Year 8 Camp Day 1

Today was the first day of year 8 camp 2020. It is an absolute blessing that we have made it here to Thames, as we were originally booked to go in May (in the lockdown!). It is our fourth year coming to Kauaeranga Christian Camp and we always have a fantastic time.

On day one we played Cross Games (team building activities in the gym) and had our first rotation of activities. On day 2 we have 6 more rotations, so tomorrow will be a very action packed day! Check out this short movie to see what we have got up to on our first day, the very start of our amazing camp experience.

Argumentation Board: Is it ever okay to steal?

This morning in Literacy, Room 4 got to use their first argumentation board for the term. Today's topic was 'Is it ever okay to steal?'

                 

We first discussed our initial thoughts on this matter as a class, where most people were on the opposing side, believing that it is never okay to steal.

Next we investigated, got some factual information and wrote one reason for or against the argument. Interestingly over the course of the lesson, a few people changed their opinion on the subject.

The groups then got together and chose three arguments to use in a more formal debate. Three speakers were selected from each side and the rest of the class were given the opportunity to rebut the arguments that were made.

Multi-Sport with Mr Hughes

On Thursday and Friday, Room 4 are lucky enough to be taught by Mr Hughes. Part of our Friday programme is that we FIOP (finish it off properly), where we complete all of our learning tasks from the week and make sure that our blog is up to date.

After this we like to celebrate with fun fitness activities, this week we played multi-sport. This was great as we all worked as a team, communicated, displayed respectful relationships and most of all had fun!

We will be using these skills more as we head off to camp this week!

Team 5 Garage Sale 2020

Next week is our Year 8 camp so to fundraise, we held a garage sale in the weekend. We had a variety of things to sell from our very popular bake sale, Mrs Flavelle's bric a brac table as well as our usual cheese toasties, hot dogs and hot and cold drinks sale. 

We were also joined by many other vendors who packed out our hall with many different things to buy. Sands and Talitha groups had a lolly stall as well as chop suey and potato salad, Whaea Saff had deliciously hot mussel chowder and fried bread and even Team 4 teachers had a stall! They were selling yummy pulled pork buns and waffles. 

Mrs Ilaoa's sister had beautiful succulent plants and Tamaki College had clocks that students made out of vinyl CD's. 

Overall a very successful day for our Team 5 campers and a great day connecting with our community. Thank you to everyone who contributed to our bake sale and who came along to buy lots of goodies. 

The Leaning Tower of Spaghetti

This morning we returned to our literacy class for the first time since March! It was great (if a little strange) to be back and to read together once again.

Before we got into our reading, we had a quick challenge to remind us of some core skills of literacy; to be effective communicators, most notably. We got into our four reading groups and were given spaghetti, tape, string and a marshmallow.  The challenge was to create the tallest tower.

Each group had a different tactic, with some making spaghetti triangles, others simply sticking all the strands together vertically and others using the string to support the spaghetti to balance. In the end, Ihimaera took out the competition with an impressive 96cm tower they aptly named 'the learning tower of spaghetti. They were followed by Dahl with an 87cm tower. 

After the activity we discussed the keys to their success: communication, collaboration, active listening, sharing ideas, having fun. These are all skills that we will need to be successful in literacy over the next 6 months. 

Tha Zin - The Myth of Hermes

Today in inquiry we learnt about myths from Ancient Greece. We learnt about the different gods (Ancient Greece was polytheistic) and their story of creation. We then looked at some of the crazy things newborn Hermes was able to do in this story:

Welcome to Term 3!

Today was the first day of term three, which at Pt England means an immersion assembly!

Check out Jahzara's recount of the assembly:

The assembly started with an introduction from Mr Burt, who explained this terms theme ' A World Of Difference '. Then each team presented what their focus was. First up was Team 1.

Team one mostly focused on how other people from other countries get to school, what they eat for lunch and what they do after school. Their main focus is to learn more about different countries. What they do before school, after and during. Schools in other countries are different to us and so I think it'll be cool that they're looking at how they work :)

Team Two had a set of the cartoon Dora. It was a cool way to present their movie. They had a look at other places around New Zealand. They had a look at the many famous places like, Rotorua and the mud pools, Queens town and the snow, ETC. They also made the choice to not only explore New Zealand but to also explore the world :)

Team 3 made a movie based off of 'The Amazing race.' Due to covid-19, some people haven't been able to travel the world. So they found a way to travel without getting on a plane. The amazing race had a whole bunch of challenges to complete. Visiting the many well known places around the world. Traveling to Egypt, New York, Rio and more.

Team 4! Team 4 looked at the different foods in other counties. They ate and discussed about where it comes from. They explored Google Earth and explored their food. I reckon this would be an amazing way to learn about different countries as many people do love food.

Team 5 based their movie off Sina and the Eel. We'll be looking at different Myths and Legends that link to different traditions and countries. We'll be showing our learning through, movies and animations. Although I know a few Myths around the polynesian area, it'll be cool learning more about different legends all around.

I'm very excited to learn lots this year. A fresh start to the term! Lets make the most of it :)