Social Studies

Well this week in Room 6 we did some social studies, it was my first time, it was really fun.  We named all the continents and we did a work sheet. There were names of the biggest cities in the world up to 20 and under it was a map.  There were numbers we used an atlas and found the right map and named them all!

We also learned about a problem that's going around right now about a tunnel that is going to be built in round by Milford Sound and Queenstown!

Dart Tunnel

This week in Room 6 we did some maths in our maths groups Fibonacci, Archimedes, Descartes and Pythagorus.  We have been working on addition and subtraction strategies.

In reading we are reading to find the main idea and use comprehension strategies to do this.

On Thursday afternoon in Room 6 we had a reliever and she was telling us about how the tourists have
to travel six and a half hours from Queenstown to Milford Sound so they want to put a tunnel through the nice mountains.

Goals and Groups

We have all set our goals, for maths, reading and writing.  I'm so glad that's over and done with!!!

We have also got names for our maths groups Pythagoras, Archimedes, Fibonacci and Descartes.  They are all very odd names the teacher has put paper up on the wall to stick information about the names.

We have names for the table groups too, Smurfs, Muppet's, Angry Birds, Unos, Four Leaved Clover and Cyber Puppies.

This week its been so awesome! I think Mrs Donnelly would have to be pretty organised to organise these groups.

Discover Room 6

This year in Room 6 we have been discovering our room 6 students and what they are like and our different personalities.  We have been making our school a better place by working on what the sport shed should be like and states it should be in.  We have made sport shed cards that have our name class number and even a photo on it .  The back has our library bar code.  We have now got our barriers at the sport shed so its not so crowded.  This week a lot of students from Otatara School competed in the Zone Athletics on Wednesday the 21st.   We got very good marks will have a lot of students competing in the Southlands as well.

Amazing Learning

Three weeks ago Year 5 people went to do outdoor ed. First we went to the estuary and found some amazing things like crabs and snails. Then we went mountain biking.  We have all completed writing our goals and today we have been making a cannon that only uses air.  We had a go at using some cups.  This is last day to finish independent reading activities. We have had an amazing week of learning!!

Vortex Cannon

Hi everyone today we were watching the kid should see this and we saw two people making a homemade vortex cannon... AWESOME!  So we gave it a go. We had a large box and cut a hole, then someone went to the office and asked if we could borrow some wide tape. Soon the only thing that air could go through was the hole. Then we had some plastic bags and BOOOOOOOM! Incredible, it shot right off the table some more people had a go then Mrs Donnelly got some paper cups BBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing.   Many more people had go and now we are making our own!

Week 7 Term One

Kia ora

Room 6 was buzzing on Monday when the Year 5 and Year 6 students were reunited after a week apart for camp and outdoor education.  Everyone had a blast, strengthening connections with peers and challenging themselves while practising their key competency goals set in class.  Miss Casey, Mr Williams and I are looking forward to planning an evening where the students can share their experiences, keep an eye out for an email with details on this soon.

Not surprisingly writing is centred around the adventures had last week.  The students have examined some memoir writing and are using this as a basis to share their ideas.  There is some really wonderful writing happening, we hope to share some at our camp celebration evening.

In Maths we are working on addition and subtraction strategies and identifying our knowledge goal with help from special guest Mrs Livingstone.   Please ask your child what their number knowledge goal is and how they plan to achieve it.  They will be able to show you some great online games via our intranet page http://intranet.otatara.school.nz/

Our big focus for the week has been preparing for athletics day which was held yesterday.  We had fabulous weather and even better sportsmanship with our students supporting each other and striving for excellence.

Wishing everyone a fun safe happy weekend

Mrs D