Faith and Jamie in Egypt

Wow... you made it safely to Egypt - what a long trip you have had. Thanks for emailing us and sending us a few photos - we were so happy to know you were safe and well. You look like you are enjoying Egypt already!

Farewell to Jamie and Faith

Last Thursday we said our farewells to Faith and Jamie. They are getting ready to leave tomorrow to fly to Egypt where they will live and go to school in Alexandria for the next 8 months.

They were very excited and were telling us lots of things that they wanted to see and do in Egypt. We will miss them and we look forward to seeing them back in New Zealand next year and we can find out what they have seen and done in their time in Egypt.

Travel safe Faith and Jamie, and Nathan (say hi to Mona when you get there) - we are thinking of you.

Koru Poems

WRITERS GOING FROM GOOD TO GREAT!

Over the last two weeks we have been working on a piece of writing to shift it from good to great. Our learning intention was:

To share our creative ideas in our writing so the audience can get a picture of what we see.

The success criteria for this writing was:

* I explain my idea using describing words and verbs
* I build the idea so that the audience gets a better understanding

We used the story Through the Magic Mirror by Anthony Browne as our motivation for writing.




Today we VOTED the best 7 pieces of writing to go up onto the blog. The voted was based on the success criteria and we had to justify why we voted these pieces of writing.

ENJOY OUR STORIES AND SEE IF YOU THINK THEY MET THE SUCCESS CRITERIA - WE WOULD LOVE YOUR COMMENTS!

When I stepped into the Magic Mirror I saw Ponyville. In Ponyville I saw whales dressed up as ghosts and ponies dressed up as dogs and I saw cats walking people. It was freaky! I was walking around because I was looking for the Magic Mirror. I walked into the Magic Mirror again to go back home. The next day I cannon-balled into the Magic Mirror again. I saw balloons everywhere. They had people in them and they popped. I felt scared because I felt like I was one person in a balloon. I went to a different place through the Magic Mirror. It was Christchurch. I was happy because my Grandad lives there. Then… there was an earthquake and I was scared because people were jiggling but the ground was still. I was jiggling and I don’t like jiggling round and round. Then I went and jumped through the Magic Mirror again and I went home.
Caitie

When I stepped into the Magic Mirror I saw dinosaurs. One of the dinosaurs was walking near me and almost ate me but I bought my sharp-play sword and chopped the dinosaur’s neck in half. Then a fairy creature came along with two big sharp teeth and then ran to the volcano. Near the volcano were five dinosaurs playing in a band. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Then a pteranadon came flying and caught me and flew me to her nest and I said, “Do you think I’m your kid?” And it said, “Arrrgh”. I said, “What?” The the pteranadon flew me to the Magic Mirror where I saw the dinosaur neck lying in half in the Hall. Then I stepped into the Mirror and I was home.
Olly



When I stepped into the Magic Mirror I saw an octopus knitting an alive zebra on land. Next I met an apple that had a face and could talk, then another one. There were heaps on the tree – I was surprised! Then I saw a little baby unicorn. It had lost its mother. It ran up to me and I hugged it. It was soft. I couldn’t believe eyes. She looked worried. I looked up and I saw huge giants looking at me. They had big pointy teeth and big sharp claws. Their teeth smelt disgusting because they hadn’t brushed them. I picked up the unicorn and ran as fast as I could. I raced behind a tree and tried to hide. I told the unicorn to be quiet. Then I said, “that was lucky,” as the giants ran past. I was safe and the baby unicorn was too. I was overjoyed! I saw the Magic Mirror so I jumped back into the Mirror with the unicorn tucked under my arm. I saved us both!
Ella


When I stepped into the Magic Mirror I saw a magic house and inside was a cheeky dog that ran into the cupboard. Inside the cupboard was a real supermarket and the dog ate everything in the supermarket. The dog got fat! I went in and I got the sweets but oh no the dog was eating ice cream. The dog and I ran out of the supermarket even though there wasn’t a shopkeeper! We ran mad then I ran back into the shop and got dog meat. Then I got a sword, apple, macaroni, meat pie, sausages and a toy then to get back in the house I ran back into the mirror. My Mum came into the mirror with me. The dog was ferocious to her so she ran with the mean dog behind her going, woof WOOF! My mum just about got bit on her bottom when she yelled an enormous yell! “Help – get me back out of the Magic Mirror. I ran back too – it was a scary mission. I tired to run into the mirror again and donked my head. It must not be magic anymore - boo hoo.
Jack


When I stepped into the Magic Mirror I saw a Magic unicorn with a rainbow horn. “You can have three wishes,” she said. “How wonderful,” I said. “You are so beautiful with your rainbow mane and tail. I could just eat you like a lolly, yummy, yummy, yummy! I love lollies so much unicorn. Thank you. I wish I had a bag of lollies and a pet unicorn. I love you so much. I think I might call you Holly. I like that name for you Holly. I jumped back into the Magic Mirror with Holly tucked under my arm. When I jumped back in the mirror, everything looked normal.
Kyla


When I stepped into the magic Mirror I saw the ocean on a building and in the middle of the ocean was a traffic light. On the traffic light was a wolf climbing up the traffic light. The traffic light was dripping colours of green, orange and red. The wolf was sticking his long tongue out and drinking from the lights. First green came out, then orange, then red. I walked on and suddenly…I saw a flock of monkeys flying in the air. Then I saw some rainbow coloured kangaroos jump past me. I jumped into one of the pouches and went for a ride. I saw the mirror that lead back to my house and scampered out of the kangaroo’s pouch and ran in to the Magic Mirror and I said, “Boy what a ride!”
Nina


When I stepped into the Magic Mirror I saw princesses flying in space. It was funny because they popped and sprinkles came out over their head! Then the sprinkles floated to my mouth. They were so yummy I nearly fainted with happiness but then a lion sneaked up behind me and caught me. It was funny because usually a lion wouldn’t catch me. I went to jump on the lion’s back but the lion ran away. I fell in a puddle of sprinkles. I jumped up and slide back into the Magic Mirror.
Makayla


When I stepped into the Magic shiny Mirror I saw that it was snowing in the summer. The people were wearing their togs with a sweatshirt. It was really weird. There were people with flippers instead of arms and legs – it was so funny. Mars turned into a Chocolate Bar. Then a walking whale came and ate it in one whole bite – that was super strange. There was a playground that was made out of ice cream and chocolate – I couldn’t believe my eyes. I went on a swing with a seat that was ice cream and the ropes were chocolate. Then the seat started to melt. When it finished melting I fell off and crawled back into the Magic Mirror.
Daniel



All student have made a stunning job of their magic Mirror writing and the stories are published in our classroom for you to enjoy. Congratulations to those students whose writing was voted onto the blog - Well done!

Writing Focus for Week 4

Last week, after an earthquake drill at school, we had some discussion about earthquakes but the HOT topic was really about volcanoes and what to do in the event of a volcanic erruption.

We decided that this week we would have a look at volcanoes as part of our writing programme and do some learning about these incredible processes of our world.

There are a couple of YouTube clips to watch on the blog for some spectacular views of active volcanoes.

Watch out for our volcanic writing - it may be explosive!

GALA HELPERS!

Hi Mums and Dads,

If you are able to spend any time supporting the School Gala on Sunday 14th November then we need to hear from you. Please contact me so I can add you to our helpers - it will be a really fun day for all but we can't do it without your help!

The money raised will go towards a new junior playground for the children at School so please get in behind this great fundraiser. THANKS A MILLION!
Linda McPhail

Welcome Back to Term 4!

WOW...we are already a week and a half into the new term and how time flies! This term we are looking at our Red Beach School Community and finding out who does what at Red Beach School.


We have selected some different people around our school to interview to find out what they do and why.



We also want to know how they do their jobs and how they learned to do their jobs.



It will be interesting to gather all our information and SORT IT once we have finished our interviews. Once we have explored our school community, we will look a bit further and out into the communities we live in to find out how they work. Our big question for this term is WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY?

Production Week has arrived...

[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]

Winter Poems

We have been learning how to record our voices using the Easispeak microphone. We recorded our winter poems. Here is a selection of four poems, for you to enjoy, from Chloe, Jamie, Jack and Daniel.

Life Long Learning in Production

MAKING SHOES IN ROOM 25

The Dragons and Eagles reading groups read an article about another classroom that had made shoes. They, with the help of Mum and Dad, made some fabulous and unique shoes to bring along and share with the class.

Below are photos of their shoes.

They are busy now publishing a set of instructions on how to make their shoes using a programme called ComicLife.

Well done shoe makers and parents!

Eagle's and Dragon's Shoes

Daniel's Kakapo Shoes

WRITERS' WALL

Please click on the link at the top left called WRITERS' WALL to take you to our writing blog or click on the title above and you will get to our Writers' Wall blog. Here is where we showcase our writing. Last week we made straw characters and wrote about them. Have fun reading our stories.

Life Long Learning in Room 25

On Friday, we grabbed the chance to reflect on where we were at in our life-long learning. In this video we are sharing what particular life-long learning skills we are developing well in.

There are seven life-long learning attributes that we learn and practise at Red Beach. They are: taking risks, setting goals and making plans, questioning, reflecting, self-motivation, persevering and making connections.

MAKING CLOWNS ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON

We have enjoyed making clowns to go with our story writing. Here is a movie of us at work in Room 25 creating our funny, silly, hilarious, bright clowns.

Nesbert's off on an adventure...

On Friday we said our goodbyes to Nesbert who is moving with his family to another part of Auckland this weekend.

Nesbert has been an awesome member of Room 25 with his bright smile and determined attitude to learning. Nesbert loved having a good laugh with his buddies and he was the early bird who woud come in first thing and jump onto a computer.

Nesbert will be going to a new school on Monday and we wish him all the very best as he meets his new teacher and classmates. We will really miss you Nesbert! We wishyou and your family well as you settle into your new home. Go well!

Lots of Love from your buddies here at Red Beach

Glitter Text @ Glitterfy.com

Our Clown Writing

Clowns have colourful clothes. I like them because they make people laugh. Clowns juggle balls, balloons and much more. My clown’s name is Hannah. My clown can juggle. I love my clown because she takes care of me.
By Caitlin



A clown is really funny! Clowns have baggy, stripy clothes and big long shoes. They have big red noses that sound like a truck honking. A clown has got some flowers on his shirt, and he has got a pistol in his pocket, and when he asks the people to smell the flowers he squirts out water in their faces.

Clowns are super amazing characters! They look rainbow coloured. They make people laugh. Clowns juggle with colourful balls. They dance silly dances and walk and pretend to slip over! They can make animal balloons and they ride little mini cars. Clowns say funny things like ‘boo-hoo’. Clowns use funny voices. If I was a clown I would be called Suzie.
By Ella



Clowns have enormous noses. They are funny. They have colourful hair. They have face paint on them. Clowns have a flower and when people smell near the flower, it squirts at them.

All the time they juggle. Sometimes they juggle balls. They make a big difference because they try to make people laugh. If I was a clown my name would be Chino.
By Olly



Clowns are silly characters! They have baggy, colourful, bright clothes. Their noses are very big and red and they sound like a horn. They have a white background of face paint and they put stars and dots in different colours on their faces. I thought they looked funny.

The first time I saw a clown they looked scary. Clowns make people laugh! They do that by squirting people with a flower. Clowns can juggle balls and plates. If I was a clown my name would be Silly.
By Kate



Clowns are amazing characters. They have baggy clothes. My clown has two patches and my clown has a big fat tie. She sometimes says “Do I have odd socks on?” I say, “Of course you do because you are a clown.” Her hair is pink, purple, green and yellow. Their balloons can be any colour but my clown has a red balloon. My clown is 100 years old!

Once I saw nine clowns. Clowns make people laugh. They do silly things like squirt people with a flower. When I went to the bike ride, a clown squirted me and my Mum with a flower and my Mum wasn’t very impressed.

Guess what…Clowns juggle dice, fruit and plates! Clowns are really, really funny and sometimes clowns can be children. They have red noses and face paint. Their noses sound like a horn. If I was a clown my name would be Furny Wurny.
By Kyla



Clowns are funny. They paint their faces white to make his/her face pop up! There noses make horn sounds like…beep! Their pumps squirt water from flowers to scare people. They hide their pumps in their pockets.

Clowns give cards like Ronald McDonald. They are so silly they make people laugh. They make people laugh by driving tiny cars and saying people are tiny, and then they make them big again. They ride a unicycle and trip over. If I was a clown my name would be… Stinky Me!
By Irinej

A Story Teller Comes to Red Beach

We were so lucky to see Stu Duval in action today at school as he entertained us all with amazing face drawings and story telling. Room 25 were in fits of laughter from the funny sounds Stu made as he told stories and kept us entertained. We loved the setting he drew to develop his story and we made lots of connections between his story telling and what we will be needing in our Production.

We went back to class buzzing with ideas and decided we had to learn how to do alphabet faces. If Stu could start learning to draw cartoon faces at the age of 5, then we figured that we could too.

Below are some of the pictures we drew for Stu to say thank you for coming to share with us. We really look forward to practising a new drawing skill in Room 25.

Mya's Word Cloud for Room 25

Why Blog...?

A Blog is an on-line website where children can access, exchange and receive information from their teacher, their classmates and from other people around the world.

In Room 25, we can use the Blog to:

Share resources and access on-line learning activities

Share our work and learning

Provide up to date information on what is happening in Room 25

Keep in touch with parents and the wider world

It provides opportunities for us to learn outside the classroom

We can learn new ICT skills

It motivates us, it's exciting and fun!!

As you can see the Blog is an amazing tool which has huge potential to enhance our learning.

If you want to see a great youtube clip that gives a really simple explanation about blogging click on the link below and enjoy.

[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]

Guess what we did in the Holidays?

Here are our pictures of our favourite things we did in the holidays. We made a pop-out picture. Here are three stories for you to enjoy. Room 25 did lots of different things in the holidays.

In the cool holidays we went to Kelly Tarltons. First we saw the funny penguins. They had an ankle tag on their feet. We went into the cage of the penguins and after that we went back out of the cage and saw a plastic seal and an orca whale. When the orca got out of the water I got a shock! Then we went to a warm shop. I saw some sharks and fish rings and I saw some pearl necklaces. After we went to the shop we saw them feel the mantarays. When you look at them they really look like they are flying, but under water, and it looks like they have wings. They are so big! I loved going with my sister and my Mum because they love me. At the end I had a race with Amy, my big sister and got a picture.
Chloe

In the holidays I had a fantastic time at Irinej’s house. We played Playstation 2. We played a very cool game. In Star Wars you could turn into any character you want. Then we went upstairs to play with my jet ray gun. We shot Irinej’s sister and then we played with a light in the closet. We liked that. Then we played Lego Batman.
Shiv

In the holidays I searched on the computer and the biggest number in the world, it came up, with was a google plexian. It has 54,784 zeros. There are not that many seconds in your life! It even has a tag – it said biggest number known. 54,784 zeros made my printer print 7 pages! On the first page there are 1528 zeros! That means you can’t count to a google plexian. I think it is a gigantic number.
Jack

Leadership by Room 25

At the end of last term, we explored what it means to be a great leader - we thought that only older people were leaders until we realised that if great leaders are people who guide, care, help others, are responsible, work alongside others and lots more, then we knew that we could also be leaders too. We chose 7 ideas that we thought were important for leaders to be and we made mini movies to show these. This is our first movie so we hope you enjoy - and we know we will get better at making movies.

ABCya! Word Clouds

ABCya! Word Clouds

Make your own word cloud like this one! Click on the link and begin creating...

Being part of a Community!

As part of our learning about bees, we were trying to make connections between how bees live as a community and how we as humans live in communities. Once we knew what would happen if one kind of bee didn't do their job, we had to think about what might happen if in our learning community of Room 25, someone didn't do their job. Our understanding of community was a bit limited so...

Ms McPhail decided it was time for us to experience what happens when someone in our classroom community doesn't do their job! On Monday morning she called the roll and then told us she was not teaching us today! WOW... WIERD... WHAT...! We sat there for a while before it sank in that she REALLY wasn't going to be teaching us. COOL we thought...free time! We jumped up and took off to do the things we wanted to do.

Some of us played on the computers while others grabbed paper and drew pictures. We made hearts and cards for Ms McPhail and we kept on looking at her because....well...things didn't seem quite right!

After about half an hour a few of us were wandering around the room looking for things to do. During the morning we got noisy, we got silly and we even did some things we knew we shouldn't like taking special paper to draw or write on and the worst thing was that during the morning there was a power cut and we had no computers! By lunchtime our classroom looked like a tip and our behaviour belonged in that same tip!

After lunch, we sat down in a circle to have some dialogue time on what had happened and why. Ms McPhail explained that what we had been through was a learning experience to show us what happens when someone in a community doesn't do their job, and how that affects others. We got to share how we felt, and why we had made the choices we did that morning.

It was interesting that most of us felt wierd, a bit strange, and a bit disappointed that we had not done any learning. Although it was fun having free time, we ran out of ideas on what to do quite quickly. We know we could have used the time better, but without someone leading us, we made some poor choices.

This lead into a deeper discussion about structure within a community and leadership, as well as what we need to do to have an effective community in Room 25, or anywhere else where a community operates.

Although we didn't get to do the normal kind of learning that day, we learned a whole lot of other things about ourselves and about working together as a community.

In term 3 we will get to explore this a bit more as we work with our Kakapo Community to create our story in the school production. Watch this space...

Welcome to Room 25s new blog!

In term 2 we have been learning about bees. We visited The Honey Centre in Warkworth to learn more about bees, watch bees in action, and make candles out of beeswax. We have written to bees thanking them for the honey they give us and we have written facts about bees.

We were learning about the similarities between bees and humans. There are lots of things we both do such as gather food(from different places of course), have different jobs to do (at home and at school) to keep things running well, and we eat and sleep. BUT... we get to play, bees don't. They are hard at work everyday!

We have explored what will happen in the hive if a bee does not do their job! It could be a major problem and one that would affect us and everyone on the planet so we are keen to help bees keep doing their job.

Below are photos from our trip to the Honey Centre for you to enjoy!