Welcome to week 4 in SUPER SHARP SEVEN

Hi all - a big week coming up with Wednesday and Friday dedicated to creating wearable arts costumes. I know we will not be finished by Friday - but at least all children would of had made a start.
So far the children - have their idea both in their heads and on paper.
- They have written down the materials they need.
- Drawn their design.

A reminder our theme is based on 'LIVING LANDSCAPES'  revolving around 'The beginning of NZ through Māori legends'.
http://www.naturespace.org.nz/





Any help you may be able to give in class would be appreciated....if you have a sewing machine and would like to bring that in - do so. (May not be used?) 😅 Hot glue guns are a definite favourite when making these creations, so to have extra adult hands is great.

A reminder of dates coming up: 



I had a lovely note left for me from one of our relievers Phil who was in Room 7 on Tuesday.
I read this positive note to the class - and commended them on their SHARP behaviour in class.

This time of year is also a SHARPly reminder of our School SHARP values: And in your child's home learning book this week is something for you to fill out - how your child is SHARP in your home during the week. I think it's really important that we all work together as a team - and we see awesome behaviour going on in all aspects of your child's life.

S – Safe Sharp Kids learn how to keep themselves and others safe. This means we are always trying to teach children how to make great choices and be a responsible friend/role model to others.
H – Honest Sharp Kids are honest and truthful. We want them to listen to that internal voice that says “treat others the way you want to be treated.” We also want children to know that making mistakes is part of learning in a social sense too. Sometimes this means that you unfortunately say or do something you are not proud of….but the character of a person is knowing when to be honest and say “I made a mistake and I am sorry”. 
A – Achieve Sharp Kids have a growth mind-set and know they have the power to learn and change. Just like NED we want our children to “Do their best”; and often our best is a lot better than we thought if we “Never give Up”. 
R – Respect Sharp Kids respect themselves, others and their environment. It involves being honest in addition to holding on to a belief “That I am important and so are you.” We encourage our kids to use their initiative to show respect to others by doing small acts of kindness each day e.g.: Offering to help others, making new children and visitors welcome, caring for those that have hurt themselves or need a friend. 
P – Pride Sharp Kids have pride in themselves and their family, culture, friends, work, school, sports team, their uniform etc…as this in itself tells you a lot about the character of a person.

I am really enjoying the course I am doing - it is a lot based on relationships with students/families and community.
And using a lot of positive behaviour reminders...
In your child's home learning book this week their is a 'My-self encouragement bubble' for your child to fill out with your help.
Really neat for you to sit down with your child (when you get a moment) ... and fill this in together...

I've got sentence starters and your child completes each sentence:

For maths we are completing 2D/3D shapes and leading the way in multiplication and division:
(There are lots of tricks and trades out there - Pinterest has some good ideas).

Have a really good week:

I'm a good ...runner, I can run really fast.
I'm good at..writing cards to people.
I can face up to ...early mornings.
I'm not a ...giver upper.
I can...sing with a smile.
I can cope with....loud noise.
I LOVE to...care for people.
I'm a good....listener.
(Ms Burt's encouragement bubble).

      

Welcome back to term 3 in SUPER SHARP SEVEN...

Hi all - yay.....back to school. 

Here are some photos I found of our wonderful Room 7 students:

Here we have Charlie and Tommy playing one of our new games...I wonder who won?

Yay, good old Beetle game. Caitlin, Aisling, Greta and Katie. 

 The MARSHMALLOW TOWER challenge ---- I did post some wonderful videos via Seesaw when we did these challenges. The students were amazing with their discussions and how they worked together.

Amelia, Charlie and Cam worked very well together. 

Here is William sharing some news with the class. 

This was a MAGIC moment but silly Miss Burt can't remember what it was that Charlie said - it was a YES moment...so maybe Charlie you can remind me on Monday =) 

Isla sharing news with the class. 

One of my favourites.

This letter will be going home with your child on Monday - a lot to look forward to:

23.07. 2017

Dear Room 7 families,

WELCOME back to term 3, a fun and busy term ahead.

Uniform: Please make sure all your child’s uniform items are named.

Home learning:

Goes home on a Monday and in on the Friday. Mainly consists of: Reading, basic facts and spelling. I like to add SHARP-ness into this too.

Class blog: http://greytown7.blogspot.co.nz/

Seesaw learning journal: If you haven’t joined up, please do so as a lot of photos and videos of your child gets posted on here. Your child has taken their login home for you … if you are having trouble joining, please come and see me.

Inquiry topics:

Our big art and drama topic is ‘Wearable Arts - there will be more information sent out about this in the term, especially when we will need some help in class and also the dates we will be presenting our Totara Wearable Arts Catwalk show =) Each class has a different theme and music. Room 7’s theme is based on Māori legends...back in the beginning. It all ties into our overall Inquiry - Living Landscapes.

• 
• 
• 
  
• Our big Inquiry topic is: Living Landscapes and looking at green spaces (A natural open space containing grass, plants, animals, trees and or forest).
• The children will be learning that they are a part of their local environment - you, your school and neighbourhood are part of a bigger ecosystem.
• 

If any of you or if you know of anyone that could come and talk to the children on either of the above topics - please let me know. rburt@greytown.school.nz

Term 3 in Room 7 … =)

Here’s to a great term in Room 7 & at Greytown School.

Regards,

Rachel Burt

Class teacher, Room 7: Email: rburt@greytown.school.nz

Our new craze for the fortnight...CUPS & last week of term 2.

Wow MONDAY - 3rd July - this is our last Monday for term 2. 

We have a busy week this week with the students presenting their speeches - remember that this is a good chance for your child to talk and share to an audience. 

So far we have some wonderful speaking down and recorded via Seesaw. I hope you enjoy seeing your child and listening to them speak. 

The speeches will be held over 3 days - so there is not a set time as such. 

The children do know what order they are speaking in. 

Week 2 - term 3 we will be holding our mid-year 3 way conferences. 

Here are some amazing painted rocks - this is an example of Room 7's aim : to get our rocks painted to put into a rock garden. To decorate a garden that isn't looking too fancy. 

Here is William telling his winter sports news....

Isla talking about her news...

Charlie had a wonderful answer...good on you Charlie.

HERE is a tutorial - please practice over the holidays:

Just gorgeous:
https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.d767d02d-b4c9-43ff-bce3-7d24ff895d04&share_token=IVpkcFGKQn2QznD614BILw&mode=share

Week 8 in Room 7...

Another busy bee week in our classroom super SHARP Seven ...
 Dates to diary:
This Friday 30th June - Our school Matariki celebration.
If your child is in kapa haka they are to meet in the Room 4 at 645am.
The school hall will be open for everyone else to meet in before the Matariki celebration at the south field.
There will be a Matariki art display from all our classes - this will be open on Friday morning for all to view from 645am...
We are all to meet in the school hall for a cuppa - then the walk to the Matariki garden for the bonfire will start at about 715am - us teachers will be up the front with the kapa haka group.
Parents, children and any visitors will walk in a group. Our Kapa Haka will do a calling and there will be a caller on behalf of the year 8's....
This is a very special time for our school - I really love it.
Please wear your gumboots as it's cold.....and wet....wrap up warm.

Ask your child to show you the Matariki Macarena....it's fun and names all the 7 stars (sisters). 

Another busy bee week in our classroom super SHARP Seven ...

It was a "Happy Birthday" to Isla for last MOnday - a fun day at school with a yummy birthday cake for the class - thank you Isla's mummy =) 

Here is Fiona our teacher aide helping to cut Isla's birthday cake. The children each enjoyed having a piece =)

Our ALL group...the things us teacher's do....here I am hiding under the orange table - knocking on the bottom of the table. The children were learning to finish writing from a piece of suspenseful writing..... even I was scared (LOL). 

BIG BALL skills - here we are enjoy the Winter sunshine - yay!

A great chance to get outside for our PE lesson using big balls. We were practicing chest passes to each other, then ended the session with a game of good ole "Piggy in the middle,"  great jumping skills by some children. 

Finally we have started painting our rocks. We have a project that we would like to see through. Once we have finished decorating the rocks we are going to approach Miss O'Connor about decorating a special garden.

And Principal's stickers for these two - super sharp writers.... great explanations about Matariki and why we celebrate Matarki in NZ.

Look at these lovely wigged SHARP SEVEN children - well done to Hazel in the pink and Eva in the black...

Please look at the 4 new displays in Room 7. 

1) Displaying speech information

2) Science - and our rocket experiment

3) Dot art work

4)....getting up on display are the children's monkey stories and pictures. 

Monday - there will be a timeline re: speeches. Speeches are to be presented in week 10. 

Aisling presented her speech last Friday and did an excellent job with her speech on Ireland and her upcoming trip - have a blast Aisling and your family. 

Your child will have 1 of 3 roles over the speech time. 

1 - presenting their speech. 2 - thanking a person for saying their speech and giving feedback on 2 things they learnt. 3 - using an iPad filming the speech to place onto Seesaw for further audiences to view and listen to. 

So a busy week 9 coming up for Room 7. 

- Matariki art to make =) Stars they will be!

- Hatupatu reading work to finish alongside Matariki reading work. 

- Time maths unit - the children did an amazing job of making their analogue/digital clocks. They are learning to use them and to tell them time. Please practice this at home alongside with helping your child to tell the time. 

Running record reading tests to finish alongside Gloss testing. This data will be used for mid-year reports. Parent/Student and teacher conferences will be held in week 2, term 3. 

- Synonym spelling work. 

- Procedure writing - this fits in nicely with follow up Science written work. 

- Portrait art work to finish. 

- Whakapapa (family trees) to finish.

On that note (amongst many) HAVE A REALLY GREAT WEEK. 

Week 7 in Room 7

Ms Wells worked in Room 7 on Tuesday and she did dot painting with the class: 

At the beginning ...Vashti thought she couldn't draw.

NOW...she helps others believe in their art: 

Lessons learnt: 

- start from a dot/scribble

- you think you can't but you can

- doesn't matter how good you are

- don't say you can't if you haven't tried.

- everyone can draw

- sometimes mistakes can turn out to be beautiful (and you can learn from them). 

Our busy Room 7 artists: 

 Tyler started with a dot - and wow, look at his amazing picture - outlined in black and then about to be coloured in with water colour paints.

 THE CRAZE OF THE FORTNIGHT: Our new craze has started as of yesterday (Thursday)..Scootering. Totara Syndicate's time is 1st lunch. We are encouraging all children to wear a bike helmet as they scooter. Some great scootering skills and tricks out there.

 PRINCIPAL stickers...well done to Arna, Hazel and Taylor (below) who went to see Miss O'Connor to show her their certificates for great reading and going up a level. Well done to all the children I have heard so far (doing running records)...all have gone up a level - some have gone up 2 levels.

Cam's birthday talk - Cam shared with us all the wonderful things he got for his birthday and what he is doing for his birthday..yay!! Thank you to Cam and his mum for the yummy birthday cake that Cam shared with Room 7. 

Grace used her show & tell card: Here she is with a very warm poncho. The children had a good discussion about what a poncho is =) 

 SHARP students for week 7 - well done to Amelia, Arna and Freddy.....a lot of hard work by these 3 students.

Miss Burt popped along to see the Under 8 rugby team play, Kaleb had asked me to go and watch...so while my daughter was busy playing netball - I crossed the road to watch a number of Room 7 boys play their games.
Some great rugby skills there.

SPEECHES:
Get ready....
Home learning for the next week is choosing a speech topic (of interest/passion)...
Writing the speech....(over the next 2 weeks).
We will be doing work in class on how to put a speech together - and your child will have an outline to show how to do this.
A big thing at this age is being able to speak nice, clear and in a loud voice to an audience.

Speech topics & questions

Children have the title of their speech - what questions do they ask to find out the information they want to know?

Where can get information? (interview, books, current events, community, internet, library etc…)

How do they want to present their speech?

keynote, poster, pictures,

song,

PROPS - (VISUAL AIDES)..

items, information - items, clothing, food, poster, equipment, uniform...