Room 2 Online University - Reading Task

This week we're reading Iron Tamariki.

pdf of the book

mp3 file of the audio

Youtube video I made - click on the 'Youtube' icon bottom right hand side of video and watch full screen so you can read along as the audio plays.

Before Reading
Have you ever wanted to do something really badly, but haven't been sure you could do it? Talk with someone in your bubble or write down:

• What you wanted to do.
• How did you feel when it got hard?
• What did you do that helped you succeed, or what could you do next time to help you succeed?

During Reading

1. Who are the characters in the story?
2. Why did the dad tell the boy the story about Richie McCaw? 
3. What sort of pasta did they eat?
4. What is the Iron Tamariki event? 
5. Where is the Iron Tamariki event?
6. How is he feeling just before the event and how do you know - find some evidence in the text.
7. What does he tell himself just before the race starts to help with his nerves?
8. What does he do when he realises he's in the lead?
9. Make a list of the different settings (places in the story). There are 4 main settings. 
10. At the end, what was Dad's trick with the macaroni cheese?

Vocabulary

• What does the author mean by 'mean buzz'
• Look up these words in a thesaurus (either book or online): yak, insulation & version. For each word, write three other words that have the same meaning.
• Use each word in a sentence - full stops and capital letters please!
• What does 'oma' mean? Draw a diagram. 

After reading

Welcome to Term 3!

Kia Ora All,

I thoroughly enjoyed Term 2 and I think the kids have made a great start moving into Term 3.

This term is very sports heavy with much of the class playing miniball weekly on Tuesdays. Throughout the term we'll also be heading off to football and hockey tournaments which will be very exciting.

Last term in Room 2 we had an environmental theme as we worked towards our class trip to Wainui. This term we've got a maths focus in which I'm hoping to cover some parts of the wider maths curriculum such as measurement, time, problem solving as well as continuing to boost the numeracy along. I've signed the class up for Maths Week so will have some resources to use this coming week (which is Maths Week), but will also use the resources throughout the term. I love maths and I know that there are some super enthusiastic mathematicians in the class so I'm thoroughly looking forward to it.

Helen is going to be coming in to continue to boost the school along with te reo Maori this term. She's stepping in for Alice who helped us out in terms one and two but couldn't continue this term unfortunately. I think the class has done some excellent te reo learning so far this year and have had plenty of positive feedback from parents, Alice and Helen about their progress. I'm hoping to introduce some new ideas into the class programme to build on the learning that's been going on so it should be an exciting term of language learning.

At the end of the term we'll be doing the school production at the playhouse. Leading up to it we'll be doing plenty of drama, music and plays. Bridie has kindly been keeping an eye out for costumes for us so we're building up a good bank of dress ups. If you have any good dress ups you could donate to the class they would be gratefully received. 

Homework goes home on Monday and books should be back on Friday. If the book doesn't make it to school on Friday, having it there on Monday is the next best option because then the new homework sheet can be glued into it. A significant effort is made every Friday to test spelling, track progress, and make a new list of words for children to learn, so it's a shame if homework sheets go missing because there is no book at school to glue it into. Book bags should go between home and school daily with the homework book, personal reading book etc in it. Some kids have school reading books to take home and read daily and some don't, if you're not sure if your child should have a daily reader in their book bag please make contact. 

Below are some pictures of the homework certificate presentation and BTB points auction from last term. 

As always, if you have questions or concerns please be in touch. You're always welcome to pop in to see me or to make a time to catch up.

Rock on,

Mr M

 

What's On in Week 8

 Kia Ora All,

I hope you all are surviving another wet weekend! Here's a heads up about what's coming up over the next couple of weeks.

• Friday is the planned day for the Room 2 trip to Wainui. Brooke, Eric and Mr Cullen are locked in to help run activities along with myself. I have a few confirmed parent helpers. If you'd like to come along and help with transport please flick me an email or send a note in with your child. The more the merrier.
• I didn't do homework last week as it was so busy I completely forgot - sorry about that! New spelling lists are ready to go though so please make sure your child has their homework book and book bag at school on Monday. 
• The speech presentation in class was superb - all the children were excellent and Lynnette, Daphne and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them. Some time in the (hopefully) near future I plan to get them filmed so the kids can experience using imovie to put a movie together. 
• Parent teacher interviews are scheduled for Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 July. More information will come out about that shortly.
• Enjoy these pictures of the students in action giving their speeches. 

Rock On,

Mr M

Week 6

 Kia Ora All,

I hope everyone is having an excellent long weekend. Last week we got back in the forest again to try our hand at using the monitoring discs to do some data collection. This was a practice run for one of the activities we'll do out at Wainui in a couple of weeks. We've also been setting the tracking tunnels and the kids have been enjoying checking the traps (which I've just learnt how to clear and set). Below are some photos of the students in action in the forest.

In other news:

• Speech competition is coming up in a month; it's time to start thinking of speech topics. It's good if the students have an interesting topic they're passionate about with a bit of 'meat' to it. Here are some general suggestions: The environment, favourite animal (the rarer or more dangerous the better), interests or hobbies, persuasive piece about an important topic, talking about someone special or inspirational (family or otherwise), an adventure (funny or interesting). These are all potentially great topics, but if you have other ideas let me know. Please have a word to your child sometime this week about possible topics and help them choose a good one. I'll lock in topic choices this week at school.
• Homework has been a bit mucky due to sickness and long weekends etc but lots of students have been regularly engaging - great job parents! Homework books to school tomorrow please along with book bags.

Rock on,

Mr M

Week 5

 Kia Ora All,

It's been a busy time in Room 2 these last few weeks and looks to stay that way. 

• We've been doing preparation leading up to our field trip to Wainui by learning about the species of birds we expect to see out there, dipping our toes into some bug identification, doing some tree identification, as well as setting the tracking tunnels in the Hurst's forest (we got some impressive sets of prints, but still need to try to identify the animals that made them). 
• This week we'll continue to do some bug and bird work as well as learning about sand dunes.
• On Friday, we started the process of making some signs for the school garden, which will involve sanding, painting as well as learning to to use a jigsaw. It will also involve some research and learning about plant classification. Sol is helping us with the process.
• We also used some of the seasonal veggies in the garden to make veggie fritters. Next time we cook, I'll come prepared with gluten free flour so everyone can have one!
• Lego club is still a go thanks to Jennifer and the kids are thoroughly enjoying it. 
• This week is also Samoan language week. Lani (my wife) has kindly put together some resources and helped me plan some activities. We'll be learning some basic phrases, doing an art activity and learning a dance called the Sasa. 
• Please check out the video below with some phrases we'll be learning and Lani demonstrating the pronunciation. You may like to view the video full screen mode so you can see the phrases written down as well as hearing them. If you're working on them for home learning, I suggest doing one phrase at a time. Pause and rewind the video to practice.

Rock On,

Mr M

What have we been up to in Room 2?

 Kia Ora All,

The students have all made an excellent start to the term. One of the activities we did recently, as part of our te reo programme, is making a kete (from textile, not flax!). The relevant tikanga we talked about was the practice of gifting the first item you make to someone. We also talked about the different uses of kete and touched briefly on how they were originally made. The kids first decided who they were going to gift their kete to, and then brought that person to mind as they created it. We're going to display the kete on the wall until the end of the term, and after that the children will be able to take them home and gift them to their chosen person. Below are some photos of the process and the finished product. 

Rock on,

Mr M