
Maths Blog
Maungaraki School has a new feature to its website, a maths blog. Please take time to check out the blog sometime this week. Write your three favourite things you did on the maths blog.
1.
2.
3.
Week 6 - June 9th
Making Inferences
This week in
reading we have been learning how to make inferences to help us understand what
we are reading. We learnt that we use
what we read in the text and what we already know to make an inference.
Read these passages and show your family how to
make an inference.
I see bubbles
rising. I hear my own breathing. The tank feels heavy on my back. There are
fish swimming above me. I feel the
seaweed swaying.
I can hear screaming and
laughter. The wheels go clack, clack, clack on the track. My stomach feels
funny. Can you see my hair blowing? I’m feeling excited!
Fossil Fuels
This week
we have been learning about fossil fuels. In class we thought about what we
already know about fossil fuels and what questions we had. Some of our
questions included:
·
How many
different types of fossil fuels are there?
·
How do we
use fossil fuels to make energy?
·
How do we
get fossil fuels from the ground?
Explore
these websites and see what new information you can find out about fossil
fuels. You may even be able to answer some of our question. You can post any interesting facts you find on our fossil fuels padlet
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/energy/ecostats/
http://tiki.oneworld.net/energy/energy3.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3G-ox9AwFs
http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=nonrenewable_home-basics
Week 5 - June 2nd
Family Task
There have been some new posts on the blog over
the past couple of weeks. This week’s homework task is to comment on the blog
using these guidelines and starters. Some great extension would be challenging
your family to comment or commenting on someone else's comment!
If you have an idea for a blog post based on
what we have been learning in class, write it down and bring it to school.
*If you do not have a computer available, you
can come in before school and use a computer in the classroom to comment.
Family Discussion
We have learnt some interesting things about electricity
this week. We found out how a dam generates electricity and how a bird can
stand on power lines without being hurt.
Week 4 - May 26th
Context Clues
This week in
reading we have been learning how to use context clues when we don’t know the
meaning of a word in the text. We learnt
that we can try to use one of the following strategies to help us figure out
the meaning of an unfamiliar word:
1.
Find
a synonym – you might find a word with the same meaning.
The homework was more
complicated, or difficult than she had first thought.
2.
Find
an antonym – you might find a word with the opposite meaning.
Even though some of
the dogs were very docile, others
were very mean.
3.
Find
an explanation – the word might be explained in the same sentence before of
after the unfamiliar word
Jo was exhausted, she could hardly keep her eyes open.
4.
Find
an example – right after the word, an example may be given
Celestial
bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars can be
seen in the sky.
See if you can
find an unfamiliar word in a text (book, newspaper, online) and try using one
of the strategies above. If you can find
an unknown word, write the sentence on this page and tell what strategy you
used to try to find the meaning of he word.
Explanations
This term,
we’ll be writing explanations. Talk to
your family about the success criteria for explanations. Tell them what we decided our explanations
must have and what they can have.
Week 3 - May 19th
Insulation Experimentation
Next
week we’ll experimenting with different insulators. Discuss with your
family what insulation is and its purpose. Bring in two materials that
you think will make a good insulator for an ice cube.
Family Discussion
Daily 5
We
have started a new reading programme this term called the Daily 5.
During the Daily 5, you have five different choices available to you:
read to self, read to someone, word work, work on writing, and reading
technology. Tell your family about the purpose of each of these choices
and what the expectations are while you work on each of them.
Sound Energy Experiment
This
past week, we conducted an experiment about sound energy using a
balloon. Explain to your family what you did and what you learnt.
Write down three things that you are curious about following the
experiment.Week 2 - May 12th
Energy
The theme for our inquiry this term is ‘switched on to switching off’. We will be looking into these big ideas:
- What is energy?
- Where does energy come from?
- How do we use energy?
- How can we be responsible users of energy?
Talk
to your family about our introduction to energy this week. Look at the
websites below and write down 5 interesting things that you find about
energy. If you find some other great websites about energy share them
below!
1. ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
5. ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Family Discussion
This
past week, we have setting goals for our learning. We have been
thinking about the things that we can already do and some things that we
might need to work on.
Talk
with your family about some things that you do outside of the
classroom. These could include things such as helping your family,
playing sport, playing music, cooking, going to dance classes, martial
arts, etc.
Think
about what you can do now, try to be specific. For example, I can pass
the ball straight in football. Write what you can do below.
I can _________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Think
about something you would like to work on. It could be a particular
skill or it might be something you want to achieve by the end of the
term. For example, I want to move up to the next belt in karate. Write
your next step/goal here.
I would like to __________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Week 8 - 28th March - 4th April
Author’s Purpose Task
In class, we have been discussing the author’s
purpose, or why the author writes what he or she writes. You should be able to tell your family what
PIE stands for. If you need some help,
go on the classroom blog.
After teaching your family about PIE, please
find three examples from newspapers, magazines, the internet, or any other
source. Please cut them out and glue
them on this page with the author’s purpose written next to them. We will share them in class and the class
will guess what the author’s purpose was for each item.
Family Task
In class we’ve discussed blogs and we have taken
a closer look at the classroom blogs from Maungaraki School. This week’s homework task is to comment on
the blog using these guidelines and starters. We started writing comments in our writing books and have taken these home with us. Some great extension would be
challenging your family to comment or commenting on someone else's comment!
*If
you do not have a computer available, you can come in before school and use a
computer in the classroom to comment.
Week 7 - 21st - 28th March
Instead of maths problems this week we are going to do a word challenge!
Word Challenge
Using
the BrainTracker grid below, how many words can you find? Each word must
contain the central F and no letter can be used twice, however, the
letters do not have to be connected. Proper nouns are not allowed, however,
plurals are. Can you find the nine letter word?
Excellent: 28 words. Good: 22 words. Average: 19 words.
Excellent: 28 words. Good: 22 words. Average: 19 words.
Family Discussion
We have been
learning about the water cycle. Please
have your child explain the diagram below to you. If you need some assistance, take a look at
our classroom blog.
_________________________________________________
Week 3 - 21st - 28th Feb
Math Word Problems
1. I have 3 pencils. The pencils are 17cm, 9cm,
and 12cm long. What is the total length of my pencils?
2. Ben was practicing throwing a ball. The first
throw was 16 metres, the second was 12 metres and the third was 17 metres. How
far did he throw the ball all together?
Family Discussion
This past week, we
have been measuring lengths. We created benchmarks for one metre and half a
metre to help us estimate lengths.
Tell your family at
least 3 of the things that you found around school that were about 1 metre.
Find 3 things around
your home that are about one metre and 3 things that are about half a metre.
Draw a picture of each one.
_________________________________________
Week 2 - 14th - 21st Feb
I apologise for not sending the homework books home today. I hadn't managed to print off the spelling lists to be glued in. This will happen on Monday. In the meantime, the spelling words are under the spelling tab and anything needing to be written down can be done on a piece of paper and glued in on Monday.
Maths Word Problems
1. There are 16 students on the playground. Seven more students showed up. How many children are there now?
2. There are 9 blue marbles and 7 yellow marbles in a bag. Alexander put 8 more marbles in the bag. How many marbles are in the bag now?
Write down the important information in the question that you need to solve the problem, then draw a picture to show how you figured it out and write the number sentence to go with it.
Family Discussion
This past week, we were scientist classifying
sea animals. We classified them into six groups: mammals, fish, birds, molluscs,
echinoderms, and crustacean.
Tell your family at least one
characteristic or feature that you remember about each group. We learned more than one, so see how many you
are able to remember and share.
Here are a couple examples to help you get
started:
§ Echinoderms have no eyes, brains, or hearts.
§ Molluscs have soft bodies.
Now it’s your turn. Keep on sharing what you know!
§ All fish have…
§ All birds have…
§ All crustaceans have…
§ All mammals…
__________________________________________________________
We are going to the planetarium, that is a museum about stars and planets.. The stragey I used was example.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic example! Thanks so much for sharing.
Delete