Term 2 Eisteddfod - Poetry

Room 4 Poetry Eisteddfods will be heard on Monday 1 July.
As part of our reading programme we are reading poems orally, using the punctuation and highlighted words to make the poem come alive, as the poet meant it to be when read aloud. We are looking at performing the poem rather than just reading it.

Chosen poems should be of a reasonable length - 16 to 20 lines is a good length.
The performance is scored out of 25:

• 5 marks for the introduction - state the title, the poet, some interesting facts about him/her if you have some and why you chose this poem.
• 5 marks for the preparation - how well have you learned it? what ideas have you used to perform it?
• 5 marks for diction - how clear are the words? - can we understand all of them? and can we hear them all?
• 5 marks for audience suitability - Room 4 are the audience - is this a poem that suits this audience? I know that we all enjoy humorous poems, animals, adventures, narrative poems that tell a story and ones with interesting nonsense words.  Many people also seem to enjoy poems that have a clear rhythm and rhyme.
• 5 marks for the presentation - this is the pure performance and entertainment factor.

A copy of your chosen poem needs to be in your homework book by Friday 21st June.  If you need help selecting a poem, please see me for help before this time.  You then have 2 weeks to learn and rehearse the performance.

Week 4 Term 2

Thank you to Lisa Reilly and Dale Hutton who walked to and from the Alexandra Library with us last week.  Once again Janine the librarian had kept some brand new books which we were able to get out - she knows the types of books that appeal to us and even although she had a meeting going on, found time to share the books that she had purchased with us in mind.  Thank you so much, Janine.  Our next visit to this library will be Friday 21st June.

Wow! What fantastic science experiments you all shared for the Open Afternoon to celebrate National Science Week.  Today everyone received their teacher assessments and suggestions for improvement. It is wonderful to see how so many of you are able to use the success criteria carefully for the written part of the experiments, and how one group linked their science skills deliberately to their questions.  You are all scientists in the making.  Emma also chose her Morning Programme How To.. with a science experiment theme (coloured ice cubes in water) - looked good enough to drink as coke!

We are all praying for Brooke to have a speedy recovery after her tonsil surgery last Friday. We miss your smiley face, Brooke.

In preparation for our next writing, please bring a board game to school to share - make sure that it still has the instructions.  This week we are evaluating instructions against a success criteria decided today, then looking at the fun factor before designing our own games with instructions which meet our revised success criteria.

Assembly: this Thursday at 2:10 in the hall, Room 1 are the presenters.

Tomorrow Evening Mr Hogue will present information on "Stress and Childrens' Learning" in Room 5 at 7:30pm, followed by a yummy supper provided by the PTA. This evening meets another goal of the PTA's - providing opportunities for parent information/learning and getting together socially.  Its role is not just to fundraise, although these activities are the more visible ones.

School Fair: 10th November - Angela Sidon and Donna Ballantyne are keen to hear of any great ideas for stalls, as well as collating a list of who is available to help with the many tasks associated with a fair. Please return the slip attached to the school newsletter to school by 4th June.

Science: from next week students will take turns at bringing an experiment to share with the class.  Some sites that might give some ideas are:  sciencebob.com and stevespanglerscience.com. It is not expected that you have to provide the "kitchen chemicals" - let me know as many are available in our science box, and we can source others.  Have a look at what might be exciting to try - remember to be thinking like a scientist about the skills, questions and try to find out the reasons why these things happen when certain substances are put together.

Homework:

1. Reading
2. Spelling
3. Tables - some have basic facts to 20, others are working on all the facts and tables - monthly tables test next Friday, so use the old copies in your books to get up to speed again - so many people nearly at 100%
4. Maths Buddy - try the activities about measurement this week.
5. Morning Programme: Group 4:  Maisie (music) you are the leader to remind everyone, Anna - book review, Zachary - Our Country, Alannah - How To..., Tyron - introducer/current events, Padraig - Holiday Mystery.

Rippa Rugby - Central Otago Competition

The date for the next round of games is Wednesday 12th June.  Vaughn Healey has made himself available to coach the team again for this, and will arrange some time/s for practice at school before this.

Homework for the team needs to be making sure you are keeping fit, as the games are full on, with some ball handling with friends or at your rugby training sessions.   As further details become available I will post them so that you are all well informed.

In the meantime, all players need to be sure to be focussed on their learning in the classroom - a great improvement last week.

Parents will need to provide transport to and from Cromwell on the 12th, so it would be great to hear from anyone able to do this.  Remember that all students need to be seated in approved seat belts, the car needs to have a current warrant of fitness, and the driver a full licence.

Exciting stuff.

Week 3 Term 2

Last week Mrs Ward started teaching The Arts in Room 4 on Tuesday afternoons. It sounded very exciting as everyone got to grips with a range of musical instruments. There will be 6 weeks of this teaching, which is my release time for testing and professional development initiatives.
On Friday we will be walking to the Alexandra Library - please have any books from there with you, and a strong bag to carry the new books back to school. I do need a couple of parents to walk to and from with us please.
To celebrate National Science Week, Friday afternoon is also an open afternoon where parents can visit classrooms to take a look at science in action.  This will start at 1:45 and end with a short talk from Ms Moeke, who is passionate about science at 2:45.
In maths we have completed Numeracy - Addition and Subtraction, where we have cross grouped, and will spend the next 3 weeks learning about measurement in our own rooms, before moving on to Numeracy - multiplication and division for the last 5 weeks of term. Groupings are yet to be decided for this.

Homework:

1. Maths: Keep working on having basic facts and tables fast, Maths Buddy if you are registered, a game to be played with the family is in the homework book. If you are into adding larger numbers, use some of the extra challenges on last week's activity "The Value of Words".  Talk with your family about which units of measurement (cm, mm, km) would be the best to measure a variety of perimeters (the distance around the outside of a shape). eg: the kitchen, a table, a rug....
2. Spelling: remember to conduct, tool and listen carefully to each sound.  Levels 3 - 5 are working on the different spelling patterns in words with the 'long a' sound.  Level 2 on Plan 1 or Plan 2 words.
3. Reading: to be a great writer it is important to read a wide variety of texts - be on the look out for interesting descriptions and pieces of language. Don't forget to record your reading in your log.  If you are reading a large text, record this at the end of the week rather than every night.
4. Morning Programme: Group 3 Simone (music) is the leader this term, Brieanna - book review, Levi - Our Country, Emma - How to ..., Joe - introducer/current events, Reuben - Holiday Mystery.
5. Typing Skills: good to see a number of people really improving - 5 minutes a couple of times a week is all it takes to at least become familiar with where the keys are on the keyboard.

Congratulations Rippa Rugby Team

Congratulation to the team of Keila, Brieanna, Kate, Celia, Anna, Will, Joe, Joshua, Reuben and Padraig who were second by one point in the Alexandra Regional Rippa Rugby Competition last Wednesday.  Thank you Vaughn Healey and Charlie O'Neill who coached and managed the team, and also to all the keen supporters on the sideline.  You people represented St Gerards well in the way you played excellent rippa as a team that supported each other and played fair.  I will post any further information as it comes to hand.  Keep your skills and fitness up in the meantime.

Mini-Beasts Term One

We researched, explored and went out and about our community to find out more about insects, we learnt a lot and then shared our new found knowledge on a dress up day.  We hope that you enjoy our movie we created showing you what we found out!

Homework - Week 1 Term 2

Homework this term will be the same format as last term, tables/maths, personal reading which is recorded daily in the log at the back of the homework book, spelling - with the words being learned using the tools from Spelling Alive, Morning Programme - preparing a presentation every 5 weeks (the plan for the term is a hard copy in the homework book) and the opportunity to improve keyboard knowledge and increase typing skills by using the bbc typing link.
Homework books need to be at school on Fridays, so that tables work can be marked, (if no-one at home has already done this, so that errors can be worked on during the week), new spelling lists worked on in class and glued in for the following week, and scores from the test of the previous week's spelling recorded.  You are then able to see exactly how your child's learning is progressing and if there are areas that we can work on together. Once again I stress that homework should take no longer than half an hour at the most, as I value the importance of team sports, cultural learning and getting out there with mates on bikes or for a throw around/kick around with a ball.
Maths Buddy: is still available to opt into this term - $22.50 for the rest of the year, the cost comes down $7.50 each term.

Tables: practice sheet for the monthly tables test which will be on Friday.  Write your goal at the bottom of your sheet.  There were so many people who made huge improvements last term. "Success through effort."  Keep up the good work.
Reading: remember to read a wide variety of texts and fill in your log. School Library Day is Monday, books need to be returned in order to get new ones out.  Some people have had the same books for most of last term.
Morning Programme: Group 1: Molly - music - you are the leader for your group, Keila - book review, Eilish - our country, Liam- current events & introducer, Michael - poem (it'll be great to have some interesting ones as we all look at choosing some exciting poetry to perform for our eisteddfods), Ben - holiday mystery and Pyper - how to...  Be ready for after interval on Friday.
Spelling: remember to say and listen carefully to all the sounds in your words, conduct them, tool them, write them and look at what might be the hard part for you. Thursday 16th May 7pm Mrs Eastwood is offering another opportunity for parents to learn about this new programme, what they can expect to see their children doing as they independently learn their spelling and how they can help at home.  This time was in response to apologies for the meeting that was held just after 3pm near the end of the term.

What's Happening This Term?

Welcome back to term two everyone.  I hope that everyone has had an enjoyable break with families and friends.  The weather apart from the last couple of days at the end of last week has been like an Indian summer, so plenty of time to get outdoors and enjoy the last of the warm weather.

What amazing insects we had at our Ugly Bug Ball - the librarians were stunned at the costumes and the effort everyone had gone to.  Thank you all for the beautiful spread of healthy food for our shared lunch. Our insects had such wonderful table manners as more than 40 ate from the gourmet spread in Room 4. One or two people left their plates on their desks at the end of the term - please check that yours have come home.

Ski Trip: I have been working on this over the break, but until I have all the permission slips back I can't move on to confirm things.  There are 5 slips still to be returned (or maybe they were returned to the office or somewhere else).  I will give new notices to those concerned and would love to get them back promptly this week.  There are plenty of adults who have offered to ski with the students, so we are well covered as far as supervision on the slopes is concerned, and two mothers who are willing to take charge of the kitchen - one for the Year 6 Group and the other for the Year 5 Group.

 Dates to put on your calendar

(also check the hard copy that will be attached to the school newsletter this week)

Please note that as the term progresses I will update this page as necessary.

Week 1: Tuesday 7th May: Rooms 3,4 & 6 walking to Alexandra Library to meet author Elizabeth Pulford., leaving school at 9:45 for a 10:00 presentation.  Please bring a jacket as the wind whips up Tarbert St. PTA Meeting 7:30 in staffroom all welcome.

Week 2: Wednesday 15th  Rippa Rugby Tournament. Information will come home about this on  Monday 6th.  As no prior Thursday competition has eventuated owing to a number of difficulties I will enter a team/teams depending on the responses back to me by Wednesday 8th.Thursday 16th: Assembly - R.2, Spelling Alive - 7pm Mrs Eastwood will share next steps with parents.

Week 3: National Science Week: Open afternoon at school on Friday 24th 1:30 - 2:30. Wednesday 22nd: Catholic Schools Day. 

Week 4: Thursday 30th: Assembly R.1

Week 5: Monday 3rd June:  Queen's Birthday, Wednesday 5th: World Enviro Day

Week 6: Beginning of the celebration of Matariki, Thursday 13th Assembly - R3

Week 7: Sunday 23rd June = School Mass to celebrate the Feast of St John the Baptist.

Week 8:  Thursday 27th June Assembly - R4

Week 9: Monday 1st July = Poetry Eisteddfod presentations, Tuesday 2nd/Wed 3rd Skating 10am - 11am, Thursday 4th July School Eisteddfods, Friday 5th - Rms 4&6 Friday Mass at 12 noon.

Week 10: Wed 10th/Thurs 11th Skating 10 - 11am  Thursday 11th Assembly R 6 plus Kapahaka & Choir performances.

I still have to confirm 2 library visits with Janine - possibly Friday 24th May and Friday 28 June, and will need parents to walk to and from the library.

Looking forward to a busy term of learning.

Chris