Author Archives: Koru R

KORU HIGHLIGHTS TERM 1 WEEK 3

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Kia ora whanau,

Welcome (back) to the Te Whanau Koru blog for 2017! The children have settled back into school, and hub routines, with skilful ease. We're absolutely loving the happy smiling faces each and every morning, as they children arrive ready for a new day's learning.

The content of our blog posts will vary from time to time, however you will generally find some of the following:
  • samples of the children's work
  • photos celebrating student learning
  • handy hints for helping your child at home with their reading, writing and Maths
  • links to helpful websites
  • what's been happening in the classrooms
  • what will be happening in the classrooms
  • requests for help and resources.
Discovery Stations:

You will all by now be familiar with our Discovery Stations! Research is telling us that learning through play is a powerful vehicle indeed, and, as teachers, we are observing, every day, literacy, mathematical and social learning occurring at the Discovery Stations on offer.

'Play is a powerful vehicle for learning, thinking, generating ideas and communicating. Play thus creates potential spaces in which a child always behaves beyond his/her average age, above his/her daily behaviour; in play it is as though he were a head taller than him/herself.'
Vygotsky

We have found that play activities are a wonderful way to develop the Key Competencies:
  • Thinking
  • Relating to others
  • Using language, symbols and texts
  • Managing self
  • Participating and contributing
Play embraces all of the Key Competencies, especially self-management. It's a very natural way to promote self-management without making the activity seem contrived. An added bonus to starting each day with Discovery Stations, is that those children who might struggle to say goodbye in the morning, tend to settle much more easily when there are play activities on offer. 
Day 1!

Reading with Big Bear in the washing basket

What a complex plan - an architect in the making?!

Reading, in a sea of Mobilo!

Ta-dah!!




Collaboration:
After reading Mrs Wishy Washy, Hub 10 and 11 children formed groups to build a fence that would be high and strong enough to stop the farm animals from getting into the mud. Check out the Writers' Wall in Hub 10/11 to read the children's published writing and see more photos of the fences that were created.





Me Bags:
Many thanks for the wonderful treasures that have been sent in, supporting our children in their learning relating to our integrated topic, 'Identity'. If your child is yet to bring their 'Me Bag' in to class, it's not too late!

Some of us love drawing...
...others play rugby.

Some learn ballet...

...others love to write.

...and some of us identify closely with another country.


Reading:
Here is a link to the wonderful website called Parent Literacy Partners, which contains great strategies for you, as parents, to use when your child gets stuck on a word when reading. An example is:
'Learning how to prompt your child to help them become more independent problem solvers when reading.'
If there is something particular you want to find out about, put key words into the search box, for example, 'letter reversals' or 'learning letters and sounds'.
This website also includes some great little videos, as well as useful resources.
Reading to Teddy

Reading to Mr Rabbit

Look at that beautiful pointy finger!

Reminders and Notices:
  • Please ensure that your child remembers to pack his/her reading folder every day
  • Library folders need to be returned to school on or before library day (which varies from class to class)
  • It's a good idea to make sure your child takes his or her drink bottle home after school each day, for a 'freshen up'
  • We will again be acknowledging the anniversary of the Feb 22nd Earthquake this year, by creating a chalk 'River of Flowers' on the footpath outside school on Sandwich Road on Wednesday.
Have a lovely week everyone.
Nga mihi nui.




Koru Blog Term 3 Week 6

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Gratitude
We have been discussing what gratitude looks like with the children recently. We frequently share something we are grateful for (friends, warm weather, our parents helping us get to school etc) during the roll. We have also been writing thank-you letters for our wonderful parent helpers . Gratitude is a key tool for resilience in our children. Why not discuss things you are grateful for around the dinner table at home?

From the staff team....thanks a million to all our parent helpers, especially the Friday gingerbread bakers, Ali, Nicola (Archie), Oliver's Mum, Cam (Ashlyn) and of course Nicole (Layla), Kate and Tanya who have spent hours laminating resources and putting books away. Your help is very very appreciated!! The kids love working with you.
  



We Get There Together

The children have been working on listening and working with their peers in line with our school value,  'We get there together.'
One activity we use to develop listening is 'talking buddies'. Children sit facing their buddy, and discuss a question starter given by the teacher e.g. What is your favourite place to go?
What superhero you would like to be?  What does respect mean? They practise listening to and responding to their peer, and then sharing their own thoughts.





Reading
As ever we are loving our books!  We are also using picture books as stimulus to help us in our own writing. We read the picture books , 'My Brilliant Dad,' and 'My Mum,' and then described our own family members, and favourite places. We are practising the key writing skills of:
* Saying our sentence
* Saying and hearing letter sounds and having a go at writing new words
* Using our knowing words (high frequency words)
* Re-reading our work as we go
* Adding fullstops and checking we have capitals at the start
* Adding 'wow' words to make our writing interesting
e.g. 'Inflatable world is totally awesome'
What can you do at home?
* Have a special notebook for your child to record the 'wow' words they read in picture books.
* Encourage your child to write and make cards for others
* Have a range of writing materials available e.g. pens, felts, pencils etc
* Offer fine motor tasks such as putting clothes pegs in a line; threading; building and dough work

   




Developing independence in our students

We encourage all our children to put their own belongings away in the morning on arrival at school. There are 3 things that we would like the children to do independently.
1. Put their backpack on the hook.
2.Take their fruit out for morning fruit break.
3.Put their reading folder away in the labelled reading container.

If the children become independent in these tasks it will help them as a learner and transfer into other learning areas at school. Our students will become confident in their ability to manage their belongings, themselves and ultimately their learning.
A key example of this would be the child who independently turns the pages in their reading book and points to the words in the text themselves.


Reminder
There are a few bugs going through the school at the moment. We are reminding children to wash their hands after going to the toilet and before eating. Please ensure that your child knows how to do this.




Week 11 Team Whanau Koru Blog

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We wish you all a very happy restful holiday with the little ones. No doubt  they will be more than ready for a break after one term at school.


Announcement:
We are thrilled to announce that Andrea Swanson will join Team Koru in Term 2. Rowena will be teaching 3 days a week and Andrea will release her for 2 days a week on Thursday and Friday. This is so Rowe can continue her work as Mutukaroa Co-ordinator. Andrea has many years teaching experience including teaching New Entrants last year at Beckenham. Many families will know Andrea already as she worked in Team Koru last year.



Drink Bottles
Next term it would be great if all the children remembered to bring a named drink bottle to school daily. Please encourage your children to put these in the tray provided as part of their morning routine.

Picnic
Thanks to all of you who made it to the picnic yesterday. The children had a lovely time on the adventure playground and were so excited to see you. It was a nice informal way to get together. A trip or trips out in the future are definitely on the cards.



The Three Legged Cat by Margaret Mahy
Tom the tabby cat dreamed of seeing the world, but he had only three legs. Mrs. Gimble was a boring widow that wished Tom would just sit still. Mrs. Gimble's brother Danny loves to travel the world, but his trusty hat is getting old and it isn't as warm. It is only by chance that all three get their wishes. Danny mistakes a sleeping Tom for his fuzzy hat and takes off to travel the world. His new "hat" is very warm and Mrs. Gimble's new "cat" is very still. Tom finally gets to see the world. The funny story of chance shows that anything can happen.

The visuals in the story aide the reader in making guesses as to what will happen next. The first page shows Tom all curled up sleeping. A few pages later, the reader gets to see Danny's hat, that looks a lot like Tom. When Danny visits Mrs. Gimble, he takes off his hat and there is an orange fluffy ball on the top of his chair. This makes the reader question whether or not the fuzzy item is a hat or a cat. On Danny's way out, the illustrator reveals Tom's face on Danny's head. On the following page, Tom is awake and his peg leg is showing. This type of crazy situation would make kids laugh a lot.


The characters in this book are very realistic. Mrs. Gimble is a grumpy lady who enjoys the comfort of her home and cares very much about what others think of her. Danny on the other hand is a wanderer. He loves to travel and has no permanent address. The illustrator makes the differences in their personalities very clear through their clothing. Mrs. Gimble wears conservative pink clothing that blends in with the rest of her house, which is also pink. The similarity of her clothing choices and house decorations show her narrow-mindedness. Danny's clothes contrast Mrs. Gimbles house well, with bold colours like red, black and blue. His vest and choice of hat show his love for travel as they look like they belong in a different culture. This story uses funny characters to introduce different types of people to children in an appropriate way.




Koru Newsletter, Term 1 Wk 8, 2016

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A wonderful quote from Paul Jennings
"Reading to your children is one of the most valuable things you can do for them. If you can possibly do it, try to fit some story-reading into your busy schedule. The benefits are enormous."





'Jewel Jar' celebration of learning afternoon
The jewel jars in hub 10 and 11 have been filled up! Students have been working together to earn jewels to show they care about our classroom environment, showing they are self managers and working together to share resources and focus on learning tasks. This celebration afternoon will be on Friday the 1st of April. We will have mask making, funny video clips, popcorn, fairy bread making, parachute games and other fun activities the children choose.

End of term lunch
We would like to invite whanau in on Thursday the 14th of April at 12noon for a  picnic down by the ponds/ senior adventure playground situated in the park. Please let us know if you are able to make it.

Parent Helpers
We are looking for parents who would be willing to help out by putting reading books away in our resource room, make word packs, make number packs and make games. If you are interested in helping out please talk to Rowe, Charlotte or Amanda.

Hub Rabbit
Next term Amanda is going to bring her pet rabbit 'Peach' into school for a visit. If the visit goes well for Peach and the children she could stay on as a hub pet. If you have any concerns or questions about this please talk with Amanda. 

8th April Assembly 
On the 8th of April Team Koru will be leading our schools Celebration of Learning Assembly. If you are free it would be great having whanau join us for this event. We hope to see many of you there!
We will be performing a musical item which could be highly entertaining ! Grandparents are more
than welcome to attend too. 

School Photos
Everyone had there wonderful smiles on and their eyes were sparkling when we had our hub photos taken on Monday. Information for these photo orders will be out next term. 

Lost Jumper
Can all parents please check jumpers at home? Asra's red school jumper has been misplaced. Thanks!

Literacy
We will be spending lots of time revising and checking we know all our letter sounds next week. Here is what you can do at home to practise letter sounds:
* Make a letter poster e.g. create a 'g' page with cut out pictures / drawings of things that start with g
* Point to a word in your child's home reading book. Ask them, 'what is this sound? What is the letter name'?
* Have fun with our phonics song. Kiwi Kids Phonics Song
* Using junk mail or magazines, practise finding letters. Ask your child, 'what sound does this letter make?'
* Play eye spy
* See our 'home learning' page on this blog for more ideas
NOTE: we talk with the children about some letters making more than one sound.
e.g. c makes 'cat' and 'city';    g makes 'goat' and 'giant'




Welcome to new starters




Problem solving 

Wonderful Writers in Hub 10-11
Look what we can do! 


Come and see our published writing in class. You can leave us a comment on our work!