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.  

Horse talk, by Shirley

Shirley has written a funny story about what might happen if she tried to talk to a horse.  She has used puppet pals and imovie to publish her story.

Shirley's First Chapter Book

Here is Shirley's very first chapter book, it's a very exciting adventure story.  We hope you enjoy it. 

Open publication - Free publishing - More pirate

The Haunted House, by Rooshan

Rooshan has written a scary story about a haunted house.   He recorded the video with the help of Rohit, and Shirley has made it into a movie using imovie.  Watch to find out how the boy in the story gets rid of the ghost. 

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.

Our New Year Dragon

The lions reading group read Our New Year Dragon by Sara Oldfield.   

As a follow up activity the children made their own new year dragon. They then used the easy speak to record something they had learnt about the new year dragon.

Here is a video of a dancing dragon.

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

Shirley and the Magic Finger

Shirley has written a very well sequenced story about what happens when she uses the magic finger to turn her teacher into a cat.  Have a listen and let us know what you think.

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.

Can You See an Insect?

The lions reading group read the book Can You See an Insect.

As a follow up to the book they went on an insect hunt in pairs. They used the cameras to take two photos of any insects they found, one photo from a distance and the second close up.  Take a look at the video we made using their pictures.

Seahorses

The lions read the book Seahorses by Hannah Reed.   They have made a movie to share all the interesting facts they learnt about seahorses.  

They also had some questions about Seahorses that were not answered by the book and these were:

1. Where do seahorses sleep?
2. How do they find other seahorses?
3. How do they find their food?

If you can help us answer any of these questions please leave us a comment. 

The pig and the cookies

We watched a video of a pig who really wants a cookie, but there is a problem . . . the cookies are on top of the fridge and the pig can't reach them.  Take a look at the video to see what he did.

Once we finished watching it we talked about the ways we might have gotten to the cookies.  Some of the children than wrote stories about the pig and the cookies.  Take a look at the published stories below. 

Open publication - Free publishing - More cookies

The Flower, by Krishicant

Krishicant has written a lovely story about giving a flower to his Mum.  This is the first time he has recorded his story for the blog and he did it with the help of Shirley who has become an expert at using photo booth. They have both done a great job, well done. 

My Dragon, by Shirley

Here is Shirley's story about her dragon.  She has used some wonderful descriptive language in her story and I think her dragon sounds amazing! I would love to met it.  Let us know what your dragon would be like. 

Bye Bye Wattle

Friday was Wattle's last day in A3.  He has been visiting us from Australia for the last 7 weeks and now it is time for him to go back to his class Learning Together.  We have had lots of fun with Wattle and we are going to miss him, but we are looking forward to seeing our giraffe Wally again.  Take a look at the video to see what Wattle got up to while he was with us.  

Untitled from Kirsty Macfarlane on Vimeo.

Here is a video of us singing a goodbye song for Wattle.

Farewell to Five

Yesterday was Maqushio, Shirley, Lolo, Malik and Rachael's last day in A3!  Our classes are getting too big so they have gone to B3 to help Miss Mooney start a new class.  We will miss them but we know they will have fun in B3.

Meeting the kittens

On Thursday we skyped with our friends in Australia, Learning Together.  We got to see their rabbit blue bell and her seven kittens.  The kittens have grown since we last saw them and Wally is having a great time playing with them.  You can see Wally playing with the kittens by clicking here.   

Wattle is saying hi to his classmates.  

Going to the zoo!

We went to Auckland Zoo yesterday and had a great time.  We were lucky the sun came out and all the animals were very active.  Wattle came with us and he had lots of fun and he made some new friends. 

Wattle met some friends at the zoo and he saw a real wombat's skull!  

Take a look at the slide show and movie to see photos and videos of the day. 

Untitled from Kirsty Macfarlane on Vimeo.

Predators

We have been learning about predators this term.  Today we went out and pretended to be predators trying to catch prey.  It was a lot of fun, sometimes the prey got away and sometimes it didn't.  Take a look at the video too see some 'predators' stalking their prey . . .

After pretending to be predators the children wrote some great stories.  Here is Shirley reading hers:

More of our  predator stories will be posted soon. . . 

Futuristic Transport

Once a week A3 goes to the library to work on the computers with Ms Clark.  Last week they were learning to use kidpix to draw futuristic transport.  Take a look at their amazing creations.