East Idol

On Friday we held the finals of East Idol and two of the groups in the final were from A3.  It was great to see them singing and dancing in front of the whole school and both groups did a great job.  Take a look at the video to see some of the performances and performers.  

Dragon Talk, by Hayzel

This week we have been wondering what we would say if we could talk to an animal.  Hayzel has written a story about her conversation with a dragon.  She has used puppet pals and imovie to publish it.  

Dragon Talk from Kirsty Macfarlane on Vimeo.

More 'As I Was Going Out One Day'

Here are Hayzel, Katie and Jerome using fluency and expression to read a poem to the ipad.

listen to ‘Hayzel’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Katie’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Jerome’ on Audioboo

Hayzel's First Chapter Book

Hayzel has written and illustrated her very first chapter book.  It is about a little girl who gets lost at the shops.  Read her story to find out what happens.  Have you ever gotten lost? Leave a comment and tell us about it. 

Open publication - Free publishing - More found

What am I?

We have been writing what am I stories this week.  We chose an animal and drew it in our story writing books.  We then wrote down all the ways we could describe it around the animal.  Once we had done this we were ready to write.  Here is the kakariki writing group reading thier stories.  Can you guess the animals correctly?

what am I from East School on Vimeo.

Matariki Stories

It was Matariki, Maori New Year, today.  We have been learning about Matariki this week and reading different legends about it.  Here are Jett and Hayzel reading the Matariki stories they have written.  Tomorrow we will be celebrating Matariki with a feast and kite flying.

The Terrible Tickle

We have been using the iPads to practice reading aloud with fluency and expression.  The children could choose to record themselves reading the latest poem as part of our reading rotation.  They practiced reading the poem to themselves two or three times before using the iPad to record and listen to themselves.  Listen to the Shirley, Shubhreet and Hayzel reading their poems and let us know what you think.

listen to ‘Shirley’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Hayzel’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Shubhreet’ on Audioboo

Our Botanic Garden reflection

After our trip to the Auckland Botanic Gardens I gave the children the option of using the ipad to record themselves sharing what they learned and/or a question they would like the answer to.  They were able to do this when they had some spare time and had completed their set work. This is the first time they have used the ipad to record themselves and here is a video of the results. 

Now our challenge is to answer some of these questions.  Share your ideas about how we could find the answers by leaving a comment.

The Giant Easter Egg, by Hayzel

Hayzel has written a story about her easter egg.  Can you guess what her favourite flavour is?

Thanks Grant!

We are very lucky because Miss Mac's Dad has donated his old ipad to our classroom. We've been using two ipads in our classroom for maths and reading and we love it, but two ipads between eight kids means a lot of waiting around for a turn. We are very happy to have another one to share and some of us have written letters to say thank you.  

Playing with the ipads.

Welcome Back!

We are all back at school for the new year and it is very exciting.  This year the children in A3 are year 2s, so we are a little older and there are alot more of us! Take a look at the slideshow to meet the children who are in A3 this year,  you might recognise some of the faces.  We are looking forward to sharing our learning with everyone.

  A3 Children 2012 on PhotoPeach