Term 4 is here!

Welcome back to school! It's going to be a busy final term. We have tennis coaching and swimming lessons this term and hopefully our cross-country event will take place on Thursday at the Quarry. We have started our 30 book challenge in Daily 5 and we've begun working on division in Maths. We have a new Inquiry beginning soon too. Please remember sunblock and sunhats as the weather improves.
We are missing George, who left Halswell at the end of last term, and we wish him all the best at Tai Tapu School.

Year 3/4 Jump Jam Performance

It is nerve-racking standing backstage with the crowd going wild. It's the day of the Jump Jam competition and the announcer is calling our team. As I prance onstage I feel very determined inside and out. Suddenly the music fires up and my flamboyant dress wiggles to the beat. I rumba, zumba, bounce, smile happily and, you know, everything. Awww now it's finished. The crowd is going absolutely crazy. Of course that gives us the sign that we have won.

By Kendall

Year 3/4 Jump Jam Performance

My heart is beating and the crowd is going crazy. It's the final of the Jump Jam regionals. Smugly I walk up the stairs and onto the stage where everything happens. Suddenly the music fires up and I tap to the beat. The crowd cheers at our eye-catching dresses. I flick and kick, lip sync, roll my hip and shoulders, smile and do absolutely everything.
The music stops the beat and I pose. The compere yells into the microphone "That was an outstanding, incredible, unbelievable performance girls! Well done!"
Well the shows over folks but I do know the trophy's ours.

By Nivae

Diary Extract by Adam

I was woken by a creaking cart pulled by a horse trotting along. I looked at the clock and it was eight. I should be up at seven. I quickly stripped on my shirt and tied up my pants. I slapped on my cap and zipped to the kitchen. Then I washed the clothes in the tub and stuffed them all in the wringer. I cranked the handle round and round and round until they were sparkling clean.
"David! Time to go to school!" I ran outside and there was mum waiting for me. "Come on David, time to go to school otherwise you will be late."
"Ok, Mum. Bye!"

The terrifying noise of the old rusty bell made everyone run to the door. We stumbled, elbowed and shoved into line. Then I heard a stomp. It was coming from the doorway and around came Miss Black.

Extract from Bridget's Diary

I was woken by my mum shouting frustratedly "Get up! You don't want to be late for school." I crawled out of bed, dragged on my clothes and grabbed the buckets to milk the cows.

***

 

The deafening sound of the bell gave me the signal to line up. We jostled into the line, stood up straight and marched into the class. The ink-smudged desks were joined together. On my left a fire was blowing in my face. To my right the boys were listening to the teacher. A troublesome boy got yelled at and got strapped. Miss Black gave me deaf ears for a minute with her threatening voice shouting.

 

 



Extract from Olivia's Diary

The light growl of my dog woke me this morning. I flung back the covers, crawled out of bed, tugged on my clothes and neatened my bed.

***

 

The sound of the teacher strictly shouting "Class!" told me it was time for lessons. We jostled, stumbled and squished into line then, after the signal from the teacher, walked silently in. Only the ticking of the clock broke the silence today in writing. The smoky smell of the fire along with Miss Black's strong lavender perfume were the only things we could smell all day. The deafening scratch of the teacher's finger nails on the blackboard made me spill some of my ink. As I stared out of the big round window at the playground I felt a tap on my shoulder and I knew what would happen next...

 

Extract from Annalise's Diary

This morning I was woken by my dog barking its head off and Mum shouting worriedly “Get up, you will be late for school!” I jumped out of bed and got a bucket of water to collect seven coffee coloured eggs and the milk from the cows.

The sound of the piercing school bell rang to tell me it was time for me to do some work with that cranky teacher. We jostled, shoved and lined up to go into class. The wooden desks were joined together. To my left were the boys sitting up straight. To my right were the lonely desks that were spares. In front of me was grumpy Miss Black and behind me was the fire burning away. The piercing sound of Miss Black scraping her finger nails across the dirty blackboard hurt my ears.

By Annalise

Extract from Zoe's Diary

My dog prancing hungrily on me woke me up this morning. I slopped out of bed, snatched the bucket and stumbled to the chicken pen. There were only four creamy beige eggs for me to collect.

The dreaded school bell rang to tell us to line up outside class. We shuffled into line, fell silent and neatly plodded into class.

Ink smudged desks were marked and scratched from ink pens. It seemed to me the hands on the clock were moving too slowly every hour. To the right was a window and all I could see were some bushes for hiding in, a tree for climbing on, plain grass for running on and a flag flapping in the wind. Right, I’m tired of Miss Black. I’m nearly deaf. Miss Black has yelled all morning.

Jump Jam champs

We are so proud of our Year 3/4 Jump Jam team who came first in their category at the South Island Regionals. They will be heading up to Auckland in November to represent Halswell at the Nationals. Go girls!

Tricky Tag

I  am  standing    still    as   a   statue.       Mrs Kelly      says     go.       I    sprint     off.    The     sun      is     glowing,      the    trees     are    swishing,      the     birds     are       chirping     and       room    15     are    all    out      on    the    court    playing     a        game     of            tricky  tag.     I    seek,     zigzag,     sprint,     tag,    every thing.     I   am  sprinting   up      on    Olivia.     Olivia    turns    around,     and    tags   me   and    I   feel     disappointed.     I           have   to    sit   down    on    the   cold    concrete.    I    feel    full     of    beans.
By Aimee                  
     

    

Ferrymead

On Thursday 22 of August we went to Ferrymead to see what it was like in the olden days. First my group went to the house work my favourite part was the dishes! Second we went to the movies. We watched Laurel and Hardy and we watched Tom and Jerry. I love Tom and Jerry. Next we went to the shop and we and to find some things in the shop. and the group that came back first won and got the job to be helpers in the shop (because he split us in to threes). The thing that I likde second to last was the school house because we actually got to write on a slate board. After lunch we went on the tram ride. That was my favourite thing.
by Annalise

Gymnastics

We go to Olympia Gym every Tuesday.

Drama

Ms Moran came in and did drama with us. We acted out the story of Rona and the Moon. It was heaps of fun.

Superhero Day

It's started!

This week we watched the first pile go in for our new school building. We stood at the fence outside the school to see it happening and we could feel the vibrations under our feet. The cylinder shape around the pile muffled the sound a lot and when we were back in Room 15 it wasn't too noisy.

Kick!

I'm sweating.
I'm tired.
I'm thirsty.
I can see the goal straight ahead of me since the other team are way behind me.
I can hear the stamping boots of the Wasps.
I can hear people cheering ''Go Adam! Go Adam'' as I run towards the goal.
As I sprint I can feel the thin air on my dry lips.
The snowy white ball bounces against the muddy grass as it rolls towards the goal.
The goalie jogs from side to side in front of the net.
Is the ball going to go in or not?
By Adam

Term 3

Welcome back everyone. It was great to see you all today, ready to learn and keen to share your holiday news. It is going to be a busy term.
Gymnastics starts tomorrow (Tuesday) and we leave school at 8.45, so don't be late. Please make sure you are in school by 8.30 so that we can do the roll before we go.
Our calendar art is on display in the classroom. Please encourage Mum/Dad to pop in and take a look. I'm sure they will like it. Order forms will go home this week so that they can order calendars and cards if they'd like to. 
Today we made a good start on work we will be doing for the next few weeks. We began measurement by measuring the length of objects in different ways. We started thinking about memorable moments in our lives that we will write snapshots about. We also read 'Mrs Armitage on Wheels' and thought about the forces at work when we ride a bike. There are 5 different forces. Can you remember them?

Bye bye Hunter

We were all really sorry to have to say goodbye to Hunter yesterday. He is moving up to Auckland with his family and we wish him every happiness and success. The children enjoyed a delicious shared lunch in his honour... which carried on into the afternoon! Thanks parents for all the goodies. There were very few leftovers! Wishing all of you a lovely holiday and lots of fun over the next 2 weeks.

A big thank you

Thanks so much to parents for coming to the conferences this week. I hope you'll agree that the children did really well in telling you all about their learning. It was lovely to see their enthusiasm and their pride in their achievements. They are a fabulous class and I'm very proud of them all.

What I will be when I grow up

I would like to be a scientist and dig up rocks from millions of years ago. I would like to be like David Attenborough and go on journeys around the world.  Maybe I'll watch animals in stalking mode. Perhaps I'll go through the jungle and watch how wild orangutans catch and eat their prey.
by James

The Dragon

The   dragons   mouth   is   breathing   flames .  I  am  the   evilest   dragon  of  them  all  .   I  am  the  king       of   them  all  .     I  will  eat  you.  I  will  kill  you.    by   Jayden

Winter

The snow flakes perform circus tricks as they whirl to the ground.
The trees shrink without their coats of leaves.
Snow collapses like ice cream falling from its cone.
Snow men stand on display for the passing people.
Ice waits for the fun to begin.
Igloos disappear into thick layers of water when winter starts to end.

By Emma

Balancing Forks

 Our topic is on balancing. We had to get two forks and some clay and a nail.We put the pointy side of the nail into the clay. Then the forks  go in the side of the clay. And we had balance the nail on corners and glue sticks it was fun.We had to find the centre of gravity. I was with James  and he loved it too. My mum thought that was a good idea. By George.

Autumn

The leaves turn like  a bride  dancing.
The sun  reflects on water as if it's a mirror.
The branches twist like an old lady's fingers. 
The birds cheep, drowning  out gentle  sounds. 
The acorns crackle under your feet 
The grass sprouts through the mud .
The mud squishes down like a trampoline under your weight .
The flowers are drooping and glum. 
By Rosa

The Small Dragon

The Small Dragon

I think of the dragon with his sad misty eyes and his tiny webbed feet. The scales cling to his oval shaped body. His nest is made of dark grey coal. He has triangular shaped pointy ears.He looks like he has just sprinted through the forest to find safety.I think of the dragon by his insy green wings.He is difficult to feed, there is nothing that he will eat. He stares at me like he's going to say "I can't eat this."

By Kate

Spring

 The daffodils burst out of raked grass.
The blossoms bloom to the sound of laughter.
The trees grow fresh green leaves and show new life like a mother and a new born baby.
Flax gets plaited all over New Zealand.
The grass sways like the sea in the wind

by Nivae

Dragons

There are annoying dragons, horrid dragons, icy dragons,f iery dragons

some for having fun dragons.

There are yucky dragons, yummy dragons, anxious dragons, fossilized dragons

some are mostly normal dragons.

Now tell me what kind you would have?

Choose the one you would have

annoying, horrible,

icy or fiery

maybe yucky, yummy, anxious or fossilized.

I would have a normal dragon which doesn't breath fire at all!!!

If you choose a fierce dragon that would be hard! Stay guard!!

By Zoe

Go away shoes go away

Clickety clack. These noisy shoes make me sick.I think that is why my mamma brought 'em.When I try to sneak to the lolly jar my dadda says what are you doing girl? And when I try to tickle my mum when she is having a day dream she catches me. I never win at hide and go seek. Clickety clackety click that is the sound of me taking them back.
by Annalise

The Bucket Experiment

On Tuesday we went out to the courts and we did an experiment. The experimemt was we got a bucket  and we swung it around and around. But if you didn't spin it fast enough the water would fall on you because the bucket was full of water. George got soaked because he stopped swinging when the bucket was at his head and gravity made the water fall on his head.  by Logan

Autumn

The leaves whisper in the breeze.
The sun shoots bullets of light at you.
The wind whistles like a person strolling in the streets.
The trees are as tall as giraffes in Africa
by Adam

Hats!!!

I have a hat it has diamonds on it and I have one with Halswell school on. But the one that my dad chose has a dog with star glasses saying how do you do. My Mum brought me a really really cool hat. It says ROXY. The writing is black and the sparkles are white and the hat is pink. I just hate the one that my brother chose. It is a flat cap. It is blue with Donald Duck on it. Thank gosh he didn't buy it. My Aunty brought me one that said my family is a millonaire and my grandad brought an Xfactor hat and it came with a free band. He also  brought me one that says get a hair cut and a real job. My Nanna brought me a Willowbank hat that came with free Willowbank tickets. This isn't true but it could be! from Bailey. Bye!

Autumn

The leaves glide and spin.
The trees shade the grass.
The grass grub curls, crawls, tickles and digs.
The grass is green and silky.
The leaves from the trees spin and lie.
The sun strains to get through clouds.
The birds spring tree to tree and soar into the sky.
By James

Centripetal force

A week ago we went outside to do our Inquiry with forces. We got a bucket of water and we had to spin it up over our heads and back down again. We had to do this for about as many times as we could without dropping any of our water. It was really really fun because I dropped some water.

Autumn

The  colour  makes  it  beautiful. Birds  sing  cool  songs. Leaves  fall  from  trees.  Colour  glows. The  gate   makes   it  beautiful.  Birds  fly  around   the  place and  the  playground. The  wind  makes   the  leaves  fly.  by  Jayden

Who shall I be today?

Who will I be today?
Should I ride a magic pony round the crescent moon?
Or should I be a princess locked in a tall tower?
Maybe I should be a builder creating sky skrapers?
I don't know but maybe I could travel places...
How about a pilot zooming to Fiji?
I wish they made a time machine and picked me to go!
Or maybe... just maybe... should I stay me?
Oh how fantastic life could be!
By Emma Tucker

Why Shoes Why?

Click Clack Click Clack.
Why shoes? Why? Why are you so noisy?
When I play sleeping lions it does not last very long.
When I try to tickle dad I get it back even though I don't ever make it.
Mum looked pleased when she bought them, now I know why!
I didn't even try to buy these shoes!
Oh why?
Never never did I need them!
I've learned my lesson, I swear!
But why mum why can't you take them back?
Now when  I ask for new shoes all I hear is "Mumble mumble no" from her for the rest of the day.
I wish my family would agree with me!!!!
By Emma Tucker

Paint It Black Day

0n Tuesday it was Paint it Black day. I was wearing a black long sleeve top and grey and black striped leggings with an All Blacks face painted on my forehead and a fern on my cheek. Miss Kelly took a picture of us. After lunch we did PE with room 16. First I did skipping. Next I played gutter board. I made a new friend called Bethan. After that we went back to class. It was a fun day. AWESOME!
By Zoe

Paint it Black Day

"Paint it black is on today" said Jack "but I do not know what to wear  today."  Jack told mum. "I'll help you Jack," said mum, so they went to his room to look for clothes he was going to wear. He got his clothes on and did his jobs and went to school and Jack saw everyone was wearing black today. Some senior people came in to take a photo of them in their black clothes. Later Jack went home and told mum "I had a good day at school today!" Then Jack went to bed  and had a good snooze.
By Jack

Paint It Black Day

Paint it black was a special day because we got to celebrate for the All Blacks. When they play and win the game they feel proud. They stand up with a trophy so 'Go All Blacks.' They might come to school to show their trophy so 'Go All Blacks.' We would give them a huge hug especially Richie and Dan. Then we would celebrate for them and play. We'd have fun playing kicks and they could talk to the teachers.
By Hunter.

Tippy Tappy Shoes

Tippy Tappy Shoes
Tippy tap, when I sneaked to the lolly jar, tippy tap tippy tap went the shoes. Then mum came. "Hey! No lollies!" Man, I hate these shoes! Tippy tap tippy tap when I was going to frighten dad sleeping. He woke up. Then dad said "Hey stop sneaking up on me!"

Paint It Black

Today was 'Paint It Black Day' at Halswell. We dressed in black, white and silver to show our support for the All Blacks. Good effort Room 15! You all look great!

Go away ! Shoes! Go away!

My noisy shoes make me sick.

I can't get away with any thing since I got 'em

I guess thats why my mother brought them for me!

When I try to slink up on my dog I'm caught in 3 seconds flat.

I can't play robber and look for stuff. I can't get any new news

When I try to slip in late from soccer my parents know I broke the rules.

When I try to sneak to the lolly jar I never make it very far

I can't tickle my mum when she's having a day dream.

I never win a running race.

These shoes make me a lousy sneak!

I hate these no good shoes!

By Nivae

                                                         

                        

Happy Birthday Adam

Adam has turned 9. Happy Birthday from all your friends in Room 15, Adam.

Art Gallery

On Wednesday Susie from the art galley came. We did art of  people moving.  I did people doing karate. I like doing  art  with  Susie. I  hope  she  will  come  back . She is  an  art teacher .We  love  doing  art  with Susie.           by  Jayden

Art Gallery

On Wednesday Susie came to do some art with us.She came to talk about people moving.It was so much fun.I hope Susie will come back again.
by Annalise

Happy Birthday Bridget

Happy 9th Birthday to Bridget!

WOW!

I am so proud of my class for raising an incredible $450 for World Vision. Thank you all so much for making your pledges and going without some of your favourite things for a week. You are awesome. A very big thanks to all the friends and family members who sponsored you. 

My Pledge

For the whole week I have promised to give up chocolate , biscuits and the ipod. I have to do it because my  school sponsors Gamaya and we are seeing what it is like to have no electronics or junk food.I found it quite hard but we are only giving up some stuff and they dont have any of the stuff we haven't given up either.
By Olivia

Juggling

We made juggling balls and then tried juggling with them. The first ball had to go higher than the second so we needed a greater push force to send it up. We used less force on the second ball so it didn't go as high. This gave us time to catch the second ball before the first ball was pulled back down by gravity.

Circus jugglers make it look so easy, but we found it very tricky. We had fun trying though!

Playing with forces

Room 15 had fun investigating the push and pull forces that we use when playing with toys. We had to decide whether the toys needed a push or a pull or both to make them move.

Holly is 8!

Happy Birthday to Holly who turned 8 last week.

My Pledge

I have given up on my brother's xbox.It is really hard to do it.Really I feel like a Tanzanian person without it. Just to tell you I'm doing it to get money to sponser Gamaya who is in Tanzania.He is very poor on cash indeed. By Kase

My Pledge

I absolutely didn't like giving up my laptop,IPod and IPad for the week because my friends were on it. All the year 3\4s had to give up some stuff because we are sponsoring Tanzania.Tanzania is a poor poor country.Instead of playing on the IPod,IPad and my computer I helped my brother Ashton with his Phonics.I have raised $5.00 and I feel good about raising money and I think I have done well. By Bailey                                                                                                                                               

My Pledge

I gave up my i pod for a whole week. I actually found it really really hard. To make me not think of it, my mum hid it in a secret drawer by the computer. I gave up minecraft aswell. It was really hard for me to watch Fraser [ my brother ] play minecraft. I am doing all of this to sponsor Gamaya who lives in Tanzania. We got to choose some of our friends or family to sponsor us and raise some money for World Vision.
by Kendall

My Pledge

Well this week I promised to give up tv because if I do I will get money from my family. I will give the money to my teacher and she will send it to Tanzania.The people in Tanzania are very poor so the year 3-4s are giving money to a kid in Tanzania. I found it extremely hard. I've really missed tv.Now I know how hard it is for people in Tanzania. by Holly

Annalise is 8

 Happy Birthday to Annalise who was 8 on Sunday.

Push or pull?

Today we went to the playground at Country Palms to investigate forces. We had to work out whether we were using pushes or pulls or both as we played on the equipment. Have a look at these pictures and decide whether we are pushing or pulling?

A week without

Thanks so much to all the generous people who are sponsoring us this week as we try to do without some of our 'wants'. Some of us are giving up lollies, some are giving up TV and doing chores instead, some are giving up ipads and laptops, some are giving up favourite toys. Everyone has made a pledge for the week. Mrs Kelly is avoiding cakes, chocolate and other sweet treats and she is trying to use her car a lot less.
We are raising money for World Vision to send to Tanzania, to help Gamaya and other children who are much less fortunate than us.
Well done to James and his family who gave up their car during the holidays and went everywhere by bus instead. What a great effort!

Term Two and lots to do

Our new term is underway and we're already busy writing pirate plays, painting Autumn trees, investigating forces and trying out new addition strategies.

More March Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Logan, who was 7 on Friday.

Happy Birthday to Emma, who was 8 on Saturday.

Birthday Boys!

Happy Birthday to Meihana, Jack and Hunter

who have all had their 7th birthdays in March.

Pirate Day

We had such a great time at the Quarry being pirates for the day. The sun shone and everyone enjoyed themselves. Thanks to all the parents who came along to join in the fun and thanks so much for the delicious plates of food that were brought in to feed the hungry pirates. What a feast! The food was definitely one of the highlights of the day and we were spoilt for choice. The children showed great team spirit and all got enthusiastically involved in the activities. We were all very tired by the time we got back to school but our spirits were revived by Justin's amazing marshmallow mudcake that was shared out at the end of the day.  

James Rizzi

We are big fans of James Rizzi. We love his colourful and cheerful artwork. We have done our own portraits based on his style. Come and see them in our classroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noVA5yAALtA

Daily 5 in Week 5

This week we practised 'Read to Someone' with our buddies from Room 16. We also launched 'Word Work', using lots of different materials to help us to learn our spellings. We all have a list of ten spellings to bring home and practise and we will test each other on Fridays. We also need to remember to bring home a book from our book box each day to read to someone at home.