Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Cornwallis Beach Trip Thursday 6 March

Thank you for returning your permission slips so promptly. It should be a great day. Thank you also to parents who have offered to be parent help. Your assistance is much appreciated and I will be assigning a small group for you to look after for the duration of the trip. If you have toddlers or pre-schoolers and are unable to take a group, you are welcome to attend to be with your child for the day or join a group. We would love to see you there!

The children love the bus ride (sometimes it is the highlight of the trip). We cannot take adults with us on the bus as there is not enough room but if you need a ride, let me know so I can see what arrangements may be made. If you want to take your child home at the end of the day, let me know so I can mark them off on my roll. Children can't leave with adults who are not their parents/caregivers without a signed consent. Please provide me with a note if you want your child to be taken home by a friend or relative on the day. If you have any queries, I would be happy to answer them. Looking forward to a wonderful trip.



Monkey King Brainstorm

Friday, 21 February 2014

Mawhero is pink because...


Spelling Practice


A Good Idea Shared Book

Levi leading the class in reading A Good Idea by Bill Nagelkerke:


Listen to the story here and other Ready To Read stories:
Listening Post

My Many Coloured Days Dance

We danced to music that made us feel red, blue, green, purple etc. We created shapes that were small and large. We made up actions that were low, medium and high. We stayed in one spot and we moved in different pathways.

How would you move to this yellow music?
yellow music

Why are we happy?

It's the first time we've all been present since school started this year!

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Beach Newsletter

This is the Beach newsletter for anyone who has missed it or who needs the information:


Monday 17 February 2014


Dear Parents / caregivers

Ara Teina are pleased to announce our annual Family Fun Beach Picnic.  A visit to Cornwallis Beach is planned for our Y1’s Tuesday 4th MARCH and our Y2’s Thursday 6th March. 

On the days of the trips we will travelling by bus and will be leaving school at approximately 9:15am. We will arrive back at school at approximately 2:30pm. 

As we wish to keep costs to a minimum, we ask all parents to meet us at Cornwallis Beach.  If you are able to provide transport for other parents could you let your child’s class teacher know.

The total cost for a return bus fare to the beach will be $5 for Loyalty card holders and $7 for non-loyalty card holders.  
For the beach trip your child will need:
Packed lunch and water bottle                                          
Togs and towel
Sunscreen                                                                 
Hat
Appropriate footwear                                             
Appropriate clothing (not uniform)

Please let your child’s teacher know before the trip, if your child requires any medication to take with them on the day.

We ask that water toys and inflatables are not brought on the trip.

If it is raining the visit will be cancelled and costs incurred will be transferred to next term’s trip.

Shenita Prasad - Team Leader for Ara Teina (shenitap@arahoe.school.nz )                 
 
I do / do not give permission for my child _____________________ to attend Cornwallis Beach on
o Tuesday 4th March for Y1’s
o Thursday 6th March for Y2’s
o I enclose $5 and my Loyalty card number is:- ________
o I enclose $7
o I am able to come on the trip.  Yes / No
o I can provide transport for other parents.  Yes / No

Email or mobile number: ________________                 Signed: ______________________

1964 - Monkey King - Havoc in Heaven - with subtitles.mp4

Monday, 17 February 2014

Week 4 What Are We Learning About This Week?

Social Studies

Monster Manners

Behaviour above the line, below the line and at the bottom. Ask your child to tell you about the story of the Monster Who Came To School.


Two awesome examples of behaviour above the line:

You might see our Class Treaty in class with the rules we have decided on to help us learn.

Writing

Our Favorite Things

Chinese New Year
You may have visited the lantern festival in the weekend to celebrate Chinese New Year. This Year it is the Year of the Horse. This week we are learning about the Monkey King- Sun Wukong. The Monkey King is one of Josh and Fiona's favourite things to talk about. The Monkey King has special powers. He is an expert at Martial Arts and he has an amazing weapon. He is smart and funny and maybe a bit of a trickster.

Dance

Colour

We are learning to move in different ways and respond to how colour makes us feel. We read this book:
We will be learning a song by Cyndi Lauper called True Colours and creating movements to match.


Te Reo

We are learning to say who we are

Ko Au Tenei - This is me:


We are learning the names of colours in Te Reo:


Homework

Thank you for helping your child keep up with their homework. Basic Facts and Spelling are going very well. The children are reading their books every night and again in the morning which is helping their learning. Keep up the great work!

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

We read a Shared Book called Plop!


Homework Update 11 February Week 3

Last Friday we had our Basic Facts and Spelling Testing, the first of the year.

Basic Facts

After last week's test your child should know whether they are working on the first form E/CA or the second AC/EA (unless they were away). The goal with basic facts is to learn the facts for the sheet they are working on, so they can move to the next level. There is no requirement to learn all the facts on every sheet off by heart before the end of term or even the end of the year. However, there should be progress, as knowing these facts make it easier to learn strategies to work out number problems quickly. At this level, sometimes the challenge is to write the answer even though they know the answer. So practice a few a week at a pace your child feels comfortable with.

Spelling 

For spelling testing the children were tested on their 'sound of the week' words and some words from the Essential Word Lists they are working on. They did really great and I can tell they are working hard on their homework. Well done! Spelling took us quite a while, so this week I will only test them on the 5  'sound of the week' words as this is done in their groups (consonants, vowels, digraphs, blends). In week 6 I will test the class on their Essential Word List because I am sure some children will be on the next list. How exciting!