Week 2, Term 4

Whew week two already!  Thanks to those parents who came down to support their children on Athletics Day on Friday.  It was great to see so many parents from Room 18 on the sidelines.  Also thanks to Te Ani's Mum for helping Miss Manson with shotput.

This week we are learning...

Maths
This week our classes continue to work on developing knowledge and strategies for multiplication and division and fractions.  There are lots of fun activities that you could do at home to help with fractions.  Baking or cooking is excellent as many measurements are written as fractions.  Children could practise cutting food into halves, quarters, sixths etc.  Children enjoy working with playdough and this is another great way to reinforce fractions.  

Reading 
This week's objectives remain the same as last week.  It is important to get your child to retell the story once they have read it.  Discuss the main idea of the story, and what the author's purpose was for writing the story.  If your child is watching a DVD at the weekend take the opportunity to reinforce reading skills by turning on the subtitles.

Writing
We are into our second week of Narrative Writing.  The children are using their imaginations well and we are getting some really interesting fairy tales.  This week our focus is on writing interesting leads to hook our readers.
Our writers workshop focus for the week is:

• writing a strong lead
• crafting a lead
• the give away
• selecting the right lead

Inquiry

This week in our inquiry we are looking at the difference weather makes on Christmas celebrations around the world.  We will begin shaping our supporting questions and begin planning our inquiry.  Keep helping your child gather research on their country.  We will be collating this information and putting it into our own words in class after camp.  

Reminders

• Our first softball session is on Wednesday.
• Our second golf session is on Thursday.
• Children need hats at school.  Hats are compulsory in Term 4.

Term 4 2011!!

Welcome back to Term 4, 2011.  There are eight weeks of school left for this year!

This week we are learning:
Maths
Room 17: Multiplication and Division.
Room 18 and 19: Fractions.  In Room 18 we will be identifying fractions, naming fractions and ordering fractions.

Reading
This term we will continue working on using "I think that means..." to retell the story we have read.  This strategy has shown great results in our recent benchmarking tests for reading.  We will also be looking at 'authors purpose'.  This is where we decide whether the author wrote the story to entertain us, educate us or persuade us.
Tigers: "I think that means..."
Vampires: "I think that means..."
Cats: "I think that means..." and clearing roadblocks.
Kiwis: "I think that means..." and deep 5
Lions: "I think that means..." and deep 5

Writers Workshop
This week we start our unit on narrative writing.  A narrative follows this scaffold:
Title
Orientation: who, where, when?
Complication: what is the problem?
Resolution: how is the problem solved?

Inquiry
Our inquiry for this term is "Christmas Around the World."  We will be comparing and contrasting Christmas in New Zealand to Christmas in other countries.  We will look at traditions, celebrations, foods, events, weather etc.

Reminders
Athletics day is Wednesday.  Please ensure your child has suitable lace up sneakers, warm clothes, sunscreen, sun hat, water bottle and a safety pin.

On Thursday we have our first Golf Lesson  from Hazel Batey.  Please ensure your child has suitable footwear and warm clothing.

Sunhats are compulsory in Term 4.  It is time to hunt out your school sun hat and bring it back to school.

Week 10, Term 3!

This week is the last week of Term 3!

On Monday we will be completing the PAT maths test in our maths classes.  This is a norm referenced test and helps when forming an overall judgement on your child's achievement against the national standards.

On Thursday we will complete the Sspa spelling test which is another norm referenced test. This will give us an indication on how your child has progressed with their spelling since February when we last completed this test.

We have a few other general class assessments to complete this week for the end of term.

Please ensure your child gets plenty of sleep and eats a nutritious breakfast each morning.

Our soccer tournament was completed on Friday, however the children will continue to practise for athletics this week (Tuesday and Thursday).  Please ensure your child is wearing sneakers on these days.  Many girls particularly are wearing shoes which make it very difficult for them to run and jump properly.

Treat day will be Thursday.  Your child will receive a notice this week if they are eligible to attend.

Please remember to send in a packet of biscuits and for camp.  We are also looking for prizes/treats for children to spend their camp money on when they return from camp.  Thank you to the two families in Room 18 who have already contributed.