Week 3 in Room 7

Kia ora - Wednesday March 1st: 9.40am SUPER SHARP 7 are hosting our school assembly (eek!).
And at 11am - 12 noon is our swimming showcase.
How this works is Room 6 goes first from 11am - and then Room 7 about 11.20ish....
We then have a shared lunch in the bell tower area. 



For those of you who couldn't make Thursday night - and awesome to see those of you who were there =) yay!

Some notes from this night:
- Room 7 library day = Thursdays
- Home learning books go home on Monday PLEASE be back in on Friday - $50 auction dollars.
We need the books in as we do spelling partner testing of Fridays.
-

Doctor Love bear - had a great time at Keiran's house - here is Keiran sharing his diary entry - we had a good laugh as SOMETIMES the toys whisper to me and tell me what they got up to. Doctor Love bear told me that him and Keiran got up at 3am and jumped on the bed. Keiran was like "NO WE DIDN'T" .... Doctor Love bear was like "YYYYEES WE DID!".....then we did hear in Keiran's diary entry that Keiran did get up in the night - but he was a super SHARP boy and didn't jump on the bed =) 

Keiran reading from his diary entry. 

Each term we will vote for a class captain, vice captain and vice vice captain. You can read in the photo below what the class captain needs to be like - ALL WORDS FROM the children.
Our class captain for term 1 is : Charlie =) Vice captain is: Eva =) and vice vice captain is: Grace.
The voting was very close and what I loved is that each child in the class actually had their name down in the voting. 

A class captain ..... (sorry about sideways view).

Go Noodle - each time we do a Go Noodle dance/activity we get a point ....

Check it out: Some children do this at home: https://www.gonoodle.com/

Nara & Greta doing addition with 2 dice with Miss Burt.
The purpose was to add the 2 dice together.
The next challenge was to add 3 of the answers together.
Extension challenge was to add the answers in the whole column together. 

 Below are photos of the class working on their ADJECTIVE self and a friend.
They have a cardboard cutout of a person - on one side is themself and the other side a friend.
On each side they had to choose an adjective to describe themself and their friend.
We had a good brainstorming session on what are adjectives and adjectives they could use to describe people (positive ones).

Aisling is cutting out some material to clothe her person =) 

We had wool for hair, glitter stars, coloured wrapping paper etc...to decorate our people. 

 In Room 7 we have 2 teacher aides who come in daily to help in our room.
Their names are Fiona & Kath. We have talked (SHARP lesson) about how the class interact with both Fiona & Kath - and that they are also our teachers.
While I was working with a small maths group - Fiona was roving the class and working with the other children. At the end of the lesson Fiona had 2 certificates to give out - one to Tyler and one to Amelia - well done you 2 SHARP students.

Well done Tyler

Well done Amelia

Kia ora Room 7 whānau - an article close to my heart - a good read:

http://curiousmindmagazine.com/parents-who-raise-good-kids/

Week 2 - Room 7 - 8th February 2017.

Our VERY 1st SHARP student of Room 7 - 2017!

Miss Arna Hopkins!

Today the class and I had a big talk/brainstorm---discussions about being responsible - what it means. 

Arna has shown a lot of responsibility and for a year 3 this is fantastic to see how responsible she has been. 

The photos below show how other children have shown being responsible - wow what a great start to our year in Room 7. 

Fantastic PRESENTATION by Eva - wow I love this!

I have discussed with the class and shown them examples of good presentation. We talked about using different colours, using their best writing so that the reader could read it clearly.

And amazing PRESENTATION by Katie - well done - this is awesome and such a good example of good presentation. 

Working hard at finding someone who had done a certain activity over the holidays.
This is a great activity for the children to mix and mingle with each other, some great talking was going on. 

Playing 21, a firm favourite.
21 is a maths game where the children are in a group - they are only allowed to say 1-3 numbers in sequence, if you are the person left to say 21 you are out. 

21 again....try it at home! Your child can teach you. . . HAVE FUN! And don't get out!!

Here is Aisling showing her SHARP leading of the Karakia. Well done Aisling, a nice strong voice. 

And here is Katie leading the school Karakia - each morning the child who is sitting in the "caught ya" chair leads the class in our Karakia. It is a good leadership activity and it's not too daunting as I help them if need be. The rest of the class join in after the 3rd word. 

 'THE FAMOUS CAUGHT YA CHAIR'

Your child may have said something about "caught ya" - this is when they have been caught doing something SHARP. Their name goes into a draw which is drawn daily to then sit in the 'caught ya' chair the next day.

On the day they sit in the chair they get to choose one of our 'reading buddies - soft toys' and this cuddly friend goes home with them alongside a book. 

The book is a diary of what their soft toy gets up to at their house - there have been some adventures by Room 7 children and their toy. 

Below is Aisling and her choice of bear (Mr G)....and WOW look at his flash new crocheted waist jacket - kindly made my Aisling and her Mum. 

Woohoo we have never had quite such a gift for one of our reading buddies before - I just know all the other toys will be quite envious =) (I was!) 

More .... maths FUN! Today I introduced the class to our 'Auction dollars" - more will be explained to you in your child's home learning book. The more auction $$ earned - the more the child gets to spend at the end of the term auction. 

Arna & Taylor did a good job of adding up their $100's....I gave them a $50 to add on...how much now?

We added up to see who had the highest amount of money and the least amount of money.
Quick adding up in 100's and 50's.
If struggling to add in 100's or 50's - the trick is to go back to 10's and 5's.
So double 10 is.....20 so double 100 is 200
Double 5 is 10....so double 50 is 100. 

 AARGH......WATCH out for the 'Super heroes in Room 7.' Thanks to Mrs Reynold's in Room 8 for this fun activity called 'All about me superhero glyph'...
The children had to draw their own superhero following instructions - the instructions were based on things to do with themselves. EG: if you were born in NZ = gloves.
If you have a younger brother = green stripes on arm.
Boot colour - how you get to school.
Length of cape - YOUR AGE....my cape is quite short ;) LOL.....on my real copy - my cape had to go up the page then down again - to get my young age in.

My example on the board I did with the class. 

OTHER IMPORTANT DATES: 

- Every Thursday is our library day - please remind your child to bring their library books to school.

- Wednesday 1st March - Room 7 will be hosting school assembly.

- Wednesday 1st March - 11am - our swimming showcase (at the school pool)..if we get into the pool this season. (Weather dependent).

Look at this - Masterton A&P show - Al Brown kids cooking class =) wow!!

Term 1 - 2017 - February 2nd-3rd.

Kia ora, Nǐ hǎo, hello and welcome to Room 7 - wow what a start.

The past 2 days have been very special in Room 7 - we have welcomed 3 new children to Greytown School - a huge welcome to Tangaroa, Tyler & Nara-ann.
The Room 7 students have made them feel very welcome by helping them, showing them around the school and generally being very SHARP.

A reminder of SHARP:

Some photos to enjoy from our first day in Room 7, 2017.

Here we are - ROOM 7 - 2017 .... OUR FIRST DAY!

THUMBS UP!!

Happy Birthday to William who had a birthday in the Summer holidays - and Taylor - lucky Taylor had her birthday on the 1st day back to school =) 

Super SHARP 7 lining up for the powhiri to welcome Miss O'Connor our new principal to Greytown School - and our 2 other new teachers: Mrs McRae and Mrs Locke. 

Here Room 7 are - sitting in the hall waiting for the powhiri to begin...SHARP behaviour by Room 7 - yay!!!

 OUR FIRST LUNCHTIME together.....enjoying those yummy packed lunches =)

13.1.2017

ROOM 7 GRATEFUL JAR...
In the beginning of the school year room 7 wrote 1 thing there were grateful for: Here they are a year later:

- For the wonderful class and teacher.

- To --- for letting me play with her and ---.

- For letting me borrow your glue stick.

- Stand up for somebody.

- --- has been kind to me by letting me join in a game.

- Thank you Mum & Dad for looking after me all my life. 

- --- was kind to me when she let me join in her game.

- --- because she lets me play when I'm lonely.

- Thank you for being my friend.

- --- is a very good friend.

- You rock.

- Room 7 have a great smile. 

- Telling jokes. 

- --- because he plays with me. 

- I am grateful for people being good. 

- You are cool, you rock.

- When --- let me have a turn.

- I am thankful for all the food and water.

- Liv is very kind, because she has invited me to her party. 

- Thank you Miss Burt for the lovely note. 

2017 - a BRAND new year.

Kia ora Room 7 whanau/families...
Welcome to a BRAND new year in Room 7 - once again I get really excited about the beginning of a  new year in Room 7 - and I think about all the amazing learning, relationships and growing that your child/ren will be doing.

I tell the children - "You are like a small seed - and throughout the year you will sprout, you will grow, you will be fed and watered, cared for and most importantly LOVED.

I have found this article which I think is a good read for the beginning of any time.

http://www.heysigmund.com/building-resilience-children/
This is the 1st, 3rd and 4th paragraphs:

All children are capable of extraordinary things. There is no happiness gene, no success gene, and no ‘doer of extraordinary things’ gene. The potential for happiness and greatness lies in all of them, and will mean different things to different kids. We can’t change that they will face challenges along the way. What we can do is give them the skills so these challenges are never able to break them. We can build their resilience. 

Resilience is being able to bounce back from stress, challenge, tragedy, trauma or adversity. When children are resilient, they are braver, more curious, more adaptable, and more able to extend their reach into the world. 

The great news is that resilience is something that can be nurtured in all children. 

How does resilience affect behaviour?

Children will have different levels of resilience and different ways of responding to and recovering from stressful times. They will also have different ways of showing when the demands that are being put upon them outweigh their capacity to cope. They might become emotional, they might withdraw, or they might become defiant, angry or resentful. Of course, even the most resilient of warriors have days where it all gets too much, but low resilience will likely drive certain patterns of behaviour more often. 

Can resilience be changed?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely resilience can be changed. Resilience is not for the genetically blessed and can be strengthened at any age. One of the most exciting findings in the last decade or so is that we can change the wiring of the brain through the experiences we expose it to. The right experiences can shape the individual, intrinsic characteristics of a child in a way that will build their resilience. 

Arohanui,

Rachel