Measurement in Te Ana Ako

 Mālō bloggers, 

Over the last two weeks, the Middle Syndicate has been investigating measurement. At first, we estimated (guessed) how big things were in our classes. We used popsicle sticks and blocks to measure a range of things and objects in our learning spaces.

After that, we created our own measuring tools as we learnt more about centimetres and unit measurement. 

We started to measure things again, this time with our rulers. From handspan, to leg length, to the distance around our head. We even measures the size of our feet and compared to the rest of the people in our class. 

Finally, we did our own experiments seeing how big different creatures are around the world and how their sizes compare to each other. We even measured how big a blue whale is and used the corridor of our classrooms. Can you guess how big a blue whale is? 

(Waving to show the size of a blue whale)  

Thanks for reading, 

Philippa Werry - a special guest for the middle syndicate

 Talofa Lava Bloggers,

This week we were very lucky to have the New Zealand author Philippa Werry visit our syndicate via video call.  She has written lots of books, including picture books, novels and some of the readers we use at school including stories in the school journal. She was really interesting and humorous, giving us lots of great advice and information.  One interesting fact was that her first story was published in the newspaper when she was 6 years old. It was still saved and glued into a scrapbook that she showed us, very precious!  

One important message that she shared with us was how important it is to edit our writing. Taking the time to do this before you publish is really important! We got to ask lots of questions to find out about her job and some of the connections that she has to other New Zealand authors.

Finally, she read us the start of one of her stories. It is called, "The best skateboarder in school" and you can find it in School Journal Part 1 Number 3 2003. We really enjoyed this and we are looking forward to exploring more of her stories. A special thank you to Mr Hing-Windsor for organising this for us. 

Have you had a visit from a school author? Do you have a question or comment? We'd love some feedback below.

Tofa soifua

Student Led Tookits

This week we had the pleasure of learning about different apps and technologies from students in the senior school.  Workshops were run throughout the day with students choosing three to learn about. 

There was something for everyone, including:

• Google Maps
• Google Slide Animation
• Word Art
• Piskel
• Drones
• Sphero
• Makey-makey
• Brainbox
• Webcam Toy
• Music Lab
• Book Creator
• Incredibox

The presenters did an amazing job of showing students how these apps and technologies worked and then helped out as students then gave them a go. 

What an awesome day!

What are some apps that you find fun and helpful? Perhaps you could recommend some that we could check out in the comments below.

Cameron Pools Swimming

 Kia ora bloggers,

Over the first half of Term 2, the Middle School have been going down to the local swimming pool to learn how to be water safe. 

 

 We have done a lot of different activities, from floating with milk bottles to using lifejackets when our lifeboat gets flipped in the pool. We have loved learning more skills to stay safe in water and the using equipment in the pool. 

 

 We have improved a lot over the sessions and have become more confident in our swimming and being in water. 

Have you learned any water safety skills? Did you learn them in your pool or a local swimming area? We would love to hear your ideas in our comment section below.