Art in Piwakawaka Room

As part of our Swimming Programme this term, Room 1 joined Room 0 to learn about Water Safety. We celebrated all the new things we learnt by creating some under water art together. First we used bubble wrap to print our green and blue backgrounds. We then coloured in our fish and scuba masks using pastels. Finally, we made the bubbles using cotton balls dipped in white paint and wrote our names inside.

Here is the finished product. Thank you Skippy (Eloise's Dad) for taking one with me in too :)

Chase also asked if we could learn some more about our ancestors and our family trees. A couple of weeks ago a family tree template was sent home and they were all filled out beautifully - thank you! We then used these to talk about the importance of our families and where we come from. Using this information, we began making our very own family trees. We coloured our tree trunks on a bumpy surface so that they looked like wood. These represent our "roots" and where we come from. We then painted our hands and used these to create the leaves of our tree. We thought this would be special as we can remember the exact time we made the tree and they also show the important part we play in our family. Finally, we made red apples to stick on our tree as a way to record our parents and grandparents. Feel free to come to Assembly next week to see the finished product!

Here are some photos of our progress so far:

Swimming with Room 1

What a fantastic week Room 1 have had down at Huia Pool! I have been so impressed with the enthusiasm each student has shown towards our swimming programme and I can't believe how quickly each child is progressing too! The confidence in the water is outstanding and our swimming techniques are looking pretty flash.

Thank you so much to all the parent helpers who have come down - it would not be possible without your support! A big thank you to Katherine for the lovely photos too.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday :)

Sustainability

Room 1 have been learning lots about sustainability this term and are now able to name many different ways that we can help preserve the earth's resources. We decided that this is important because one day we could potentially run out of power, water or even oil. We want future generations to be able to experience all the beautiful things we currently can.

I am so proud of the students in Room 1 who all shared their ideas on sustainability at our Assembly today. You spoke beautifully and I know that the community loved seeing your eco art as well.

Ka Pai! Have a lovely weekend and I will see you on Monday.

Happy New Zealand Sign Language Week!

This week is New Zealand Sign Language Week and Room 1 have loved learning lots of new signs together. I am so impressed with how quickly each student is able to pick up the vocabulary and how confident they are using the signs inside and outside the classroom - well done!

On Thursday we made a video wishing the Deaf Community a Happy NZSL Week and the response has been fantastic! We have had over 70 positive comments including some from Deaf Parents who would like to come visit Room 1 to sign with the students. How exciting!

It is a very special NZSL Week this year because it is 10 years since it was made an official language in New Zealand. Enjoy the video and have a lovely weekend!

Welcome to Room 1 at Korokoro School.
We love learning NZSL.
We wanted to say....
HAPPY NZSL WEEK!

The Day We Published a Book and Explored Chemical Reactions

Today Room 1 learnt about what it means to publish our work and how this gives our writing a purpose. We chose to publish our writing on the topic of "When I Grow Up...". We carefully copied our draft and then added a beautiful illustration to match what we wrote.

Our writing was then transformed into a book and we are so proud of the finished product! Please feel free to come into class and read the book with us.

Here are some photos of the book for you to see:

This afternoon we also did a fantastic science activity together. Room 1 explored and investigated chemical reactions through making sherbet! We discussed the fact that baking soda is a base and citric acid is an acid. As a solid these 2 items do not react, however, when they are put in our mouths and mixed with saliva they react to give off carbon dioxide gas! This is what makes the popping and fizzing sensation in our mouths.

Here are some photos from the activity: