Quick Write: The Hapless Hamster

We have recently started a type of writing called 'Quick Writes'. These are 5 minute tasks that we complete based on a prompt such as; a video, topic, picture. The purpose of these quick writes is to help with making predictions and to also get more practice at typing on our Chromebooks.

Today we watched a video called: "The Hapless Hamster" The video was paused at 3:13 and each student had to write "what happened next?" 

Here are some of our students responses: 

 ...but then a big cow broke the fence on the back of the truck and was about to fall on the hamster but the hamster scuttled away and put a big cushy pillow under the cow so when the cow fell he fell on the pillow and went flying to Africa all the way into the big patch of lovely grass the cow was so happy that it was surrounded in grass but was so bummed it had a broken leg so it could not boot up and down and go get every single piece of grass but then a farmer came along and saw the injured cow and said “i have dinner know I can give u this good treatment it wont help u are to saw u have to get SHOT. But the cow had no idea what should meant and sooner or later BANG…. -Taylor-

As the big cow bum came closer I realised this could be it my life could be over in the blink of an eye, my only hope was to dig and dig. That's what I did, I dug and dug but it was to late the biggest bum I had ever seen came down on me like a massive weight. It was at that moment I thought my life was over, I thought I was going to heaven for good, but as I squeezed out of what I hoped wasn't his bum crack I realised I was still alive, and fine a bit bruised but fine. Then the man got out of his truck to see what had happened and that's when he seen his big mad bull running down the road away from him, then he looked down and saw me sitting there in tears, he picked me up and took me in his truck after fixing his tyre and when he got home he feed me a carrot and a big tomato. -Amy-

The cow lands on the Gopher’s face and squashes him flat. The cow gets up and runs off into the fields. The Gopher is stuck in the road, and the farmer gets out to look for his cow. The Farmer sees the Gopher and picks him up off the road, laughing as soon as he sees what has happened to him. His nose is squashed up like an old witch's nose, his hands are stuck like a sea star, and his eyes are crossed eyed. He puts him on his truck and they ride off into the sunset together. Just kidding, he puts the Gopher on the back of his truck, and he eats all of the crops. -Ally-

The bull will look mean but it will turn out to be friendly to him. The bull will make other animals leave so the hamster can eat the food. -Alex-

We love our Chromecasts!

The Senior Room are making the most of our new Chromecast to share their work with the class. Here are Lachie and Alex sharing their Whacky Web Tales stories with the class. 

Alex sharing his Whacky Web Tale- The Best Town

Lachie reading his Whacky Web Tale- New Years Resolution

Otago Triathlon

Good luck to Lucy, Ashley, Brayden and James from the Senior Room for the Otago Schools' Triathlon in Cromwell tomorrow. 

We know you will do us proud!

South-West Otago Triathlon Results

Results are in for the South-West Otago triathlon that was held last Tuesday:
- Year 8 boys individual: Lachie 11th in a time of 30.23
- year 7 girls individual: Lucy 2nd in a time of 31.33
- year 7 boys individual: Brayden 5th in a time of 29.05
- year 6 boys individual: James 5th in a time of 19.48
- year 6 boys team: Ashley, Nic and George 1st in a time of 19.41

Well done everyone, these are fantastic results! grin emoticon

Sports Activator- Football

Greer was back today and we were developing our football skills even further. We practised kicking for goal, dribbling with control, defending and attacking. 

Easter Activities

On Thursday we had a Bible in Schools session to help explain why we celebrate Easter. The children were reminded that Jesus died on Good Friday and then came back to life on Easter Sunday. We completed some activities related to Easter.

Lantern Making in Mandarin

Over the past two sessions of Mandarin with Rachel we have been making lanterns. We learned a lot about Chinese culture and history during these sessions. We also learned about perseverance. Chinese people let lanterns go to celebrate the Chinese New Year, with GOOD LUCK written on them. Lantern Making in Mandarin on PhotoPeach

Sports Activator- Football

Greer from Sport Clutha was back this week. This time we were practicing our football skills in preparation for the South Otago Schools Football Tournament.  

These are some slow-mo and time-lapse videos from our lesson

Striking of the Feet

In the last week of term the year 3-6 students have a football tournament in Balclutha. Our Physical Education focus for the remainder of the term is Striking of the Feet. The middle and senior students have started practicing our skills for the tournament.

Current Events-Week 6

As part of our morning programme we keep up to date with world wide current events. With the Bay of Plenty siege and police officers being shot over the past two days we wanted to find out what the latest news was. We are all pleased to hear the armed man has been arrested!! Well done to the NZ Police!!

Senior students watching a police interview about the BOP siege. 

Inquiry-What's going on in the kitchen?

This week for our "What's going on in the kitchen?" inquiry we did an experiment to see what happens when we add a variety of solutions to gummy bears. We added baking soda, vinegar, water and salt water to four different gummy bears. In groups we came up with our hypothesis. Some of our thoughts were; the gummy bears would change colour, the water might go the colour of the gummy bear and the gummy bears might explode. We noticed that the gummy bears had absorbed the solutions in the vinegar, water and baking soda but not as much in the salt water.

Morning Programme Term 1

Morning Programme-Term 1 2016

Senior Room

Week 6 7/3/2016	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
About Me	Whole class current events (SO Athletics)	Amy	Ally	Lachie Bree
If I were the teacher…		James	Alex	Ashley
My dreams for the year		Holly	Brayden Taylor	Lucy

Week 7 14/3/2016	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
About Me	Whole class current events	James	Alex	Ashley
If I were the teacher…		Holly	Brayden Taylor	Lucy
My dreams for the year		Amy	Ally	Lachie Bree

Week 8 21/3/2016	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
About Me	Whole class current events	Holly	Brayden Taylor	Lucy
If I were the teacher…		Amy	Ally	Lachie Bree
My dreams for the year		James	Alex	Ashley

Week 9 28/3/2016	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
What I want to be when I’m older	Whole class current events	Amy	Ally	Lachie Bree
My hero		James	Alex	Ashley
Should there be a school uniform?		Holly	Brayden Taylor	Lucy

Week 10 4/4/2016	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
What I want to be when I’m older	Whole class current events	James	Alex	Ashley
My hero		Holly	Brayden Taylor	Lucy
Should there be a school uniform?		Amy	Ally	Lachie Bree

Week 11 11/4/2016	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
What I want to be when I’m older	Whole class current events	Holly	Brayden Taylor	Lucy
My hero		Amy	Ally	Lachie Bree
Should there be a school uniform?		James	Alex	Ashley

Morning Programme is part of our Oral Language programme in the middle room.  We try to improve our listening and speaking skills through a variety of interesting tasks.  

To enable you to improve your Oral Language skills through morning Programme, you need to be well prepared each week.  Ask for help, in advance, if you need it.  Try to practice speaking clearly and confidently at home, to keep your presentation interesting, We have the use of the Apple TV if you require it.  Remember to think about who, what, where, when, why and how when you are preparing your talk.  It might be a good idea to have your talk written down on paper or little cards if you like so that you can refer to this when you are talking.  Doing this will help with your confidence.

Over the year everyone in our class will show huge improvement with their oral language skills due to all the practice you are going to be doing with morning programme.

I want to see people really well prepared this term.  If I think people are not doing good preparation for their morning programme, I will make them do it in their own lunch time and re-present it.

Morning programme begins in week six (next week)

Remember – enjoy and have fun!!

Miss Taylor

Morning Programme Topic Descriptions

Current Events	Present news in your own words from the newspaper, Internet, t.v. or radio that has been shared at home. Think about Who was involved?  What happened? When did it happen? Why did it happen? Where did it happen? and How did it happen? REMEMBER TO USE YOUR OWN WORDS
About Me	Try to find out where your family originated from. Tell us about your family, your hobbies, and interesting facts about you that we might not already know about.
If I were the teacher...	Describe what kind of teacher you would be like, what would your classroom look like, what kind of school would you like to work in (rural, town, small, big) how would you discipline children, what subject/s would you like to teach or not like to teach?
My dreams for the year	These can be different from your personal goals you have already set. You need to explain to us why you have those dreams and how you think you are going to achieve that dream.
What I want to be when I’m older	Tell us what you are going to be, where do you think you will live/do your job, why you want to have that job, how will you make sure you are qualified for that job.
My hero	A person that you admire. What are the attributes that make this person your hero? How has this person impressed you? This can be someone who is famous or someone that you have contact with in your daily life.
Should there be a school uniform?	Decide on your opinion and create an argument to support your opinion. You need to have three different reasons why you think there should or should not be a school uniform.