Using google tour builder to tell a story

Today Room 7 had the great opportunity to learn to use the app google tour builder to write a personal recount. They could either write a person recount on their EOTC week this week or write about all the places that they have travelled.

They really enjoyed using this app and had a lot of fun and were really engaged as they were able to collaborate with each other and were able to use images, maps, videos etc to share their personal recount.

We are looking forward to using this app more in our classroom for many more curriculum learning areas.

Here is the link to Ida's tour builder presentation.
Please do leave a comment, Thanks Room 7.

What we already know about celebrations

In Room 7 we have been using Padlet as a whole class to contribute to what we already know about celebrations. Here are all the things that Room 7 know already. WOW! Aren't they bright children! The children really enjoyed using Padlet today and learning how to add text. as well as images to the class paddlet. 

What we already know about celebrations

In Room 7 we have been using Padlet as a whole class to contribute to what we already know about celebrations. Here are all the things that Room 7 know already. WOW! Aren't they bright children! The children really enjoyed using Padlet today and learning how to add text. as well as images to the class paddlet. 

Helping children making healthy choice

During Week 4 and Week 5 of Term 3 Room 7 and other classes from Tamaki Primary have taken part in the Life Education Bus.
"Life Education is a charity that provides children with the knowledge to make informed choices about their health, respect others and learn to appreciate their uniqueness".


Room 7 have have had a great time enjoying taking part in the Life Education teaching. 
We gained a great volume of knowledge which was very in depth during the 3 lessons that we had. We were lucky enough to have longer sessions compared to the other classes so we were very grateful for that. 

Some of the areas that we learnt about were: 

• The Circulatory System.
• The Digestive System.
• The Respiratory System

And many more body system parts and how they function. 

(Student: Coralee Paraha) 

The students got a chance to have a look at a model of a heart and play around with it and open it up  and have a look at the chambers of the heart which they really found interesting. Here is a photo of Coralee having a look at the model. 

 

In class we went back and created information posters on the what we had learnt on these body systems. Below I have included some posters by children in room 7. Look at the wonderful that they can all can do! They have learnt so much! Well done Tamariki! 

(Information poster by Aja)

(Information poster by Aletheia)

(Digestive system information poster by Kanye)

We also leant about making good choice and how the choices we make can affect our health. 

The children really enjoyed also meeting Harold the Giraffe.

Thank you Life Education Trust for coming to Tamaki Primary and thank your Nicola (Teacher) for your knowledge and enlightening our children's minds. 

Kia Orana- All about the Cook Islands.

On Monday the 1st of August Room 7 and Room 4 had Tuakana Teina Day. For Tuakana Teinda day because it was Cook Island Language week we worked together without buddies from Room 4 to create a presentation All about the Cook Islands. We had so much fun creating these books.

Here is a presentation created by Timeus and Metui. Kia Pai Timeus and Metui.
You have done a fantastic job creating your presentation.  I can see that you both have learnt so much about the Cook Islands.

Keep up the great work!

The only way to learn Mathematics is to do Mathematics

WALA: We are learning about Fractions of a Region

In Room 7 we have been learning about fractions of a region. We has to work out the problem below. Here is the wonderful work that Villiami did. He used blocks to help him with the understanding of the problem.

Ka Pai Villiami for your hard work!!

Term 3 Week 2

Two groups of friends are sharing chocolate bars. Each group wants to share the chocolate bars fairly so every person gets the same amount and no chocolate remains.           In the first group of friends, four students receive three chocolate bars. How much chocolate did each person get in the first group? In the second group of friends, eight students are given six chocolate bars. How much chocolate did each person get? Which group of students got more chocolate? The first group got ¾.    The other group got 6/8. Each group gets the same amount of chocolate. By Villiami

Every child is an Artist

As a Senior Syndicate, in Term 2 we have been doing Syndicate Arts as a way of making crafts for our School Market Day in Term 3. The Senior Teachers chose to do a range of different Arts and Crafts. Miss Shiriwastow chose to do Button Crafts. I know right, it doesn't sound exciting when you hear "Button crafts" but when done correctly, it is actually very fun and you end up with a great piece of Art work.  Below I have included a screen shot of my planning for the button crafts.

Firstly, to begin with the to motivate and inspire the children in my crafts group I showed them a You Tube video on different button art creations. The children were really mesmerised by the amazing creations that they saw.

Secondly, the children were then given an opportunity to plan their creations. They were to create an outline of their images on draft paper. Once they had done that, they could then draw the outline onto canvas and then choose buttons to create their masterpiece. This used problem solving because they had to think about the sizes they chose to fit certain areas of their images to create an effective piece of Art.

The students really engaged in the crafts and really enjoyed creating their pieces of craft. They were really proud of themselves on their finished products and so was I. Below I have included my lesson plan for my craft lesson. It is based on Learn, create, share cycle. The learn part is where the children learn a certain technique such as button craft. Create is when they use their creativity and create their pieces of button Art and Share is how they choose to share their work with others such as a video explaining the process of making a button art, share on their blogs etc.

Below I have included some photos of the children with their finished crafts. 

(Siale, Ida, Cerenity)

I believe Art and Crafts is an important part of children's learning and development. 

Creating art is a fine way for children to make choices and solve problems. Every step involves making a decisions: What colour to use, how to make a line, what size to make something. With every choice the object becomes more and more their own and children are able to take ownership of what they create using their imaginations. 

Everyone has an imagination. Art takes it a step further. Through art, children create something that, until that point, was only imagined. Thus, they create visual manifestations of abstract ideas.

Art is also good for children that find other curriculum areas difficult and are able to use Art as a form of expression. It is a way that children can express their ideas, feelings and solutions that they may not be able to express verbally or through writing. 

Kia Pai tamariki for your hard work in crafts! Your Artwork looks amazing! 

  

What we have learned so far for Cyber Smart .

Today in Room 7 we discussed as a class what we have learned so far for Cyber Smart so far this year.  The Tamariki had a range of knowledge in regards to CyberSmart. I was so very proud. They were all so very excited to share this wealth of knowledge with Mrs Manuyag and Miss Shiriwastow. 

Well done Room for all your mahi pakeke (hard word). This is the google drawing that the class did together and collaborated their ideas. Then then went onto creating their own google drawings and ideas. 

Learning about inferencing in reading

Here is Sahil's work on inferencing. We have been learning how to use our inferencing skills to get a better understanding of what the author is trying to imply.

Number talks-Mathematics

We have been learning about number talks in room 7. Number talks is when we talk about a number or an equation and find different ways and strategies of how we can represent that number in many different ways. Number talks encourages children to be able to use their problem solving skills and encourages and challenges them to be able to explain their answers, reasoning and thinking.

(Fine, Aletheia, Sahil)

Here is a photo of a group of children's thinking regarding the number 50. As you can see from the photo the children have really thought about the many different ways they can represent t

he number 50 as well as different ways that they can make the number 50. An example if they can show the  number 50 on a place value house, they can show the number 50 by tallying the number, they can show the number 50 by drawing place value blocks, they can draw a 50c coin to represent 50, they can use their doubles number knowledge 25+25 to make number 50.

Super Hero Poems

    In room 7 for writing we have been learning how to write a Diamante Super Hero poem. We chose a Super Hero that we wanted to write our poem about. We then had to think about powerful adjectives that described our Super Hero's as well as using language features like nouns to enhance our poems so that it would appeal to the audience and paint a picture in their minds.

Here is a poem written by Aja. 

School Values

As part of our Inquiry topic this term we have been learning about our Tamaki Primary School Values. Today we focussed on Tukumarie which is Tolerance. We looked at how Tukumarie applies to ourselves and our different cultures and what makes us special.
Here is Wallymei's googel drawing on his Maori Culture and what makes his Maori culture special to him.

Whare Tapa Wha and our School Values

                        

Today in Room 7 for Inquiry we looked at Whare Tapa Wha and our School Values. We looked at our new school value AKO and how the  4 dimensions of Whare Tapa Wha- (Taha Hinengaro-Mental and Emotional well being; Taha Tinana-Physical Well being; Taha Whanau-Social Well being and Taha Wairua; Spiritual Well being) can affect our learning, our AKO and how they relate to each other.

Firstly, we began the lesson with a video. The children were asked to watch the video and then when the video was finished they were asked to say which School Values they saw in the video and how it was shown.

Here is the video below:

I was amazed at the children's responses. They said they saw all our School Values in the video. Some examples were: Caring for others, showing tolerance, showing kindness, showing Ako, working together. 

We then went onto looking at the Whare Tapa Wha model which means "The Four Sided House or Building". We talked as as class about how these 4 dimensions are significant to our well being and that if one was missing then we would be off balance- or the house would fall down because one wall has collapsed.

The children then got into their groups and as a group they talked about how the 4 dimensions of Whare Tapa Wha can affect our Ako (Learning).

As a whole class we collated all our finding and created a google drawing about how Whare Tapa Wha can impact our Ako. 

Whole School Picnic Day

Whole School Fun Picnic Day

On Thursday the 25th of February Tamaki Primary School had a fun Whole School Picnic Day!
All of Tamaki Primary School had loads of fun!
There was so much to do for the children and their Whanau's.
The children and their families enjoyed a sausage sizzle and ice blocks, games, sports, bouncy castles, slip and slide and water fights where the teachers were also water bombed and squirted.

The children displayed Tamaki Primary's School values with pride which was great to see. These were: Tukumarie, Whanaungatanga, mannakitanga, rangimarie and Ako.

The children of Tamaki Primary School are looking forward to another Fun picnic day!! What fun it was for not only the children and whanau but also the teachers! Great day to bond and build better relationships with the children as well as with parents through fun activities.

Shadow Portraits

 In room 7 as part of "All about me" we have been creating shadow portraits "All about ourselves". We traced an outline of ourselves using the projector and then inside our outside we used words, symbols and patterns to describe who we are. Miss Shiriwastow modelled one for us and showed us examples so that we knew what we had to do and what the outcome would be like.

We had so much fun creating them and they all look so fantastic and effective. Miss Shiriwastow has displayed them outside Room 7 for teachers, children and parents to see.

We used effective colours so that our artwork would standout to our audiences.

Here are some examples of a few shadow portraits created by the wonderful children of Room 7. Didn't they do an amazing job!! What artist they are!!  Ka Pai Tamariki.

Being Big Hearted

This year Tamaki Primary is made up of two Syndicates. A Junior Syndicate and a Senior Syndicate. 

Room 7 is part of the Senior Syndicate. Our Syndicate is called "Kia Manawanui which means "Being Big Hearted".

As part of our team building lessons  in the classroom we explored what "Being Big hearted" meant to us.  To begin with the children peer shared with each other what they thought "Being Big Hearted" meant and how they thought they could show this. 

We then came together as a class and collated our ideas together in a mind map. 

The children then moved onto creating hearts. In the hearts they drew symbols and wrote words of how they showed being "Big hearted". 

Here is a photo of Wallymei and Marshall working on their hearts. 

Learning about Maths Language

Today in Room 7 we explored language related to maths signs and symbols.

Room 7 children were split into 4 table groups where they were given a flower template with a Maths operation in the centre of the flower. In their groups children were to discuss collaboratively with their peers share what that symbol means, and write different words that relate to the symbol inside the flowers petals.

We then shared our thinking together as a class to see what different Maths language we had come up with.  It was really good to see all the children in Room 7 talking together and sharing their thinking together as a group.

Welcome to Room 7 - 2016

Kia Ora, Talofa, Malo, Salam, Bula, Namaste!!
Welcome to our Room 7 classroom blog site. If you don't already know me, I am Miss Shiriwastow. I will be teaching your lovely children this year. This is my second year at Tamaki Primary School and I am enjoying every moment of it. Everyday is a new day, and there is always something interesting to learn, not only from teaching the children but the children also enlightening me with their creative ideas and knowledge. As a teacher we are also life long learners. I am really looking forward to enjoying 2016 with the students in my class.

Making Multiplication fun!

In room 7 we have been learning our Multiplication facts. We played fun games together to learn not only how to recall our Multiplication facts fast but also how to play games co-cooperatively together in regards to our Inquiry topic "Practicing peaceful play"

The children get a card with a number on it such as number 7 which is their 7 times tables. They then are required to roll the dice and the number they roll eg: 5 they need to multiply 5 with 7 and then find their answer on their cards and put a counter on it. The student that fills their cards first with counters wins the game.

Room 7 really enjoyed this game and also enjoyed the challenge. They also built great relationships with each other as well as giving each other positive feedback and encouragement.

Below is a photo collage of some of  room 7 children playing the Multiplication game.

Knowing our Multiplication facts are important as it is used in our everyday life. For example when going shopping for food items and buying multiple items, children can use their fast recall of multiplication to know the value of the multiple items that they have bought. 

The Big Reveal

In Term 4, 2015 our school inquiry topic has been about "Planet Earth and Beyond". The children in the Kia Maia team did not know what our Inquiry topic was going to be about so as a reveal the children watched the movie "Home" in the first block which they really enjoyed.

In the second block of the day the children explored making "Rockets". Part of the Learn process was for the children to learn how to make a rocket of their choice by researching online different ways of making rockets. The Create part of their learning was for the children to choose a rocket of their choice and test their theory as to how far and fast they fly. Miss Kyla's class, Mr Minton's class and Miss Shiriwastow's class all made rockets and then they all gathered in the hall for a challenge to see which rockets flew the furtherest and fastest. The children really enjoyed themselves and were very proud of their rockets. Miss Kyla gave our prizes for the ones that flew the furtherest and ones with the most innovative designs. 


It was a great learning experience for the children as they learnt about what causes the rocket to travel faster and why. For example, when you blow in the straw the air gets trapped causing momentum.Here is a photo of Curtys who created a straw Rocket.

                       Here is a photo of Kenneth and Siale who won a prize for the furtherest flying rockets. 

Here is a photo of the Room 7 children enjoying testing out their rockets. 

It was a fun day for the children of the Kia Maia Team!