Maths, Maths, Maths!

Room 1 love maths! Especially when we get to have independent learning time-choose an independent task that relates to our personal next steps in maths. As our strand learning, we have been using measurement and all the vocabulary that goes with it-big, small, thin, wide, tall, short! We have been comparing lots of different sizes. This will help us solve lots of different mathematical problems everyday. The best thing about our maths learning is that we have been working interdependently-with each other! We learn so much more effectively that way.  

October, the Month of Mary!

Room 1 have been learning all about our blessed Mother Mary. October is the month of the Rosary so every morning at prayers, we have been praying a decade of the Rosary. Our prayer leaders are in charge of this, and we get to hear the special mystery story that goes with each decade (10 Hail Mary's). We have been learning so much about Mary and how Tapu she really is! In your homes you may like to pray the Rosary too using Room 1's Prayer Bag. 

Beginning of Term 4

Our week 1 of Term 4 has flown by before our eyes! Room 1 got off to a sizzling start as usual. Our Key Competency focus for the next couple of weeks is relating to others-in our reading groups, independent learning play, and in whole class discussions. We made a classroom treaty that outlined what things we can do to make Room 1 feel like a safe place. This came from our work with Kia Kaha (Be Strong!). 

This term we are also exploring Music appreciation by listening to a range of different music with lots of different instruments-these instruments belong in different families such as the 'wind' and 'string' family. We gather in Room 2 every day after lunch, lay down, close our eyes and begin this appreciation for music. 

In Chinese Mandarin we have begun our Term by learning the parts of our body-the first being our face! Alec McGilvray who is Chinese is always there to help us when Ms Lee is not around! 

Another highlight of our week was when the Piwakawaka reading group performed their reading group text 'The Little Red Hen' in front of the class on Friday. They worked so hard all week and Room 1 really liked the way they all cooperated with each other. 

Butterfly Creek

Room 1 & 2 had such a wonderful time learning about dinosaurs at Butterfly Creek! We got to explore Dinosaur Kingdom, the Aquarium, Farm and even got to see Scar the Crocodile eat some salmon. It was amazing to see a prehistoric animal such as the crocodile up close, it was huge! It even had mini plates on its back, similar to a dinosaur. Our park ranger explained that dinosaurs may have evolved into birds that we see today as millions of years ago, some dinosaurs had feathers too! Very interesting!

Mary of the Cross MacKillop Feast Day

Good Shepherd School celebrated the Feast Day of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. We began our day with a special Mass, followed by some art with Ms Scanlan-she helped us make mini Mary MacKillop dolls for us to take home and enjoy. We also got to share some art time with Room 9 where we made special book marks of Saint Mary MacKillop. All week we have been learning about how special Mary MacKillop was to Australia and New Zealand, and all the wonderfully loving and caring things that she did. We pray to God that we too may follow in the footsteps of Saint Mary MacKillop. 

Fractions, Fractions, Fractions!

Room 1 have been learning all about fractions! We have specifically been focusing on identifying and making halves and quarters. We began by cutting our shop pizza in half, and then again into quarters. It is so important to make sure that the parts are equal (the same size). We have also learnt a new fractions game in our maths developmental play so that we don't forget it-it is called 'First to a Whole'. 

Back to school!

Room 1 have made a brilliant start back to school! This term our inquiry is based on dinosaurs! The children began investigations by sharing what they already knew about dinosaurs in order to develop questions that they wanted to find out about them. We also figured out our next steps in finding out how to answer these questions-lots of reading and exploring dinosaur facts! We are reading lots of books and watching video clips to build our knowledge about these fascinating creatures. 

This term we are very privileged to have Ms Fengmei Li teaching us Mandarin every Friday this term! In Maths we have been focusing on skip counting by 2's to make our counting faster. 

We have also started learning about the Creation Story in the bible. We thank God for all the beautiful things in our world, and pray that we look after it the best we can!