Critical thinking

In class we have just started spending some time debating some topics and developing the students ability to form and defend their opinions. We want students to think outside the box, think about causes and consequences of actions, and to develop an understanding of issues our society faces. We have looked at subjects such as; pay rates in jobs (Should professional athletes get paid the same as scientists? What should determine how much someone gets paid?), Do we need war to create peace? How would our world be different if all vehicles flew? What options are there for dealing with terrorists? We looked at the following video and discussed how food is processed and created and how our food might look like in the future.


Parents, if you have any issues you think would be good for us to explore, pop them in the comments section.

Makuhari Japanese visitors

It was great to have a cultural day on Monday with a visit from a group of 15 year old Japanese students. It was so good for the students to see that our 'normal' is not everyone's 'normal'.  It was great to see our students interact with them and realise what it means to not have English as a first language. They participated in a variety of cultural activities. The students made sushi, played Japanese games, made origami, dressed up in costumes, had their name written in Japanese, and learnt some Japanese greetings. Here are a few of the names in Japanese. 

Tumble turns

A number of you have been learning to do a tumble turn, and many of you will learn it in the future. I thought I would post a video of Hayze doing a couple of them for you to see how it looks underwater. Nice pose half way through too Hayze!

SWIMMING

Such a great day yesterday. Our school has some outstanding swimmers. We are sending a large portion of the class through to the Lower Waipa Swimming sports this Friday and then we are also sending 9 onto the Full Primary competition next Wednesday at St Peters in Cambridge.

It was great to see you pushing yourselves, going in races that you were nervous about, and also really encouraging each other. It was just such a great day to be a part of.

The lessons at Te Awamutu have been really beneficial and it was good to see some of those skills put to use in the races.

Well done Ruapane - you deserved the relay win in both the parents and student relay.

Preschool help

It was great to get down to the preschool this morning to help spread some bark on their playground. The school has a great relationship with the preschool and going down there is a great opportunity for the students to develop their relational and leadership skills with the younger children. It was a big pile of bark but we managed to get it all spread out. Well done guys!

More inspiring writing

We have been doing more writing with a focus on adding detail and descriptive language to create a clear picture in the readers heads.

The students have done some awesome descriptive writing in pairs. They write their own piece and then combined theirs with someone elses. This was a great exercise in sharing and negotiating ideas, playing with words, and constructing some powerful writing. Here are a few sentences I pulled out. Many of the will post the full pieces on their blogs so keep an eye out.

The crooked old bridge moaned under the weight of the Dark Lord's black stallion. (Lola and Ieuan)

I heard the rushing water as it fell off the mountains and into the mist. (Declan and Connor)

It invaded us and the bridge, surrounding us, cloaking us in fear.  (Bonnie and Finn)

Every step the horse took the more the boards creaked and the more my heart thumped. (Hayze and Cameron)

Fear surged through my body. The icy cold wind whistled though my ears. (Joseph and Dylan K)

I let out a shrill scream of fear but my cries were lost in the forest. (Madeline and Stephanie)