Category Archives: Kahikatea

Geometry

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We are learning to sort items into groups and explaining our groups using mathematical words like colours, groups, size, shape etc. We need to be able to work as a team with our sorting and listen to each other's ideas respectfully.
"We were stacking them and counting how many there were. We sorted them into size and colours."

"We put them into our own pictures sorting them into colours." 

"First we did our idea of sorting them into groups of animals then we tried out sorting them into colours."

"We put them into their piles of shapes. This is the triangles, hexagons and long ones. We put them into size as well." 

"We sorted into a line in the same colours as every one. Green had the most then blue then yellow then red."

"First we decided to sort them into colours. We decided to put them into shapes too."




Week 5 Newsletter

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Talofa 'aiga,

We have had another busy week in the Kahikatea team, with our particular focus on Space (Planet Earth and Beyond). The writing and experimenting that the children have been involved in has demonstrated to us their enormous interest and motivation in this subject. We shall continue to publish samples of writing here on our Blog, but please do check out your children's writing books in the classrooms as well.

Next week is going to be very busy for us all:
  • teachers are involved in a Teacher Only Day on Tuesday, focusing on the teaching of writing
  • on both Wednesday and Thursday, teachers will be involved in teaching and observing each other, as we continue our focus on the teaching of writing
  • on Wednesday, we have our hockey 'festival' session between 9:30 and 10 a.m.
  • and on Thursday, we are having the second of our Arts Extravaganza days, with children rotating through 4 different sessions, which will include Drama/Dance, visual art (2 different sessions), and music.

As a result of not only the above, but also the fact that next week is a short week anyway, our Home Learning is going to have a different look. Teachers will be in touch with you regarding the type of approach that their Home Learning will take.

Blog notifications:
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A reminder about upcoming events:
  • Matariki will be starting on June 6th and will run throughout the following month
  • the Koru and Kahikatea teams cross country will be held on Thursday, June 16th (another newsletter reminder will be coming out about this at the start of Week 7); this event will be starting very promptly at 9:30, so perhaps arrive a few minutes earlier!
  • Science Alive's Space Discovery Dome will be coming to Beckenham School on Monday, June 20th - another event to look forward to!
  • the Court Theatre will be coming on Thursday, June 23rd to present their performance of Matariki for us.
The rising of the Matariki star cluster signals the celebration of the Maori New Year in New Zealand
The rising of the Matariki star cluster signals the celebration of the Maori New Year in New Zealand

The Matariki Kite Day celebrates the symbolic connection of heaven and earth
Matariki Kite Day celebrates the symbolic connection of heaven and earth
We hope that you all have a wonderful long weekend, and look forward to seeing the children again next Wednesday.              

Planet Earth and Beyond

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This hands on demonstration helps us to explain how the Earth orbits the Sun.






We created a model of the Moon's surface using flour and baby oil. Then we dropped pebbles onto the surface to show how craters are formed on the Moon by meteorites.  

The Sun

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The hottest thing in our Solar System is the Sun. The biggest thing in the Solar System is the Sun. The coldest planet is Neptune.

By Ishaan



The Super Sun


The Sun is 400 times farther away from us than the Moon. The Sun is about 150 million km from Earth. The Sun is a ball of fire and gas. The Sun is in the middle of our Solar System. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for the Sun. The Sun gives us light, heat, day and night. I love the Sun. The Sun is 5000 degrees C. 

By Fergus


Space

There are planets called dwarf planets in the Solar System. Pluto is one of the dwarf planets. There are 4 more dwarf planets. There are 5 dwarf planets in total. The dwarf planets go round the Sun. So do the other planets. They are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Satin, Uranus and Neptune.  The reason why Pluto is not a planet anymore is because it got too small to be a planet. The Sun is made of gassy fire. Some people think that the Sun is yellow, but it is actually white.   

By Maisie

Writing from Hub 2

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HUB 2's Fantastic Space Writing


The Sun


 The Sun rises in the East and it sets in the West. I love how the sun sets and rises. The planets orbit the sun. There are eight planets; Mercury, Venus. Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus.

By Bobbi.
The Earth

The Earth is the planet we live on. We are lucky we live on Earth because there aren't many storms. The sun is a very hot star. The sun might burn us if we don't put sunscreen on all the time. Earth is a very beautiful planet. Me and Torun like learning about planets. I love, love, love learning about planets. When I wasn't even born, Pluto was named a dwarf planet.

By Stella



The Solar System

What is the first planet? Mercury, or Venus, or Uranus, or Neptune, or Saturn, or Jupiter, or Mars? Which planet is the first one? Mercury!
What is the second planet from the sun? Venus.
What is the third planet from the sun? Earth.
What is the forth planet from the sun? Mars.
I like learning about the planets.

By Louie.