Room 4 Victoria Avenue School: 2016

Procedural writing & reading

The last few weeks in Room 4 we have been focusing our literacy programme on procedural writing. We have been reading procedural texts, writing our own procedural texts, following procedures and identifying structural and language features of procedural writing. We are beginning to know procedural writing inside and out. Check out some of the things we have been doing in the classroom around procedural texts.

Check out some of our procedural writing on the student work page

Kereru students read instructions about how to build a raft. They built their own and wrote instructions for other people to follow to build their raft.

Callum and Mark's raft Hikurangi and Bryn's raft Charlotte and Hamish's raft

Pukeko student's read a journal story about rewena bread. They identified imperative verbs and technical vocabulary. They spent Friday making the bread and best of all, tasting the bread!

Ruru students read a text learning all about robots. The text was overflowing with technical vocabulary and they were able to ask thoughtful questions to decide if a word would be considered technical vocabulary or not. They then tried to programme some pesky robots.

Lastly Tui students put their reading skills to the test by reading a set of instructions on how to create an origami water balloon. They carefully read the instructions and followed the directions precisely to create their own water balloon.

Camp MERC

All the year 5's headed out to Long Bay for camp last week and what a blast they had. After our inquiry last term on growth mindset Room 4 students faced challenges with a positive attitude. Students were encouraging and supportive and it was a fantastic time for everyone involved. There were definitely highlights. Check out what some of our students have to say.

Anna- At camp Merc we went out of our confort zone and faced lots of different challenges
Finn- The food was really good. I think the lunches were the best.
Bianca- Sleeping in dorms with your year group was really awesome. I didn't get much sleep though.
Callum- I liked how we stayed up super late and especially how we watched the movie.
Grace- We got to make new friends because we were in groups of students that we might not have had a chance to hang out with before.
Zach- It was brilliant even though some activities were cancelled. Every challenged I enjoyed and I think everyone else did as well.
Issy- I liked the rock climbing because it was kind of like abseiling and you had anchor people. It was really fun and you could do it blindfolded.
Toby- The run was fun.
Richie- I learnt heaps of stuff that I wouldn't have learnt at school like how to tie knots.
Chloe- I liked the movie night because we had lots of hard work from camp and we got to rest and watch a movie.
Addy- I really liked the run / walk. The views were amazing and I enjoyed taking pictures.
Poppy- I liked all the activities because they were really active.
Emison- The instructors were so nice and gave us friendly advice.

Charlotte- I liked archery because I haven't done much archery before. I enjoyed it even though I didn't get a bulls eye.
Mark- We got to face our fears.

We were lucky enough to get some video footage of our time at Year 5 camp. Check out what we got up to in the video below.

The tomorrow code

After 'Wonderstruck' was such a big hit with our class for shared reading, finding a new book was going to be hard. As a class we chose something very different to read. We are reading 'The tomorrow code' by Brian Falkner, an Auckland born and raised author. Brian Falkner always leaves us wanting more at the end of a chapter and we just want to keep reading. Big cliff hangers.

If you want to read a book about mystery, messages from the future and three teenagers trying to save the world then this is a good book.

When reading the book one of the characters who works for the army that is trying to control a mysterious fog, Crowe, uses a chimpanzee to test the fog. Here are our opinions about using a chimpanzee to test the fog.

Created with Padlet

Swimming sports

The atmosphere was full excitement and joy as the year 5 and 6 students boarded their busses. The noise level reached an impeccable height. The laughs and chatter was full of adrenaline and anticipation. Once all the kids had arrived everyone got ushered into the stadium by the parents helping. Some of the students were nervous while overs over the moon that Swimming Sports had finally come. The first race started and Pohutukawa’s chant echoed around the stadium. Apparently they were the most determined to show that their team was best. A bunch of races passed by and it was announced that morning tea was up. The cheers died down and all became silent as people munched on their snacks. The next race was announced and the girls and boys participating in the race hurried down the stone stairs. A splash loud enough to make your eardrums explode erupted in the stadium. The whoops got louder and louder making music to your ears. Finally all the races had been gone and done. It was clearly time to fill our stomachs up again. This time we gathered outside in the sweltering hot sun. The kids sat in small packs eating and waiting for the prize giving to begin. Miss Wilcock came and joined the kids. “First Place… Emison” announced Miss Wilcock. Scattered applause came after the announcement of Emison’s win. Breaststroke First Place: Emison. Freestyle First Place: Emison. Butterfly First Place: Emison! She was clearly a good swimmer. For the boys the amazing swimmers were Addison and Mark.Swimming Sports was a great event that brought smiles to our faces.

By Anna

Here are a few of our favourite photos of the day but there are plenty more. Click the link below to check out all the photos Miss Bridgland took at swimming sports.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6RxyHTouofjQV9WckxrOWdNN28&usp=sharing

Miss Bridgland is shaving for a cure

There has been a lot of buzz in Room 4 about Miss Bridgland's newest adventure. She has decided to do something crazy. She is shaving her hair to raise money for cancer. We know she will look strange but that is all part of the excitement. If you would like to help Miss Bridgland raise as much money as possible for a great cause follow the link to her shave for a cure page.

Link: Miss Bridgland's Shave for a Cure page

Wonderstruck

We are all WONDERSTRUCK by the book we are reading as our class shared novel, Wonderstruck by Brian Elznick. There are two stories within the book both being told through different means. Ben's story is told through words and Rose's story told through pictures. Their incredible journeys are fifty years apart but magically link up in a strange twist. Room 4 has been an excited murmur of predictions, connections and shock as we have read along. This story is great for adults, families, and students. We all really recommend it to anyone.

Image result for wonderstruck book

Wonderstruck has sparked our interest and got Room 4 keen to learn sign language. Sign language is one of New Zealand's national languages. We have learnt the alphabet and can spell our names in sign language. This is the New Zealand sign language dictionary. Check it out if you want to learn some new signs.

New Zealand Sign Language dictionary

Welcome to 2016!

It is a new year and we have a whole new class of awesome students in Room 4! We are in for an amazing year with so many learning opportunities for everyone. I know many of the students are excited about different things, camp, leadership opportunities, class trips and the all round excitement of now being a SENIOR. We have settled in to Room 4 quickly and have established routines and expectations. We went down and visited our great buddy class, Room 10. We read some stories to them and got to know our new buddies.