Back to School for Level 2.5

It is fantastic to see most of Room 4 back at school today! We are following the rules for level 2.5 really well, hand sanitising when entering and leaving the room, wiping all surfaces frequently and sitting 1m apart from each other.

We can't wait to see our last few students return in the next couple of days to get back into their learning!

 

End of Lockdown!

 Today we celebrated our last school day in lockdown 2.  We went into lockdown really abruptly and halfway through the week, but we still managed to get straight back into our daily Google Meets and blog posts.

Today we had a virtual end of lockdown celebration, and brought whānau to join us. It was fantastic to see Faith, Gene, Maung Maung, Zaria, Noah and some pets alongside our classmates.

School will be back on Monday, we will all be there as we can't wait get back together in person!

Getting Creative with Myths & Legends

 This week we have had a challenge in Room 4 to get creative with myths and legends. We got to pick from lots of different create activities, from making a recipe, to re-enacting a story to building a diorama. 

Check out Toby's creation: he created his own story using Minecraft!

                 

Themed Friday: Toys!

 This week we have all been working really hard with our online learning. Mrs Stone was really proud of us for making the most of a tricky time, especially as 90% of us managed to do some school work or attend a meeting at least once this week.

Just a few of the toys who attended our meeting

As most of us had already finished our learning tasks for the week, we decided to have a themed Friday. After some discussion, we agreed that a soft toy theme would be a great one to start with. This meant that everyone brought a soft toy (or several) with them to our meeting. After we discussed our last create activity for the week, we also had a themed Kahoot (Toy Story) to celebrate.

It is so important to keep our spirits up over the lockdown! What could you do to improve your mood today? 

Room 4 Chefs!

 Are you in lockdown this week? This week Auckland remains in level 3, just like many other parts of the world! We have been finding lots of great ways to make the most out of this lockdown. One great way is to cook for your family. 

Why not try out Marika's delicious Anzac biscuit recipe?

Is it too early for cookies? Well then try Sauma's breakfast suggestions!

Lockdown Again?

This week Auckland moved from level 1 to level 3, meaning that we are back into online learning and staying home in our bubbles. As frustrating as this is for us all, we know that we can get through it and we are using all of our learning from the last lockdown to help us get through.

Alongside tuning in to our Google Meets and completing short bursts of school work,  Room 4 have been getting really creative and finding great ways to make the most of this time.

Check out this video of Austin teaching his little sister how to make a volcano:

One Team!

 After spending time apart with the year 8 camp and year 7 step up programme, it is important for us to get back together and enjoy being a class.

To support this, on Monday we had sharing time where we each had the opportunity to get up and discuss our experiences over the past week. It was great for the year sevens in particular, who now have a better idea of what to expect at camp.

We then completed some team building activities as a class, where we put our learning from camp and the step up programme into action. It was so good to see that everyone was happy to work with each other and we had a great laugh!

Maths Week

 This week is Maths Week in New Zealand, which means one thing for Room 4 Maths: Mathletics. For us, mathletics is less about speed and more about team work. We get points for collaboration as well as correct answers.

This year we completed a series of challenges, which involved learning about famous mathematicians, completing algebra equations, geometry, measurement and more! 

What did you learn?

 Last week we had the year 8 leadership camp and the year 7 step up programme. This was an awesome opportunity for everyone to step out of their comfort zone and develop as leaders. 

Comment what your highlight was below, if someone has already said it, respond to their comment!

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!