'Marching in the Navy'

The students decided to march themselves, so Dylan's Dad thought he would give them some extra training.

Week 2.

Whew!,  what a busy week we have had...
Kick it, Making Anzac Biscuits, Resurrection Liturgy, Learning how to make Mosaic Poppies, Dylan's Dad visited from the Navy, Creating our Remembrance Garden, Poppy Making, Mandarin with Jack,  Sarah shared her families medals, Tara shared her Great Uncle's Medals, Avaani brought in some great photos of Anzac Cove and Gallipoli,

and in between all that we did some great learning as well. Check out some of the presentations below this post.

We also welcomed a new student to our classroom- Aaron- he has moved from St Michaels' school. Now we have 2 people called Aaron. I am going to get very confused.

I have been very proud of the students this week. They have shown how much they have learnt when we have had parents come in and when Dylan's dad came in to talk to us about the Navy.
We had a great time making some mosaic poppies and the sign Lest We Forget. The Remembrance Wall is going to be amazing when it is finished.

Golden Time was a lot of fun. The students were able to 'sign up' for a class, and so all the middle school was mixed up. We all made some poppies- please bring yours back to school tomorrow for the Liturgy.

Golden time was great- and it was really good to see the students mixing up with their friends.
This week for Golden Time we are going to build a periscope. We will need you to bring in some supplies for this.

Anzac Liturgy Tuesday in the hall 1000- all welcome

Wednesday- Library

Holiday Reading Logs are due tomorrow (Tuesday). If you have yours on your table at home please bring it in- we are nearly at 100% of students in our class who have returned theirs. Please do so by tomorrow. There are some wonderful prizes up for grabs including a chrome book and an ipod touch. The teacher of the class with the most reading logs will also get to win a prize.

Yan se- Colours

The Navy

We were very lucky to have a very special visitor on Friday- Dylan's Dad. He came to tell us about the Navy.  Afterwards we took some photos by our Remembrance Crosses. The students asked some really interesting questions and we learnt a lot.  Afterwards we went outside and took some photos. He also made us 'Stand to Attention'.  He has got a very loud voice!

Anzac Biscuits

To celebrate Anzac Day we all mad Anzac Biscuits this week. We read an article about how Anzac biscuits were made and sent to the soldiers in World War I. We learnt that they had biscuits to eat that were not very nice. They were so hard that the soldiers had to crumble them up into their porridge to make them soft enough to eat. They were called Hard Tack Biscuits or Soldier's Biscuits.

The women left behind in New Zealand and Australia baked biscuits to send to the soldiers. Anzac biscuits lasted a long time.

 A very big Thank you to Mrs Bradley, Mrs Ash and Mrs Blundell who all came in to help students make Anzac Biscuits. On Tuesday a group made Anzac biscuits, the same as the ones in the Journal articles that we read. On Wednesday another group made some gluten free biscuits and on Thursday 2 groups made some biscuits from a recipe that was in the newspaper. They were all slightly different, tasted great and made the classrooms smell delicious.

Kick It

Tara's Medals

Mosaic Poppies

This week we have been making mosaic poppies with Janet Keen to add to our Remembrance Wall. We cut up tiles into very small pieces and then glued them onto the wooden poppies and the words- Lest We Forget.  We have been learning why it is important to remember the soldiers who fought so bravely for us.

Learning how to post on our blogs

This is how we post writing on our blogs.

http://stmaaronm.blogspot.com

Week 1 Term 2

Holidays are over and it is back to school tomorrow.  I hope everyone has had a great holiday and that you are all safe and sound.

Well done Patrick for putting up a post on your blog over the holidays. Great to see you have been to Auckland.

The Challenge is on- Can we all do it?   Did we all do it? -  Read, Read, Read!

Don't forget to bring your Reading logs to school- filled in- even the books that were read to you can be included. If you have lost your page, write what you have read on a piece of paper. Remember the great prize- a Chromebook or an Ipod. The real prize is improving your reading, literacy and comprehension.   I would love to have everyone bring back their form.

Make sure your Chromebooks are nice and charged for tomorrow.

This week
Tuesday - Resurrection Liturgy- 10 am
Wednesday - Library

Remembrance Garden- Crosses and Poppies

We have some exciting things planned for the Middle School to complete our learning about Anzac Day.  We have the Remembrance Crosses to construct, and Mr Macmillan has organised an extra special activity for us so that as a school we can pay tribute to all the soldiers who served to protect us all.   Mrs Keen is coming to work with us to create some Mosaic Poppies, to form part of the St Mary's Remembrance Garden.

She will be coming Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We are still sorting out the details, but would love some parent help. If you think you may be able to assist us please let me know. I will confirm what day our class is going to be involved.

Anzac Biscuits

Also I would like to cook some Anzac biscuits this week. I think the other classes may have already cooked some last term, but I thought we would cook ours this week to coincide with Anzac Day on Saturday.  Again if there is any parent that would like to come in and help a group- or groups of students to cook some Anzac biscuits please let me know.  We have an oven in our middle room so it is nice and handy.

Anzac Day

This Saturday is ANZAC day and in the past the school has attended the parade and Civic
Memorial Service. This ANZAC is a special one so Mr Macmillan would like to invite all of our children to participate. The parade starts at 9.00am from the Lakefront Memorial and the children will walk as a school to the Rotorua Energy Events Centre commencing at 9.30am. The service normally lasts for an hour 1/4 to hour and a 1/2. If children and parents want to be involved in this, they need to meet Mr Macmillan at 8.30am at Lakefront Memorial.

Golden Time

We have decided that this term the Middle Team-  are going to be working together during Golden Time. This means that you will be able to do things with your friends in other classes as well as in your own class. We have organised some challenges and other things to do. I am sure you will love it.

Holidays

I hope everyone is having a great holiday. I am at a conference in Auckland learning lots about Google Apps and using Chromebooks.
 It would be great to add a photo of a book you have read onto your blogs, and write a little bit about the book and if you have enjoyed it.   You might also like to take or add a photo of something you have done in the holidays.

Here is one of the books I have read this holiday. It is inspired by the Fairy tale from Russia called the same name. It is about a old couple who don't have any children and they build a Snow man who turns into a little girl. She can't come too close to the fire or she will melt.

Whilst in Auckland, Mrs Cato and I visited in Devonport and saw this Remembrance Garden for World War 1.  

Have a great time for the rest of the holidays. Don't forget to fill in your Reading logs.    See you on Monday.

Technology Truck

Learning how to use the webcam