Meaurement.

The kids in Kiwi have been learning about measurement.  They have been using some fantastic language to order and compare objects by length, weight and volume. Here you can see two boys very carefully (using a non-standard measurement tool)  measure the length of a taped line.

And here you can see some of the language that the kids are learning about measurement when comparing themselves. 

  

Its been an EGGciting week in Kiwi

On Monday 10 fertilised eggs arrived with their incubator and brooding box.   The kids in Kiwi were pretty excited about what was about to happen and had soooo many wonderings about our new additions.
Word soon got around the school that the Kiwi classes had something exciting going on and each morning we were greeted by children (and parents) from all over the school coming to check on our eggs and chicks progress.
Hayley and Mrs Cullen won our in house guess of how many would hatch on what day (6 on Wednesday)
Its so great to see our Kiwi Kiddies be the experts and be able to answer the questions from the older kids!  During week 9 we will be continuing our inquiry into chickens and be looking at the life cycle as well as researching some of the wonderings that the kids have about our chicks.

Below are some videos we have collected so far.
A day in the life of the Chick in the incubator (if you watch closely there is a chick hatching towards the end of this clip)

For those classes that missed a hatching, here is a clip.

Kiwi will have plenty of opportunities to interact with the chicks during week 9, and other classes are invited to book in with Ms Grant if they want to visit and interact with them too.

We've got Kiwi eggs

Today our surprise for the Kiwi kids (& Ms. Gooch) arrived... 10 wee chicken eggs are sitting in an incubator waiting to hatch in K3.
-It was very cute to find a bunch of kids doing their SSR to the eggs this morning (they are obviously taking their jobs as midwives seriously!) 

By Friday they should have all hatched into chicks and during week 9 a lot of our patterns inquiry will be around the life cycle of chickens.
Please pop in and say hello to our 10 newest Kiwis and don't forget to email us any conversations you have with your kids about the eggs and chicks.
Next week we will be able to handle the chicks, so if you're free for a half hour or more to help out with this please let your classroom teacher know (or see me, Gina.)

From the Kiwi Teachers.

P.S. I saw one of the eggs wobbling in the incubator when I was leaving this evening....

Teacher only day and Queens birthday Monday

Just a reminder that this Friday (29th May 2015) is a Teachers Only Day and that Monday the 1st June is Queens Birthday (a Public Holiday)
Kind regards, 
The Kiwi Teachers.

What is a QR code?

You may have noticed in Kiwi that there are some funny codes around that look like an array of black and white squares... 


They are called QR codes (or Quick Response Codes) These little boxes can be read by any device that has downloaded a QR code reader app...  (there are many available and mostly free!)  
A QR Code when scanned by the app will take you directly to the website link.   They are an easy way for people to get to websites etc without having to remember long urls.   
I hope this helps those that had asked about them. 
If you have any problems, feel free to ask any of the Kiwi teachers to help you out. 
From Gina. 

Knowledge-athon.

I hope you are all collecting lots of sponsors for our Patterns Knowledge-athon?  

We are hoping to raise $20,000 to help towards rebuilding a new school hall so I would like to set a challenge to all of the Kiwi kiddies to get at at least 5 sponsors each.  

You can access the Knowledge-athon website here http://knowledge.willowbank.school.nz 
And there are great prizes up for grabs too!  

Its been great to see all of our little learners coming to school so enthusiastic and eager to show what they have been doing at home around patterns.

Here is a fabulous video sent into us by Zach's parents to show his understanding of a pattern (Set A#3) for some inspiration!  
We would love to hear your positive comments about Zach's pattern below.  
From the Team Kiwi Teachers. 

Welcome to Kiwi 2015.

What a fantastic week we had in Kiwi last week.  Week one is always tiring on the kids and none more so than the little ones that are just starting school.  

We will be continuing to get to know the children working in Kiwi over the next few weeks as well as you the parents.  On Tuesday evening there is a Keeping Ourselves Safe information evening at school, followed by meet the teacher.  We look forward to seeing you all there. 

If you haven't already, please head over to the school webpage and sign up for the fortnightly newsletter to be emailed to you.  There is also a Willowbank Facebook page you can follow to keep up to date with what is going on at school.  

Regards, 

Gina and Renee. 

The Science of Christmas...

For all those little scientists and children that question everything, these scientist have found the answers we have been thinking about ourselves... 

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did!  I'm so glad I understand more now about Christmas. 
Ms. Grant. 

The Science of Christmas.

Baby T Rex

We had a wee visitor today.  Actually he was a rather large visitor as far a babies go...  Baby T-Rex came to visit team 3.  He was a little unpredictable and rather vocal but the kids seemed to enjoy their time with him.  
Here are a couple of photos from our encounter with Baby T-Rex. 

Carols Evening Song List

Here is a link the Willowbank Carols Evening Songs so you can all start practising...  Carols Evening Youtube playlist.

The Carols Evening will be held on Thursday the 11th December from 6pm.  We look forward to seeing you there. 

Helpers Morning Tea & Year1/Kiwi Assembly Tomorrow.

We look forward to seeing you at our Helpers Morning Tea tomorrow, however due to our current concerns with the tummy bug, the morning tea will look a little bit different :o) 

YEAR 1/KIWI ASSEMBLY POSTPONED

Due to our current concerns with the tummy bug, we have decided to postpone this assembly.

FRIDAY SWIMMING CANCELLED

FRIDAY SWIMMING CANCELLED

Due to our current concerns with the tummy bug, Otara pools have asked us to keep our children back from swimming this week as a precaution, so we don't spread our germs.

Ms Grant. 

Week 3 Reminders

Just a reminder that room 21 are going on our trip to Te Tuhi art gallery on Tuesday morning and that we are starting our swimming lessons at Otara Pools on Friday.  

Maths Week - 'Figure Me Out' Parade

 Maths Week - 'Figure Me Out' Parade

On Friday 24 October we will be having a 'Figure Me Out' dress up parade to celebrate the end of Mathematics Week.  The dress up parade will be held at 10am on the back courts (in the case of wet weather teams will organise their own parades during the day indoors - please keep an eye on our Facebook status to check for any change of plans).  This is a chance for children to be as creative as they can.  Can you think of a costume for other children to 'figure out'?  We look forward to seeing what the children dress up in on the day.  There is no charge for this dress up day, it's just for fun and to celebrate a week of special mathematics focussed learning.

The Cardboard Box Challenge!

Well there have been some busy little people in room 21 over the school holidays and it made me grin from ear to ear when I saw their creativity and imaginations sitting at the front of room 21 this morning!  
Fernando, Dylan, Roshank, Alan and Shawn, you have all shown great team work and creativity as well as fabulous self management on this project!  Well done!  I hope we get some more cardboard box challenges coming in before Friday.  
A special thank you to all the mums and to Fernando's Mum (Annie) for helping the boys out and keeping them fed and hydrated through the 3 weeks they took to build their creations!  (AND also for the photos!) 

Just some brief notes on the boys (Fernando, Shawn, Alan, Roshank and Dylan’s) project which was achieved in 3 weeks amongst a lot of eating and playing.

Here is a breakdown of their mini inquiry...  

Week 1:    They all agreed that they wanted to build robots

                  Researched on the internet for ideas and printed off robots made out of cardboard boxes for inspiration

Week 2:    Gathering materials - cardboard boxes, coloured plastic film, coloured paper, glue, clear packaging tape, carpet, particle board for stand

                 Selected boxes to best fit body parts, covering up printing with white photocopy paper

                 Wrapped each body part in red or blue film like a parcel and then assembled robots with packaging tape.

Week 3:    Decided that they would switch their robot idea to minecraft characters

                 Hot melt glue carpets to bases

                 Cut coloured paper into squares and glued on

All the boys really enjoyed the project and worker well together as a team.

The Cardboard Box Challenge.  on PhotoPeach

HELPERS NEEDED!!!

Hello Parents, 
We are in need of parent helpers for the Gala.  A notice came home last week with the kids asking for parents to please offer at least half an hour of their time to volunteer. 
Please could you fill this in and return it asap. 
Regards, Gina. 

International Space Station Tour

WOW!  We found this fascinating video showing life on the ISS.  The kids in room 21 loved it! 

We had some wonderings afterwards though... 
FC -I wonder if you could sleep anywhere, without a bed, just floating around?
SL -Who was the first person in a space craft? 
IF -How big is the spacecraft, because from outside it looks small, but it could be really big?  
AY -Do the veges go rotten?  How often does the ISS get fresh fruit and veges delivered?  
IF -How long do the astronauts stay up on the ISS for? 
CL -How long does it take to get from Earth to the ISS? 
FC -What are the black parts? 
CE -I wonder if the astronauts miss home? 
DM -If your Mum and Dad aren't astronauts, are you allowed to bring them with you? 

The Cardboard Box Challenge

Here are the links to Caine's Arcade 1 and Caine's Arcade 2.  

We are pretty excited in room 21 about the cardboard box challenge.  This is an optional activity for the children at Willowbank to complete at home between now and the beginning of term 4.
Get your creativity and imagination roaring room 21! 
http://imagination.is/our-projects/cardboard-challenge/

Team Kiwi, 1, 2 and 3 Cross Country

Hi All,  

Sorry for the delayed decision on when our Cross Country Races would be……

It will be held this Thursday 11th September with races starting at 11.20am.  (Lets hope the weather plays its part!)  We still hope to see as many parents as possible at this short notice.  -Ms Grant and Room 21.  

Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies...

Well Room 21, started their Fun Week of learning, with baking this morning.  We baked some delicious cookies, from Chelsea Winter and the kids just loved them!  I would love to hear what you thought of todays experience room 21?

Fun Week Baking. on PhotoPeach