A Civil Engineer Visits Team 8

Today we had a very special visitor. Her name was Kirsten and she is a civil engineer. We learned all about what civil engineers do. 

Did you know that civil engineers design and help to build our roads, bridges, services(sewer and wiring pathways) runways and tunnels?

She showed us a heap of pictures and told us about all the different types of bridges and how they work.

We tried out making bridges with our bodies. Can you guess what type of bridge we are trying to make?

THEN... The most exciting part happened! Kirsten let us build our very own arch bridge. Team 8 did a super job working together as a team to put all the wedges in place. It was a little tricky, we had to check what side of the wedge we were putting towards the middle. 

 Look how strong arch bridges are!!!! we can even stand on them! 

Afterwards, Mrs Clyde told us that the very top wedge of the arch bridge was called 'they keystone'. It is the strongest part of the arch.

We get to keep the 'bridge kits' in our room for the next few weeks, so if you have some spare time come in and have a play - Can you make a bridge that is strong enough for you to stand on?

It was a pretty cool experience. I think that some of team 8 might take this new learning into their Passion projects/Genius time next term!

... watch this space :-)

Anastasia and Jarrett

We are learning to make up words with the same endings...

Today during Reading Anastasia and Jarrett talked about how we can make up lots of words that have the same endings.  

Today we talked about 'at' words.

Here are our selfies that Mrs Grant took (I need some help with taking selfies!!) of the words that Anastasia and Jarrett made up at reading time!

Tom and Jarrett

I spotted Tom and Jarrett during reading on Tuesday making some great choices. 

They were working super hard on the sequencing pictures. 

Here they are with their successful end product. 

Well done boys!

Mrs Grant

Stop, Drop and Draw...

Today we trialed a new way to increase our reading comprehension called Stop, Drop and Draw.

First we read until Mrs Turner said STOP. Then it was time to DROP (close) our books, and DRAW  about what we remembered so far.

Jarrett and Tom are very good at drawing and could remember everything that happened in the story.

The BEST part was getting to talk about our pictures with a buddy. Mrs Turner was extremely proud of all the oral language that came out of this task. Maddie and William especially showed how brave they were at sharing their ideas and took turns talking about their pictures.

What great comprehension this group had! I think we'll give it another go next week!
Great work Team 8!

W.A.L.T. Write Number Sentences

In Mathematics Team 8 are learning to write number sentences.  Like a sentence in writing they need to make sense.  

Team 8 had to share out 7 large buttons with a partner and then write the number sentence on our whiteboards.  

Team 8 were so clever at sharing and writing the numbers, we also helped each other when one of us found it difficult.

Maddie has two.  How many will Anastasia get to make 7?

Ella was an amazing helper.

Great sharing Ryan and Lachie

A perfect number sentence 2+5=7

Jarrett and William were great partners.

Wow Tom, you wrote lots of number sentences.

Our New Whiteboard Table!

Wednesday 8th February
Wow Team 8 have been so lucky.  

Mrs Driver has given us a new table and guess what...we can write on it! 
 Thank you Mrs Driver.

We wrote our words on there at Reading time.  We also wrote our numbers at Maths time!

Mrs Grant was so impressed with all our work she gave us a sticker.

Chloe, Liam and Ryan

Heads down, working hard.

Great numbers Tom.

How many numbers can you write Chloe, Anoji and Jarrett?

Happy number days in Team 8!

You are welcome to come in and try out out whiteboard table.  Ask one of Team 8 to show you what we can do.

Gong Hei Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year!

This week Team 8 have been learning about some of the things we do to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

On Thursday we had a dragon visit! Each of us had a turn at making it dance and move in time to the music. In china, the 'dragon dance' represents wisdom, power and wealth. It is also said to scare away evil spirits and bad luck. We had a heap of fun dancing.

Everyone improved their cutting skills when they cut and made their own Chinese lantern. We decided to make them red as the Chinese people believe it will bring them luck. They are up in our classroom, so check them out next time you pop by!

We also learned about the custom of giving red envelopes -hongbao in Mandarin and lai see in Cantonese. Each child in Team 8 received a red envelope with a 'small' amount of money, and a New Year 'wish'. We learned that it was important to give and receive them with two hands.

2017 is the year of the Rooster. Make sure you come and have a look at the one we have made on our wall using our hand-prints.

Here is a picture of some of us dressed up in traditional Chinese costume.

Are any of you lucky enough to be going to Lantern Festival in Auckland this weekend check it out here? If you are, we'd love to see your photos on Monday.

All the best for the year ahead!

Gong Hei Fat Choy!

Learning about other cultures and different ways of life are important to help students to understand and respect diverse viewpoints, values, customs, and languages. It also allows them the opportunity to acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes that equip them for life in this multi-cultural world. 

                                               -Ministry of Education

Our first day!

Team 8 told Mrs Grant about all the things they knew that started with Bb.

We worked so hard!